Wetcoaster

Side Effects - the latest film from Steven Soderbergh (Magic Mike, Haywire, The Informant!, The Girlfriend Experience, Oceans 11, 12 and 13, Traffic, The Limey, etc.). with Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones. A depressed woman goes through the usual pharma solutions and when they do not work she is put on an experimental drug called Ablixa by two psychiatrists. Her use of Ablixa has unanticipated side effects not only for her but for the doctors, and the story becomes a puzzle in which nothing is quite as it seems. Lots of twists and turns. The first half of the movie is superb and better than the last half - overall 7.5/10.

Apparently the ratings for Game of Thrones continue to climb with each episode - the last episode ironically was titled "The Climb". For the fourth week in a row, HBO’s Game of Thrones hit a series high in the ratings. Sunday night’s 9 p.m. telecast delivered 5.5 million viewers. Across two plays, viewership also hit a new gross nightly high with 6.8 million viewers, surpassing the third season’s debut evening for the first time (premiere night had two replays instead of the usual one). http://insidetv.ew.c...limb-continues/ We are half-way through Season 3. The Climb was an exciting episode and despite the ascent up a cliff of ice, was one of the few episodes that did not end with a cliffhanger, although the brief glimpse of Danaerys and her army on the march looks to set up a major story line for next episode

"Kissed by Fire" was another strong episode in what is shaping up as very strong season with one of the best one on one duels and with a flaming sword no less - said sword being kissed by fire. And maybe the best scene thus far in 3.5 seasons between Jaime and Brienne when we learn the back story of how he came to be called The Kingslayer and all was not as it seemed. The episode could easily have been musically themed by that classic 60's girl group The Dixie Cups - "Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married" with advertising spots by Hot Tubs 'R Us.

I much preferred the 1951 original - The Thing from Another World. How can you go wrong with Marshall Matt Dillon as The Thing and Daniel Boone (Dewey Martin) as the crew chief??? And Howard Hawks carefully keeping the team film making going with many classic Hawks touches throughout. As this review points out pretty much every bloodthirsty alien picture that came afterwards in some way is indebted to the original http://www.bmonster.com/horror7.html

Pickup on South Street (1953) - 9/10 Two thumbs up. Part of the Criterion Collection. http://www.criterion.com/films/446-pickup-on-south-street

The episode was titled "And Now his Watch has Ended" - it should have been titled "Enter the Dragon(s)". It was easily the best episode thus far this season and IMHO ranks up there with some of the best in the series. Plus this was a very Varys centric episode with Varys the spy master and The Spider spinning his web - his back story and some insight into his motivations. I find Varys one of the more interesting characters and was happy to see him featured. The theme of the episode was revenge and betrayals - revenge is a dish best served cold (Varys) or served hot (with the Night's Watch and spectacularly with Danaerys) and planning for revenge is good (Tyrion) and may give you a reason to live (Jaime) or be considered just desserts (Arya Stark and The Hound). And as we saw revenge can be done quietly and with clever manipulation (Varys and Lady Olenna Redwyne, the Queen of Thorns and the matriarch of House Tyrell as played so well by Dame Diana Rigg). And sometimes revenge plans can go wrong as Cersei discovered when she tried to manipulate her father to act against the House Tyrell. And what revenge is being visited upon Theon and by whom and for what reason - the betrayal scene is great. All in all an excellent episode. If you just ignore Bran and the three-eyed crow as that story line would be glacial, if it sped up.

The last episode "Walk of Punishment" was vast improvement over the prior episode. Mind you given the stultifying pace of the prior episode a video of paint drying may have been about as exciting. And the ending has a shocking twist that changes one character forever.

Yup. Like Diana Rigg:

The GOT episode last night "Dark Wings, Dark Words" has to rank as about a 9.0 on the DULL SCALE - one of the worst episodes thus far in the series IMHO. As one reviewer put it quite succinctly it was "a themeless pudding" of an episode that meanders all over the place. The sliver lining - it can only get better next week with "Walk of Punishment", eh?

These week we had Ciarán Hinds (Julius Caesar in the series Rome) join the cast as Mance Rayder and next week...

Let the Games begin... again. A good set-up episode for the season... lots of journeys and arrivals. The episode is titled “Valar Dohaeris” which means all men must serve and it is the traditional response to the greeting, "Valar Morghulis" -all men must die. Despite going head to head with the season finale of The Walking Dead the GOT season premiere was a ratings blockbuster. http://insidetv.ew.c...iere-ratings-3/

And no guarantee that they will be able to land. 11:36 AM TwitterJim Jamieson @JamiesonCanucks RT @BradZiemer: Am told the #Canucks charter still planning 12:45 departure and will circle back if it can't land in Calgary.

According to the Canucks twitter feed they are scheduled to depart at 12:45 pm. 12:45 flight. RT @BrieannKnorr: @VanCanucks has the team arrived in CGY yet? — Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) March 3, 2013

Canucks were supposed to fly out last night to play in Calgary but still here. 10:13 AM TwitterJim Jamieson @JamiesonCanucks RT @CBCLarsen: Bad weather in Calgary means the #Canucks couldn't fly out last night and have yet to leave Vancouver. Play at 5 pt.

Two seasons on the Wet Coast... the rainy season and the wet season.

HBO has a behind the scenes look at Season 3 - note may contain spoilers: And for those having problems keeping everything on the show straight see: http://viewers-guide...hrones/season2/ http://viewers-guide...guide/appendix/ As one blogger notes: Last summer it was revealed that the upcoming third season of HBO’s Game of Thrones will only depict the first half of A Storm of Swords, the third book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Fans of the books could readily see why: a lot happens in A Storm of Swords, even if you don’t count the shocking game-changer that appears about three-fourths of the way through. Now that the third season premiere is nearing (and we have our first trailer) I sat down with the book to puzzle out what we’ll see and what will wait for Game of Thrones season 4. Complete spoilers for Game of Thrones and ALL Song of Ice and Fire books ahead. Seriously, turn back now if you want to be at all surprised. http://www.tor.com/b...storm-of-swords

Mute the sound.

One of my favourite Woody Allen scenes from "Take the Money and Run" Or Woody Allen as sperm in Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex?

After pounding the US Northeast and southern Ontario the massive snowstorm is hitting Atlantic Canada with up to 40 cm of snow coupled with winds of up to 100 kph moving in.. There are power outages and dozens of flight cancellations today in Atlantic Canada, which is in the path of a major snowstorm. It appears Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will get the worst, with up to 40 centimetres of snow expected. Forecasters say in some areas, the snow will be whipped by winds of up to 100 km/h, cutting visibility to almost zero. Severe whiteout conditions are reported for Nova Scotia's Cobequid Pass, the toll highway. They also warn there could be some flooding along the Nova Scotia coast between Halifax and Yarmouth. Over 5,000 customers woke up without electricity Saturday morning in Nova Scotia. The power outage stretches from Yarmouth to St. Margarets Bay. Nova Scotia Power said it hopes to restore electricity by 11 p.m. The utility says high wind and snow in the Barrington, Pubnico and Shelburne areas have crews working hard to restore service. In New Brunswick, about 600 people in the St. Stephen area are in the dark this morning. So far in Prince Edward Island, the lights are still on. Travel challenges Most of the flights flying out of the Halifax Stanfield International Airport have been cancelled. "We've got two crews working to keep the runways clear. But the issue is the blowing snow and the visibility. Of course visibility is a huge concern for pilots. The airlines will see what the visibility is when the time comes and that will be their deciding factor," said airport spokeswoman Ashley Gallant. All Marine Atlantic crossings have been cancelled today. The region's inter-provincial bus service, Maritime Bus, has also cancelled all its scheduled routes today. Most wharfs on the eastern side of Cape Sable Island are under water and Route 330 is impassable as a result. Dick Crowell, emergency measures co-ordinator in Barrington, said about a metre of water is covering the highway. "There was a roof on one of the older homes lying in the middle of the road in Clark's Harbour. I believe that's been cleared up. There are lots of lines down. There are trees that are down and one of the fish plants has about three feet of water all around it," he said. Atlantic Canada is being pummeled by two fierce snowstorms that are combining. One storm hit southern Ontario and Quebec on Friday, leading to at least three deaths in Ontario — two on the roads and an 80-year-old woman who was shovelling her driveway. The other snowstorm hammered the northeastern United States, sweeping across the New York-to-Boston corridor. The storm has dumped 47 centimetres of snow in parts of central Connecticut. More than 40 centimetres of snow is covering Mansfield, Mass., just southwest of Boston. The U.S. National Weather Service says more than 90 centimetres of snow is expected in Boston, threatening the city's 2003 record of 70.1 centimetres. Throughout the U.S. Northeast, 500,000 homes and businesses had lost electricity by Friday night as wet snow, freezing rain and howling winds caused havoc. Most outages are in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Thousands of flights have been grounded. New York City's airports are closed. There's about 30 centimetres of snow east of the city.

It depends. Back in the day I recall a good dump of snow in Victoria back some 50 years ago in early April.

Massive snowstorm hitting the US Northeast and southern Ontario and has claimed 4 lives here in Canada. http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/winter-storm-pounds-eastern-canada-claiming-4-lives-1

As a general rule I find my ratings are usually pretty close to what Roger Ebert has to say (not all the time of course) and in this case he gives Seven Psychopaths 3.5 out of 4 stars. (8.75/10) http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121010/REVIEWS/121019997/0/wikipedia

Not only snow but also freezing rain in some areas and icy road conditions... YIKES!!! Accidents all over according to Global BC News and the road crews were not prepared for this. Per CKNW twiiter traffic report: RT @MEESHjCali: @news1130traffic 14 car pile up at 15th st. Nvan due to icy conditions. Avoid downhill street period!!!!!!! 8:22 #DELTABC Nordel Way is closed from 112th to the bottom of the hill because of icy conditions 8:13 #VANCOUVER Accident on 49th Ave eastbound just east of cambie in the right lane RT @IamKGB: @news1130traffic car accident on west 12 at Oak east bound in left hand turn lane - police car in middle lane - traffic back ... RT @Janni_Joy: @Janni_Joy @News1130Traffic - ICY ICY roads in langley - vehicles sliding up & down 208th - stay away RT @ellensmith1029: @news1130traffic its snowing in Richmond RT @amariey_: Avoid 41st. Westbound traffic is blocked off from Fraser st. Take 49th or 33rd instead. @news1130traffic RT @goodguygraeme: @news1130traffic there's a couple accidents in Burnaby, southbound on Gilmore Diversion and Canada Way. Drive safe! RT @MEESHjCali: @news1130traffic BLACK ICE WARNING!!! 41st main and fraser! Too many accidents... Slow down you won't know till it hits you! 7:44 #COQUITLAM There's a rear ender on #BCHwy1 westbound just after the Cape Horn in the middle lane RT @amkisses: @news1130traffic two accidents on North Fraser Way - it's like a sheet of ice so definitely slow down. Police & ambula ... 7:25 #SURREYBC A vehicle ran into the back of a bus on 68th Ave eastbound just before King George Blvd in the right lane RT @redoktobre: @news1130traffic There's an accident on 49th Avenue & Boundary Road in Vancouver/Burnaby. Northbound traffic in Bou ... RT @worldserious42: @news1130traffic prince ed @41st buses lined up. It's a no go zone. http://t.co/EhdUzBex RT @xdipp1: @news1130traffic @aja_mir all of 41st is black ice. Upto 15 buses r stopped Aswell. Their power lines r possibly frozen RT @Emerg_Info: @news1130traffic - SLOW DOWN - its black ice - you should be crawling - cause you won't know your on ice until you hit ... RT @aja_mir counted 12 accidents on 41st between main and fraser. Stay away! RT @dramajawanda: @news1130traffic cars galore stuck on black ice going up the nordel hill towards Scott road 7:06 #VANCOUVER Accident on Knight St northbound near 38th in the right lane 7:04 #BURNABY There's an accident on Gilmore Ave just north of Canada Way affecting both directions

I have no problem with violence - I do have problems with badly scripted movies. Gangster Squad is a B-picture with a A-List cast. Sean Penn chewed up the scenery as Mickey Cohen (fun to watch but not really the scary guy that Cohen was reputed to be) and Ryan Gosling was quite good. Josh Brolin? He can act so what the heck happened to him? And Emma Stone as Grace??? - well she is no Kim Basinger (LA Confidential) or Jennifer Connelly/Melanie Griffiths (Mulholland Falls) or Virginia Mayo in 1949's White Heat. However the dialogue and pacing, just not there. It looked good but was not substantial in other ways. The cinematography was great but then that was to be expected given it was filmed by cinematographer Dion Beebe, who earned an Oscar for his work on "Memoirs of a Geisha" and was nominated for "Chicago". He knows how to do period pieces. Basically an action picture with only sporadic action and without much of a story. And it cannot seem to decide if it is to be heavy weight drama or less weighty with some comedy (director Ruben Fleischer's forte - think Zombieland). With the right director it could have been a classic gangster movie but as it stands... not so much. A generous 6 out of 10 - because it looked great. Apparently the scene of a machine gun battle in a movie theatre were cut after the Aurora Colorado shootings and that necessitated re-writing, re-shooting and re-editing. The latter also resulted in a postponed release: A scene involving machine guns in a movie theater was cut after last year's tragic "Dark Knight Rises" multiplex killings in Aurora, Colorado, and other scenes were rewritten and re-shot to fill gaps in the narrative. LA Confidential and Mulholland Falls did the time period in LA way better and I recommend them highly. Gangster Squad is but a pale imitation and it could have been so much more. As one reviewer wrote "Bottom of the barrel, Ma" in a riff on the classic James Cagney line in White Heat where he proclaims defiantly "Made it, Ma . Top of the world" as gangster Cody Jarrett goes out in a blaze of glory.

And in the vein of memories of my (misspent) youth after the Bowie post... one word JIMI HENDRIX Well two words actually. Although he died September 18, 1970 the legend lives on. On March 5th, 2012... 12 previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix recordings from 1968 and 1969 studio sessions will be available as People, Hell and Angels. The legendary guitarist was experimenting with new sounds and musical directions for First Rays of the New Rising Sun, the planned double-album follow-up to Electric Ladyland, And a single from that coming album has been released. "Somewhere," Hendrix sits down with Buddy Miles on drums and Stephen Stills on bass for a far-reaching psychedelic blues jam. Recorded in 1968, "Somewhere" rides signature Hendrix wails, long exploratory solos and free-flowing wordplay. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/jimi-hendrix-goes-exploring-on-somewhere-premiere-20130108#ixzz2HPAg2MYk