May 2006


My friend lent me his copy of “Domino.”  Once I saw that Mickey Rourke was featured I knew it was not going to be my favorite movie.  But I’ll watch anything for free so I gave it a whirl.  In just the opening scene I had already formed some definite opinions about the movie.  It was one of these movies that take a stylistic approach.  There were a lot of slo-mo, moving camera, quick zooms, quick-cuts and multiple cuts.  Basically every trick in the bag for your average MTV director.  This didn’t surprise me because my friend enjoys that kind of thing.   Then comes the opening credits and that’s when I see that the director is Tony Scott.   And I say “Aha!  It all makes sense.”  This is the same director who just about ruined “Man on Fire.”  Tony Scott is so in love with “the look” he is giving to the film that it seems to me anyway that he’s never pondered whether or not it is appropriate for the subject.  “Man on Fire” was a good old-fashioned revenge flick with Denzel Washington giving his usual strong performance.  It would have been more enjoyable except Tony Scott’s camera tricks are ever prevalent.  It get pretty damn annoying.   The same can be said about “Domino.”  Though it was never a candidate to make any of my top ten lists, it wasn’t that bad.  It had a couple of interesting twists.  Watching Christopher Walken go ballistic over fonts was actually pretty funny.  But all the stylization keeps you at a distance.  You never feel like you are watching something that is actually happening.  It seems more like an excercise in “how cool can I make this look.”  The story gets lost.  I’ve got a problem with that. 

Ok.  So in the end, it didn’t affect the outcome of the game.  The Ducks still got the victory.  But Teemu Selanne’s goal that was waived off by referee Don Koharski was a horrible bit of officiating.  He was hallucinating.  Selanne’s goal was so amazing, Koharski probably couldn’t believe his eyes and then made up the bogus goaltender interference call.  That is so weak.  If you are going to make a game changing call you had better be damn sure you saw what you thought you saw, or at the very least consult with the other on-ice officials before making the call.  His ineptitude washed out one of the prettiest goals you will ever see.

I’m not even a Ducks fan and it made me so angry that I threw my hat at the TV and I haven’t done that for years.  I realize that is not an appropriate way to express my emotions so I’ve committed myself to take a different sort of action.  If Koharski is scheduled to officiate one of the Sharks upcoming home games I think I will just stake out his hotel and jump him.  Maybe the NHL would be better served to just keep Koharski away from the ice for the rest of the playoffs.