She performed surgery on me at the bookstore

My evening last night began as any other.  I put on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King that I might complete my viewing of the trilogy.  Savvy readers will remember I am re-watching these flicks having only seen them once before decades ago and so far I have been enjoying them considerably more than the first time around.  That said, I found it difficult to focus and I began nodding off around the 55 minute mark.  I do think it was more a matter of being genuinely tired and perhaps not in the mood for this type of story but I also believe this third entry has a much more haphazard and sloppier first hour than its two predecessors (similar to the exposition heavy The Dark Knight Rises in comparison to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight).  The Tolkien faithful have noted in many other places the reason for this is Director Peter Jackson wildly deviating from the source material – vastly changing the structure and content of The Two Towers in this case – with the result being the concluding movie requiring a much more contrived start and setup in order to put these characters where they needed to be for the big finale.   All the same I was and am fully prepared to view it as a movie first and adaptation second and in order to grant it the necessary attention I removed the disc and vowed to finish it at a heretofore undecided date in the future. 

At that point I radically switched genres and watched Desperado again for what could have been the third or even fourth time!  I find Robert Rodriguez’s Mariachi trilogy to be largely perfect and I never tire of these films.  Desperado – the middle entry – seems to be the common favorite but I actually prefer the final chapter Once Upon a Time in Mexico with its wild excess and gleeful indulgence.  I am deeply curious about Rodriguez’s and comic book great (though that is certainly a divisive opinion) Frank Miller’s futures.  Why?  Because Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – directed by Rodriguez and Miller and based on Miller’s work and sequel to the 2005 original – tanked hard over the weekend.  This is not the time or place for me to share my thoughts on this film though I will say I loved the first one and view it as something of a modern classic.  

There are many reasons which could be behind this new film’s commercial failure: a 9-year break between movies, poor marketing, lack of star power, once innovative technology now far more common place, etc.  But ultimately the reason behind its fall is less interesting to me than what happens now.  Rodriguez seems to have his hands full for the moment with his El Rey TV network (I dare say he’s been spreading himself a bit thin in recent years) and after this debacle it may be some time before a studio trusts him with any type of substantial budget.  However I do think that could be a blessing.  El Mariachi was famously made for a scant $7000 and he continued to have a reputation for stretching a small budget to the max and finding creative ways to make unique films.  Imposed limitations could give his work that classic spark that some feel has been missing in recent years.  Would it be too much too hope for another Mariachi movie?  Most likely, but I’m going to do it anyway!

But regarding Frank Miller?  Outside the charitable co-directing credit Rodriguez gave him on the Sin City movies it is hard to imagine him being trusted with anything by a studio now that he has this and 2008’s mega nuclear clusterfuckery bomb The Spirit on his hands.  Readers, please understand: The Spirit is one of my all-time favorite awful movies and I typically watch it in the bathtub while shaving my legs.  It is so bizarre and ill-conceived in nearly every possible way that I cannot help but look upon it in wide-eyed slack-jawed awe.  It is a treasure in its singular trainwreck of a vision.  But you see that is precisely the thing I love so much about Frank Miller; he always produces exactly what he wants which may make his comics or movie audacious, absurd, shocking or even mind-meltingly godawful but they are never less than fascinating.  In this way I can always at least respect the man and his work even if I do not particularly like it.  I have faith he’ll land on his feet but will stick mostly to the comic world from now on where his stuff still easily sells out.  I can’t begin to speculate on what his next move will be in that area but I remain as interested as ever.   

At some point I also put on Muppets Most Wanted for the first time.  Since the moment of my conception I have been a hardcore Muppets fanatic.  I own all the seasons of the show on digital video disc (even the ones which inexplicably have not been released) and all the feature films.  Despite this fandom I was unable to view this most recent adventure in the cinema as I was in Europe at the time and the proper circumstances never came together.  Unfortunately, I found there was something a bit off about this latest Muppets flick.  It wasn’t exactly an unenjoyable experience but the flavor I’ve come to know and love just wasn’t quite there.  Actually, just thinking about it now fills me with great sadness at what a missed opportunity it all was.  I think the issue was the amount of screen time given to the villain Constantine who was largely an unpleasant creation to watch and hear.  Regrettably the Muppet character of Walter who was created for the 2011 movie has not become any more interesting than when he was first introduced.  This newest romp played rather soft at the box office and I guess one could say I am partly to blame since I waited until it hit the streets. But I hope this will not be their last theatrical outing.  I still believe the course of this ship can be righted. 

I just realized this very moment the new Opeth album Pale Communion comes out tomorrow.   No lesser an authority on the subject than Allmusic.com gave it the coveted 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars and said it is “…nearly unlimited in its creativity”.  I trust Allmusic more than anything and this thumbs up definitely started turning my wheels of excitement.  Also, unlike some Opeth fans, I am not at all bothered by their move away from death metal and growls to more prog-like material.  However despite my love of Opeth I am not sure if I will be making this purchase.  Fear is at the heart of my uncertainty and those closest to me understand what I am talking about.  Only time will tell.  Won’t you all take that journey with me?

I should just shut up and bleed.