Two friends and I went out to dinner and a movie in Palo Alto tonight. We had a wonderful dinner at Evvia; I had the Katsiki Yiouvetsi, which is a goat casserole braised with pearl onions, artichokes, and feta cheese. I’d never had goat meat before, and found it to be quite tasty.  [...]

Mike, Diane and I went to Santa Cruz today to watch Blade Runner: The Final Cut.  Afterward we stopped by Bookshop Santa Cruz.  Aside from a few books, I faced a dilemma as to whether I’d rather buy the George W. Bush Voodoo Kit or the Albert Einstein Action Figure.  Albert won.

I just bought a cap and gown, so I guess I will go to commencement after all.
Herff Jones apparently must make them from some ridiculously cheap fabric, since they say not to wash or dry clean them.  I presume they must use better fabrics for the rental ones so that they can at least be [...]

Three friends and I took BART to San Francisco last night to see The Golden Compass at the Metreon.  If I’d gotten around to it sooner, we wouldn’t have had to go 45 miles each way to do it.  Prior to that, the longest trip I’d taken to see a film was 35 miles from [...]

In late 2001 I was visiting friends in Oregon, and we decided to see The Fellowship of the Ring, Peter Jackson’s film of the first book of J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.  I was torn between excitement to see it and fear that it might not compare favorably to the book (since most [...]

Based on the fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman, Stardust is one of the best fantasy films I’ve seen in a long time.  The acting, cinematography, costumes, makeup, and special effects are all top-notch, but the key is a very engaging story.  I expect that Stardust will be nominated for many awards.

The Princess Bride, 20 years later
When it first hit the theaters, I didn’t even want to see it.  Fortunately for me, my friends forced me to go.  It’s in my top ten list.

On Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow writes about the novel The Execution Channel by Ken Macleod, a thriller that includes as a plot element an internet video feed of people being tortured and killed. No one knows where the signal originates. Sound familiar?  Long live the new flesh!

I saw Shrek the Third with friends this evening.  It was fairly entertaining, but not up to the standard set by the first two films.  The story is weaker and consequently less engaging for adults.  For me, the highlight was a new character played by Eric Idle.
I rate it 8 on a scale of 0 [...]

On Friday night we watched Viva Zapata, Elia Kazan’s 1953 biopic, starring Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn. It is well thought of (IMDB 7.6), but I found it an uneven collection of performances that were within themselves jewels. Once such scene takes place when Zapata is speaking with Mexico’s new president Francisco I. Madero. [...]