Happy Hallowe'en!

And, of course, tomorrow is All Saints' (or, if you reside in Mexico, el Día de los Muertos).

Whatever the reasoning, it's a time to celebrate and eat things that are really bad for you. so go nuts.

I'd say I'm going to give out candy tonight; but we never get callers, so it's unlikely.

It might be just as well, however, since I think I might be coming down with something. I've been having congestion since the weekend, and it's making me dead on my feet (fitting, ne?). It or the NyQuil (big fucking Q) I had last night, though I think that should've worn off by now.

I'll be going to Shaws on my break to buy Airborne and vitamins. BU employees are lined up for flu vaccines this week, but I'm not sure it would be a good idea if I'm already coming down with something else. And there's that tricky egg allergy--I can eat egg under certain preparation, but I've had bad experiences (and flu vaccine is contrived with the use of eggs, so they typically warn those who may be allergic). I don't know. I'll see how I feel on Thursday.

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Lined up for this evening? An odd bundle of movies from Netflix (if they arrive)--Before Night Falls, Brigadoon, and Chinatown. I still have six discs of The Twelve Kingdoms at the top of my queue, but there's a "short wait" on the first one, which apparently leads them to skip the rest and go on to what's after. It's not that I don't appreciate that (I wouldn't want to watch them out of order anyway); I just wish the wait would end.

Last Friday I received Alfie (the Jude Law version), An Awfully Big Adventure, and Bend It Like Beckham. Boo to Alfie, lukewarm reaction to AABA (in spite of my love for Mr. Rickman and Mr. Grant), and a generally good reaction to BILB (though that was a near thing too).

Why didn't I like Alfie? Because there's no redemption for him. At all. Okay, so Jude Law is hot, and that's a redeeming quality, but the character has no redemption. He's a sleaze who sleeps around A LOT, loses friends because of it, and learns nothing by the end. He just goes on. And again, if not for the fact that Jude Law is so damn good-looking, the film would be a complete wash-out. **

An Awfully Big Adventure was the first movie I watched from the lot--and it's horrifying, but a really good story with excellent acting. If that sounds like a mixed reaction, there's a reason for that--and a good reason too.

One can recognize the genius behind something while still admitting it's more than a little cock-eyed. Good story. Good twist. But still horrifying. It's like "Oedipus" but reversed, and there's no way it could've ended well at all. ***

I watched Bend It Like Beckham last, because I guessed that it would be the most uplifting of the bunch, and I was right about that. In spite of all the family fighting and strange relatives, our protagonists are (of course) successful in the end. They become football stars and get to go to the States on a soccer scholarship.

But I was almost angry at this film. Why? Because Jonathan Rhys Meyer's character has a relationship with Jesminder (Parminder Nagra), but--in spite of the fact that she's going far far away, he just gives her a hug. A HUG?! THE FUCK IS THIS?! was my reaction ... until the very end, when he shows up at the airport. And they kiss. Thank you. This hugging nonsense is bollocks. ****

And if you've noticed a certain amount of alphabetized movie-watching ... ? Yes. Not by full title, just by the first letter (the rest keeps it random). The next movies (I'm not doing this with television series) on the queue are Career Opportunities and Caligula.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...

YouTube observations and The Prestige

I just realized (yesterday) that a YouTube user has been uploading all the seasons of The Tribe. I think she's made it up to the fourth season. every episode--52 per season--is divided into four parts, about five minutes long each. That comes out to so many hours of The Tribe--that I don't even have to pay for.

I'd already watched up through the end of season two, so I'm working my way through season three right now. It's awesome.

But I keep hearing mixed rumors that YouTube may start charging for membership. so that could suck.

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I went to see The Prestige last night with Nicole.

I definitely enjoyed it more than Insomnia, another Christopher Nolan film. I'm still trying to decide if I like it better than Batman Begins. Maybe. It's a close race.

I figured out the general two-part twist halfway through, but I'm still puzzling over a few specifics.

For example, the business with Tesla (David Bowie)--and there are a few parts to this question. One: Why was "Tesla" the keyword if it had nothing to do with anything of Christian Bale's backstory? Two: When Tesla's machine does its cloning/teleportation, where does the original go? Is it the original that is transported and the duplicate that is left over? Or is it the other way around? And if the original is transported, then Hugh Jackman's duplicate shot the original--but if the duplicate is transported, then the original shot the duplicate in that situation, but after every "transported man" trick the original is being drowned while the duplicate lives on.

Or is what Tesla said the absolute truth? "They are all your hat." Duplicate and original don't matter, because they're exactly the same in every way--identical consciousness and sense of self continues on in both?

And following Bale back to Tesla, is that why he has an identical brother? Is it a real twin, or a Tesla creation? And which one is the little girl's father--the brother who was condemned to death or the one who survived? I'm guessing it's the one who survived, since it was he who loved the girl's mother.

I sigh, still enjoying all the motif moments.

See it.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...

'tis the season

I believe in going for seasonal food; it's not always around, so you should get and enjoy it when you can (shamrock shakes, the odd Starbucks flavours, and certain kinds of fruit). So I tried the pumpkin muffin at Dunkin' Donuts today. And, yes, it was good, like pumpkin bread. Mmm.

Makes me want to carve a pumpkin. Except not really, because it's a big mess and then you can't leave it outside without some jackass from Boston College smashing it to bits. Sad, but we live in a high-population area. Somebody would be a douche.

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Got three discs from Netflix yesterday, two of which actually worked. The last disc of Angel came with two cracks at the center, and was therefore sadly unreadable. Customer service assures me that I'm being sent a replacement today.

That left me with Young Hercules, which I know I've seen before, but couldn't recall at all. So I watched it again. And was plagued by the questions, "Why does Ares want to be king of Ithica? What can he possibly achieve from being a king that he can't get from being the GoW?" And there was no Joel Tobeck as Strife. Just Meighan Desmond as Discord (and she serves the same purpose, really, but I prefer Joel-sama ... and Strife). I'm also still puzzling over the giant Ares head swinging from ropes. Were they in the middle of building a giant statue of him? And why didn't he just snap his fingers and kill everyone? ... It's shoddy. But Kevin Smith is (... er, was) awesome, so I guess I don't care.

And I also watched a 1985 made-for-TV version of Anne of Green Gables. I've never read the book(s?), never watched any version on film. I was just curious about what I was missing, since I know a few people for whom this was one of their favourites as a child.

I'm sorry. I just don't see it. She's too bloody perfect and winsome for me. I'm not a big fan of the winsome orphan-heroine of young adult fiction (this includes Anne Shirley, Sara Crewe, and even Mary Lennox to a certain extent--though she's kind of a bitch to everyone).

Actually, I just wasn't much of a fan of young adult fiction. I think i went from Berenstain Bears to Stephen King and Ray Bradbury without a big transition in the middle. I seem to recall somebody trying to introduce me to The Babysitter's Club, and being BORED OUT OF MY MIND. I did, however, enjoy Madeleine L'Engle and some R.L. Stine (not Goosebumps, anything but Goosebumps).

The redemption of Anne of Green Gables (over three hours long, by the way) was the rest of the cast. The side characters are much more real to me than Anne; their behavior, their reactions, their speech--all of it is more believable than Anne's anything.

And, of course, ...

All new tonight at 9, only on ABC (but, also, later at 2 AM on abc.com):

Lost - "Further Instructions"
The fates of Locke, Eko and Desmond are revealed after the implosion of the hatch, and Hurley returns to the beach camp and explains what happened when he, Jack, Kate and Sawyer encountered the Others. Meanwhile, Claire is shocked to find Nikki and Paulo (Kiele Sanchez, Rodrigo Santoro) in Jack's tent. Boone: Ian Somerhalder. Eddie: Justin Chatwin. Mike: Chris Mulkey. Jan: Virginia Morris. Sheriff: Joel Himelhoch. Kim: Dion Donahue.

But I'll probably end up watching it tomorrow morning if I fall asleep before it comes on tonight.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...

5 year-old born again? sure.

Enjoy the freaks.

Jesus Camp - A growing number of Evangelical Christians believe there is a revival underway in America that requires Christian youth to assume leadership roles in advocating the causes of their religious movement. The film, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (The Boys of Baraka), follows Levi, Rachael, and Tory to Pastor Becky Fischer's "Kids on Fire" summer camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where kids as young as 6 years-old are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in "God's army." The film follows these children at camp as they hone their "prophetic gifts" and are schooled in how to "take back America for Christ." The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future. (synopsis taken from jesuscampthemovie.com)

This film is very fair with its subject--which I can't imagine was an easy thing to do, as the filmmakers are obviously both worldly and educated. Is it a constant laugh riot? No, actually. It approaches this hyper-conservative evangelical movement seriously and respectfully (which is to be expected, really; how else would you get their cooperation? They don't want to be made to look foolish more than anyone else does). But it has its very ironic moments, and some distinctly uncomfortable moments as well.

To Fischer, I'm split between extreme anger and extreme pity. On a very basic level she admits to the audience that she knows she's manipulating children; but knowledge of that also seems to go directly over her head. Or, more clearly, she's manipulating them, but it's "for their own salvation" or something. Her work with kids aside, she seems like lonely person--she's extremely overweight, well into middle age, and she lives alone--and maybe her perception of G-d fills that gap of loneliness for her. I really don't know.

Actually, even the children introduced are filling some kind of gap with zeal.

Levi, a ten year-old boy with close-shaven hair and a trailing rat-tail mullet, tells Becky that he was "saved" and "born-again" at the age of five. "Why?" she asks. Because, in his words, "nothing was fun anymore." ... A little five year-old for whom "nothing was fun anymore?" Had you exhausted all the outlets? Gone sky-diving and bungee-jumping already, had you? "I am five, and world-weary, and nothing is fun; woe, oh, woe is me!" You little emo yokel, you. Let me tell you why nothing was fun, kid. Your parents probably wouldn't let you play make-believe or watch cartoons because they feared for your soul or some such rot; that is why nothing was fun, not the absence of deity in your life.

Rachael, 7 years-old: "I get picked on sometimes and I don't have a lot of friends." ... Probably because you're trying to convert all of them ALL THE TIME. One scene in the film has them in a bowling alley, and she walks up to this blonde and informs her that the holy spirit wanted her to go say hello and hand her a booklet about her faith. The blonde looks disturbed and dubious (waiting for somebody to jump out and tell her she's been punk'd or something), but she says thank you anyway and Rachael goes away. At the end of the film, during the credits, Rachael and company are in D.C. to speak their pro-life agenda. She approaches these three black men sitting in lawn chairs on the grass.

Rachael: "If you were to die today, do you think you would go to heaven?"
Black man, without pause: "Yes."
Rachael: "Oh. Okay."

Didn't expect that, did you, dearie? She and her little friends walk away, and she says: "I think they were Muslim." ... Come again?

There are so many gem-like moments in this film:

* Some woman carries in a cardboard standee of GWB, and acts like it's really him. "Everyone say hello to President Bush. Tell him how glad we are to have him here today." And the kids play along. And the guy sitting three seats over from me couldn't stop giggling for five minutes, which became contagious and had the rest of us going too.

* Fischer talking about how lazy some people can be--yeah, okay, hun. Go get another Big Mac and shut up.

* Levi, after delivering his own preaching to his fellow youths, visits a mega-church in Colorado Springs and talks to the head minister. And the minister asks if people listen to Levi because of the substance of what he's saying or because of the "cute kid" factor. Levi says he doesn't know. The minister tells him to use the "cute kid" factor until he gets some substance. And Levi doesn't even seem to recognize the insult.

* Parental involvement. They can't get the little slack-jawed inbreeds to do anything on their own, so the parents have to be there. Fischer is in a room full of children and asks them to raise their hands if they believe G-d can do anything. She gets little to no response, and the camera zooms in on a mother with a baby in her lap, and the mother takes the baby's elbow to raise its hand in the air while reaching for her other son to raise his hand in the air, too. Other moments like this follow.

* Expressions of disbelief. This little blond kid (who's never named and always seems to be going through the motions) has the mic and his Bible, and he's addressing the rest of the audience. "I just want to talk about belief, and how hard it is sometimes--and I feel like a fake." And his posture goes down hill, and he sits on the ground and opens his Bible while continuing to muse about the non-presence of G-d, and there's a bunch of junk folded into the pages of the book and a dollar falls out on the floor. ... And because there's absolutely no uplifting resolution to anything he's saying, the grown-ups begin looking fidgety and uncomfortable, and the zany kids look kind of confused.

* Harry Potter. It had to show up in the film at some point. Fischer: "Warlocks should NOT be heroes!!11!" and "Back in the good old days, Harry Potter would have been BURNED AT THE STAKE!" ... apparently not making the connection that Harry Potter is a character of fantasy. Cut to dinner time with kids sitting around talking about the lecture. "My mom won't let me read Harry Potter because there's witch-craft." -- "Yeah, my mom won't let me watch the movies, but it's okay, because I go to my dad's and he lets me watch them!" (followed by uncomfortable silence).

I could go on and on. There's a line through the plot that covers the Supreme Court appointments, the more overreaching effects of the evangelical movement, and the reactions of the more secular middle-ground (and other people who recognize the dangers of intense and unyielding theopathy). It's not intensely entertaining throughout, but it is informative--and important. It's important in the way that secular audiences should know that these people exist (in droves and not just on the fringe) and want to turn back society's progress to witch-burning and religious crusades.

... And then I went and decided to bait people on imdb.com. I'm still waiting for a reaction though; this is rather disappointing.

Oh, yeah. Rachael said something about "Dead Churches" that I think I'll talk about later. It's a very unimaginative way of excluding other Christian denominations from "true faith" in a child's mind--unimaginative, but it works.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...

life is not the sum of its parts

We're only human.

The United States of Leland - Teenager Leland Fitzgerald (Ryan Gosling) appears to have everything going for him, including a famous writer father (Kevin Spacey). So, what drove him to kill? It's up to Pearl Madison (Don Cheadle), a teacher who works with inmates, to discover the anger, frustration and fear lurking beneath Leland's otherwise unruffled surface. Before long, Pearl helps Leland discover the truth about the painful past that led him to his excruciating present.

Gosling was 23 when he starred in this role, and I get the feeling he was trying to go for "quietly thoughtful teenager" but my first impression was "mentally deficient 20-something" because of his obvious physical maturity blended with intentional gawkiness and the inability to enunciate or say the right thing. Going beyond that, the character Leland is a disappointed character. Not disappointing--disappointed. He's unable to look at people and things and situations without seeing misery behind it all, so most of the time he "blocks it out" ... but when he can't "block it out" anymore, he blacks out one day, and kills his ex-girlfriend's retarded brother, whom he sees as the most miserable person he knows. Most of the film I was thinking, Sociopath.

Most of the poor reviews I've seen for this film come from the so-called moral muddle we're presented with. It does leave a lot to think about, much of it unpleasant. There are a lot of moral and theological questionings going on here. Why man creates/needs G-d and the devil (or just good and evil, if you like), why people do bad things at all, how the way people see the universe can have adverse effects on their social behavior, etc. Of course, there's the whole confusion around Leland's murderous act--Was it drugs? A falling out with his girlfriend? Lack of parenting? What made him snap? In the end, we don't really have a clear picture as to the big 'why'--why Leland killed this harmless kid that he obviously doesn't dislike, whom he, in fact, walks home all the time and takes care of better than the boy's own siblings and parents. But then the character was very up-front with the fact that there would be no decent 'why'--bad things happen, people are bastards, and sometimes trying to see a reason is completely futile.

To the other characters, it can't be said that Leland isn't a product of his environment. His father is an emotionally distant, though extremely successful, author who hasn't seen his son for ten years (he sends him an airplane ticket to a different city around the world every year, but he's never there). His girlfriend is an upper-middle-class junkie in reform school who dumps him for another junkie. Her parents basically ignore her in favor of her college-bound sister and sister's boyfriend (who happens to live with them for weird family reasons of his own). The college-bound sister is dumping the boyfriend after her brother's murder, and the boyfriend gets himself arrested so that he can make it into prison in order to murder Leland. Really, nothing is right with any of these people, and you have to wonder if it was much better before Leland's day of blacking out.

The filming is very stark at certain points. While in jail, Leland is wearing an orange jumper; into flashback mode, he's often wearing a hooded sweatshirt of the same bright pylon-orange while everyone around him is in muted gray tones. Ultimately it creates an extreme contrast between Leland and the people surrounding him, physically and mentally.

Message? We're all "only human" and therefore inclined to do wretched things, but hopefully we have the mental capacity to look beyond the moments of misery and not go bat-shit crazy in despair. ***1/2

And then there was Lost, and the Jack, Sawyer, and Kate habitrails--aquarium, primate house, locker room.

I love that people on the boards have started calling the Others' leader Benry.

And what did they do to Kate that she needs antiseptic and looks like she's about to have a break-down in front of Sawyer?

And wasn't the Jack flash-back kind of Dullsville and useless? Yes, he and his wife got divorced, which we already knew must have happened; we still don't know why. Okay, maybe he's the reason his father went back to the bottle after that 50-day sobriety, and maybe that's why Christian was practicing medicine under the influence, and went to Sydney, and died. I still don't think we needed a whole episode for this back story to be told. I hope next week's is more satisfying.

Tonight: Jesus Camp, 7pm, Kendall Cinema, Cambridge, MA ... Because morbid curiosity drives me to free screenings of movies about religious zealots. The WASPs have determined that the best way to fight Middle Eastern religious zeal and the godless ways of the modern age is with their own brand of religious zeal. Fabulous. I can't wait to watch the freaks in action. You know I'll have tons to write about after the fact.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...

when you think as I do

Malcolm McDowell and David Warner have similar voices. Well, if they try, they have similar voices: sneering, British, "I'm-smarter-than-you" voices. And, really, either one of them makes for a decent villain.

Time After Time - Jack the Ripper (David Warner) is back to continue his ghastly reign of terror; this time, he's found his way to the late 1970s, intent on taking care of unfinished business. H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) uses a time machine to pursue Jack into the future, where he meets Amy (Mary Steenburgen), a bank clerk who teaches Wells about life in the '70s while helping him hunt for Jack.

At the beginning of watching this, I'd forgotten who was going to be who; and the film opens on the Ripper murdering some prostitute (you know, like he does), but never showing his face. We do, however, hear his voice--which I mistakenly believed was McDowell, for all of three minutes until the scene changed to Wells' sitting room where other actors were clearly addressing McDowell as Herbert. Then Warner enters and everyone is calling him Stevenson (and I thought for a moment that they were going to have him be Robert Louis Stevenson so they could pull in the whole Jekyll and Hyde thing to have that be the reason why he's a crazy murderer--even though Wells and Stevenson weren't really contemporaries, since Stevenson was a Scottish Neoromantic and Wells was a younger London sci-fi man--but, anyway, no, his name is John "Jack the Ripper" Stevenson and there's no connection like that at all).

The movie is fun and weird and strangely frank about things you might not expect them to be as frank about with a PG rating. And poor H.G. has ideas about society being some kind of utopia in 1979 (hopes which are mercilessly dashed within a few moments of his arrival in, yes, his time machine).

I forget about the things people did and didn't have in 1979 (wasn't there, was I?)--the non-biodegradable McDonald's containers (yes, Wells visits McDeath), electric tooth-brushes, etc. What they most certainly didn't have was CGI technology. The special effects are typical to the time right before the entrance of CGI, but the cameras are better, so things even out. It's not all the greatest, but we suspend our disbelief, and it works itself out.

Strangely enough, even with the memory of "Alex" in my mind, Malcolm is adorable when he's so hapless and helpless; it's not a faithful portrayal of H.G. Wells, per se, but it's a portrayal that fits the story extremely well. He's a good actor and it's a pity he was type-cast to the villain, though I'm sure it's paid the bills all around. The DVD has a few special features--the writer/director and McDowell comment on the film, and there's a text section entitled "It's About Time" that runs through a fairly good list of the time-travel genre from books to movies.

The message? Screw time paradox and the importance of not tampering with the time-line. Also, screw that useless career. If you fall in love with a time-traveling sci-fi author, just go with it--and him/her back to his/her time, regardless of your inability to deal with the very real social aspects of this situation or the possible diseases with which your body won't be able to deal without the benefits of modern medicine. This is romantic sci-fi, after all, not reality (see: Kate & Leopold). ***1/2

I'm expecting The United States of Leland and the first disc of Angel Season Five today. But more than that!

All new tonight at 9, only on ABC:

Lost - "A Tale of Two Cities" - In the third-season opener, Jack, Kate and Sawyer begin to discover what they are up against as prisoners of the Others. Christian Shephard: John Terry. Sarah: Julie Bowen. Mr. Friendly: M.C. Gainey. Ethan: William Mapother. Goodwin: Brett Cullen.

I love that Jack's father and Ethan keep showing up, in spite of their being quite dead since Season One.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...

if we're going to be damned ...

Three school shootings in the span of a week? methinks the U.S. government needs to stop worrying about spreading freedom and democracy, and start worrying about our own damned selves. Clearly there's something wrong with our system. Just LOOK!

But now, on to the movies ...

The Road to Wellville - Based on T. Coraghessan Boyle's best-selling novel satirizing late-19th century health fads. Will and Eleanor Lightbody (Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda), guests at cereal mogul Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's (Anthony Hopkins) health spa, are forced to undergo an array of hilariously absurd medical treatments. Meanwhile, a con artist (John Cusack) and Kellogg's adopted son (Dana Carvey) plot to steal the doctor's coveted corn flake recipe.

My favorite character? Definitely George (Dana Carvey). He's so mindlessly angry with his father (well, not entirely mindless--Dr. Kellogg was overly religious, fanatically asexual, and obsessed with vegetarianism; so there's a reason to the madness one might feel about having such a man for one's father, adopted or otherwise). Throughout the film there are a series of flashbacks to Dr. Kellogg's interaction with his children--George, in particular. And I love the jacket-on-the-hook scene.

George won't hang up his jacket when he enters the house, just drops it on the floor; so, as punishment, Dr. Kellogg has him repeat the action over and over again. Only George won't stop. And he does the action throughout the night, keeping everyone awake by slamming the door and thumping up and down the stairs again and again and again. Finally, Dr. Kellogg stops him forcibly, slaps him across the face, apologizes profusely for having done so, and bewilderedly pleads that the boy just go to bed. So George walks around him, dumps his coat on the floor, and goes to bed. It's GREAT. The message(s)? If you thought modern vegetarians were bonkers, you haven't heard of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Also, if your desire is to alleviate the suffering of other creatures, fine; but everyone dies of something, and being a vegetarian won't save you from that. ***1/2

La Reine Margot (Queen Margot) - To cement a partnership between Protestants and Catholics in France, Margot de Valois (Isabelle Adjani) agrees to an arranged marriage to Henri of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil). Although she's a staunch supporter of Henri, she's not a loyal wife and takes up with a Protestant lover (Vincent Perez). During the St. Bartholomew's Night Massacre, she helps her lover escape, setting off a chain of events that alters their lives and the course of history.

I don't know if there's a lot of basis in reality, but French period pieces are chockobox full of freaky sexual relations. The Queen Mother Catherine (Virna Lisi) seems to have the hots for Anjou (Pascal Greggory), and Margot has apparently lost her virginity to one of her other brothers; but Margot prefers the company of this other guy from the court who she's trying to bang when her new husband walks in (because he's decided he won't be banging this other baroness on his wedding night). But then Margot kicks him out and goes walking the streets with her friend (in masks) to look for somebody else to bang--and finds Vincent Perez.

Vincent's character, by the way, already thinks that Margot is a filthy Catholic whore and has no idea that it's her he's having fun with. Sexy; but, of course, it doesn't end well. Incest, royal insanity, religious warring that would do the modern Middle East proud, and pretty impressive costumes and sets to watch throughout the whole business. Oh, yeah. And when they say Massacre, they mean it. They killed all the Protestant wedding guests. ALL of them. Except for Vincent's character. Message? Royals are crazy. Also, isn't it good that Christians have gotten over self-hatred in their unifying hatred of ... oh, everybody else? ****

Swept from the Sea - Shunned by her seaside farming community, servant girl Amy Foster (Rachel Weisz) reciprocates with silence and is thus branded a halfwit. She finds a kindred spirit, though, when shipwrecked Ukrainian Yanko Gooral (Vincent Perez) ambles onto her master's farm. While the rest of the townsfolk spurn the disheveled stranger, Amy gently cares for him, giving rise to romance, marriage and a child ... but tragedy lies just around the corner.

Yes, Vincent Perez again--and he's not speaking a lot of English in this one either. For the whole movie, I'm wondering, Why is everyone so bitchy with Amy? She's not an halfwit, and one can't help but feel that other people would figure that out if they'd just give her the time of day. And then the BIG SECRET is let loose towards the end, and it's kind of an oh moment, but in a very old-fashioned and 19th-century reasoning way. I kind of felt like the end was plodding--courtship, struggle, courtship--Married! Baby! Aggh! There's lots of selectiveness about the portrayal of life and how much time the film should devote to certain aspects. I just feel like Amy and Yanko are never happy (because we don't get to see them being very happy for very long--though clearly they must've had at least nine months of happiness that we don't get to witness at all). Message? Talk to people, or they'll just think you're a dunce. Then again, there's also that other saying--it's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and prove it. ***

I got the Q Collective in the mail yesterday. He (Q) is so right on so many levels. The only reason Jean-Luc can prove him wrong on these occasions is the deus ex machina--the Enterprise crew has to prove him wrong, or there's no story after that. Real mankind? Real mankind sucks balls.

Turn the page ...

Close the book ...