By my own accord, these days I’m quite uninformed when it comes to quality new cinema. About all I hear/know about is what’s dished out by the mass media.

A couple weeks ago, I read Max’s facebook status raving about this movie Moon that I hadn’t even heard of, I was intrigued. I looked it up on imdb, and my interest level doubled.

It’s only been showing at one theater in Boulder for the past few weeks, so it was unlikely that I would have time to go. Plus, I’d like to take Laura, and it being in Boulder makes it all the more unlikely that happens.

But tonight, with Adam around and nothing better to do than see a movie, I decided it was worth the trip to Boulder.

To the point (finally): I really liked Moon.

Duncan Jones’ (or Zowie Bowie) first feature-length piece is thoughtful, mostly original, and mostly well-written. It’s almost impossible to shoot a movie set on the moon and not borrow some Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey). And while only a couple scenes reminded me of 2001, none of it detracted from the end result.

The story is solid, and quite original. Only a few moments did I feel at all detached from the character(s) involved. And there’s a bit of a twist about halfway in!

And, oh yeah, Adam liked it, too!

Anyways, it’s a shame this movie didn’t get more run in the mainstream media. Or, I missed it? Whatever.

Spent last night up at the Gilpin, as I hadn’t been up to play in over a week (this makes me sound like an addict).

The Gilpin has a great promotion going where they throw $200 into one of the cash games’ pots every hour. With only two tables going at most times, there’s a 50-50 chance that your table gets the “splash.” And even then, it’s still a crapshoot to win that pot, but it’s definitely a good proposition for the players.

So of the four drawings I was present for last night, our table was the winner on three of them. I didn’t win any of the three hands, however.

And I dropped about $350 playing generally bad poker, I think. One guy who kept getting me (think his name is Tyler?), twice on huge re-raises when I had a big pocket pair on a flop with three undercards and no flush made.

First it was AA, we were heads up on the flop, which was something like KcTs8s. I put $15 into a roughly $25 pot, and he comes over the top with $45. I fold, show my aces, and he shows me 7s9s. I’m certain I made a good fold.

Later, I hold TT, similar situation except there’s maybe $40 in the pot. Flop comes 984 rainbow or something like that, I am first to act, and bet $30. He comes over the top with $100. I fold, show tens, he makes the same face he made when I showed him AA in that other hand, and I think I had him beat there but whatever.

Other bad plays by me:

Paying $70 or so holding KJ against AK on a king-high board, neither of us had two pair.

Betting $30 into a $50 pot on the button on the flop with nothing after three guys checked to me. Guy on the small blind goes all in for $42 and I have to call. He shows his pair of 4’s in his hand, which beat my ten-high…. sigh.

Anyways, there’s always next time. The last few trips up there, however, I think have put me in the red since the limits increased in Colorado on July 3.

In my mind, alpine slides are a lot of fun.

I haven’t been to one, however, in roughly 20 years. When my dad used to take us to his hometown of Allentown every summer as a youth, we would usually make a trip to Camelback mountain, which at the time, had a pair of slides.

(I cannot find much current information on the web for this place so it’s possible I dreamed it all up)

It was always a fun time. Simple. You get into a plastic sled with handbrakes, and into a slide, and go.

Well, there are a few of these in the mountains west of Denver. The closest slide being in Golden’s Heritage Square, which also boasts go-karts and other assorted small amusements and shops. I decided Friday night was a good opportunity for Adam and I to try it

The website says it’s open until 8pm during the summer, and last I checked, it’s still summer. We arrive around 6:45pm and see a lot of cars… good sign.

Except we realize that most of these cars are probably there for a wedding/reception at the park. We can see the alpine slides on the hillside, which look really cool. It’s a bit of a hike from the parking lot, so we get moving.

But, the closer we get, the more disappointing it gets. Heritage Square was probably a really fun place about 20 years ago. Today, it’s full of dilapidated buildings, rides, and shops. A few were open — a souvenir shop, and ice cream parlor. Probably to service the folks who head-scratchingly paid to have their wedding there, I guess.

We realize the slides are ostensibly closed, but we walk all the way up to the front gate to see the sign bearing the bad news. It tells us that starting August 20, the slides close at 5pm. Sweet.

Laura really was itching to see this one, so we went late Thursday night to take it in. Inglorious Basterds, that is.

(spoilers forthcoming)

Some may call the premise of the movie offensive, and at times, I nearly felt as such. Hey, maybe if I were Jewish, I might find the cinema-torching sequence to be a real masterpiece. But to me it felt like true propaganda. And maybe that was the point? I’m not exactly sure what Tarantino’s point was with this one, other than his usual “homage” bullshit that I think is getting a little tiresome.

But the ending sequence was a bit over-the-top, even by Tarantino standards. Shosanna’s face burning on the theater’s screen as it goes up in flames? I’m not big on symbolism, but if that doesn’t represent her as the devil, what else possibly could?

OK, OK, so, the Nazis were burning in hell, right? Whatever. I give you the middle finger on this one, Quentin.

But not all is bad here. I really enjoyed the German actor Christoph Waltz. I found myself siding with his character at times. Yes, the character whose nickname in the film was “Jew Hunter.” He was flat-out charming throughout, all the way to the end when he gets the swastika knifed into his forehead.

I’m well aware of dozens of movies that I haven’t seen yet, but that least is steadily shrinking thanks to Netflix.

In the past few days I have seen a couple good ones that I’m sure most people have seen: V for Vendetta and The Transporter.

V was a really good time. I can only imagine how good the graphic novel is. It’s a wonderful story, and short of Natalie Portman’s generally annoying presence, it was hard to find anything wrong with the movie.

And The Transporter was also entertaining. I definitely approve the vast majority of the martial artistry as Really Fun To Watch. It’s also pretty great that Laura really really thinks Mr. Statham is a hot man, and her reactions to some of the scenes are priceless.

Then there was boxing. More accurately, last night’s class at the dojo consisted of 30 minutes of sparring drills with boxing gloves and headgear on, focusing mostly on punching your partner’s body.

It was grueling, a true test of endurance and will. And I’m really sore today, particularly my left lower ribs which were always sore before I purchased rib-protector a couple months ago. But it was a great experience, exchanging punch combinations with our lead instructor (an all-out badass), and a couple other guys at our school.

And oh yeah, there was a tournament this past weekend that I haven’t posted about yet.

Adam finished first (again) in point sparring, but didn’t do so well in continuous where he got last place (out of four).

I finished second (out of four) in continuous, and last (out of five) in point. I’m not real happy as I lost to the same kid as the last tournament, and I had thought if I faced him again I could beat him. No dice.

But the highlight was winning a SWORD!!! It’s a cheap piece of crap but still better than the usual trophies.