I would be remiss if I didn't note that today marks the tenth anniversary of this page. How long is ten years? Do you even remember this movie?
December 1, 1999
Inaugural entry
I already knew Tim Burton couldn't tell a story, but Sleepy Hollow was embarrassingly bad. The tale begins with Johnny Depp referring to the change from 1799 to 1800 as the "dawn of a new millennium," and then it gets even dumber. I guess there's a difference between a flawed but earnest story (Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Ed Wood) and an unabashedly incompetent one like this. I got the feeling that Burton has grown to resent concepts like character and conflict, as though they're irritating impediments to achieving the visuals he wants. And where in hell did the romance come from in that movie? Did I nod off and miss some vital development? I nearly went to the box office afterward and demanded my seven bucks back.My left knee is still not quite right. I tore the ACL on Mount Si in the fall, and while I can do most things with no discomfort, prolonged running, climbing, skiiing, and so forth are out. Running a treadmill for 20 minutes feels like someone's repeatedly stabbing my knee with a paring knife, once for every stride. Oh, might I add that I'll die a very happy man if I never have to do a freakin' leg press ever again?