Unabashed

Volcano in Chile, Earthquake in China, Cyclone in Myanmar. Holy crap, folks, the End Days are upon us.

Edit: Steve reminds me that this has been the most active tornado season in decades. Something I should have remembered, since I live just down the road from tornado alley, and happen to work in an industry that responds to tornado path damage recovery. Oh well. I never said I was smart.

written by Matt Mitchell \\ tags: chile, china, cyclone, earthquake, myanmar, volcano

I just realized I’ve been confusing Neil Patrick Harris and Patrick Nielsen Hayden. I hate when that happens, but I think I’ve got it worked out now.

Continue.

written by Matt Mitchell

It isn’t often you see a movie and feel fundamentally changed afterwards. But that’s what I feel after watching I Am Legend with Will Smith yesterday. Don’t worry, there are no plot spoilers here.

1. I’ll never listen to Bob Marley the same again. The legendary Legend tune “One Love” was played numerous times during the movie, but in one scene Will Smith’s character sings it, in a scene which ripped my heart out and stomped it flat. I still can’t get over that scene.
2. If you don’t like movies that can depress you, I recommend you stay away from this one, as great as it is. It is moving. Stirring. All those glossy words reviewers use to describe movies fit this one, but with I Am Legend, they resound truth in its essence. This movie is gripping.
3. The true horror of this movie has nothing to do with the mutated humans. It has everything to do with Will Smith’s character, Robert Neville, and his tormented soul. There’s more angst in that heart of his than, thankfully, most people will ever know. Of course, you don’t know this at the beginning, you only know he’s a survivor of some kind of apocalyptic scourge. From there, you learn in blips how truly bad things really are, and then they get worse.

I won’t give anything away other than to say this movie affected me more than almost any other movie ever has. And not in good ways. But don’t take this to mean that I hated the movie. No, I loved it, even though I was saddened by it beyond expression. It’s nothing like the sappy Armageddon, with scenes designed to make you cry by some great heroic feat at the end of a life, no, it was much, much more than that. This movie moves with a tortured soul of its own, and Will Smith’s marvelous performance gives that soul the voice it needs.

written by Matt Mitchell \\ tags: Bob Marley, I Am Legend, One Love, Will Smith

My DSL has been down for about eight hours. I called to report it, worked my way through the various AT&T phone menus (only to be hung up on three times) before finally talking to a warm body.

“I’d like to report that my DSL is not working,” I told the lady who finally answered.

“The internet is not working, it’s all down,” she replied.

“All of it?” I asked.

“All of it.”

At which point I began looking out the window for looters and listening for sirens and other proofs that the apocalypse was upon us.

written by Matt Mitchell