The sort of movies that almost cancel out the existence of "Macgruber" and "Eclipse". Almost.

As a measure of my dedication to the cause, I've got two leftover movie reviews from the week spent in Santa Barbara that require appreciative mentions.  All in all, it was time well spent in the theatres last week.  And most of all, the time spent watching and then trying to unravel the dizzying story of "Inception" was worth every minute.  It isn't a perfect ride.  But it surely is quite bewildering.  Christopher Nolan deserves all the butt-kissing he receives.  While this movie is not his best, it is monumental.  My rating is an imperfect B-plus, with plenty of room to be further impressed with added viewings.  I, after all, made the huge mistake a few summers ago of not being blown away the first time by "The Dark Knight".  As everyone is actively discussing (coming quite close to spoiling), the story of "Inception" dwells almost entirely inside the dreams of targets of corporate espionage or its practitioners.  You're cleverly encouraged to question what's real.  In the end, it doesn't matter.  The journey is the thing.  Leonardo DiCaprio is a hard nut for me to crack (immensely talented, really hard to like on some level possibly because of that fact), Ellen Page is out of her depth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues to amaze me his rocket ship career ascendancy, I still just don't get the whole gauzy grapple at Marion Cotillard's underwhelming breadth, and all the other character actors are positively fantastic (in particular, Tom Hardy will be a huge star in the not too distant future).  So if you need convincing, please see it.  Then grab a brewski - or more appropriately an absinthe - and discuss.  Preferably with others.  Movies should always hope to be this smart, even though they almost never can be.

In a very different way, the bleak little critical darling "Winter's Bone" also inspires conversation.  My rating - a hearty, worthwhile B.  Even though I saw it with absolutely the worst crowd for this particular film, although I'm sure they'll think they meant well.  Pairs of seniors, spread out evenly throughout the theatre landscape of a Saturday matinee.  It's been ages since I've been irritated by people talking back to the screen at a movie.  In this case, it was almost entirely caused by the meticulous authenticity of the white, rural poverty central to the story.  But since when is it cool to say "they don't want to eat squirrel" out loud?  When anyone who's seen enough of the real poverty this movie is drawn from feels a stirring irritation to answer "no, but they MUST because they're HUNGRY."  That may be a hard anecdote to draw too much meaning from.  But it does represent the central conundrum of this movie - representing poor, meth-addled, White America without making the largely rich, clean, White America that is seeing it in arthouse, urban theatres not feel compelled to respond in disbelief.  "Winter's Bone" nails it.  And the brutality - not violence, mind you - used to do so will make a ton of people uncomfortable.  If you have a willingness to see tough, smart characters who don't transcend their surroundings but instead revel in survival, see this movie.  If you've got upper-class guilt and a skewed view of how everyone makes their own destiny, stay home and watch "Glee" or read Dan Brown.  Because this movie ain't for pussies.

Hope your own endings make everything else along the way worth the journey today.  Rock on.

Swim lessons with a strict catch and release system in play.

Swim lessons with a strict catch and release system in play.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

A few final pics follow from our latest week in Santa Barbara. A grand time was had by all, thank you very much.

Maya gets a close-up view of her spankin' new cowgirl boots.

Maya gets a close-up view of her spankin' new cowgirl boots.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Goodbye takedown of Auntie Katie.

Goodbye takedown of Auntie Katie.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Is it wrong to hope that Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart are actually eaten by wolves?

It's something of a normal Santa Barbara visit for us.  Good food, exercise, time to steep ourselves in some pop culture fun.  We threw together a fantastic daytrip to Los Angeles.  I always love dipping at least a toe into that City.  There's just so much cast along at crazy angles in a dizzying array of directions.  Seeing friends is the point.  Everything else is frosting.  Included in that was seeing a matinee of "The Kids Are All Right" at an absurdly over-priced ArcLight multiplex ($13.50 for a regular screen matinee, people).  But the movie was worth it - my rating is a very smart, solid B.  The cast is great across the board, although no one had to stretch themselves out of a comfort zone.  Mark Ruffalo is especially good (another Sconnie product - way to go Kenosha).  The nuances and trainwrecks will have you talking through dinner afterward.  And considering all the dreck that's clogging up the screens this summer, few movies give a better escape hatch.

Speaking of dreck.  Or just plain awfulness.  Or something else entirely that smells like untranslatable garbage.  Is "Eclipse", the new Twilight movie.  Honestly, I don't know how to rate it.  So I have to break my own conventions.  My rating - a Z-plus.  Or maybe a Z-minus.  I have no idea what to say about it.  I'd love to hear from a tween why it is either good or bad.  And I won't get all curmudgeony and claim that those darn kids these days don't make any sense to me.  I'm just saying this movie made no sense.  I get angst.  I don't get this awful movie.  But don't see it.  Leave the mystery untouched and you'll feel better about yourself.

Somewhere else in the middle is the Swedish middle movie based on the Stieg Larsson books - "The Girl Who Played With Fire".  It is such a middle movie, such an unsatisfying arc, and done with the mid-level intensity of a television movie you might see on the BBC.  My rating is an appreciative but underwhelmed C-minus.  Noomi Rapace (love the name) is good as Lisbeth Salander.  The cast of hyphenated Swedes are quirky (Biker-Swedes, an Indian-Swede doctor, a lesbian Asian-Swede love interest, and the list goes on and on).  The quality of the police procedural is very true to the trilogy's intent.  But rent it.

There are a few more flicks on our wish list for the short time we have left.  But it's all a bonus now, given how much we've been able to soak up since last weekend.  Hopefully you're also wriggling your mind's toes in some warm sand today.  Rock on.

The things you can learn on the swing

Santa Barbara.  I love this place.  Somewhere along the way between the thick as wet cotton fog bank in the early morning and the diamond edge clear, still as resting hummingbird wings late afternoon, this particular Saturday was exactly the sort of day I love here.  Not without sadness, mind you.

A member of the family was memorialized today.  Dorothy.  Momoo.  Grandma.  Dot.  Whatever you called her, she lived a strong, long, beautiful life.  96 years.  On her terms.  I wasn't a blood relative.  But I married into the respect and love everyone had for her.  Which I shared.  If you'll permit me, I must tell one quick story.

Maya was the only kid at the memorial, held in the community where Momoo lived the last number of years of her life.  I counted 109 people, but a few might have come or gone around the time of that count.  When the speeches were over, the mingling began.  And it was just as Momoo had requested.  Sometime amidst that activity, Maya made her way to a bench swing with some relatives and family friends.  After a while, people wanted to return to the action.  Not Maya - a bench swing on a nice day is a glorious thing, after all.  Two residents that had attended the ceremony wanted to stay for a turn, Maya wanted to push.  After a while, the three of them returned to the party.  The unbelievably sweet couple then made a point of coming up to me to say that Maya had described in great detail our family - birthdays listed by date, who was how old, that sort of thing.  When she got to the point of mentioning Momoo, she told the couple on the swing that "and then Momoo decided to die" (a very true assessment of the way her long life ended after a short illness).  At which time, Maya began to cry.  The couple described to me how Maya seemed in control, but was nonetheless touched by the emotion of that realization.  The man (Ramon) told me that he then asked Maya if he could cry along with her.  She said he could.  Eventually, they stopped and swung some more.

I don't know how to teach a child about losing a loved one.  Like any other parent, I do not welcome that responsibility.  Yet today, my daughter taught me a great many things.  About grace and innocence.  Beauty and growth.  Loss and love.  I like to think she got more than a bit of that from Dorothy.  And that it will live on.  Have a good weekend from us all here.

Please stop me before I see something starring a poorly animated creature, such as Katherine Heigl

We're heading back to Seattle tomorrow after a full, fun week. Maya seemed to enjoy her mornings spent at sea exploration camp through the Museum of Natural History, and all the attention from family otherwise. And on my side of the ledger, I have three more movie reviews to add. I saw a grand total of six flicks in the theatre over the week, which was a grand indulgence. With that said...

My favorite movie of the summer thus far was "Moon" - a very small, very well-conceived gem that is entirely Sam Rockwell's baby. Without giving anything away, the central conceit of Sam's time on the Moon becomes apparent less than halfway into the film. From there on out, it's an even more clever thriller. The director, Duncan Jones (the real life son of David Bowie), makes $5 million look cooler than a dozen sweaty Megan Foxes dry humping another dozen bewitched or besotted Daniel Radcliffes. My rating - B-plus. Check it out, although it should be coming soon on video.

My concession to Sarah for some of crap I drag her to was my reciprocity in seeing "The Proposal". Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock could read a bundle of Sarah Palin speeches and still get a few natural laughs. Which is about what they were asked to do here. Betty White is still alive, apparently, so she also got some pity laughs. But unless you're trying to pay off a similar debt to the one you love or are looking for barely two hours worth of air conditioning relief, I'd say wait for the rental. My rating - a C-plus. I padded the rating when I realized how much Ryan Reynolds and I look like twins with our shirts off.

"Public Enemies" was the last movie on my list of try-to-sees, and I'm not entirely sad that I did so. I generally love Johnnie Depp and Michael Mann films have always been action eye candy. This movie is shot beautifully, and the clothes look good enough to spread on a cracker. The problem is the soul. Or, rather, the complete lack thereof. They even completely wasted the actual location of a famous shootout with the FBI in northern Wisconsin (the Little Bohemia near Manitowish Waters) that I'd drive by with my parents every time we went to visit my Grandma in the town of Hurley, just a bit farther north to the border with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In short, all style, glorious style. Bupkis on the real substance. My rating - B-minus. See it in a dollar theatre or wait for a rental.

So endeth my reviewing. I hope I've given you inspiration to spend more time reading this summer. Rock on.

Or maybe it's just that Austria's nowhere near as funny as Kazahkstan

Yet another great week in Santa Barbara that affords me the time to catch up on a backlog of thus far untouched cultural fun mixed in with runs along the beach and tasty summer foods. I'll post a bundle of reviews as the week goes on. But I'll start with a pair of movies.

"Bruno" is "Borat" without the core of sweetness or the surprises that made Sasha Baron Cohen's comedy seem so intensely original. My rating - D-plus. I knew what we were in for, and I went in wanting to find the silver thong amidst a cloud of intentionally bad fashion. Sadly, it ain't there. Save you cash and wait for cable.

"The Hurt Locker" has a more authentic feel than any of the other Iraq War movies that have largely disappointed over the last many years. The setting in both time (2004 going forward) and place (chaotic Baghdad) is spot on. The actors do everything that's asked of them in a tense, brutal storyline centered on a bomb disposal team. But it just doesn't feel like a modern, insightful, off-balance classic. For that designation, I'd go more for "Full Metal Jacket" or to a much lesser degree "Three Kings". My rating - B-minus. I still recommend it strongly as a rental.

Hope your own blast radius has more to do with the outer limits of a backyard barbeque party today. Rock on.

Maya prepped for her first day as a "Sea Squirt" at camp.

Maya prepped for her first day of as a "Sea Squirt" at camp.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

We're in Santa Barbara for a blissed-out week of vacation. Maya's spending her weekday mornings at an ocean exploration camp organized by the Museum of Natural History here. She's a "Sea Squirt" and couldn't have been more psyched this morning to get dipped in sunscreen and dropped at the end of Stearns Wharf to meet up with the other "Sea Squirts". We're actually jealous of what she's getting to do, which is pretty damn cool.

Hope your own explorations involve a lunch on the beach today. Rock on.

"Next question, Mr. President-Elect - do you plan to nominate anyone who actually believes in the current Bowl Championship Series system?"

A few thoughts on Obama's Cabinet. First, this guy is fully ensconced in the nuts and bolts of settling many scores while getting better geared up to serve than anyone has ever shown themselves to be at this point. Hillary's peeps wouldn't have been happy without at least what she got. Bob Gates staying on at Defense makes more sense than trying to hop into another canoe mid-river. Susan Rice, Eric Holder, James Jones - c'mon, everybody...these are damn strong picks. But this morning I heard the inevitable question asked when Bill Richardson was announced as Commerce Secretary if Latinos should feel slighted. Seriously. Seriously? Employment numbers came out today that stunned everyone (250K lost their jobs in November), the Bushies announced yesterday that we've been in a recession since December '07, new car sales are worse than anytime since Reagan's first term, blah blah blah. Is this really a time to talk tokens? Reporters still need to report. Yet certain questions don't need to be asked at this point in the game. Beeyatches.

While we were in Santa Barbara, we didn't do our regular movie-crazed catch-up deluge. But we did still see a few things worth rating. The new Bond ("Quantum of Solace") is garbage. My rating - a solid D. Daniel Craig is gold, but this movie is a turd. More interestingly, "The Bank Job" was a surprisingly good rental. My rating - solid B. We also rented "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" (C-minus) and "Iron Man" (a re-watched A-minus). Still, I feel like I've failed you by not having more reviews to offer. I'll catch up. I promise.

Hope your own donuts have extra sprinkles today. Rock on.

And have you looked at Larry Summers' butt lately? Yummy...

I'm in Santa Barbara. And still stunned by the dichotomy of what burned recently in Montecito versus what suffered not so much as a scratch. The canyons up into the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains primarily off East Mountain Drive burned to a crispy moonscape. Blessedly, my in-laws and most of their friends/neighbors were unharmed. On Sunday, the community poured out in force to fill sandbags to then use in protection against the feared flash floods of seasonal rain that may well arrive as early as tonight. If heavy rain spills down from the mountains over the ashen landscape through the countless canyon creeks...well, it could be bad. I drove along the winding, narrow path through the damage on Sunday for a first-hand view. It was so odd for someone unaccustomed to such destruction. Little things caught my eye. Wholly protected houses just up the driveway from burned-out vehicles. The smell of what an unaccustomed Wisconsite might assume was a charcoal grill overwhelming everything once you open the car windows. Beautiful pottery and porcelain address markers warped and scalded by what was surely a hot, hot fire. The sense of loss most assuredly hasn't disappeared for those in the path of the firestorm that now must worry about flooding. What a crazy confluence of risks. The sense of a support structure is nonetheless inspiring to consider.

A quick assessment of Obama's early picks for his Administration. They all seem centrist, qualified and eager. But there's also a certain uptick in hotness. Case in point - Melody Barnes. The Washingtonian named her one of DC's Ten Best Dressed. Rawr. And his Social Secretary, Desiree Rogers will run everything from the Easter Egg Roll to formal State Dinners. With hotness. Today we were introduced to Rob Nabors (the 37-year-old (!) Deputy OMB Director). And there's more cute geeky white guys than at a Dave Matthews concert (Rahm Emmanuel, Timothy Geithner, Peter Orszag). And you thought Obama was just going to be all about coolness...

Hope your own appointees have rockin' brains AND bods today. Rock on.

After the crash...

The unintentional silence you might have noticed from these here parts over the last handful of days has a story behind it. Even if you don't care, I need to clear the drains. So to speak. My darling daughter pulled my Mac laptop onto the floor by the power cord. Shattered the screen. Made me realize how much I love my daughter because she both is fine and was utterly apologetic. But it also made me realize how much I loved my laptop. Do you know how much it costs to replace a LCD screen on a more than 3-year-old Mac? For me, $1240. Not much scratch if you're passing out loans to Wall Street or the auto industry. But serious cash for a piece of over-used electronics. So I've been pouting while I watch the news in the same fashion that you all have come to expect. Thereby, here's some overdue shots.

Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State has more strings attached than Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Will she work hard? Yup. Will she be almost impossible to clear from past controversies? Absolutely. Can Obama do better? I believe so. Will this mend some bridges with Hillary's supporters? Unquestionably. Should we be debating this as the world looks to us to make sense of what a sinkhole we're in currently? No gawddamn way. This one will make two months of transition into 2 years of investigative journalism. Cut the cord, Barack. I hate to say it, but you don't owe the Clintons anything.

Joe Lieberman is still a Democrat. For now. First sign of Iraq War withdrawal and that cat is over the fence.

Ted Stevens lost and Sarah Palin signed a $7M book deal. I'm willing to bet more ink has been spilled on Alaska politics this year since the aggregate timeline of inclusion in the Union in 1959. Expect that 50th Anniversary of Statehood to be Spring Break for Joe the Plumbers cast far and wide next year.

On a personal note - we're headed to Santa Barbara soon with the expectation of being stunned by the damage caused by the recent fires. Our family and friends are fine. But I'll update y'all with some pics and commentary when I get a better gauge of just how crazy it is to see that sort of damage.

Hope you get the chance to hug your own beloved electronics today. Rock on.

The Great Grandkids with their really Great Grandmother

The Great Grandkids with their really Great Grandmother
Originally uploaded by emaggie

We've been in Santa Barbara for a few days with the extended family celebrating Maya's Great Grandma's 95th birthday. The weather was lovely, the company was charming and the kids were adorable. Of all generations. None moreso than Dorothy, of course.

Maya gives her new bud Cousin Luke a bruising hug and back pat.

Maya gives her new bud Cousin Luke a bruising hug and back pat.
Originally uploaded by emaggie

Morgan Freeman saying "M&%$^@f+?ker" adds at least a half-grade, in my book.

We're in Santa Barbara for a family weekend, which can guarantee only one thing. Movie Review Catch-ups!

Yesterday's matinee was "Wanted" with James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. Solid, hilarious, bloody punches to a happy summertime face. My rating - big B-plus. Soooo close to an A-minus. But I caught the over-the-top Rooskie director seemingly cheating off the papers of his obvious influences - Tarantino, the sadly insane and discredited Wachowski Brothers, Danny Boyle. Nonetheless, we laughed with appreciation throughout. The train crash near the end is the most unintentionally hilarious disaster since Jamie Lynn Spears recently gave birth. But so much more easy to watch. I recommend that you watch a two-dollar theatre mid-week showing sometime later this summer. You will only be disappointed if you believe in physics.

Our beloved Milwaukee Brewers head into the weekend before the All-Star Break a mere 4 games back from the somewhat sputtering Cubbies. Who gave up 7 home-runs in a convincing loss last night. Corey Hart got the last slot on the National League All-Star Team yesterday, probably because he's a dead-ringer for a young Brett Favre. 6 weeks ago the Brew Crew were 4 games under .500. Now they're 10 games over. No cockiness, just pleasant surprise. Watching this young team get better is more fun than seeing Angelina Jolie's back torso tatoos glistening with dripping bath water as she seductively slinks away. Seriously. Well, maybe not SERIOUSLY...but I'm trying to belabor a point here.

Hope your own weekend matinee schedule includes a "Hellboy", some "Hancock" and maybe even an Edith Wharton adaption. Just kidding about that last one. Rock on.

Up next - Colin Powell tells us all that the vial of anthrax was from Dubya's private "forgotten" stock from those wild days

Santa Barbara is so gorgeous that I'm even slated to go play golf this afternoon. For those keeping score at home, this will be my first official outing on the links since just before my wedding. So I'm due for a killer round. Define that however you'd like. Regardless, I'm looking forward to describing my efforts soon for y'all.

While we're loving the vacation atmosphere and catching up with friends and family, DC is warming its cockles over the burning phraseologies lit by Scott McClellan's new book. Like every other pundit and unemployed Bushie, I've got an uninformed opinion to offer. Here goes - SO? Dubya's reputation is set in stone. A soggy self-cleansing weepy like McClellan's won't change a single damn thing. If this changes one single uninformed opinion of this Administration's tenure, I'll eat a Chicago Cubs hat. But, if as I expect, no one will benefit from this aside from McClellan in terms of book sales, Tucker Carlson and Karl Rove must eat a Milwaukee Brewers hat. On camera. Wearing a diaper. So the challenge is out there. Do with it what you will.

As we always love to do on vacation while ample babysitting options abound for Maya, Sarah and I have seen a few movies. Two quick reviews. "Indiana Jones and the Overwrought Pseudo-mystical Bank of Crap Metaphors" - a despicable D rating. Worst movie of the summer. It pains me to say that because I fondly remember seeing the first Indy movie in Ann Arbor with my aunt during a junior high summer and falling in love with the spectacle of this form of event movie. George Lucas is obviously insane. Again. Harrison Ford looks amazing. But if I was asked to pay to see a two-hour pilates class, I fear it might have been more compelling than this mess. Avoid it, if possible. Secondly, as we await opening night for "Sex and the City" (yes, I bought advance tickets for Sarah and me) we played catch-up by seeing "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". My rating - a fun B-minus. Definite rental quality. Better yet, hit the dollar theatres that it's surely bound for in the next month. Jason Segal is sweet, Mila Kundis is surprisingly good for anyone that struggled through the weekly torture that was "That 70s Show", the Judd Apatow cast of hilarious misfits is on its game as always. Silly fun should always be this silly.

Hope your own tee times don't require anything more than a shirt and shoes in the bag today. Rock on.

Jenna, Karl and Maya - to hereafter never be linked again

Wow. August. Who knew so much could happen while Dubya was on another vacation. For those playing catch-up, here's a spare few notes from just the last few days.



Jenna Bush is engaged. To this tool. So the surge is working.

Karl Rove left D.C. to spend more time screwing up his family's future.

And our darling Maya is diggin' her new digs. So my vacation from regular posting is over. Basically. Well, after we head down to Santa Barbara this weekend for a wedding. Maya's psyched to make a sandcastle on the beach. I'm psyched to take a break from unpacking boxes. And I hope y'all are psyched that the fall is right around the corner. Rock on.

"A Mighty Heart" is a minor effort

I'll admit going into the new Angelina Jolie flick, "A Mighty Heart", hoping for a stunner. Instead, it was much smaller and much less engaging than I'd expected. My rating - a bland C-plus. Jolie is wonderful - passionate, controlled, with a flawless accent and complete command of the screen. Some of the surrounding cast is also quite good, although Dan Futterman as the doomed Daniel Pearl is at best a cardboard cutout who seems to have gotten the job because he looks like Pearl's clone. But this is one to wait to rent. Which is really too bad because it will probably disappear from public view with little more than a whisper of respect. This tragic story deserves much more attention. It just feels way too early to have gone after this story on film.

We head back to Seattle this evening after a wonderful week in Santa Barbara. The weather has been unparalleled in it's beauty. Warm, dry, clear days stacked up one after another. But like much of the country this time of year, drought is leading to the threat of a tough fire season. Last night after a artful, killer meal at Emilio's (my sentimental favorite restaurant here for a long list of reasons), we went back to my in-laws house just in time to catch the moonrise. A wildfire many miles away filled the air with a burnt smell and cast the just past full moon with the most stunning bright orange glow. I can't recall ever seeing anything like it. It looked like Mars, surrounded by a halo of ochre clouds. How sad it is to appreciate a view due to forest fires in the unseen distance. Yet how hauntingly beautiful it was.

Hope your own views are beautifully guilt-free. Rock on.

Maya's "Caddyshack" series from Santa Barbara - "Can I play through?"

Maya's "Caddyshack" series from Santa Barbara - "This is a putter!"
Originally uploaded by emaggie

We're enjoying a summer getaway with family. Maya, especially. Sunday night at the club where her 'rents got married way back in '01 was a special treat. Hope you enjoy the pics as much as Maya enjoyed the games. Rock on.