Car Porn, Steve McQueen & The Zen of Le Mans

Ultimately, the star of this film is the 24 Hours of Le Mans itself, the people who attend and the rustic beauty of France. It was shot in 1971, so it's a bit like time traveling to go people watching. With almost no plot, barely any dialog and little to no character development, this is a film where you can put whatever music you want to listen to on & space out/nod out/smoke out/dropout. However, don't take your decision lightly. In doing so, you will miss the hypnotic roar of these racing machines and McQueen's distinctively flat delivery; all of which crescendoed me into a zen frame of mind which stayed with me long after the credits had rolled.

By the way, great helmets in the movie. All the retro-looking helmets you see today on cafe racer riding hipsters were state of the art then.

This post goes out to Jamie Wolfcale and his Drive Cult cultists. Vroom, vroom, you freaking car junkies!

A Short Sharp Shock Review - The Avengers

I'm not a fanboy so I have not been counting the days for this movie to come out. I have seen all the other movies (Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America) and they have been a mixed bag of good & bad for me. My stoned interest were raised a little bit when it was announced that Joss Whedon would be writing and directing. I never got into Firefly, but was a closet Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. This was counter-intuitive to my usual tastes so I had no idea what to expect when I sat down to watch The Avengers. The fact that I smoked a very potent joint on the way over to the Vista didn't help matters.

So. The Avengers is really good and a perfect kick off to this summer of really big, big films. David Edelstein of New York Magazine sums it up best writing "...as I watched, (I) thought, Wow, that must have cost a lot of money...money...money...waves of money." And I suppose all that cash was well spent because those waves of money have brought in an ocean of greenbacks. A billion bucks and counting. Let the summer spectacles begin! Next batter....Men In Black III.

The Jerk @ MMN

Marijuana Movie Night has been pretty good with keeping posts coming and trying to make them relevant, but every once in a while someone brings it to my attention that I'm not paying attention. And they would be correct. This is the first post of May and it's been weeks.

Well, we're back! This summer of movies is looking pretty damn robust. I promise better vigilance. And if you think this is an apology for the pregnant pause, it isn't. It's a big fat excuse so let's move along.