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This Weekend in Movies

Wow, this year's Academy Awards was the most boring I have seen in quite some time. The musical performances were dull and didn't show much variety, having Beyonce do practically every performance. Blah. Chris Rock made one funny joke: going to the Magic Johnson Theatre and talking about movies to the moviegoers, whose favorite movies of the year were White Chicks and Chronicles of Riddick. Otherwise, he was absolutely boring and absolutely unfunny. The results were all boringly predictable too. Most of the dresses were pretty boring too. Oh well. I have hope for this coming year, but so far it's only a little bit. I still think they should bring David Letterman back. Was I the only one who thought he was a funny host?

So, I got my kicks watching some Netflixed features this weekend:

8 1/2 (1963)
Woo. Started watching 8 1/2 while very tired. My initial response was, "What the heck is going on here?" Once I tried again, fully awake, I really enjoyed it. I'm not too great at describing what I like about movies a lot of the time. Suffice to say this movie was filled with dreams, memories, fantasies, and everything in between, all a part of a famous director trying to create a movie. It's so full of creativity and confusion - loved it.

Rashomon (1950)
Also very enjoyable. I rented this one because I kept hearing the phrase "Rashomon complex" in reviews of Hero. In this movie we see four people's stories of how a man was murdered. Each story is seen with no confirmation of which story is actually true. Kurosawa made spectacular use of this film being made in black and white. With so much play in lighting I could hardly imagine it translating as well into color. The story is compelling and I was actually getting into the fighting sequences more than I expected I would for a 55 year old movie.

Well, while the Fall season of movies has come to a close out in the theatres, it gives me a chance to catch up with some old classics. I have a huuuuuuuuge list of movies in my queue

Posted by wendytime at 12:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

you take the good you take the bad, you take them both and then you have.....an M.R.I....... then almost die

The good: After probably three years or more of the back pain issues, I finally saw the back specialist today. He showed me my x-ray, which shows a small chip on one of my vertebrae, which they think isn't really affecting me. He now thinks it's possible I have an injured disc. Surprise, surprise. I've been saying that for the past two years. So anyway, after two sets of xrays, physical therapy, blood tests for arthritis, two visits to the specialist, and an awful lot of whining to doctors, I finally have a prescription for an MRI. To be continued...

The bad: Dude! I almost died eating a Peppomint Lifesaver!! I was kicking back watching tv while sucking on the peppomint, when it accidentally slipped back into my throat. It lodged itself sideways and was stuck back there, stretching my throat. I tried drinking and that didn't help, so I decided to get a mirror to see if it was close enough to the surface where I could reach it. Nope. Then it must have slipped one centimeter too far: it triggered the vomit reflex. Out came the culprit, as well as my lunch. Funny thing is I was feeling guilty about that frostee I had with my lunch, but I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore!

And there you have.. the facts of life.

Posted by wendytime at 04:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

ehhhhhh

I don't really have anything to say.

Spent the weekend doing not much of anything. Slept a lot. Missed Becky's call (sorry!). Got news of the nephew's first tooth. Went to coffee. Went wandering around with nothing to do because all the movies out right now are horrible. Had dinner with the in-laws and watched the Sunday night lineup (the writers of Malcom are geniuses).

Overall, a relaxing weekend with the exception of waking up a million times when the weather was loud or when Josh had the audacity to call on a Saturday morning at 9:15am. :)

So at work I've been thinking about people who have unfortunate names to live up to. Last name Bourgeois, Meek, Stump, come to mind offhand. I bet they all have complexes to get over.

Posted by wendytime at 04:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

heheheheh

THERE IT IS.........THERE IT IS AGAIN!.........THERE IT IS AGAIN!.........AND AGAIN!!!

Posted by wendytime at 08:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

White Noise

Dollared this one because of Michael Keaton. I think Ric has a special affinity for the man because of Beetlejuice and Mr. Mom.

I don't know. I just get pissed off at movies like this, because they take the idea of something demonic and pass it off as entertainment. I could easily see a movie like this intruiging people to try messing around with the spirit world. But people never take these things seriously. They think it's amazing and mysterious, but never stop to think where this kind of stuff comes from.

So, if Ric and I got anything from this movie, it was a good conversation that started after we exited. We started talking about how the spirit world is real, but usually the contact people get with it doesn't involve warm, fluffy feelings that result from beautiful angels blessing us witht their presence. The contact people get is usually evil, and potentially harmful. Maybe I've just heard one too many stories in my Bible classes in high school and college, but I would NEVER try to get in touch with the spirit world with stuff like EVP, ouija boards, etc. I worry for friends of mine who think it's cool and mysterious. It's dangerous, and it's certainly not coming from a good place. I think we've both had experiences where we've actually felt like evil was present in the room, and that's spooked both of us enough to never want to mess with it.

We actually ended the night praying for protection of us and our friends.

ANYHOO: TO THE MOVIE!

White Noise sucked for several reasons:

1a) I hated it before it began. The opening credits are full of blips of static. FULL of blips. Thirty seconds in and my brain was screaming, "OKAY, I GET IT, IT'S CALLED WHITE NOSIE!"

1) I think Michael Keaton is an underrated actor, but it's hard to see in a movie like this. He just looks bad. If you look up pictures from the movie at movies.yahoo.com, you will see several in which Keaton's face is tilted to his left, his lips are parted, and he has a confused look on his face. The poor man had this look for almost the entire movie. Perhaps he was just perturbed at the poor decision he made by signing the contract for this one.

2) Needless plot: Keaton has a son and an ex-wife, but they serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever in this movie.

3) A movie like White Noise has an interesting idea but manages to reduce it to regular scary movie tactics: sudden movements, sudden music, and weird sounds. Woo.

4) Lack of explanation: Yes, I realize it's hard to explain how a demon of some sort could somehow physically materialize through the white noise on a TV, but the writers could have at least TRIED to say something. Anything. Any explanation.

5) The "Duh" factor: Everything happens because they're looking for it to happen, and they're looking at video tapes and listening to radio sounds... sooooooo... pull the damn plug and none of this would be happening to you!

SPOILER
Redemptive factor: Michael Keaton's character was so stupid in this movie, I kept thinking that I would feel a sense of consolation if he would died at the end. Sweet consolation did come! Some demons threw him over a ledge and he landed in a freakish position with his leg facing in the wrong direction.

Wow. I just spent way more time discussing this movie than it deserves. This will most likely be at THE bottom of the list for 2005.

Posted by wendytime at 02:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Enough of That

Enough of the mooshy writing. I had to post something else.

So as a part of the joys of Netflix, I get to order Criterion Collection editions of movies. This week over several failed and several successful attempts, I finally finished watching Fanny and Alexander. Lovely movie. But of course, the English major in me came out when I had to rewind to confirm my suspicions: Helena says to Oscar's ghost, "I grieved when you past away."

Wow, I'm a nerd.

Anyway, if you dig the foreign, the kid stories, beautiful filming, references to Hamlet, and of course themes of religion, life, death, and family, by all means watch the movie. Just don't get too weirded out by Ismael.

Posted by wendytime at 03:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I Choo Choo Choose You

Well, our Valentine's experience was somewhat weird this year. We planned on celebrating on the 13th, which is when Marilyn died, so that put a damper on things immediately. I went in the afternoon with Gron to J9's show and with all the driving managed to get a little bit queasy. So by the time we got to the Summit House for dinner, I made it through the appetizer and then we had to leave before I threw up. Heheh. The waitress was great about it and packed up our stuff quickly. I figured we might as well celebrate on Valentine's Day anyway. That night I gave Ric his gift: Johnny Cash reading the New Testament on CD for his long commute, and money towards a massage at Salon Lujon.

The next day I received flowers, a balloon, and a teddy bear at work. All the women were very impressed with my husband. My mom was too, especially after he had called to check up on her the day before; she said, "You have a VERY good husband," and I was proud. :) I heated up the dinner that night and we had a casual time of eating.

It was all broken up and not as planned, but we enjoyed ourselves all the same. I'm very fortunate to have Ric, and even though many people think Valentine's Day is a horrible ploy to make money, ours was special in that Ric's caring side really came through in the way he took care of my mom and me on those two days.

Right now I'm listening to Erika's Valentine's Day CD mix, with songs ranging from Air's "You Make it Easy" to Esquivel's "Mucha Muchaha" to Mazzy Star's "Give You My Lovin" to The Selector's "On My Radio"....

Posted by wendytime at 08:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

breath(e)(d)

It's a strange coincidence that on the same morning I was planning to go see Jenine's opening at CSU Long Beach, entitled, "Breath(e)" I also learned that Marilyn (the woman I posted about who had cancer) passed away. I went to Jenine's show and saw these images of breathing and kept thinking about how Marilyn breathed her last breaths in front of her friends just a few hours before. My mom, thank goodness, was there, and Marilyn was able to wave to her before she passed an hour later.

She went peacefully,in the presence of loved ones. Today the entire office gets to find out about it. This will be a tough period for quite some time in our office. Please pray for those who worked with her closely, especially my mom. I don't quite yet know the impact this will make on her. The one thing I am thankful for is that Marilyn doesn't have to suffer through any more physical ailments... she's safe in God's arms.

Posted by wendytime at 07:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

delighted

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/10/charles.camilla/index.html

Well, everyone seems to be "delighted"!

Camilla shouldn't be. That's a freaking UGLY ring.

Posted by wendytime at 03:20 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

dying

I don't know why, but this week seems to be all about impending death. Part of me finds it to be an interesting coincidence while another part is pretty sad.

I was talking to my friend Erika last week about a mom whose child died at 10 days old from SIDS. That began the conversations about death.

Then I subscribed to Netflix so I could finally catch up with the movies that just aren't available at my local video store. I began with Wild Strawberries, which is filled with themes of facing impending death (but also about life... anyway). Great movie, btw.

Then we had girls' night and ended up renting The Barbarian Invasions, which I had already seen, but was also about a man who was dying and he and his friends reunite during his final days. The movie is filled with little phrases and ideas that are great conversation starters. I have probably made three references to it in conversations since Saturday night.

One of those conversations led to a lot of talk about death and what we expect out of it, and thinking about the implications of forever....

So, with all of these images and themes of impending death lingering around, it was quite a piece of timing to learn that one of the ladies here at work (who is my mom's very good friend) has just been diagnosed with cancer in both lungs. This woman seems to live with death trailing her shadow. I have seen her go through a burst appendix, heart attack, seizures, open sores, and lots of other troubles in the past few years. And now this.

It's very disheartening. On the one hand I feel very sad and on the other I feel peaceful that God's will will be seen throughout this situation, even if that means her death. Personally, I don't think she will last much longer. It's so sad to see such a good person go through such a hard time. All she does is visit her invalid mother on a regular basis, go to church, and do a spectacular job serving the students here at work. It sucks, but I know it's all in God's plan and his timing. I just worry about how my mom will take it when she passes, since she's really the closest friend my mom has.

Anyway, if you have a chance, send up a little prayer for Marilyn. She's already lost a lot of weight over the years and isn't doing well at all. She's currently in a hospital in Fullerton.

Posted by wendytime at 01:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Being Julia

The only reason I would drive to Anaheim to see this movie is because Annette Bening won a Golden Globe for her performance in it and she was nominated for an Oscar. Thus I drove to Anaheim to see this movie, after several weeks of stalling because I simply wasn't that interested. Nevertheless, I decided to give it an honest try - after all, a movie with the likes of Jeremy Irons and Michael Gambon in it seemed to have SOME redemptive qualities.

Unfortunately my instincts were right. Being Julia was a mess. My major complaints come in two points:

1) Annette Bening, or Julia. Julia is a stage actress - her performances are getting dull, so she spices up her life with a little bit of drama in the form of affairs, travel, or whatever she can do to get herself feeling more dramatic. As brought to our attention so obviously by other characters in the movie, Julia is always "on" - always acting. In real life, on the stage, wherever. She is either in a fit of dramatic tears or is laughing hysterically with an adorable smile on her face. What this creates for a movie goer is something the filmmakers should have seen coming: disconnect. Since there was never a moment that felt 100% sincere with Julia, I didn't empathize with her and was actually kind of hoping she would get her comeuppance (which she didn't) by the end of the film. The rest of the characters are just as untouching and even more forgettable.

2) I'm not quite sure what the point of this movie was. Julia goes from one person to another, from one place to another, and from one strategy to another. She doesn't seem to learn anything. Any time the story starts to dwindle, an old friend is reintroduced or Julia moves on to something new. The entire plot meanders from one pointless bit to another, with nothing quite hitting home or being interesting enough to make the audience care about what's going on.

Bening is entertaining, but I wouldn't give her the Oscar. She holds the movie together and is convincingly purposefully overdramatic. There is one weird yet sort of touching scene with her son that felt like the only thing close to reality; otherwise I felt no real emotion while watching this movie, and was sometimes just plain bored. I don't recommend going after this one, even if it DID glean an Oscar nomination.

On a side note, the theatre I went to had only one side aisle in the theatre for people to go up the steps to find a seat. Of course, getting there early, I found it very amusing to watch at least 10 different sets of moviegoers (5 after the lights went down, but some people were just old and oblivious even with the lights on) walk to the opposite side of the theatre and practically run into a wall trying to find another aisle and set of steps. One man kept triying to see if he could edge around the chair next to the wall... very sad. Yet I laughed anyway. Sorry.

Posted by wendytime at 03:03 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Live Forever

Wow, so I can finally post again. Sorry. First w.bloggar wasn't working and then neither was Moveable Type. At least now MT is working correctly for me.

I've been pretty tired lately as work has been a lot of work. Both sides of my job (adult completion program and the traditional program) have had registration going on at the same time. It's left me pretty tired at the end of the day, so Ric and I have only made it out for coffee and then I saw Sideways again with him because we had free tickets. I liked it even less the second time around.

Anyway, even though I could have just gone to sleep after work yesterday, I still made it to workout with Ruth and then got to hang out with Erika.

We watched Live Forever, which I have been meaning to see for quite a long time. It's a documentary about the rise of Britpop in the early 1990s - following where it began and trying to find where it ended. It's interesting to see it from the British prospective. They interviewed Noel and Liam Gallagher (Oasis), Damon Albarn (of Blur, Louise from Sleeper, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, and a few others as well.

This wave of music WAS my high school experience. I looked at it from a more American point of view when I experienced it - seeing what they didn't like about America, but not knowing where they were coming from all the way. Almost everyone interviewed mentioned the end of Thatcherism in relation to the beginning of Britpop. It was interesting to hear how politics really did play into (and with) some of the music; how Tony Blair used the music to help his political campaign; and how Princess Di's death affected the scene as well.

Noel Gallagher is pretty funny, Damon Albarn is very serious, and Liam Gallagher is ridiculous as always.

I think the movie could have been delayed a couple of years more for a better hindsight perspective. But, filled with all the music that I "grew up" to, Live Forever was a trip down memory lane and now I really need to dig up some CDs I haven't listened to in a while!

Posted by wendytime at 08:23 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

another test

I haven't been able to post this week....

Posted by wendytime at 07:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

bwwwaaahhhh

Well it's Groundhog Day, but neither Moveable Type nor w.bloggar will let me upload a picture of Bill Murray.

So, imagine Bill Murray riding in a truck with a groundhog at the wheel, curling his upper lip to look like a groundhog, saying, "Don't Drive Angry!"

Oh yeah. More winter.

Posted by wendytime at 09:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

disgruntled

Hopefully our renters aren't this disgruntled. I don't think they are - we just fixed a tree and a doorbell.... Anyway, Ric's brother drove by this house in Apache Junction and thought it was hilarious.

Posted by wendytime at 11:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

test

been having trouble lately trying to post...

Posted by wendytime at 08:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)