yoga, books, movies, tv & too many crime procedurals – not necesarily in that order
I’ve gone on to pretty much everyone who will listen about how much I enjoyed the Steig Larsson trilogy. I love that they’re mystery and suspense but set right now and crafted in such a way as to call into question all our biases about mental illness, women’s rights and the corporate stranglehold on media. Love.
I’m out of town doing training and – as a result -a bit closer to Aspen than usual. While on break yesterday I was flipping through the local rag and noticed that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was playing at the Isis. Now this film has been on my ‘want to see’ list since before we went in Seattle. On the west coast I looked longingly at showtimes. Did the same thing in the midwest. Time crunches and family time take priority over films, alas, especially when I’m the only one who wants to see the film. That’s not to say Spouse wouldn’t have joined me but it’s not the same as making a movie outing for something we BOTH really want to see.
After I got off work this afternoon I headed up (down, actually. Or wait- both. Uphill, headed south.) to Aspen and got my tix. Despite TWO idiots having their phone go off during the film (and DUDE. I didn’t even know that shit STILL HAPPENED anymore.) it was as gripping as the book. It’s an excellent adaptation and I’m going on the record to say I fucking LOVE the chick who played Salander.
So. If you’re down for a great film, I give it two thumbs up. If you hate subtitles however, it’s not for you. If you aren’t sure you’ll like the books, check this out. If you like this film, you’ll love the books.
Yeah, yeah, everyone else is watching the Haiti telethon. I’m finishing a BluRay double feature that included Inglourious Basterds and District 9.
Dear Peter Jackson,
I’m sure that combining Kafka, mid-east war policy criticism, robot tech and Bad Boys sounded like a good idea. Hell, when I put it like that, it sounds like a good idea to ME- but REALLY. Couldn’t you have made it SUCK LESS? Because I swear to Brutus that this fucking movie wasted a full hour of my life before your plot even started to happen and then when it happened it was so predictable that it hurt. Seriously. Chock full of suck. I feel like you should pay me for the time I wasted on this movie.
No love,
Me
Dear Quentin Tarantino,
I’m super glad that you’re in love with yourself because you need all the self-esteem you can get after Inglourious Basterds. It was like Moulin Rouge meets The Dirty Dozen but less funny and less good. The best part of the film was Shosanna and she was seriously in all of about 15 minutes of the damn thing. When even MY HUSBAND doesn’t give a shit about your characters an hour in, you’re doing something wrong. Like taking yourself too seriously. Please to be back at the drawingboard and huffing less of your I’m-a-Misunderstood-Genius-Juice. Come back with something more like From Dusk til Dawn and then show it for free to make it up to all of us assholes who rented this crap.
No love,
Me
I honestly never thought anything would make me WANT to watch that Haiti telethon but these films really make me wish I’d watched that instead. Feh.
So for the first time since I’ve known him, Spouse wanted to see a movie twice while it was STILL in the theater. One of the best things about Avatar is that, while the story is JUST engaging enough to keep everyone involved, it’s just visually STUNNING. Even the second time around. I kept getting stuck in that OMGTHISISAWESOME mode and didn’t really care that it’s Disney’s Pocahontas in space. You know what? The plot of Star Wars is not groundbreaking or especially innovative either. That’s not why people keep going back to it. I think the reason people keep talking about Avatar and seeing it (I know several folks who’ve gone to the theater more than once and/or done the Imax version) is childlike wonder.
Sounds silly, right? But it’s the sense – while you’re watching it – that this is the COOLEST THING YOU’VE EVER SEEN. And you can’t remember the last time you saw something THIS COOL and seeing it again brings you back to that moment where you saw the coolest thing ever for the first time. It’s pretty fantastic.
On top of that, the second time around I got to notice just how incredible the detail in the film is. The first time was almost overload – 3D, the realness of the effects, and the time for your eyes to adjust to both. This time was like seeing a great piece of art after you’ve learned how to appreciate it (notice I didn’t say LOVE it). You get past the big splash of color and start to notice other parts of the composition or technique. That’s totally how I felt about this time around with Avatar – it was just as good and almost better because I got to SEE so much more of it.
As for Spouse: “It’s the sign of a pretty good movie that in three hours, even after already seeing it, it’s still not boring at any point.” We also noticed that the kids behind us were loving the movie, which was cute.
In unrelated news, I’m still pretty excited about Salt.
Except it was called For Richer and Poorer, starred Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley and sucked. I do not hold high hopes for the remake.
Dude. It’s been a while since I watched a movie worth blogging about. State of Play is FANTASTIC. Great performances all around, but more importantly it’s a great mystery/thriller. There are enough twists to keep you guessing without seeming cliche and the subject is timely like whoa.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Dance Flick has made it onto the Top 10 Worst Films of All Time list. For the record, other list members include: Dungeons and Dragons, both of the Step Up films, You Got Served, Battlefield Earth, Glitter, and Anaconda. I know there’s a couple of open spots but you can’t eliminate the possibility that Hollywood will serve up more steaming crap.
