Posted 11:30 PM by Floyd

Weekend Entertainment

Saturday night my wife and I went to see The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I don't like most movies; they insult my intelligence. You can consider my approval of "LXG" as either an endorsement of its intelligence or a warning sign that it appeals to someone who goes to a movie theater about twice a year.

Seriously, LXG is smart where it counts, and fun in a dumb way where it doesn't. It's a perfect translation of a comic book into a movie. In fact I had fun imagining what the comic book version of scenes and dialogue. Imagine this statement by Mina Harker, hand-printed in caps:

"IT DEPENDS, MR. SKINNER. IS THE VAMPIRIC SUCKING OF BLOOD RADICAL BEHAVIOR?"

The next night we had dinner in Palo Alto at the trendy microbrewer Gordon Biersch. As we left we heard what sounded like loud music in the distance. We walked up to University Avenue and saw an impromptu concert. It was four kids playing loud, fast rock, surrounded by about 50 people, maybe half of them old-style punks with mohawks and clothespins and whatnot.

The band is called "The Silent Film Stars" and hails from Livermore. They are fast and crisp and tight, with good hooks. They sounded better than about 90% of the crap I hear on the radio. Check them out at their website.