hmmmmmmmmm.......: recuperation & movie reviews

Thursday, January 11, 2007

recuperation & movie reviews

So my back is still pretty fucked so there's a lot of lying around on ice, taking valium and watching movies.... and did I mention chocolate?

When it first went "out" I was terrified that my back would get worse & worse & I'd end up flat on my back and crawling to the bathroom and crying from pain like in 2002..... but it's slowly getting better so I'm not that worried anymore, and am enjoying taking it easy.... Loopy is getting so much better, it's wonderful--she is waking up, and sharing chores and criticizing my driving ("pros and cons," as I keep saying to Shamus & Ang). ;-) So we're having fun.

I worked today and will work tomorrow... but I don't feel like blogging about that, except to note that I worked in the library today... and the library people always like me way better than the teacher people do... this bothers me and I could analyze it but I'll save that for another time. Also I do need to get going on paying bills (haven't opened a bill in 6 weeks, and the hospital has started calling) and starting this year's job search in earnest. By the weekend, I promise.

But first... some movie thoughts......

Transamerica: a good movie. Not sure if it's a good movie about transpersons' experience, etc., but i still thought it was a good movie... a very light touch, light humor and emotion--it could have been ridiculously heavy-handed but wasn't. It could have been a pastiche of clichés but it wasn't. The lead came to a greater acceptance of herself through confronting things and people she had been avoiding, and she conveyed that in a very understated and believable way. I'm not sure if her portrayal was flattering but it was interesting, worth watching. Recommended.

Tristan & Isolde: Loopy & I are always suckers for a big-budget period piece, and this one was delightful--shockingly enough it featured good acting and good writing. Beautifully shot, beautiful actors. There are enough versions of the story that you can have a little suspense as to exactly how it will end... the constraints of history and plot and archetype limit the options, and it feels a tad forced, but it comes close enough to working that you just don't care. Or I didn't. Recommended.

The Promise(无极): Wow, wow, wow. Despite my generally low tolerance for Chinese warriors flying through the air, I loved this movie. It's a fairytale fable with goddesses and magical cloaks and people from a pure land now destroyed, blah blah blah. But oh... my... god... it is SOOOOO beautiful. GORGEOUS. The jacket said that it was "the most beautiful movie imaginable" and I'd have to agree. Highly recommended.

Beowulf & Grendel: A doomed and horrifying attempt at a sympathetic portrayal of Grendel. Very little overlap with the actual story; features an anachronistic feminist Grendel-rights-activist witch; degenerates into total nonsense. Also, horrifyingly full of Loopy's (un-)favorite--severed heads. We had to quit watching it after the climactic fight scene. Absolutely not recommended. I couldn't even turn it into a drinking game.

The Lake House: Am watching it right now. Bad. Really bad. And dull. But we had to put something on to get Grendel's gruesome dismemberment out of my head. (R was smart enough not to watch, but she said the sound effects are bad enough). Although hearing dialogue like the quote below is only marginally less nightmarish:
Keanu (spoken with a painfully failed effort to pretened to be pondering the subject while speaking): D'you know... I think Dad wants us to do what he couldn't. But admitting that would mean admitting that he came up short in some way, and that tortures him...
. Ooh... just hit a new low... "Wow, a comedian, what did you have clown for breakfast this morning or something?" (No, that would make you a cannibal, not a comedian). I think I have to go to bed now. Oh god, it's getting worse and worse...

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