I was born in a beauty salon...

Well, my life's about to get a lot more busy. Classes start up next week and both schools are already abuzz with students and doings.

Spent most of last week in the pictureseque RM of Gimli, Manitoba. My brother-in-law got married and many people from my wife's family came in for the wedding. We all stayed in a quaint little cabin.

Went to see Mr Bean's Holiday on Tuesday and I don't think I've been as disappointed in a film since Star Wars: Episode One. Many of the reviews I've seen since have stated that you either like Mr. Bean or you don't; your response to the movie rests on this. I like Mr. Bean, and have for many years, but I HATED this movie. I hardly laughed at all. Most of the good bits were just rehashed (in one way or another) for more interesting bits of the television show. There was a subtextual theme of art and filmmaking (Bean travels to Cannes and wackiness ensues at the Cannes Film Festival), but frankly I couldn't have cared less. Instead of Willem Dafoe, I thought the role of the arrogant, self-absorbed filmmaker should have been played by Rowan Atkinson. Heck, if Mike Myers can do it in every Austin Powers film, why not? Most people in North American only know Atkinson as Bean, but his work as the charmingly wicked Blackadder is far superior to the mostly-silent character. Allowing Atkinson to do a Blackadder-like character within a Mr. Bean film would give some exposure to this talented comedic-actor.

While I was sitting in the theatre watching Mr Bean go through the motions, I got to thinking about sketch-based films and movies that should be short subjects. Mr Bean works as a half hour show, but when he screws up for the umpteenth time and, one more time, can't manage to get on the train for Cannes, we move past funny. Most Saturday Night Live films fall into this category: it was funny as a sketch, but a 90 minute film is pushing it. Then I began thinking about the number of trailers for upcoming movies that seem to be trying to make a full-length feature out of a 10 minute concept. Take Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, for instance. Yes, there's a talented cast (Jenna Fischer, John C. Reilly) and crew (Judd Apatow) but is a full-length spoof of Walk the Line really necessary?

I know a woman, became a wife

I highly recommend that readers in the city of Winnipeg go check out Theatre by the River's production of Shakespeare's Two Gentleman of Verona, which is running at the Cricket Pavilion at Assiniboine Park. Suggested donation is $10, and there's really no reason NOT to check it out. The play runs August 19, 21-26. Go. Now.

The play is thought to be Shakespeare's first, and, while not as sophisticated as later plays, establishes themes and motifs he would return to in later comedies: the inconstancy of love and the ridiculousness of courting rituals, disguise. And there's a few amusing bits with a dog. The play is rarely performed, so this is an excellent opportunity to see a competent (and, at times, inspired) production of a lesser-known Shakespeare play.

The Theatre by the River company does an excellent job with the material, particularly in adding some extra comedic bits with the outlaws and the characterization. Brent Hirose (who I'm pretty sure was in my sister-in-law's play "The Apple-seed Girl") turns Sylvia's father into a George W. Bush character. In the hands of lesser actor, ALL the laughs would come from this and the character would seem an ineffectual clown, but Hirose allows the father to be both slow and menacing when needs be. My favourite interpretation was Megan Herkert's take on Speed, Valentine's servant. In a striking business-suit and with an ever-present cellphone, Speed becomes a capable personal assistant. She's not a clown; when she chides her master for his love, it bares the weight of experience. The friendship of Speed and Launce becomes one of unrequited love, with Speed's lines tweaked to suggest her affection and longing for Launce. The scene in which Speed reads the qualities of Launce's love becomes almost heart-wrenching. I thought this (particularly Herkert's impressive range) added a missing level of sophistication to the play.

The cast (Derek Leenhouts, Rod Beilfuss, Lisa Nelson -who must have darn-near froze in her costume, Mel Marginet, Matt TenBruggencate - who, in defiance of WC Fields' mantra, works with the dog, Robbyn Michal, and James Firby) show that creative and unique theatre experiences are still possible in the city.

PS Superbad is supergood.

"Save it for the talk room, son"

It's hard to believe that we're nearing the end of summer. In fact, I refuse to believe it. I'm saying it's still July 5th. Who's with me?

The next week holds meetings and family things. I'm not sure which I'm looking forward to more.

Figure four is half of eight

I saw Stardust on the weekend. It's very good. Michelle Pfeiffer has followed up her 5 year hiatus from filmmaking with two of the best villians of the year: Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray and the witch Lamia in Stardust.

I run hot and cold when it comes to fantasy. I didn't read a lot of it as a kid. I've never read A Stitch in Time or The Hobbit. I've never read any Robert Jordan, though I have made it through the Lord of the Rings and the Narina books, but even these highly enjoyable works have done little to prompt me to venture further into the world of magic. Neil Gaiman, whose works, which include the novella on which the film is based, were first suggested to me by the pixie-ish Jaimie, has become a favourite author.

I sit and think about the day that you're going to die

Saw a number of movies this weekend, and all of them were pretty good. Firstly, there was The Simpsons Movie/Bourne Ultimatium double bill at the drive-in. Drive-ins are pretty cool, and take me back to the simpler times of my childhood. In today's environmentally conscious age, however, I believe that idling my car to recharge the battery between movies borders on irresponsibility. We opted to bring radios (which we used for the Simpsons) and then use the car for Bourne.

The Simpsons Movie is good, but not great. I haven't watched new episodes of Simpsons in over four years; I felt they'd hit a wall creatively and were bogged down with endlessly self-referential scripts. The film played like a really good episode, more along the lines of season 2-5. They could, being a movie, push the envelope a bit farther in terms of language and crudeness, but they stayed pretty tame.

The Bourne Ultimatium was very, very good. After a heavily Bourne-influenced Bond film(Casino Royale), I was curious to see where this film series, which many credit for the more serious tone in the 007 franchise, would go. It didn't get bogged down with silly and superfluous subplots or love interests, it was all out action in the best possible sense of the word.

Finally, I saw Hairspray, which left me with a bit of mixed reaction. I really liked what I saw and thought the musical numbers were fun, but something left me cold. I realized afterwards that part of what I was feeling was the realization that a lot of what made John Waters' original film so different was left out: Penny's imprisonment with the psychairst, Tracey's turn in special ed and her time in jail, the final dance off, the hair-bomb. Some of these changes are understandable - you have to cut out somethings to make room for plot; other changes just seem misguided, like having Amber's mom the station manager. Okay, it's 1962 and black people can't dance on television with white people, but a SINGLE WOMAN runs a television station? Also, the scene of her trying to seduce Tracey's dad makes no sense WHATSOEVER! The actors are good, the direction is interesting, the music is engaging, but it's strange changes like this that annoyed me. I mean overall I was pleased, but thought it could have been much better.