Brats & Beer » Reviews

It’s a story as old as the Internet itself, which admittedly isn’t very old at all. A group of friends get fed up with the content/service the old media companies are offering, decide they can do it better on their own, and start building a community. Dan at ArmchairGM sent me a note the other day letting me know about their project, and it sounds pretty cool: they are building a wiki-based sports community cover all the major sports leagues and college conferences, complete with news, commentary and franchise histories. It’s build on MediaWiki, the same platform as Wikipedia and many other wikis, so anyone and everyone is free to contribute. The Green Bay Packers section is looking a little sparse, so any of you Green & Gold boosters with a little spare time should head over and start filling in the gaps. (Say Dan, when the VC money starts rolling in, maybe you’ll remember the little people?)

Due to the contractual commitments of being a husband, I was made to sit through Memoirs of a Geisha last night. Oi vey! Or maybe I should say nante koto da! I wasn’t really expecting to like this movie much to begin with, I mean it’s the story of a geisha girl trying to find love and happiness, but it was awful. Dreadful. Painfully slow. I’m not the sort of person who needs explosions and car crashes every three seconds or anything, but this flick made Dune look like a light romp.

At the very least I was expecting the film to look beautiful, but director Rob Marshall (Chicago) made the artistic choice here to mute all color out of the film. Practically every frame was dark and gray. As for the cinematography, Geisha answers the question of how many consecutive scenes can open with a dolly shot following someone through a door.

Of course, the worst thing about this film is that it stars two Chinese actresses in the lead roles. Not only is it insulting to the Japanese but to Americans as well. Is Hollywood that convinced that the masses are that dumb. Maybe we are, but you don’t have to rub our noses in it like that. It does feature the very fine Ken Watanabe, but his performance here is so stilted and subdued that it took a long time before I even recognized him. In fact, this film almost made me wish I was watching The Last Samurai; at least it has good looking scenery to distract you while it denigrates Japanese culture and history.

But don’t just take my word for it: Mrs. BratsNBeerGuy, who read both Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha and Mineko Iwasaki’s autobiography Geisha, A Life before seeing this movie, was sorely disappointed. She recommends skipping the movie and just reading the books. Personally, I’ll stick to Kurosawa films.

The wife and I finally got around to seeing King Kong this weekend, and I have to say Peter Jackson really knows how to make a big blockbuster movie. The action was bold, the special effects were great, and the cinematography was brilliant. Jackson also gets points for recognizing a film that needs to be remade and how to produce a remake in a way that makes it worthwhile. Unlike the 1976 version from Dino de Laurentiis, which tried to update the story, Jackson brings the original 1930s adventure story to life through the advances in special effects technology. My only real criticism of the film is its length. At better than three hours long, there are parts I think he could have edited out to trim and tighten the film, especially when he just lets the camera linger on the scenery or Naomi Watts. (Which wouldn’t normally be a problem, but after a couple hours let’s keep the story moving along, huh?) Overall, though, Kong is a fine flick and a fitting followup for Jackson to his Lord of the Rings trilogy.

With Christmas just around the corner you might be thinking about what to get your favorite Packer fan, and since it is Bear Week I would recommend Mudbaths & Bloodbaths: The Inside Story of the Bears-Packers Rivalry. Mrs. BratsNBeerGuy gave this book to me as a gift a few years ago and it is hilarious. Authors Gary D’Amato and Cliff Christl, both reporters for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, have collected stories told by players, coaches, and reporters about all the great games and personalities that have been a part of the Packers-Bears rivalry. It covers the early dislike between Curly Lambeau and Papa Bear Halas, and later the intense personal rivalry between Halas and coach Lombardi. There is also a chapter devoted to the 20 most memorable meetings between Green Bay and Chicago, such as the 1980 game in which Chester Marcol caught his own blocked field goal and ran for a touchdown, the only playoff game between the Bears and Packers in 1941, and the Monday nighter that William “The Refrigerator” Perry scored a touchdown on a goal line run.

For any fan of the Packers, Mudbaths & Bloodbaths is a must read. You can probably find it at your local book store or you can find it online at Amazon.

About the best thing I can say about Pride & Prejudice is that it isn’t horrible. Mrs. BratsNBeerGuy dragged me out to see the latest movie version of Jane Austin’s love Victorian-style novel and I suspect many of you husbands and boyfriends out there will get the same request this weekend or over the holidays. My advice is to just go, get it over with, and maybe you’ll win yourself a few brownie points in the process. I’m sure your significant other deserves a couple hours of your time. But it is a long couple of hours, believe me.

Call me insensitive or unromantic, but I just find it hard to muster up a lot of interest in the matrimonial wheeling and dealings of Victorian girls. And all the “Mr. Darcy” and “Mr. Bingley” junk really gets old after awhile. But like I said, it isn’t a bad movie. The acting’s okay and the production is quite good, actually. (I always hate those period pieces that make Victorian England look spotless and beaming. It wasn’t, not at all.) So if you have to go, just go and try hard to stay awake. Kharma might come back to thank you.