Husband and I went to see The Dark Knight last night: I was exhausted and exhilerated by the end, a bit overwhelmed by the multiple plot lines and vast number of action sequences. But I was blown away by the performances of everyone in the film, particularly (along with the rest of the known universe) by Heath Ledger as The Joker. His portrayal of a true psychotic sociopath was absolutely brilliant in its nuanced and incredibly fascinating physicality - you just can't take your eyes of off him. Having grown up with theatre all my life, I believe this is one of the finest peformances I've witnessed: every moment of his is true, everything he does has rich layers and you can see all of the cogs and wheels spinning in his twisted mind - and never for one second does the character resemble anything else that Ledger ever did before.

Two thoughts:

1. elemess commented that he thought the movie was bleak, and not dark. It definitely wasn't sunshine and lollipops, but I'd still call it only dark  - and NOT bleak - because of a single scene that I wasn't expecting which redeems humanity. I won't spoil it except to say that it involves a convict, a detonator, and a boat. Left me pleasantly surprised.

2. Husband and I both used to be avid readers of Salon.com, but it stopped being interesting a while ago, and I hadn't gone to the site in months. I was curious, though, how their main movie critic, Stephanie Zacharek, would approach the movie. I rarely agree with her - I think she's one of these movie critics who actually hates movies* - but every once in a while she touches on an introspective point that I find interesting. Well, her review of The Dark Knight solidifies my opinion that she's full of crap and I don't ever need to read another one of her reviews. I'll concede the point that the editing in this film is choppy. But "pretentious poot"? Pot, I've got kettle on line one.

So, yes, it's not a barrell of laughs - it's not as much "fun" as Iron Man (which I loved), but I still think it was an excellent movie because I got lost in it, and found myself reacting constantly, and have found much to think about in retrospect. Perfect? Far from it. But definitely worth it.

Oh yeah - one other thing - is anyone else still getting a kick out of Gary Oldman playing a morally upright and somewhat dowdy guy? I keep flashing back to him in The Professional and True Romance. Loved him in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, but his career track seemed to be mainly on that of a sadistic whackjob. Nice to see him successfully playing against type.

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* In Entertainment Weekly there's always an interesting little chart showing the grades given to movies by numerous influential movie critics in the media - for some reason she's on it - and every single time if you just run your finger down her list of grades you'll see something like: C, C-, D, C-, C, B+. D, C-. I'm telling you, the woman hate movies.
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Happy (day after) Birthday to moxiegirl  !

I just finished reading No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I can honestly say I have no desire to see the film. It's an excellent book, but...

On a completely different wave, I also re-watched Peter's Friends, which, while charming and featuring a terrific cast of wonderful actors (Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branaugh, and many more), now seems like a very dated and British version of The Big Chill. It's lovely to watch this talented cast interact, and of course for those of us now used to seeing Hugh Laurie as the cynical American doctor on House, it's great to be reminded of his musical and comedy abilities (although he gets a chance to use his drama chops, as well.) What seems dated is the death knell that sounds when Peter announces he is HIV positive: I think it's a wonderful thing to be able to say that 16 years later it is no longer the absolute death sentence that it was. Thank goodness for modern medicine.

And finally, Husband and I were invited by the neighbors to spend Saturday playing kickball in a tournament (and drinking beer, beginning at 10 AM.) Considering that was the only sport in elementary school for which I did NOT get picked last, it was quite fun. I'm pretty sure it's been 25 years (ye gods that makes me feel old) since I played it last.

With March 1 comes the loss of my Gold Medallion status on Delta... I'm now only Silver, which essentially makes me a peon. It means I'll no longer get frequently upgraded, and will have to be content being squeezed into coach with the rest of you lot. Actually the only real reason I really like the upgrades is NOT for the alcohol or larger seats (I'm small enough that coach is generally fine in that regard) - it's for the meals served on longer flights. Totally worth it when it means an actual full meal with protein, vegetable, starch and dessert - instead of a pack of crackers, something that passes for spreadable "cheese", and a teensy box with about 8 raisins. Ah, woe is me. I somehow think I'll survive; I just had to whine a little.
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I'm off to visit my friend John in San Francisco tomorrow - I love that city, so very much looking forward to it (although if someone could blow some warmer weather that way, I would appreciate it.) Leaving the husband home alone to fend for himself, but I think he'll manage. Our new kitty is keeping both of us occupied most of the time, demanding playtime and general attention.

Two quick things before I go:

1. I was very sad to hear of Heath Ledger's death yesterday. We do not yet know the circumstances - but it doesn't matter. Whether it was an accident, suicide, or stupid drug overdose - it doesn't matter. It's a loss. He was a fine actor who impressed the hell out of me, and I was excited to see what new roles he would be taking on. Certainly The Joker is a far cry from Ennis Del Mar - this was an actor with true range. I feel for his daughter, his friends and his family.

2. Cloverfield. Excellent. Absolutely excellent. On a grading scale I'd give it an A-. This is a movie with excellent pacing (I didn't look at my watch once, and I'm an impatient person), well-developed characters considering we only get to know them (with a few exceptions) in one evening. There are nice subtle touches, and as many other better writers have pointed out, it's a terrific departure from the standard monster movie where the audience knows what's going on at all times. We only know what the characters know, at the time that they learn the information - and the script wisely refrains from scientific explanations. Because it's from the point of view of a hand-held camera, the theater audience becomes part of the group of friends running from this .... thing. I was breathless at the end - felt like I had been running with them. And yes, the hand-held camera is shaky - so be prepared, and don't sit close if you have a tendency to get motion sickness. But that's really irrelevant to what is genuinely a new take on an old story. So thumbs up, and go see it in a theater.

That's all folks - have a lovely weekend!
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Some randomness for Monday morning - if I don't go ahead and post it now, I never will! (Friday I made notes of the various links and stuff I wanted to post, then accidentally deleted it. D'oh.) Of course I have a ton work of to get done this morning, and a coworkers calls to avoid (it's impossible to have a short conversation with her, and I just don't have the energy for her on a Monday morning.)

1. My heart goes out to pmgoose    for her loss.

2. From Cracked.com: 8 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Geeks. I have to admit there were a few surprises on that list. I knew about Natalie "I went to Harvard" Portman, and Vin "D&D DungeonMaster" Diesel (and Asia "MENSA member who played at Carnegie Hall when she was 14" Carrera.) But I wasn't aware that Brian May from Queen studied and wrote books on astrophysics, or that Dolph Lundgren has a Master's in Chemical Engineering. Color me impressed.

3. Last week, listening to WOXY Vintage 'net radio, I discovered two new songs that now have regular rotation in our household iTunes collection:
  ** Green Haze, by Elvis Hitler. It's the words to the theme song from Green Acres sung to the tune of Purple Haze.
  ** Burning Down the House covered by Tom Jones and the Cardigans. Pretty awesome combination.
( Watch Tom Jones have way too much energy... )

4. Watched a fantastic movie last week that I have to recommend: The Lives of Others. Phenomenal German movie about a Stasi officer in East Berlin who is assigned to monitor a playwright and his lover. How does one spy on the intricacies of someone else's life and not get involved somehow? In this case, the officer can't. The acting is amazing, it's perfectly paced, and the ending is truly beautiful.

5. Also re-watched Pulp Fiction with Husband, and had fun remembering the first time we each saw it, and how much of the script has been absorbed into popular culture. Although violent, I still think it's a terrific movie (and one of the all time greatest soundtracks.)

6. I've decided that I can officially label cooking as my hobby. I love it. A week or so ago I came up with a recipe for the Most Delicious Vegetable Soup Ever (agreed upon by all who tasted it)(which consisted of my mother and my husband) and last night I made delicious Mustard & Rosemary Encrusted Rock Cornish Game Hens for the neighbors who joined us for dinner. My mom-in-law is coming to visit on Thursday, and I have to try to recreate the soup recipe. If I can, I'll post it here in case anyone is interested.

7. The Luna Situation: Ariel is tolerating Luna, but poor Luna is bored to tears. She wants to play, and Ariel wants to snooze. While I sit up in my office working I can hear Luna making disgruntled mrowr noises downstairs, and if she thinks I might pay attention to her for a sec she comes running upstairs eagerly. Poor thing. She lived the first year of her life as a shelter cat, and she's used to having lots of interaction with animals and people. I feel like I should get her either a cat nanny or her own kitten. She's a complete sweetheart but REALLY doesn't just want to sit around the house and sleep, as Ariel does. Oh, and best toy ever for a kitty? Laser pointer. Also still trying to figure out how to feed them both, since Ariel is a grazer, and Luna will immediately down whatever food is put out.

8. The Fish Situation: One of our neighbors is in Egypt with his partner for 3 weeks, and we're feeding his cat and his fish. They have one fat goldfish in a plain empty aquarium. He asked if we could change out the water if it got too cloudy, so Husband and I have done that. We've been feeding him as requested. But for the last two days he's been floating upside-down on the BOTTOM of the tank, breathing, but not doing much else. We've tried to stir him and get him right-side-up, and he does that for a second, swishes all his little fins, and then goes upside-down again. WTF? Does anyone have any idea what's going on here? The water feels a bit cold (there's no temp guage or filtration system), so maybe he's hibernating? Any insight would be helpful.

That's it. There's more, but I really do have work to do. Have a lovely morning, all.
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First, apologies for not noting in my last entry that of course my dear friend Marc is wrong about the Reevers being zombies - since I hadn't seen the movie until last night, I had forogtten exactly how they came to be what they are. Not zombies, just crazed madmen who had completely abandoned civilization.

That being said, here are my thoughts on Serenity, the movie.

(But first, man am I having a good hair day.) :-)

Overall? B+.

Thank the muses of good writing for Joss Wheedon's brilliant, intelligent, ironic, sharp, and funny dialogue. Thank the muses of good casting for the incredible ensemble cast that he put together, who were able to slip back into their characters so believingly. For those of us who loved the show, it was like seeing old friends, which gave us warm and fuzzies. The characteristics were all intact as well, and nice to see Joss didn't lose those in the translation to screen.

So mostly great - good pacing, well acted, semi-believable plot, and Captain Tight Pants. And Jayne - what a great friggin' character.

Just a few complaints:

Simon rescued River himself? Is that right? Cuz that wasn't the impression that I got from the show - didn't he bribe someone else? Plus, if he had rescued her in the scenario shown in the movie, he would already know much more about what they had done to her, based on the Evil Scientist(tm)'s comments to him. But ok, it worked, just not in the context of the television Firefly universe.

And of course, Joss' big decision, which, since I don't know how to do the Live Journal cut thing, I'll just use some spoiler space.

If you haven't seen Serenity, go away now.

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When Shepherd Book died, I thought, "Was this the big death everyone was complaining about?" (I had been good about not reading those spoilers). I was fairly pissed, because there was still so much mystery to his character, and of course on the show he was such a crucial part of the ensemble, so I thought it was pretty cheap of Joss to kill him off so quickly, and without a meatier role in the movie.

And then came the death of Wash.

Ok, that sucked. NO I don't think a writer has to kill off a major character to prove how serious he is. We're not there for the seriousness, we the fans are there because of the deep love that Joss has generated for us with his rich characters and complex relationships. Wash was an integral part. An INTEGRAL part of that complex quilt. He represented a relative lack of cynicism compared to the other characters. He represented true and real love with his relationship with Zoe. He provided a great foil to the other macho males on the ship. And he was funny. So I resent the choice to kill him off. I probably still will see any other Firefly movies (ok who am I kidding, of course I'll see them) but I honestly think Joss deserves to be bitch-slapped for that choice.

And to make matters worse - and this might be a chick thing - I feel cheated that we didn't get to see Zoe grieve. Yes, she's a soldier at heart, and ok, it made sense for her to continue handling the situation at the time. But during the funeral ceremony we needed to see how much hurt and loss she was feeling - we needed to see her be a girl, and cry for the death of the man that she loved, and who provided her with so much balance. We needed to see her feel the pain of losing the man that she chose without a second thought when faced with the choice of his life or Captain Tightpants' life in that one episode of the show. I resent that we didn't get to see her grieve.

So I'm glad I saw the movie, and I'm glad they made the movie, and I'm angrier than ever that the show was canceled (because then at least Joss would probably have given us at least a few seasons of Wash before he decided to kill him off).

So there.