according to wikipedia,
new people (welcome, kent and laurie!) moved in john and susie’s place downstairs (which obviously means that we did not), cf moved from one house in the hood to another house in the hood, and across the bay there were moving trucks all over the fucking place. if there was a parade, it was in and out of the u-haul parking lot.
let’s reflect on what happened, as the three day weekend is suddenly over, and i’m more tired now than i was before this “holiday”.
things we got done:
things we didn’t get done
* yes, we have a nice bookshelf we bought on craigslist. we put it between the existing bookshelves in our living room, and it fits perfectly. what to do with the stuff the bookshelf displaces, i don’t know, but it’s ok as long as you aren’t facing the rest of the living room which is now filled with (more) detritus. however, now we have room for more books and don’t have to have the layers in front of layers and stacks and stacks on top of stacks of books. this is what happens when you marry an academic type.
(please note that the new bookshelf is not technically earthquake safe, as it’s not secured to the wall. should an earthquake occur while you are in our house, please do not stand in front of the new bookshelf. please move to either side. the two old ones are secured, but only barely. in fact, given the large amount of dangerous items stacked in piles and perilously attached to the walls, in the event of an earthquake, the best course of action would be to fling yourself through the window onto the fire escape. please choose the window that actually leads to the fire escape.)
** yes, i almost blew up the land cruiser and the jeep by connecting positive to negative and negative to positive. i won’t say that it’s fun, but i do now know what it’s like to watch jumper cables melt in your hand. they’re just like m&m’s.
*** why is the storage space closed today?!? don’t they know that memorial day is the moving holiday?
we saw sydney pollack’s new film, the interpreter last night.
the tagline: “the truth needs no translation.”
apparently the truth does need better direction. or writing. or something.
it’s a little frustrating because you watch the movie, and you can see that all the requisite parts are there to make it an interesting, and even possibly gripping movie. the set-up with political intrigue. the little bits of suspense, the car chases, and the misdirections of who’s a good guy and who’s a bad guy.
unfortunately, it just doesn’t fit together convincingly. worse yet, it’s not clear how to fix this film. oh sure, you can say, “if only nicole kidman had a robotic monkey sidekick,” but that’s not the answer to every film. oddly enough it gives you more appreciation for good screenwriting and/or direction, because obviously it’s not done quite right here.
quibbles:
1. with a zillion dollar budget and getting to film on the actual grounds and building of the UN, why does EVERY SINGLE PICTURE in the film look incredibly fake? every photo in the movie looks like a bad photoshop hack job. nicole kidman’s head pasted onto bodies at awkward angles, and entire shots where it looks like everyone is clip art and pasted in, without regard to proper lighting and perspective. you’d think they could hire some guy on fark and get better results than this.
2. speaking of which, what did they do to nicole in the first place? her eyebrows in this movie are not only severely styled, but don’t match her hair, distressingly so. in fact, the whole film makes her look strange and less attractive for no good reason. perhaps it’s the desire for naturalistic lighting and therefore less makeup than normal, but it’s a pity. i still don’t understand why directors want to cast the most beautiful actresses and then make them look bad.
3. if you’re a director and you cast yourself in a prominent but minor part for no apparent reason at all, is this just reckless egotism? pollack has been doing this for years, but that doesn’t make it right.
4. watching the scenes where sean and nicole are trying to develop a personal bond is like watching a large machine where you can hear gears gnashing and grinding inside destroying itself, yet moving forward despite itself.
minor/major spoilers:
4. at least nicole and sean didn’t kiss.
5. and we all know it would have been a better film if nicole had shot the guy, and sean had to shoot nicole. bang! bang!
looks like the knock-off of the bodyworlds exhibit is having some problems. namely, melting plastinated bodies:
Bob Henry, Int’l Society for Plastination: “It appears to be a classic example of someone not understanding the process and not realizing that it literally takes months to prepare a nice specimen.”
The I-Team took samples from the bodies and sent them to a lab. It’s silicone from the plastination process and liquefied human fat. The bodies were not degreased properly before they were filled with plastic.
moral of the story: if you’re going to display dead bodies, don’t use a cut rate plastinator.
back from austin. i was just there for a meet-and-greet for a couple of days. ok, one day, really, and two nights. i learned two things:
it looks like i have to go back next week as well. whoopee.
more than anything else, i need to start living my life so my obit ends with something as exciting as this:
and from the new yorker review:
“You’re so beautiful.”
“That’s only because I’m so in love.”
“No, it’s because I’m so in love with you.”
we had a special early morning screening of star wars III: revenge of the sith this morning for our customers, so i was there to meet and greet, and hand out t-shirts and the like.
as for the movie, all i can say is: it isn’t as horrifically bad as the first two.
it’s certainly not great, and i don’t know if i can even go as far as it being good. but was is horrifically bad? well, no, i guess not.
we all know i hate hayden christensen, who can’t seem to act his way out of a wet paper bag. but honestly, when a cg yoda is more expressive and gives a more nuanced performance than your lead actor, that’s a problem. it’s got to be george lucas, who i hear is a terrible actor’s director. under his direction, even samuel l. jackson comes off as wooden and lifeless. SAMUEL L. JACKSON! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
the funny thing (besides hayden trying to walk that fine line between furrowed-brow-upset and furrowed-brow-almost-evil) has to be the scene where he’s darth vader for the first time and they raise his table up off the ground, where he does an actual frankenstein’s monster-type awakening, complete with arms out stiff and primal scream. i kid you not.
the horrible thing about this movie is that even if it sucks you can’t really leave, because you have to stay and see what happens. which is inherently ridiculous, because you know what happens. you’ve seen the NEXT THREE MOVIES ALREADY. anakin lives and becomes darth. obi-wan lives. luke and leia are born. and the death star is constructed (although it takes like 17 years to finish it off, even though it’s like 1/2 done at the end of this film? what? did caltrans get the contract for that sucker?)
it’s funny, last saturday cc was asking if i was going to see it, and we concurred that you just have to do it. just get over it, know that it’s going to suck, but just do it so we can all get on with the rest of our lives. we never have to pay attention to george lucas again, and we can go out and see good movies, free of these nostalgic shackles.
until they remake TRON, that is.
went to see the M.I.A. make-up show last night at the independent, which is where the justice league used to be.
to make a long night short, doors opened at 8, the show started at 9, we didn’t get there until 10:30, and we still had to wait over an hour for M.I.A. to actually play. apparently this time they had airplane troubles, and were delayed for hours and hours getting here, as opposed to the visa troubles she had last time which caused the cancellation of her first show back in march. when she got here, they played about six or seven song and then, that’s it! show’s over.
it’s less likely any sort of malice or fatigue, but more likely the fact that she only has six songs. she’s only got one album. that’s it. play it live, go home.
still, they felt a little hurt that they went through herculean tasks to get here, play a set, and we were like, “is that it?”
you can play a short little set and leave us feeling rooked if you’re on time, but not if you’re an hour and a half late. and certainly not if you’re 1,393 1/2 hours late.
i don’t know what the hell these are, but i want them. i want them all.
apparently they’re singing cubes. and if you have more than one, they SING TOGETHER.
it’s like the little pikachu doll that i have from years back that sings to you when you squeeze its paw. i tried to get rid of it last month when we were cleaning the house, but i couldn’t. it’s too cute!
generally: caesars is so much nicer than the MGM grand. the MGM is a dump compared to caesars, man. it just feels tacky, whereas caesars is nice and faux-luxurious, like you expect vegas to be.
went to see the shows:
getting back to the room on friday at 7am to take a con call is not pleasant when you’ve been up all night. honestly. i don’t recommend it.
you know it’s time to go home from vegas when all of your clothes smell like stripper.
we’re in caesar’s palace this year. which compared to the mgm grand we’re usually in, is swanky swanky swank. because the mgm is a dump. yeah, i said it. you want to make something of it, mgm? come and get me. i’m right here.
anyway, they upgraded my room to some deluxe room. because i’m special they said. that means a bigger room, which i don’t care about. but what that also means, is that i now have a jacuzzi tub. off of my bedroom.
i can now sit in my jacuzzi tub and watch basketball.
this is my NEW FAVORITE THING EVER.
