CliqueClack

Have a scary new year with passes to see Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones in MD or DC

CliqueClack has partnered with Paramount Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore and DC areas an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new film Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, a spin-off from the popular Paranormal Activity series. The new film follows Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) who has been “marked” and begins to be pursued by mysterious forces while his family and friends try to save him.

The screenings will be held on Thursday, January 2 at 7:00 PM at the following locations:

• Regal Gallery Place, 707 Seventh Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
• AMC White Marsh, 8141 Honeygo Blvd., White Marsh, MD

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The Snugg iPad Mini case is solid but imperfect

I made the leap recently from a full-sized iPad to one of the new Retina display iPad Minis. For what I use the iPad for, the smaller size is definitely a better choice, and the added display improvement was just what I was waiting for. So far it’s been worth it, but that’s for a different story.

With the larger iPad, I didn’t want to bulk it down further with a case that wrapped around the entire thing, so I stuck with the Apple Smart Cover, which only protects the screen when closed and serves as a means for propping the device up on flat surfaces for reading. With the iPad Mini, though, I was willing to give a full-wrap cover a shot, and The Snugg looked like a decent option.

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The Wolf of Wall Street is a slick, excessive and rollicking blast of fun

Greed is nothing new to the movie-going public, nor is excess or the delighting in the idea of an “anti-hero” or even a truly despicable person. But sometimes there’s more going on below the surface. For those not filthy, stinking rich, it’s easy to admire such lifestyles while at the same time severely judging them, deciding that we are far too moral and upright to sink so low. There’s a sort of inherent legitimacy to those coming from poorer backgrounds, like it or not — we tend to feel like success in such cases is more “earned,” because it was harder for the poor to become the rich. And honestly, it really is harder if you don’t have the help. But that said, it’s also easy to assume that just because someone comes from a less ostentatious lifestyle it means that they are a good person, and that the money or fame or whatever corrupted them. Sometimes they were corrupt the whole time.

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Stallone and De Niro punch each other in the somewhat watchable Grudge Match

We talk a lot about nostalgia and the feeling of uselessness that people can have, especially as they get older. But everyone who’s lived through childhood can get nostalgic about the past and want to relive past glories or victories, easily ignoring any hardships or difficulties back then. But sometimes it’s possible to be honest with ourselves and realize that the past is just that, something to get past and learn from, not something that can be actually relived. And that conflict between the desire to resolve never forgotten inequities and the honest realization that it is not truly possible to do so collides with the slick, exaggerated world of movies. In this case, boxing becomes the meta-metaphor of the struggle to physically force the issue before it all becomes a bit sad.

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Falling in love with a computer is easier than ever in the amazing and heartfelt Her

Technology has often been accused of putting barriers between people, holding back social interactions, and the terrifying possibility that we’ve lost control. That perhaps it is the machines that control us. People walk around constantly with their faces in their phones and electronic devices, holding conversations with staccatos of texts and mostly prosaic and abstract online interactions. Everyone searches for integrity and honesty in every crazy video on YouTube, while simultaneously suspecting them all to be hoaxes. Certainly people still interact in person, of course, but it’s become easier and easier to interact through your computer.

Barring societal collapse, it does seem plausible that we will only become more immersed and more jaded. Humanity still seeks beauty and safety while fearing the unknown and the false. But we still want things to be easier and easier still. One of the interesting pursuits of research is in the field of Artificial Intelligence, that being intelligence, probably on a computer, that can think for itself unbound by the necessities of organic matter to hold them back. Science fiction has come up with all sorts of names for such beings, whether called Machine Intelligent, Post-Organic, Non-Organic, etc. But there will always be the sneaking suspicion that an AI is “not human’ like us. Whatever that means.

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Channel your inner daydreamer and go on holiday with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I’ve got a confession to make that comes as no big surprise to those who know me best. I consider myself to be very “Mittyesque.” That is, I’ve always been a restless daydreamer. A rather meek person to those I don’t know well, I’ve always secretly yearned to lead a more exciting life full of adventure and travel. And that is why as a kid I fell in love with the story – and really the character – of Walter Mitty. And after seeing Ben Stiller’s take on the beloved character, I’m left feeling more than a little inspired this holiday season.

Walter Mitty first appeared in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a short story written by American author James Thurber in 1939. Walter Mitty is a timid husband/daydreamer, who while out running errands with his wife, passes the time by inventing various daydreams in his head. Whether he’s fantasizing about being a commanding officer or a skilled surgeon, Walter fancies himself as a capable man in charge.

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When your face is on pajamas, your opinion ceases to be yours – Duck Dynasty, commercialism and free speech

If you’re like me, then your Facebook feed has been flooded with opinions on A&E’s decision to suspend Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson after he made anti-gay remarks to GQ. Several people agreed, citing the need for tolerance; several people disagreed, saying that no one should be surprised that Robertson, an old school Southern Christian, believes homosexuality is a sin. These reactions don’t surprise me. The ones that baffle me though, are the ones that claim A&E doesn’t have the right to suspend him, that they’re trampling over Robertson’s right to free speech.

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way: The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,” meaning that your speech can only constitutionally be infringed by the government — not by a basic cable channel. Second, Phil Robertson is a brand. The “Robertson Clan” is a brand. Duck Dynasty is a brand, and A&E is simply doing what any corporation would do: it’s protecting its brand.

This is evidenced in the wording of A&E’s statement about the suspension: “We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty.” What is A&E saying? That Phil Robertson the person is in no way reflected in Phil Robertson, patriarch of the Robertson Clan on the hit A&E show, Duck Dynasty. Phil Robertson the person can have beliefs. He can burp, fart, hate gays, believe in unicorns, or do whatever he wants — in private. However, the second a camera or a reporter is in the room with him, Phil Robertson the person disappears. He is Phil Robertson the brand.

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A few of my favorite things – 2013 Style

Unlike many of my Clacking Contemporaries, I love internet lists; especially end-of-year-compilations. I love the arguments that develop over the placement of one particular show/flick/book/video game over the other. What I don’t always appreciate is the idea of “best.” Take a look at some of the “Best of 2013 Films” lists floating around the Internet this week: Are there a couple of flicks you have never heard of, let alone had the opportunity to see? Yeah, that’s not how I see things. I think we can celebrate the “best.”

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I don’t like Mad Men and I haven’t yet tackled Sons of Anarchy or (GASP!) Breaking Bad. I didn’t see every movie I wanted to (The Butler, About Time and Fruitvale Station probably top that list). Again, this is about what I really liked this year, not about what I — or the Internet as a greater whole — thinks “best.” I think that approach is much more true and much more fun.

Scandal

I have my problems with Shonda Rhimes’ latest show, but that doesn’t keep me from love everything else about the show. Put simply, Scandal is batshit crazy, and there’s not a single positive character on the entire show. As much as Olivia and her crew talk about their white hats, you can’t add enough white to grey to get the black out; Huck’s actions last week are proof positive of that. But Scandal has also been home to some of the year’s best performances; Bellamy Young and Jeff Perry both have had a couple of scenes that were simply phenomenal.

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Inside Llewyn Davis is the epitome of a Coen Bros movie: Complicated, amusing, intense, and musical

Change is said to be quite inevitable and affects basically everything. Even the talented and beautiful must suffer the vagaries of fate and the changing whims of public taste. A master actor of the silent movie era may become obsolete once sound arrives. The greatest hair metal band in the world seemed irrelevant when Nirvana arrived. But the choice of any artist in times of change are either to adapt or struggle in place. But artists have an even greater enemy than the new fad or different popular notions: themselves and their own bloated sense of self-worth. The problem with talent is that if you have it but aren’t successful at applying it, your life seems somehow wasteful. And if you strive for success but fall short time and again, things may seem increasingly pointless. Finding refuge in sex and drugs is commonplace, if not so helpful. And yet, at the same time, it is easy for artists to abandon those who may care about them in pursuit of that barely definable goal of “making it.” Some people never even get that far. And some people just decide to “sell out,” which can mean quite a few things.

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Should Saving Mr. Banks be more historically accurate?

Disney fans must have been looking forward to a flick like Saving Mr. Banks for years. Mary Poppins is an American classic, a film that transcends age and demographics (Wait … it was originally written by an Australian living in London? … Oops). Despite that, it is still a wonderful opportunity to get a feel for what Walt was really like (Huh? The Disney-fied Disney isn’t an accurate portrayal of the actually ruthless businessman? Oh). But hey, at least the beautiful story of how author P.L. Travers was eventually won over by Walt and the writing team of Richard and Robert Sherman with the whimsy of all things Disney was historically accurate, right?

Apparently not nearly as much as director John Lee Hancock and writers Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith would have us believe.

Taken out of its historical context, Saving Mr. Banks is delightful film. Tom Hanks plays the idealized Walt Disney that we would all like to believe created the most magical place on earth. Emma Thompson is superb as the prickly Travers. Honestly everyone was great, really, from Bradley Whitford (a personal favorite of mine) to Annie Rose Buckley, who plays Travers as a child in Australia. Paul Giamatti also stood out as Travers’ chauffer Ralph. Continue reading 'Should Saving Mr. Banks be more historically accurate?' »