Mac and Me: The Definitive Review

Every other week I dutifully head over to my favorite pop culture website, called the AV Club for a special treat. A contributor there has created a long running series of features called "My Year of Flops" which reviews and dissects the failure of a long series of movies which failed at ever getting real commercial or critical success. The movies at times are total garbage, some have redeeming value and occasionally a rare gem simply made before its time. The best though, are the movies that fall into the so bad it's good category, which encompasses movies made with the utmost sincerity which miss the mark completely. (Look here for a taste: http://www.avclub.com/articles/ronald-mcdonald-approved-case-file-151-mac-and-me,36033/)

Inspired by this particular review, I decided that simply seeing a few brief clips was not enough, and that I needed to witness the film in it's entirety with the help of a few friends and some choice film enhancing beverages.

Having braced ourselves thoroughly for the experience prior to the start of the movie, I must admit my recollection of the plot is a bit hazy. It comes back to me in waves like a bad dream. I will do my best. The film opens with a family of aliens who look like the offspring of ET and a flesh light being sucked into a NASA ship. One of these aliens is deposited near the home of a wheelchair bound boy. While rolling around by a quarry one day with his neighbor and love interest the boy experience catastrophic brake failure and is catapulted quite comically into the quarry. Mercifully he is rescued by the Alien.

It is at this point that things got fuzzy enough for me not to be able to provide a solid time line or narrative. I just know that the following things occur:

-Mac, the alien falls in love with Coke

-A ten minute dance scene takes place at a McDonalds which throws the FBI off the scent of Mac

-Mac's family is found in a cave dead, but is immediately brought back to life by drinking Coke

-Mac's family is persecuted and shot at while trying to obtain more coke

-The family becomes US citizens

-The movie concludes with the Aliens driving into the distance in a pink Cadillac convertible with thought bubble appearing that says "We'll be back".

Is this movie worth seeing?: Yes. It is so shameless, so bad and so surreal that it cannot be passed up.

Special thanks to my tolerant friends, girlfriend and roommates who went on this epic journey with me.

A War for Hearts and Minds

After 2 months of hibernation old Grandma winter has reared her giant eagle head, raised her mighty bear paw and summoned the forces of blustery snow down upon new england. Then with a quick shake of her icicle tale she made parking in Boston a pain the ass! It snowed 6 inches here this weekend, and from the chaos and the closure, you would think it had snowed 50". Meg and I had originally been planning on making a run to New York this week... 'cept they got 2 feet of snow and it kind of threw a monkey wrench in things.

Instead we camped out on the couch for the whole weekend watching the snow fall and attacking a bottle of Jameson with no remorse or reason.

This post was created for two reasons: I wanted to draw a creature and I wanted to spite the spirit of Bekky's facebook whining.

Annie and late 70's Rick James have remarkably similar haircuts

It's been a quiet week in lake Woebegone, my home town. I went home for Thanksgiving on Wednesday afternoon with Meg and her dear wife/friend Annie Piche in tow. We managed to avoid traffic and make it home in time to go out and catch up for some high school homie's for a bit.

A highlight of Wednesday night came when Matt C and Matt McC got caught talking to my dad for an hour. I definitely see him a different light around different people. The father son facade drops very quickly and he reveals himself both to be an accomplished gray fox, and a cantankerous old fart. He really relishes dropping f-bombs, drinking wine and giving well worn advice. Cars, women, engineering, politics... the man just wades through each topic either with cranky hatred or enlightened insight.

What a guy.

Thursday the cousins Meg and Annie headed out on the Causeway for our annual pre-dinner walk. The causeway is a strip of marble that used to be a railroad trestle that runs 3 miles out into lake Champlain.

My cousin Toby is a booze salesmen, so upon returning from the causeway the good times rolled. He had taken the wise precaution of brining a crate of various elixirs, with truly something for everyone. Dinner was amazing, and by the dessert was finished everyone present was astonishingly full, and well glazed by Toby's wears.

The evening concluded with a whiskey fueled Wii tournement.

Friday morning we left semi early from VT back to Boston to catch a wedding. Out early start was destroyed though by a party forgetting their coat and realizing it 30 miles from Burlington. To make matters more dramatic I had to do some ad hoc car word to keep sweet Bessy road legal.

Somehow we managed to get through 300 miles , showered and dressed in just under 5 hours. We literally made it to the church 5 minutes before the bride came down the aisle. Good thing too, since it was a 9 minute wedding.

The wedding was pleasant and drama free. I met Meg's ex, and despite my initial trepidation I have to say the kid is pretty hilarious and easy to be around.

As a final note of sweetness, my Dutch boss bought me a half pound chocolate "S" from the Netherlands. It is the tradition that Dutch children get their first initial in chocolate, brought to them by Saint Nikoli who travels through the street on a cart, wearing a pope hat and accompanied by black midget man servants. It was a touch gesture and a peak into the complicated world of Dutch tradition.

Any way, that's the week Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

P.S. - Annie really does have the exact same hair as Rick James when he went through the androgynous he/she phase of the late 70's.