mikefotis.com

Happy Tuesday!

1. Hey! There’s still time to enroll in October classes at the Brave New Workshop!

Adult Everyday Improv 1!

This class is perfect if you’ve never tried improv and want to see what it’s all about!

Thursdays 7:30pm-9:30pm beginning October 29th
Click here for more info!

Special All Women Everyday Level 1 taught by THE Lauren Anderson!

Discover ways to be more present in everyday conversation and cultivate your creativity in this perfect girl’s night out of laughter, discussion and discovery.

Saturdays 10:00am-12:00pm beginning October 31st

Click here for more info!

2. A few nights ago I saw “Zombieland”. To say that I am burned out on zombies is an understatement. In fact, it’s getting to the point that Hollywood should consider making a movie titled, “Zombies vs. Vampires” since apparently these are the only monsters that are worth making movies about.

So it’s to “Zombieland’s” credit that despite my bias, I still enjoyed this movie thoroughly. It was funny and engaging which of course makes it “fungaging”. Jesse Eisenberg is very funny in the movie playing a geek who’s social alienation and attention to detail has helped him survive the zombie apocalypse. Woody Harrelson is delightfully crazy, which apparently is just Woody being Woody and not a character choice.

Whatever. It’s funny. See it. FOTIs.

Mike

Happy Thursday!

1. Last night I saw the new sci-fi alien flick District 9. District 9 is truly one of the most original movies I’ve seen in a long while. Bear in mind, I don’t actually see that many movies, so whether or not this movie truly is original is probably best answered by someone more “sci fi” informed than me. And that person might be the asshole fan boy who sat behind me and at the end of the movie proclaimed with more authority than I think he truly has in any other aspect of his life, “I hated the ending!”

And that was that.  Fan boy had spoken. His penis may never feel the inside of a vagina,  but on this night his fear of dying a virgin was overridden by the rage he felt over D-9’s ending.  I feel pity for those who shared the same District 9 chat board with him later that evening.  Surely his venomous posting was not for the faint of heart.

What I do know is that it turns out I really respond to movies about ugly aliens, segregation, the evil of bio technology and the human impulse to create an “us vs them” scenario when dealing with anything that’s different from the norm or threatens what we consider to be normal, and endings that leave everything in doubt.

Ray felt overdressed when he realized he was the only person who wore riot gear to the BBQ.

D-9 is not a bang bang shoot em’ up alien flick, at least the majority of it isn’t. That’s not to say the movie isn’t gory. It’s gory as all get out. It’s simply that the gore comes in different ways than I expected and is central to what I thought was a brilliant plot device.

I would tell you more about it, but I am not a good enough writer to do so and NOT give away major plot points.

If you’re expecting Independence Day, don’t go. If you want to continue eating shrimp without guilt, don’t go. But if you’re looking for the “thinking man’s” alien movie, then District 9 is right up your alley.

FOTIs.

Happy Monday!

1. Over the weekend, I went to go see Inglourious Basterds. And before I go any further with this review let me just say a few things.

-I think I’ve spelled this movie correctly. I’m going off the poster.

-If you’re in a movie theater with a large group of people don’t divide your group into two and have one section sit behind me and have the other sit directly in front of me. It is very unsettling. So much so that I will switch seats.

Back to the review. I’ve been looking forward to this movie ever since I first caught wind of it oh so many years ago. I love the premise and the promise that that premise holds. My anticipation for this movie had reached such fever levels that it was almost inevitable that I would be let down. Which I was. That’s not to say this is a bad movie. It’s not. In fact, I thought it was pretty awesome. Mr. Tarantino just had to pit his movie against the perfect movie in my mind (my brain movie), which is a formula that as Roger Ebert has famously never said, “is fucking impossible to solve.”

Anyhoo, Inglourious Basterds is an amazingly well written film wherein there is a tense “sit off” involving a table, chairs and 2 or more people every 15 or 20 minutes.  Seriously, I’ve had trouble sitting and talking to people for nearly two days now. I am convinced that such an encounter will lead to my demise. For example, last night I went to Applebee’s and a man who looked like he could’ve been a Nazi in a past life sat down next to me.  It was awful and has only added to my paranoia.  I had heard what a gore fest the movie was, and while there is certainly plenty of it to be had, the real impact of the movie are the moments leading up to the violence. Moments that are wrapped in really wonderful dialogue.

My “brain movie”  skipped those moments in favor of more action.  And my “brain movie” made a terrible mistake.

FOTIs

Happy Wednesday.

1. Sorry for the late blog, but the rain has me so…sad. Just kidding. You know what did make me sad? The new movie about Julia Child and her blogger/stalker, Julie and Julia. Here’s what worked in this movie. Meryl Streep as Julia Child and the scenes involving her life. Here’s what didn’t work…EVERYTHING ELSE.  I am a proud blogger and I reserve the right to take back this next statement, especially if it ever happens for me, but movies about bloggers are fucking boring.  Honestly, this movie felt like a Masterpiece Theater special* you’d only watch if you had a horrible headache and needed background noise to help you sleep.  FOt.

*Or something equally PBS-y.

Happy Thursday!

1. If you look at the top of my site, on the menu bar, you’ll notice a tab labeled, “pics”. In other words, I finally have a photo element to my site that I like.

Q: Mike, it sounds like you just learned how to add photos. I was watching NOVA the other day, and the episode was about brain damaged monkeys that were easily able to do the same thing? Why do you brag about such easy shit?

A: Shut up. This took forever to set up. It was ridiculous. I have shit “pinging” here and shit “pinging” there and shit “pinging” everywhere. It’s awesome. Anyhoo, take a gander. I have photos from the first two nights of TCIF 2008 up right now. I’ll be editing those and adding more photos over the next few days. Woo hoo!

2. Role Models is a really funny movie. Some critics have claimed that the movie dives too far into sentimentality for their tastes.  Fair enough. This movie does do this, but it’s about a pair of losers looking for direction in their lives and kids who are looking for…well, role models.  Sentimentality is an unavoidable side effect.  Whatever, I thought they actually handled that well. FOTIs.

3. Final preview for the BNW holiday show is tonight! Get your tickets for this show and the rest of the run, here!

Talk to ya’ tomorrow!

Mike