Most of our Back Talk movie reviews reflect an effort at contemplative analysis of some picture we watched with thoughtful attention before meticulously relaying an opinion to you, the reader … bla bla.

Advocate photographer Robert Bunch saw "Taken," starring Liam Neeson — we asked him what he thought about it and received the following review — I found Robert’s to-the-point tone refreshing and perfect for pre-weekend movie talk … and far less wordy than one of mine:

TAKEN
Liam Neeson’s daughter is kidnapped by sex traders in Paris. He flies to Gay Paree and kills half of France and gets his daughter back. He is ex CIA badass. Makes James Bond and Jason Bourne look puny in comparison. Non-stop action and violence, very intense movie, you’ll feel wrung out afterwards. May be best action movie I’ve ever seen. On a scale of 1 to 10 its a 25. —RB

Well, almost anyway. The third annual Oak Cliff Earth Day event is set for April 19, and the planning committee promises it will be as great, if not better, than last year. We can look forward to more exhibitors and possibly some new activities, such as a proposed bike run that would end at Lake Cliff Park where the event is taking place.

Sure, the festivities are still two months away, but the planning committee assures me there’s plenty of volunteer activities to keep Oak Cliff residents, and anyone else that wants to help out, busy until then. In fact, the entire event, which attracted 6000 attendees last year, is planned, promoted, and executed by volunteers.

The planning committee needs help with things like setting up the site, tearing it down, help with the unloading, and making sure trash receptacles are emptied during the event. To find a volunteer job that fits you, several board and volunteer meetings are scheduled throughout February and March, the first being 1 p.m. this Sunday at the Hampton Library.  Plan to attend, or volunteer your services by emailing the webmaster at the Oak Cliff Earth Day 2009 website.

When a Republican is targeted on "The Colbert Report", both parties rejoice. Democrats love to watch conservatives get roasted by the faux conservative talk show host. And Republicans take pride in the fact that one of their own was the subject of criticism on a left-leaning show — it means that elected official is doing a good job, right?

So I guess all of us who live in Congressman Pete Sessions‘ 32nd District can take either delight or pride in the fact that Sessions’ interview for this article was inspiration for Colbert’s "The Word" segment last night. After the jump, watch the clip:

To my coworkers who think I’m choking — never fear. I am just laughing hysterically  at this snippet. When I first saw this clip of Stains the dog (from the Animal Planet show It’s Me or the Dog) Friday night on E!‘s "The Soup", I laughed so hard I nearly cried.

I didn’t think much about it again (because I regularly laugh at things others don’t find so humorous) until today when someone e-mailed me a link … then I saw it posted on Facebook …. and soon discovered it had become more viral than the Dallas Academy basketball story.

You tell me if it’s as funny as I think … and either way, you gotta LOVE this sweet animal.

As many of us here sat down to watch Obama’s inauguration from the comfort of our stylishly remodeled Advocate conference room, our fearless photographer Can Turkyilmaz (a.k.a. Turk) took off on his bicycle toward Victory via the Katy Trail … there, he managed to capture telling images of the Dallas crowd’s reaction to the historic event. Check out the pics, here.

I wanted the magic of Forrest Gump. With The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I got some superb acting, impressive costumes, makeup and digital effects, and myriad more elements befitting an epic best-picture nominee: Love, loss, growth, awakening, birth, death, war, catastrophe, deceit, betrayal and forgiveness spanning nearly a century are all methodically dispersed — often out of conventional order — against a visually breathtaking backdrop.

But Benjamin Button I am afraid that, while fascinating, you, sir, are no Forrest Gump.

Maybe it’s not fair to compare, but the many similarities beg for it— a hummingbird replaces the symbolic feather; a drunken tugboat captain/ tattooist serves as a lovably flawed Lieutenant Dan figure; a here-today-gone-tomorrow Daisy played by Cate Blanchett closely resembles Forrest’s Jenny; and the catch phrase issued by Button’s Mama (expertly played by Taraji P. Henson), “you never know what’s coming for ya’” is just a shorter way of saying “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”
Eric Roth, the same guy who wrote Forrest Gump wrote the adaptation of “Benjamin Button” (from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel), so the similarities are no surprise. It’s just that with such semblance as a reminder, one can’t help longing for a little more Gumpishness.

Gump was a guy who made things happen, even if passively. His life closely paralleled events that are close to our hearts—the Kennedy and Lennon assassinations; Viet Nam; desegregation; the baffling early years of the AIDS epidemic. And it didn’t hurt that Gump’s adventures were set to nostalgic tunes that were staples of their respective eras. And he was oh, so innocent.

Button’s condition is indeed curious and thought provoking — the aging Daisy and the youth-ing Benjamin, for example, both face the same fears. Hmmm. Turns out it’s scarier to grow young than to grow old.

Benjamin touches the lives of those he meets, but not with quite as much impact as Gump. The director, while composing a gorgeous and presumably accurate image of the era, doesn’t succeed at weaving historical events into the plotline in a way that yanks at the heartstrings. The soundtrack is lovely and haunting, but doesn’t have that soul wrenching effect of the strikingly familiar. Oh, and Button has no qualms about engaging in affairs with married women — he’s not exactly an innocent.  

All in all, I say, SEE THIS MOVIE. It’s a Golden Globe Best Picture contender (which means it will be an Oscar contender as well).  It is definitely worth the price of admission. Those who love the Jack ‘n’ Rose storyline in Titanic, but who could do without the whole boat-sinking thing, and fans of Meet Joe Black will love Benjamin Button. Others like me might find the movie very enjoyable, if lacking a certain magic. It’s not a movie many will dislike. Just do yourself and Mr. Button a favor and leave at the theater door hopes of finding another Forrest.

I’m going to make the same disclaimer that anyone who’s ever referenced this site online seems to have made: English is a difficult, nuanced language to learn and I mean no disrespect to the wonderful cultures and countries of the world who don’t speak it with absolute perfection.

That said, this week’s productivity killer, Engrish.com, is an absolute riot. It’s basically a big collection of photographic evidence that the world’s command of English is sometimes shaky and often hilarious.

Thanks to fellow Advocate blogger Marlena Chavira-Medford for bringing it to my attention.

The Oak Cliff Coalition for the Arts is bringing a new event to the Texas Theatre this Saturday night. Las Posadas del Pueblo will feature a presentation by Ballet Folklorico and Mariachi Los Reyes. Admission to the 8 p.m. event is $10 for adults and free for children.

In Mexican tradition, Las Posadas (meaning "the inns" or "the shelters") is a nine-day event from Dec. 16-24 that commemorates Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem and their search for shelter prior to the birth of Christ. Las Posadas is a reenactment of this difficult journey.

Food and treats are a big part of the traditional celebration. State Representative Roberto R. Alonzo and Attorney John R. Salazar, event sponsors, will lead other special guests, including Dr. Jose Angel Gutierrez and Constable Jaime Cortes, in celebrating the fiesta on stage by breaking a piñata, dancing, and passing out the aguinaldos (bags filled with peanuts, fruit, candy and party favors) to children. Afterward the audience is invited to enjoy tamales, buñuelos, champurrado, ponches and pan dulce.

Also this weekend is the Hampton-Illinois Library Friends Christmas party for children on Saturday at 2 p.m. Santa will make a visit, and activities include Christmas stories, holiday music, refreshments and a free book.

This new music downloading site could be the future of how we obtain and listen to tunes — or at least might shape the future in significant ways.

One of the founders of Noisetrade is Derek Webb, formerly of the Christian group Caedmon’s Call, who struck out on his own a few years ago to follow a more indie path, often with Christian-inspired lyrics. One of Webb’s most recent albums, "Mockingbird", was heralded to fans in a mass e-mail with a new concept: Instead of paying for the CD, people could share the news with five friends then download the music free.

Apparently this was successful, at least in gaining listeners if not making money, because this is essentially the concept behind Noisetrade.
On the site, artists can make their music available to potential downloaders, and downloaders simply have to tell five friends about the music or, in the same vein as the Radiohead "In Rainbows" album, pay what they want in order to get the music.

The site now has 126 albums listed for possible downloading. Probably because of Webb’s connections, many of the artists or groups appear to be of the indie Christian sort. But the site offers plenty of options for musical tastes, such as selections from hometown duo Jackopierce‘s latest album, Promise of Summer.

Is it just me, or do White Elephants seem to be popping up all over the place this year? I’ve already been invited to three holiday parties where guests have been instructed to a White Elephant gift, either the kind where you find something pointless or silly from your house or the kind where you buy something generic for $5 or $10, like a candle.

The explanation for these typically has been some reference to the suffering economy, and White Elephant gifts are "easier" or "cheaper". I may sound like Scrooge here, but to me, they just seem like more waste. I don’t like the idea of a gift exchange where I end up with something I’m going to eventually put in a Goodwill bin. Yes, the pull-something-out-of-your-attic White Elephant exchanges can be fun, but only with the right personalities. Time and money are the two things none of us seem to have much of these days, so we might as well save both of these things and spend our holiday parties relaxing and enjoying ourselves while we have the chance.

So there you have it. Bah humbug.