Walter, I warned you at four. Five is just….the movie is three months away. Five. In one week. Yeah it’s great, you’re on a plane. You’re testing me, dude.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is based on James Thurber‘s classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker (Wiig) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.
There was a long period in my life when I wanted to be an astronaut. My grandfather worked on the Gemini Program, and I could imagine nothing cooler than the only true exploration left to us. However, then I discovered NASA has a height restriction and demands some kind of adequate math and science skills (not my strongest areas). But I have remained a space geek and historian of NASA’s efforts to explore the cosmos.
Apollo 13 was my favorite non-Star Wars movie for a long, long time (still in the top 5). It, and the amazing HBO mini From the Earth to the Moon, chronicle the amazing efforts of NASA in the 1950’s to 1970’s to pioneer manned spaceflight. We’ve lost the Challenger. We’ve lost the Columbia. Before that, though, it was all but certain that we were going to lose Apollo 13. It’s a story of a group of brilliant people tackling an impossible problem and finding a solution against every possible obstacle. It’s a triumph of the human spirit and not at all a failed mission. Getting Apollo 13 home was every bit as an accomplishment as landing on the moon.
It all starts with the problem that has become an iconic cinema catchphrase, “Houston, we have a problem.” Shortly after a national broadcast, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert were doing routine maintenance; part of which was to stir the oxygen tanks. What happens next, both in the spacecraft and in the control room under the direction of Gene Kranz is gripping film, but if you listen to the mission tapes, the calm problem solving determination the film shows is even more matter-of-fact in real life. These men were explorers, pilots, and geniuses of the highest order.
We live in tough economic times. That’s the understatement of the century. NASA has seen its funding cut and cut to the point where they can’t send safe spacecraft up any more. If you want to go into space, you’re going to have to take your chances in a Soyuz Russian “shuttle” and have fun with that. Why explore? Why pour money into, say, building a moon base or going to mars? Because it’s what we do. We saw a hill and we climbed it. We saw mountains and we scaled them. We saw vast expanses of water and sailed into the unknown. Humanity was meant to explore. And from a purely economic standpoint, setting a goal that cannot currently be achieved by the technological means available forces innovation. The calculator, the microwave and-to a large extent-the PC all came about because of technology developed for space travel. We’re all so downtrodden now. It’s a horrible time. We need a dream. Not “hope for change”, but a real goal. Cure cancer in ten years. Eliminate fossil fuel emitting vehicles by 2025. Go to Mars. We’re crafted to do great things and we’re stagnating as a species. This is my favorite scene from a movie that shows a generation that had no limits on their imagination.
Second trailer out for September 27th thriller Runner Runner along with a new poster. Official synopsis below, but I would be much more stoked about this film if Affleck was wearing the Batsuit and Timberlake the giant shake costume from the SNL “Homelessville” sketch. That’s just me thinking outside the box, though.
Princeton grad student Richie (Justin Timberlake), believing he’s been swindled, travels to Costa Rica to confront online gambling tycoon Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). Richie is seduced by Block’s promise of immense wealth, until he learns the disturbing truth about his benefactor. When the FBI tries to coerce Richie to help bring down Block, Richie faces his biggest gamble ever: attempting to outmaneuver the two forces closing in on him.
About time they finally showed off a little of Christopher Eccleston‘s Malekith, who will be the main villain in Thor The Dark World. Malekith is the leader of the Dark Elves. These are not Legolas and Galadriel choral flower elves. These are cackly, eat-your-face elves. Thor 2 has looked nothing but spectacular and opens October 30th in IMAX and November 7th everywhere else.
Green Arrow has always been one of my favorite DC characters and I was a big fan of season one of the show. Season 2 should be even better with more DCU characters dropping by including Black Canary, Bronze Tiger and Sebastian Blood who will be series regulars. Cynthia Addai-Robinson has just been cast as Amanda Waller (the DCU’s Nick Fury) and she’s bringing her Suicide Squad to the Show. The Suicide Squad is made up of incarcerated villains wearing bomb collars to control them. They do a black ops mission for the goverment; they go free…or more often get another mission under threat of the aforementioned bomb collar. Season one also had plenty of cameos and additions to the cast from the DCU including: Huntress, Deadshot, Deathstroke, China White, Shado, Roy Harper and Merlyn.
Arrow Season 2 premieres October 9th on The CW at 9 p.m. EST.
Killing Time 