HBO 17 -- Galaxy Quest -- Godzilla

Seventeenth session: Galaxy Quest (conclusion)
About 12 minutes left to the movie. One of the many things I love about this movie is the multiple endings, including one thrown away once the infamous Omega-13 is activated.

Oh, and our hero gets the girl, the lesser hero gets the... squid, the Shakespearean actor gets his due, the boy pilot grows up to be a point-and-click black hole driving wonder, the Thermian commander gets his command and the convention center gets the command deck of a starship rammed through its walls. Did I miss anything?

We even get the homage to resurrecting the series after an 18 year hiatus.

And don't you think someone would go to jail or disappear into Area 51 after that landing? (grin)

A-double-plus. Love this movie.

Godzilla
This is the 1998 Matthew Broderick version, which I know some people hate. Or deny its existence. Mrs. Dr. Phil doesn't even remember seeing this one. I recall hating the second act. But it's worse than that.

I have one really nice thing to say -- the old Japanese seaman saying, "Gojira! Gojira! Gojira!" Alas, that video clip is shown, what? Five, six times? And the name Godzilla is a corruption of Gojira by an idiot news anchor.

And therein lies the problem with this version. It has moments of seriousness and even some cool special effects. Occasionally. But it descends into camp and video gaming at the drop of a hat. And a lot of the comedic touches aren't all that funny -- we aren't sitcom people anyway.

Now it is typical in a Godzilla movie for the army to be ineffective. But these guys are incompetent. And not just the army. The navy... man they destroyed a nuclear submarine in what, the Hudson off shore of Manhattan? And how is it that a scaled up lizard can move and turn faster than a helicopter on land, and a submarine and its torpedoes at sea? Physics fail on a massive scale. And we won't even mention that the volume of eggs far exceeds the volume of Godzilla.

And what the hell are its scales made of? Unobtainium? Because even that tail can slice through the sides of buildings without taking any damage.

Oops, there goes the Chrysler Building again. And it's always weird to see the twin towers of the World Trade Center, though that's hardly the director's fault. (sigh)

The plethora of eggs are hatching is a scene almost out of Aliens as we end Tuesday. Backdraft is next.

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Tired of the exit troubles crossing over all the lanes from US-131 south to I-196 east plus the construction on Michigan, so I exited onto I-196 WEST, then flipped at Lane so I could stay in the right lane and exit at Ottawa. Worked smoothly.

Practically crowded at the HBO unit. Westerns viewer "Ben" arrived in a wheelchair just after me, Darla brought me down, took a woman up, got Ben and there was already someone in tank B, just coming out.

Afterward, sitting in a wheelchair next to a planter waiting for the Blazer, I realized there were some little pink flowers in the planter. Played with the AF Lock button on the N2020 to mess with the fine focus in closeups.

Then home, and off to Butch's in Holland for a special cider pairings dinner -- YUM! -- pictures in a few days.

Dr. Phil
The sky on the drive home

Beating Us To A Pulp To Tenderize Us

Somewhere in my drive I thought I saw gas at $3.59.9/gallon. So when I left Physical Therapy, I checked out the gas prices in Allendale. They weren't $3.59.9/gal.

Mobil and Family Failure were at $3.95.9/gal. Really? Or had I been dyslexic earlier? If it was just Family Fare I'd joke that they were preparing for this weekend's 75¢/gal discount coupons. As it is, I suspect we're merely being softened up for the Fourth. Gas will cross into four buck territory, then we'll be thrilled we get $3.95.9 gas for the holiday.

Of course on the west side of town, traffic was snarled at 68th Avenue. I then realized it wasn't quite at the intersection, but minivans and SUVs trying to stuff themselves into the Admiral gas station. Once again they held back and were running $3.52.9/gal for regular.

Predictable. On all sides.

Dr. Phil