Where Personal and Professional Life Collide...

Finally got around to watching Black Snake Moan, after missing it (as usual) in the theaters.

That was... an interesting movie. Not going to say I loved it, because it's not (I think) the kind of movie you love.

But it is the kind of movie you think about, after. Quiet and on your own kind of thinking.

13. John Wick (despite my distaste for "woman dies for manpain" and "kill the dog for manpain" and oversaturated sets, I was curious. Verdict: pretty much everything I hate in movies, with only a bit of good acting to save it.)
12. Avengers: Age of Ultron
11. Pacific Rim (yeah, I know, I didn't see many movies in the theater the past few years...)
10. Hunger Games (yes, finally. Shut up)
9. Divergent
8. Jack the Giant-Killer (glad I didn't spend money seeing this in the theater, but good to watch while sorting tax paperwork...)
7. Duma
6. Mirror, Mirror (after a while I just had it on for the pretty, I freely admit)
5. Over the Hedge (I'd never actually watched it through to the end, before)
4. Now You See Me
3. The Other Woman
2. Nanny McPhee
1. Grand Budapest Hotel

10. Hunger Games (yes, finally. Shut up)
9. Divergent
8. Jack the Giant-Killer (glad I didn't spend money seeing this in the theater, but good to watch while sorting tax paperwork...)
7. Duma
6. Mirror, Mirror (after a while I just had it on for the pretty, I freely admit)
5. Over the Hedge (I'd never actually watched it through to the end, before)
4. Now You See Me
3. The Other Woman
2. Nanny McPhee
1. Grand Budapest Hotel

7. Duma
6. Mirror, Mirror (after a while I just had it on for the pretty, I freely admit)
5. Over the Hedge (I'd never actually watched it through to the end, before)
4. Now You See Me
3. The Other Woman
2. Nanny McPhee
1. Grand Budapest Hotel

Getting HBO as part of my cable package was potentially deadly.


4. Now You See Me
3. The Other Woman
2. Nanny McPhee
1. Grand Budapest Hotel

Finally watching "The Grand Budapest Hotel." Yep, everything I was warned about. In fact, if they'd thought about how to make a movie Just For Me, if might have been this.

Perfection.

Friday's steady sheeting of rain, thanks to TS Andrea, left me pretty much housebound (anyone who didn't have to go out in that mess, didn't.) So by around 3pm I may possibly have been going a bit stir-crazy.

Thankfully, Saturday morning dawned clear and bright, and I hauled myself down to meet up with the usual local suspects at the Inwood farmer's market.


(Abbymonster is reaching for teen years, she's legally bound not to smile for photos)

This week's market haul: another loaf of that dutch apple sourdough, butter lettuce, baby spinach, and mmmmm sorrel. I love finding sorrel at the market, because it adds an amazing snap to salad.  I was sorely tempted by the strawberries - farm market strawberries aren't picture-pretty, but they smell/taste amazing) but I figured there was no way I'd eat them all before they went overripe, and freezing them ruins the moment, somehow.

And then I was good and hauled home (rather than lazing about in the park, as the sun was tempting me to do) and got back to work.  Or, well, an attack-nap and rewatching season 1 of Supernatural, and some solid work into the evening.

Sunday I'd like to say I spent all day working but that... would be a lie.  I did spend several hours early in the morning working, and then I hied myself off with a friend to see MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (the Joss Whedon Iteration).

What follows is my own personal review, of which the shortest version is :  Much Ado: Practically Perfect.

( Want more? )

Probably won't make Draft on "Promises to Keep" today, since I have a breakfast meeting and then afternoon plans to see The Hobbit  (yes, I know, but it's THE HOBBIT. I have to give the first segment a chance, right?).  However, Draft status seems imminent this weekend....

"Alfred knew he sounded like an idiot. He felt like one, too. 'You’re insane. Never mind about taking me home. I’ll call my wife and deal with the fallout the way I should have two days ago.'&rdquo

And so, we slip into mid-December. I've been waiting for four things that are still on my Pending List (3 different callbacks and 1 set of contract papers from a small press), but the reality is that odds are nothing will actually happen before January. End-of-year is like Friday... you know if it doesn't happen NOW, it's not going to happen for a while. All you can do is sulk be patient.

Plus, my traditional plan is to shut down shop on the 21st and not pick up the workload again until 2 January. The last ten days of the year are for Recovery.

However, there are still Things On The To-Do List for 2012:

1. finish the draft of "Promises to keep"
2. revise the first Kickstarter "bonus" story and prep for e-release
3. start renovations on the website (relaunch in 2013)
4. Another chunk of work on Unsold Project #1
5. work on the story that's due in January. Oh, wait - TWO stories that are due in January.
6.get contracts out to new clients

also: make a lot of cookies, go to a few parties, and mail out those last few presents and books....  

I got this covered.  More coffee, please?

Because, like others, having seen Avengers, all I can say is "really fun movie really well done and let's go see it again, shall we?"



OK, there's more that can be said* but right now: that was a really fun movie well-done.


And i will be terribly disappointed, come the DVD release, if there are no outtakes. Mmmjustsaying.




*discussion of Banner's manifestation-of-anger psyche; the use of names rather than codenames to humanize the characters; Joss HAS to kill someone it's in his contract; Pepper rocks; three strong female characters each completely different from the others; patented Whedon fight-with-banter and ensemble usage; Banner-Stark sandwich; etc etc we need booze to do this properly

A review would indicate that I am being critical l [in the 'evaluative' sense] of the movie. This? Is not a movie you bring your brain to. In fact, it's best to hire a brainsitter and leave it at home entirely with a set of PBS videos, or something.

----------------

The reviews were in, and they were, well, bad. Or, mostly bad, with a few flashes of "well I liked it." And so, with some doubt but no hesitations, last night a stalwart bunch of us, fortified with beer, went to see the 10pm showing of COWBOYS AND ALIENS.

It is, indeed, a rather bad movie. The dialogue flattens the occasional spark of wit with a layer of dull and predictable exchanges, and every time you think that they have the chance to do something original with the plot, they turn it down in favor of a cliche. The scenes with the Native Americans veered dangerously close to patronizing (saved, IMO, only by the fact that the Indian chief whomps the hell out of Dollarhyde's (Ford's) ego, and in the end the two men are co-leaders of their crew, not White Man Trumps). The number of women in this film can be counted on one hand, and still have a finger left to be rude.* And the science of all this just... yeah. Nevermind.

And WTF with the hummingbird? And the boat? And....

However..... It is also a surprisingly fun movie. There are some lovely sparks of What Could Have Been in the dialogue. The cinematography was gorgeous. Harrison Ford rocks the cranky old man role (with flashes of the Han Solo grin). Daniel Craig manages his man-of-mystery-to-himself role equally well, and has one of the finer backsides** in Hollywood today. And the supporting cast does the best they can with what they're given.

Oh, and pretty horses. And actors who can ride. This? Cannot be underestimated in a Western, however genrebending.

In short, this is not a movie that asks you to take it seriously. It is not masquerading as having a Higher/Deeper meaning (I'm looking at you, Avatar.) It invites you to butter your popcorn, kick back, and have a bit of fun. And - of the 10 people in our group - 6 did (and 1 was on the fence).


Sadly, the same cannot be said of the previews for BATTLESHIP. I'm not sure "stunned and slightly derisive laughter" was quite what they filmmakers were hoping for as audience reaction.


*ok, this (and the treatment of Indians) is part of the Western genre. I still say they could have managed it better.
**hey, I never said I wasn't occasionally shallow. And they put him in close-fitting pants and leather chaps. Was I supposed to NOT look?



originally posted at Practical Meerkat: A Blog