theschlaepfer
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🍿 Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, 2023 - ★★★★
Hard to rate when I’m still waiting for the conclusion! I think the opening scene was interesting, but then the two exposition dump scenes that followed were actually shockingly boring. Usually these movies are great at the “show, don’t tell” thing. Or at least “show while telling”. But instead we have a three minute scene of two photographs, a cassette player, and Tom Cruise moving his eyes.
There are a few other moments like that in the hours that follow (and I have my own dislikes of certain plotting decisions or editing choices), but crucially, the action is still as exciting as ever. And that’s really what we’re all here for, right? I’ve enjoyed the way the McQuarrie movies has melded the intrigue and cat-and-mouse nature of De Palma’s original film with the pure spectacle extravaganza of Brad Bird’s. It hits a really nice balance for me.
This one might be a little low on the spectacle, but it’s one of two parts. Gotta save the biggest stuff for last. I expect to read a news story about Tom Cruise falling off of a satellite or something this year.
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🍿 Past Lives, 2023 - ★★★★
I need to watch this again when I’m not so tired. This captures so well that giddy feeling of new love. Or old love maybe, in this case.
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Some photos from a stroll yesterday evening.
<img src=“https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/90877/2024/p1020591-2.jpg" width=“400” height=“600” alt=“An auto shop just after sunset. A sign reads “Sports Car Performance”. Green trim lighting illuminates this sign and others. A red car is halfway covered underneath it.">
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🍿 About Time, 2013 - ★★★★
Sappy, sentimental movie for sappy, sentimental people. I consider myself lucky to fall into that category.
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🍿 It Could Happen to You, 1994 - ★★★
Silly and fluffy but cute. Bummer that it turns into a courtroom drama for a while at the end.
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🍿 Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, 2010 - ★★★½
Better than the first, if only for the 👏💃🌲“CAMP ROCK”🕺🌲👏 scene.
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🍿 Camp Rock, 2008 - ★★★
2008… what a strange era in history…
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Speed Governor
Yesterday, Scott Wiener announced a bill that would see speed governors installed in all vehicles sold in California starting in 2027. I think this is fantastic. And not just the term “speed governor” which evokes the image of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Mach 5.
I am so sorry.
Anyways I think it’s ridiculous that we just sell cars that can go 100+ mph and think humans can resist the temptation. But some of the biggest benefits might come at lower speeds.
If you get hit by a car traveling about 25 mph, there’s about a 10% chance of you dying, and a 25% chance of you getting severely injured. That’s the standard speed limit for most neighborhoods (but frankly depending on the neighborhood that can feel too fast).
Say someone’s late for work and trying to shave off a minute of their drive, and they hit you at a speed of about 40 mph. Your chances of death just jumped to 50% and your chance of severe injury is 75%. Basically it’s a small miracle if you’re at all ok after that. 35 mph is a standard for busier city streets and arteries, and I’d wager most people go at least 40 in a 35 zone.
I greatly dislike the culture around speeding. Especially people bragging about how much time they shaved off their 30 minute commute. The fact is speeding often doesn’t get you places noticeably quicker – the risk:reward ratio is terrible. Maybe you save 5 minutes: what are you going to do with all that time on your hands?
That being said, it’s not uncommon for me to realize I’m speeding because I got distracted by something and wasn’t paying close attention. I think it’s a shame we built our country’s transportation infrastructure around a system where people die if a human gets too distracted, and then built our economy around things that distract humans.
Regardless of the reason for speeding, we don’t need it. If we can save lives by limiting the speed of cars, then we needed it to happen yesterday.
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Finished reading The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo 📚
Fun, lightweight read - finished it in two sittings. A nice way to start my goal of reading a book each month. It was a bit difficult at times to wrap my head around the terminology, especially because the murders are intrinsically connected to traditional Edo-era building design. But the translation is explanatory in a way that feels fairly natural. I’m not entirely certain of the history of the book but it feels like it must have been a serial release because nearly every chapter ends on a cliffhanger. In any case, I’m looking forward to reading more like this!
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Kale vs. Donuts
In this episode of the Techdirt podcast there’s a particularly great metaphor Ravi Iyer uses to describe bad algorithms that reinforce content you don’t want to see more of, and yet draws you in:
I will eat donuts, and so I kind of “want” donuts, by one definition of “want.” I will eat them if you put them in front of me. But I don’t aspire to eat more donuts. I want to eat healthier food, right?
When my wife was pregnant a couple years ago, Instagram started serving her more and more posts from people who had traumatic birthing stories, or who had lost babies, either during childbirth or soon after. When something like that comes up, you can’t exactly look away. Especially for her (and for me) being a hardcore empath. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that people post about their real stories, in fact I encourage it. But for Instagram to identify that she was more “engaged” with these posts and then to say “I bet she wants more!” is pretty messed up. It’s a negative spiral that might have driven her to spend more time on the platform (thus increasing her value as a user, from Instagram’s view) but produced a very negative mental impact on her. That’s what people talk about when wanting to get away from the algorithm.
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🍿 Design for Living, 1933 - ★★★★
"Maybe I want to be a hooligan!!"
I haven't seen a ton of Pre-Code movies, but man, when Ernst was Pre-Code, he really was Pre-Code. Surprising in a lot of ways, but also really funny. Lags a bit in the last act, which I think is a bit intentional to contrast Plunkett's boring idea of life with George and Tom's hooliganism.
I've now seen Trouble in Paradise, The Shop Around the Corner, and this out of Lubitsch's films. So far I think Trouble in Paradise is my favorite, followed by The Shop Around the Corner, then this, but they're all really great movies.
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🍿 The Luck of the Irish, 2001 - ★★½
In America we don’t believe in kings. We believe in baseball. *throws spear*
This is really just an alternate universe Psych episode. The abrupt “This Land is Your Land” singalong elicited audible gasps.
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🍿 The Boy and the Heron, 2023 - ★★★★★
First of all, what a time to be alive. This is my second Miyazaki film watched in theaters in its initial release. It's an awesome experience. The Wind Rises played fairly straightforward, with some surprises but mostly just a very enjoyable, masterfully crafted movie. The Boy and the Heron, while set in the same time period, couldn't be more different in pacing and tone and almost every other aspect. It's a film so unconventional that there's truly no way to know where things will turn next, and each twist and turn in Miyazaki's fabulous dreamscape delights and disgusts in ways only he can.
The first time I saw My Neighbor Totoro I had a high fever, it was late at night and I was in a foreign country. My sister and I watched it to keep my spirits up. Totoro is so dreamlike ("I thought it was a dream!" "But it wasn't a dream!" 🌱), that the next day I remember wondering which parts of that movie were real and which parts were a result of my fever. Miyazaki's worlds are so beautiful and rooted in traditions of our world, but governed by rules of another world entirely. Like a dream, they inherit characters and motifs, but then bend them in ways you'd never expect. In the end you wake up realizing that it didn't make a whole lot of sense, and yet somehow, in a more elemental way, of course it did.
I have a lot of thoughts on the specifics of this movie, but I want to avoid spoilers as much as possible, so here are some bullet points:
• So many parts reference past Miyazaki worlds and themes, which is fun as a fan.
• There were so many really laugh-out-loud funny moments, and a few seriously gruesome moments.
• There are some creatures in this that I imagine will be merchandised the heck out of and I will buy every bit of it.
• The ending I thought was a bit odd in the moment, but has grown on me a lot while thinking about it, and right now I don't feel like it's worth a mark against the film.
• We watched the dub and I have to say everyone did a fantastic job. Robert Pattinson especially deserves a lot of praise for his role. I honestly forgot it was him until the credits rolled. Florence Pugh also really knocked it out of the park. And Willem Dafoe's role is very short but the gravitas of his voice lends itself so well to the scene.
Still picking up the pieces of it but I'm coming away from this just so grateful that this man and this studio is still making movies (and apparently are in the early stages of another!). If you are on the fence, definitely see this, and see it in theaters while you still can!
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2024 goals
This is a non-comprehensive list of some things I want to achieve in the new year. Maybe I’ll set reminders to check in on this as the year goes on.
Downsize
I want less stuff. Every time we move there’s a box or two full of random stuff that just sits in another box or drawer until we move again. Not great! But also so tedious to go through! I’d love to take a week and just really decide what things I need, and what things are weighing me down. And also figure out eBay.
Read a book each month
I read my first full books since high school this year, and I enjoyed it a lot. I always envy readers and bookworms. I have a lot of other media I like that can eat away at my free time (games, shows, films). Zelda especially has just torpedoed my free time. I’ve loved every second of it, but wow is there a lot to do in that game.
Getting off topic. Point is: time short, want read book. I got a couple for Christmas so I’ll start there! To make it more of a tangible goal, I’ll try to read one book each month. I can already tell you I’ll fail but at least it gives me a framework.
Brush up on a language
I took three different languages in school: Spanish in junior high, Latin in high school, and German in college. I’d like to brush up on either Spanish or German in the new year.
Spanish is vastly more practical for me because of where I live, and would be used weekly if not daily.
German is of interest to me because my family is from Switzerland. Ideally I’d love to learn the Swiss-German my extended family speaks, but learning resources are scarce. And nearly all of them are fluent in English so it’s not a pressing matter. Just would feel nice to connect more with that family history.
Then there’s an entirely impractical side of me that wants to learn Japanese. Japan is the Switzerland of Asia in a lot of ways and visiting this past summer made me want to go back so badly. Probably has the most uphill battle to learn though, so maybe I’ll leave that for another year.
My tentative plan is to put on some videos and such while I do dishes or other chores, when my ears and brain are a captive audience!
Establish a workout rhythm
This is such the stereotypical New Year’s resolution, but yeah, I’d like to get fit. Specifically, I want to know what it’s like to feel “in shape”. Especially since becoming a father, there are so many things in my daily life that I think would be so much easier if my muscles were just a bit stronger or my heart and lungs a little more efficient.
How am I going to do this? Not sure yet. There’s a gym club near us that offers childcare so I might try that for a bit. I’ve tried running before and I liked it when I could find the time for it. And Fitness+ gets flack but I’ve done quite a few exercises through it and it’s honestly quite enjoyable.
I’ll end up doing a combo. Or nothing at all. But maybe me saying this into the internet will provide some sense of accountability. Ideally I just want to get into a sustainable rhythm. Doesn’t have to be much, just something.
Use public transit?
This is a tough one for me. Right now I live in the mountains on a somewhat steep, busy, and narrow road with a lot of blind turns. This makes riding a bike a bit treacherous from my home, especially after dark. When the days start to get longer, I’d like to try riding my bike to the bus station and ride the bus to work more often. It tags on quite a bit of extra time in my commute, but I’ve just grown to really resent driving recently. Tough in a car-dependent area of a car-dependent nation.
Unlock the power of Costco
At the end of this year we went to Costco a few times and I forgot how much is there in terms of building blocks for easy meals. I want to come up with some meal plans using Costco stuff to cut down on grocery costs and also make dinner a bit easier at the end of the day.
Well that’s about it. I have some other vague goals of journaling or meditating but I can’t really put it into words yet.
See you in a few months, wall of text.
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🍿 It's a Wonderful Life, 1946 - ★★★★★
First time seeing the colorized version. I definitely still prefer the original, but it’s a curiosity worth watching if you like this movie and watch it every year.
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