Adam Selvidge's Website Blog
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off: With Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Satya Bhabha, Kieran Culkin. A 20-something Toronto indie rocker’s adventures in getting and keeping jobs, avoiding being kicked out of his apartment, and surviving encounters with the seven evil exes of the new girl in town on whom he has a crush. A sorta sequel / parallel story to the 2010 live active film, features the same cast but this time it’s all animated to great effect. There’s some well done misdirection and welcome modifications to the story you think you’re getting, with animation that’s rough around all the right...
A Guardian Science Fiction Book of the Year. Mimi is drowning in the world’s trash. She’s a ‘waste girl’, a scavenger picking through towering heaps of hazardous electronic detritus. Along with thousands of other migrant workers, she was lured to Silicon Isle, off the southern coast of China, by the promise of steady work and a better life. But Silicon Isle is where the rotten fruits of capitalism and consumer culture come to their toxic end. The land is hopelessly polluted, the workers utterly at the mercy of those in power. And now a storm is gathering, as ruthless local...
The Talk of the Town: Directed by George Stevens. With Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman, Edgar Buchanan. An escaped prisoner has to prove his innocence to a stuffy law professor with the help of a spirited school teacher. I bought a dvd of this silly movie in the hopes that there was going to be some good Glenda Farrell content and while she’s great in her two scenes, I do wish there was more. She’s not the main character by any stretch, that’s goes to the two leading men (Cary Grant / Ronald Colman) and Jean Arthur. It’s one...
DC League of Super-Pets: Directed by Jared Stern, Sam J. Levine. With Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski. Krypto the Super-Dog and Superman are inseparable best friends, sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime side by side in Metropolis. However, Krypto must master his own powers for a rescue mission when Superman is kidnapped. I think this is the final $8 4k disc I got from Best Buy and another that I’m not entirely sure I should have purchased to have in my physical collection, as I don’t think I’ll be rewatching this very much. Buy On Amazon!
The Wizard of Oz: Directed by Victor Fleming, King Vidor. With Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr. Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others’ wishes. Best Buy had the 4k disc on sale for just $8 and this was one of my mom’s most favorite films, so I think I’m going to make a tradition of watching it...
Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Directed by David F. Sandberg. With Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler. The film continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word “SHAZAM!” is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam. Another $8 4k blu-ray, but I’m not entirely convinced that this was worth even that much. It’s a well enough made movie but I don’t get enough enjoyment from re-watching it to really justify having it in my collection. Buy On Amazon!
Why are some people and organizations more inventive, pioneering and successful than others? In business, it doesn’t matter what you do, it matters WHY you do i One of the books for my local PMI chapter, this book was adapted from the above 18 minute Ted Talk, and while the concept is great and greatly explained, the book doesn’t offer much more than stretching the material well past it’s breaking point with limited new material and repetition of the same points over and over again. It’s still good material, but there’s only about three examples here, unlike some of the...
It Follows: Directed by David Robert Mitchell. With Bailey Spry, Carollette Phillips, Loren Bass, Keir Gilchrist. A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter. I watched this after watching a different anxiety inducing movie and I still feel this is one of the most horrifying, terrifying, and anxious movie I’ve ever seen. Buy On Amazon!
Pacific Rim: Directed by Guillermo del Toro. With Charlie Hunnam, Diego Klattenhoff, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi. As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse. I got a new 4k player for the holidays and this is the film that I chose to be the first one played on it. It was a good choice! Buy On Amazon!
Moonfall: Directed by Roland Emmerich. With Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer. A mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sends it hurtling on a collision course toward earth. Did you know that films that are in the “science fiction’ category don’t actually have to have any real science in them? Buy On Amazon!
