What's up. Back after a fun weekend, and feeling slightly more energized than usual for a Monday. Maybe it's because of the crazy day I had at Disneyland on Saturday, which saw some friends and I practically open and close the park?
First off, thanks to Seth E for providing free tix to Disney - and not only were the tickets free, but they were also good for entry into not just the main park but to California Adventure as well. I'd never been to CA Adventure before, and even if it is a somewhat odd mix of traditional amusement park-style rides and Disney rides imported from the various Disney World parks, it was cool to check it out, even if only for the new Toy Story ride, which was pretty sweet. The ride is pretty similar to Buzz Lightyear, except much better in that thanks to some nifty "4-D" technology, you play a variety of carnival-style shoot-em-up games where you can actually see the virtual objects you fire on the screen in front of you. The effect is pretty fun overall. I also went on the Finding Nemo ride for the first time - nothing spectacular but cool in that you get to ride around in a submarine. I think my favorite part of the day though may have been just sitting and watching all the kids participate in the Jedi Academy training thing over in Tomorrowland. The looks on their faces as they get called up to do battle with Darth Vader is just hilarious and priceless, and I can only imagine the joy a young me circa 1989 would have had at the opportunity to trade lightsaber blows with cinema's greatest villain. All in all, a fun if not extremely exhausting day. By about 10 pm on Saturday, I had hit a wall from which I would need all day Sunday to recover. I guess when you go to Disneyland with a couple of hardcore Disney afficianados like Seth and Kyle O, there is no rest for the weary. Seriously, those guys could start a Disney blog. But anyways, it was good times at Disneyland, and the pics are all up on Facebook.
One interesting observation about Disneyland, which I may have noted before ... is that its interesting just how relatively "dark" the classic attractions like Pirates of the Carribean and the Haunted Mansion are, especially when you look at them in comparison to newer rides based on Pixar flicks, etc. It's strange to me that Disney has never really tried to emulate either of those two rides with a third or fourth attraction that take you on a similar journey through some other pulp fiction staple. I think some of the rides over in Florida, at Epcot and MGM, have that same style of animatronic magic (Universe of Energy, the Great Movie Ride, etc.), but at Disneyland in particular, rides like Buzz Lightyear seem positively candy-coated compared to the foreboading, cavernous journeys into the heart of darkness that some of the older rides offer. Those rides positively bleed atmosphere, and its something that to me is missing from some of the newer attractions. Look at the Finding Nemo ride - the cramped submarines and mysterious underwater setting at first suggest the ride's original, pulpy theme of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. To then encounter cute, CGI fish is a bit of a strange juxtaposition, to say the least. In theory, Star Tours offers up that same blend of pulp sensibilities and Disney magic - it is simply handicapped by its outdated technology. It makes you wonder what would have happened had Lucas and Disney created an animatronic Star Wars-themed ride that was more classical in style and less reliant on soon-to-be-obsolete technical wizardry. It's interesting, because to me the main highlight of Star Tours to me, at this point, is all of the little detail that surrounds the ride, with the motion simulator ride itself now being a mere detour. It goes to show what stands the test of time as opposed to what doesn't.
One other trend in rides which I hope has had its day: jerkiness. For example, the Indiana Jones ride. IS this ride really any better thanks to all of its constant bumps and jerks? To me, the bumps just distract you from admiring the scenery and from feeling immersed in the ride. They seem artificial and not an organic part of the experience. To me, I'd much rather that a ride give you a smooth yet still exhilirating experience that compliments its storyline rather than overload on the shakes.
- Alright, enough about Disney ... on to some other stuff ...
- Well, for once I was right in my movie box office predictions - Get Smart handily whooped The Love Guru. To me though, this one was pretty inevitable. Mike Myers is riding a wave of negativity, and there was simply no escaping it as the movie opened - thanks to bad previews and worse reviews, Myers was handicapped from the start on this one. Myers' brand of comedy isn't yet dead, I don't think, but it definitely is on life support. I think part of the problem is that the Pitka character really did not capture any kind of cultural zeitgeist. It came too much from Myers' own internal experience. With Wayne Campbell - it hit one something. A certain kind of post-80's wannabe suburban rocker. There was something there, that hint of truth. Dieter touched on our perception of strange European cultures. Linda Richman was the verklempt Jewish mother we all know. Even Austin Powers - it hit on something in pop culture, and was a brilliant satire of 60's psychedelia and camp, from Batman to James Bond to the Beatles. It hit a nerve. But what is the Love Guru? The character doesn't even vaguley resemble anyone familiar in real life or in pop culture. It seems to come out of some extremely obscure place in Mike Myers' experience with Deepack Chopra and eastern philosophy - but there's no anchor to it, nothing that makes it familiar or relatable. I mean - look at Adam Sandler as Zohan. Do most people fully get the Israeli satire? No - but you can feel that there is an accuracy in the parody, and it's what helps make the character funny. Even Borat - the character is a patchwork of all kinds of foreighner stereotypes, and it comes together into a brilliant blend - it's what Sascha Baron Cohen is so brilliant at doing. But at some point, Mike Myers went too deep into himself, and lost touch with the world around him. I hope he can get out of it and come back with another truly great movie or character that resonates rather than falls flat. Or if all else fails, then dammit all, just make Wayne's World III. Schwing!
- Alright, I think that wraps things up for today. Seth, I'll be expecting my free lunch soon ...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment