Lesley Yarbrough

Not too shabby. It handles low light situations better than expected and really lets you get in there if you have a steady hand. I already took a crapton of photos on my 3GS and now I’m taking even more. Hope you like cats.

I got a late start this October and I resisted going crazy trying to cram in as many films as I could. As a result I can actually process the films I did watch instead of having vague memories of blood and guts while craving a Disney marathon to make me feel like less of a sicko.

Zombieland (2009)

Zombieland is one of those films that, even after multiple viewings, remains an absolute blast. It nails everything — the gore, the cast, the rules, the humor. Plus it has BILL FUCKING MURRAY. It’s rare when something feels like an instant classic, but methinks people will be enjoying Zombieland for many years to come.

A-

Contagion (2011)

Holy fucking terrifying movie. Yeah I know it’s not “horror” but it scared the shit out of me. I’m already a germaphobe and people already kind of gross me out, this film did not help. It is however, pretty fantastic. Much more documentary than drama, it simply gives an honest view of how events would play out during a global pandemic. Characters are introduced and discarded without sympathy. Everyone is a number, a piece of data, an acceptable loss.  What I most appreciated though, is the characters are human — people who get emotional and, more importantly, make mistakes. There’s no Dustin Hoffman jumping from helicopters here. These are people just trying to do their job, or do what  they think is best for their families. It’s the realism that makes it so terrifying.

Now nobody touch me ever again.

A

The Thing (1982)

One of my favorites. This was playing at the Denver Film Center and was my second chance to catch it on the big screen. I’m not sure what to say, it’s a sci-fi horror classic in every sense of the word. Fantastic effects, great cast, tense atmosphere, plenty of gore…KURT FUCKING RUSSELL.

Diabeetus.

A

Videodrome (1983)

Yeah I’m not sure about this one. I think it might have been more compelling 28 years ago. The effects are good, but the story just wasn’t very interesting for how fucked up it could have been. I like some Cronenberg, others not so much. This one not so much.

C+

Red State (2011)

Points to Kevin Smith for making a film as ballsy as this one. Points for using non-traditional methods to produce and distribute the film he wanted to make. Points for daring to venture outside the comfort zone, both his and ours. That being said, I’m not entirely sure I liked it.

Can you even like a film with such an unflinching view of hatred in this country? It’s not exactly something you watch for enjoyment, despite the fantastic performance from Michael Parks. It’s a maddening, terrifying film because it could (and has) happened. Religious nutbags are scary people, but the things our own government is capable of may be worse.

“People just do the strangest things when they believe they’re entitled. But they do even stranger things when they just plain believe.”

B-

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

This one has grown on me over the years. I was a huge Tim Burton fan and I remember being horribly disappointed when I first saw it in theaters. But that’s something I’ve come to expect in the years since, so maybe that’s why this quirky and beautifully shot film has become more appealing. I think what most disappointed me back then was the ultimately lame explanation behind the headless horseman. He deserved better. Despite that it still looks amazing (I’m watching it on HD-DVD, fist pump) and I’ll admit Burton gets the atmosphere spot on. Watching it in HD really sucks you in…until bits of bad CGI poke their head in to ruin the moment.

Ah well, it gets enough right that it’s fun.

B+

Night of the Creeps (1986)

I don’t know if it’s quality so much as scarcity that has made this one a “must watch” over the years. Well, now it’s out on Blu-ray and I honestly can’t see what all the fuss is about. I’m not saying it’s a bad film, it’s just your standard zombie fare, and I guess I expected more. Fred Dekker is the same guy that directed The Monster Squad, a film I also don’t understand all the hype for, so perhaps there’s a pattern here. Sometimes shit just doesn’t appeal to me, and I’m okay with that. As far as zombie space slugs go, I’ll take Slither.

C+

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

A respectable remake, mostly because Zach Snyder does his own thing with the premise instead of trying to recreate the original. These zombies are faster and meaner and what it lacks in message it makes up for in intensity.

B+

Rubber (2010)

What a bizarre little film. It warns the viewer at the beginning that this will be a story where things happen for no reason, and it delivers. A tire becomes conscious and wanders around the desert killing things with its mind while an audience watches from afar with binoculars. Yep. It’s bizarre, funny, and sometimes oddly beautiful. Major creativity points for this one, even though the whole thing becomes tiresome by the end of the film.

B

All in all a fun month, five new films and four re-watches. On to November, which we have deemed SCI-FI MONTH. Less gore, more films my husband will watch with me. Whee.

Steeeel. All original 1984 Raleigh Tamarack mountain/touring/get-you-arounder. 650b wheels, which thankfully are coming back in style, so finding tubes and tires won’t be a problem. Upon closer inspection they’re actually 26″, lame. Sticking with them for now and then I’ll probably spring for a 650b wheelset from Rivendell next summer.

This will be a fun project bike. Currently on my list are new grips (foam is nasty), tires, pedals, saddle, and probably handlebars. It’s in great shape as is, so it’s already a fun ride as is.

Looking forward to piecing this guy together. I have deemed him: Yukon Cornelius.

I didn’t know much going into this film, other than it was a big hit at SXSW. This is one of those rare occasions where I hadn’t even watched the trailer, so my expectations were pretty much zero. I’m happy to say I was pleasantly surprised by this contemporary Critters in the inner city. Sure it’s flawed and filled with plot contrivances, but the fun you have makes up for it.

The dynamic of the kids keeps you hooked and laughing through the absurdity. Think the Goonies where the gang is comprised of little shits that mug people and use their teenage machismo to battle the gorilla-wolf-motherfuckers that are invading their block. Throw in some over-the-top drug dealers and an overly dramatic climax and you’ve got yourself a silly little film that hearkens back to the 1980s. It’s not a great film, but it’ll make you smile.

Grade: B

De Palma is one of those filmmakers that I don’t particularly like, but I can’t stop watching his films. I love to gripe about him, and yet I keep coming back for more. I think that’s part me wanting to know what the hell everyone else sees in his films and part the fact that they are pretty intriguing on some level. Mostly stylistically. I won’t argue that DePalma is a downright fantastic visual filmmaker, but it’s pretty rare that the story he’s telling lives up to the visuals. In the case of Blow Out, I find parts of the story just plain sloppy and that makes it hard to take the suspense seriously through the finish.

I first saw Blow Out years ago on DVD and remember being none too impressed with the very blatant mashup of Antonioni’s Blowup and Coppola’s The Conversation, albeit with a bit of a giallo twist. But when I saw the Denver Film Center was screening a 35mm print for a DePalma series I jumped at the chance to see in on the big screen. My mind had been changed before by the theatrical experience, maybe here was my chance to see what’s so great about DePalma. While I may not be a believer just yet, I did come out with a bit more of an appreciation for what may very well be De Palma’s best film. It’s not my favorite mind you, that will always be The Untouchables, but from a technical perspective I think Blow Out is the epitome of De Palma the auteur.

John Travolta, unknowingly about to take a 13 year dip in his career, plays a sound man for a low-budget movie studio that ends up recording in the wrong place at the wrong time. After a car plunges into a lake, Jack (Travolta) dives in and rescues the beautiful Sally, played by De Palma’s wife at the time Nancy Allen, but is unable to save the driver of the car..which turns out to be the Governor and presidential hopeful. Knowing that he recorded a gunshot, Jack becomes obsessive in trying to prove that it’s an assassination attempt. Magically film footage turns up as well and Jack has all the evidence he needs to make his case. Enter the half-assed conspiracy plot and a rogue agent that likes killing prostitutes played by John Lithgow. Jack tries to do the right thing and save their lives, but instead he pretty much just sends Sally to her death.

Sloppy plot contrivances aside, the film does a good job of creating suspense for the first 2/3. De Palma masterfully uses sound and his signature split-screen deep focus shots to tighten the action. This is where you really benefit from seeing it on the big screen, where you truly are surrounded by the atmosphere. De Palma constantly manipulates sound, space, and POV to turn the viewer into the voyeur — but only showing you just enough to keep you hooked. The only problem is by the third act you start to not care anymore. But then again function has never been as important as form to Mr. DePalma. The climax looks slick and is a little fucked up, and that’s enough to make it memorable.

This is one of those instances where if you have an interest in the film industry, you definitely get more out of this experience. I’m completely fascinated not just by the sound design and cinematography of the film itself, but also by the process Jack goes through in the film to piece together his own film of the accident, thus piecing together the very film we’re watching. How meta. As I mentioned, the technique here is quite possibly De Palma’s best, it’s just a shame the story never rises above a low-budget thriller.

Grade: B+

With my first century two weeks away, it was high time for a nice long ride. I’ve been riding a lot in the 30-45mi range, but I needed something a bit more challenging. The trek down to Chatfield State Park is something I’ve been meaning to do for a while, and my best guess was that it was about 65 miles round-trip from our house…looks like that was a pretty good guess.

We hit the trails around 8:00am, which is one of my favorite times to be out riding. You catch the early morning folks that are not only courteous when passing, but also greet you with a warm smile and a “good morning”. Later in the day you’re lucky to get a stern “LEFT” before someone whizzes by you. I’m not sure when exactly the shift happens, but I wish these “serious” cyclists would set a better example — because, really, you may think you’re all hot shit, but you’re not above common courtesy..stop being a dick.

What was I saying again? Oh yes, bike fun time.

The South Platte River Trail can get a little crowded once you get south of Alameda and all the branches from the ‘burbs start converging together, but once we made it down to Chatfield the pack really thins. We found out why. There are steep hills heading west into the park — first time I’ve had to come down off the big ring in a while. Shows you how much actual climbing I do.

While I was spinning away I got passed by a dude on a mountain bike. Granted he had a Triple Bypass jersey on, but still, that stung a little. Next time I’ll do better.

Once inside the park you can either wind around by road, or choose as we did to ride the inconsistent and incomplete bike/pedestrian trail. Not the worst thing I’ve ridden, but not entirely sure I’d want to go that route again. Although stumbling across this random cabin may make up for the bit where we had to hike our bikes up the scary, rocky hill. Well that and the stunning lakeside view where we had lunch.

Refueled, we looped around the east side of the lake and back up to the trail. Maybe one of the roughest rides I’ve had to do on a roadie. My hands were sore for the remainder of the ride from the death grip I had on my handlebars. Thankfully we found smooth ground again to get us out of the park.

The headwind we had all the way home was both a blessing and a curse. It sure didn’t help the legs, but boy did it feel great and keep us cool. Wind or no wind, those last few miles home are never easy. So close yet so far. Almost out of water. Another fucking hill. But all was well. 65 miles later there was lemonade…and hamburgers…and hot dogs. It was a good day for team Yarbrough.

This whole adventure started very randomly one evening when I decided to download the Zillow app on my new iPad. Really I was just looking for shit to play with, but then I noticed something. There were houses in our neighborhood (an area we wanted to stay in) that were remarkably within our price range. This was a surprise because everything that had caught our eye before was easily $50k+ outside of our range — and if there was anything that paying off stupid after-college debt taught us, it is to stay within our means. So when we saw that there were houses we could afford, even if one of us lost our job, we decided to act on it.

Thanks to my mom, we had a great realtor (Becky Gregory, highly recommended) and found our home-to-be on the first day we started looking. The third house even. Hah!

However, finding a house and getting pre-approved for a loan were by far the easiest part of the process. The actual loan review process was STRESSFUL. The person reviewing our docs wins the ‘Worst Communicator of the Year’ award for one of the most frustrating experiences in recent memory. Although, after all was said and done, we only closed a day late. Much worse has happen to other people.

So now here we are. Big boy pants. Things are already breaking. Thankfully I’m a good researcher and my husband is blessed with what I call ‘man magic’ (aka the ability to fix random shit) which has already come in handy for things like leaky shower drains and replacing electrical outlets. Next up, ceiling fans…whee.

It’s funny what you get excited about when you own a house. I’ve hugged our new fridge more than once (thank you mom-in-law), our new washer & dryer are from the future (thanks parents), and our king size bed is heavenly (thank you savings). I love lamp.

Did I mention we’re walking distance from Home Depot? Oh noes.

Six years ago I lived in Chicago for all of seven months. I hated it. It was just after college and it was one of those impulse moves where I just needed to get away and try something new. I should have tried something else.

I lived in the wrong place with the wrong person and I was miserable. As an intern who got paid $7/hour, my rent was $750/month..you do the math. I chose the late shift at my internship and worked overtime every day because it meant a free dinner. I worked weekends at a wine store in the suburbs so I could make rent. I vividly remember spending my last $1.50 on a can of ravioli for dinner and hoping I could make it to the next paycheck. When you don’t have money, Chicago fucking blows.

Cut to today. I have money and Chicago, as it turns out, is quite a lovely place to visit. Even for just one night.

On the way to visit my parents, the husband and I stayed one night in a lakeside room at the Congress Plaza Hotel, which would have been more spectacular if hadn’t been gray and rainy the entire time.

A downpour of rain forced us to stay close to the hotel, which is okay because it resulted in the best goddamn steak I’ve had in years. Seriously, Midwesterners, you know how to cook a steak. Bless you.

I wanted to make it out to my favorite movie theater in the world, the Music Box, but it just wasn’t in the cards for this trip. All good though, I ended up with a fantastic dinner, a swank hotel room, and a lovely evening out with the husband. Until next time, Chicago..

I had almost completely forgotten about “supermoon” until the husband and I got home from a late movie and both uttered “oh yeah, supermoon” as we gazed up at the sky. After about 5 seconds he went inside to go to bed, but I was determined to try and take some photos of the shiny, white orb. I went and grabbed the DSLR with a very dead battery and charged it just enough to sneak in a few photos at about 1:00am. The (mediocre) results are below.

We don’t have a tripod, so I’m sure I was quite the sight sprawled out and bent over my car trying to keep the camera steady.