Friday, September 28, 2007

Anything? Anything?

Nope, I got nothing. Been knitting my Woodland Shawl -- 12 repeats done, and it looks to me to be at about the halfway point -- but my camera batteries are currently recharging, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Um... I've been to a couple of movies. Last weekend we saw No End in Sight, which was excellent but had the unfortunate side effect of making me want to punch Bush and Rumsfeld in the face every time they spoke. Saw Eastern Promises a couple nights ago, and I enjoyed it. True, it's violent, but it's David Cronenberg; nothing he does now or in the future will likely gross me out as much as that typewriter in Naked Lunch did, and at least nobody's head explodes. Also, I finally watched Grey Gardens on DVD -- fascinating. It made me want to knit a pullover -- not to wear as a sweater, but to wrap around my head like a turban, à la Little Edie. And when I have time for a double bill, I've got DVDs of Jesus Camp and Hell House at the ready.

As for school, I'm reworking my reading list a bit at the moment, and I'm sending proposals to a couple of conferences. Same stuff, should be reading more.

Yep, yep, yep. Let's see... That's really about it. I hope you're enjoying your Friday, and that you have a nice weekend. What's the best movie you've seen lately? Thank god it's fall and good ones are playing again.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw "In the Valley of Elah" and it was quite excellent. Depressing. And also made me want to punch Bush and Cheney in the face although they are never directly mentioned / it's not political in that way.

I am going to see Eastern Promises tomorrow! The violence doesn't bother me that much in his films, but I never like them that much either. It's more like the people's personalities bring me down. ;)

Veronique said...

I saw Hell House when it came out and was appalled. Religious groups in the States can be so off the wall! Having grown up in France, I'm always taken aback.
Grey Gardens is awesome! I spoke in their accent for days after seeing it.

Carrie said...

ooh, Jesus Camp totally freaked me out. It's good, but so disturbing.

I love that Woodland Shawl - methinks I might make one too!

Seanna Lea said...

I haven't seen anything since the last Pirates movie unless we rented it. Even then, it is mostly science fiction, anime and fluff. But I have free movie tickets courtesy of work, so I'm hoping to see something both fun and a little more cerebral. Any recommendations?

Jodi said...

Doesn't everyone want to punch Bush and Rumsfeld in the face pretty much constantly? I know I do.

I've heard such great things about Grey Gardens from a wide array of people -- I'll have to check it out. I'm afraid the movie I watched most recently was a very old VHS of 16 Candles. Not exactly high-brow.

meg said...

Hell House and Jesus Camp are both completely entertaining flicks.

I'm heading to Eastern Promises this weekend, too. Glad you liked it.

Just watched Auntie Mame and have Arsenic and Old Lace for the weekend. Auntie Mame will never get old.

Looking forward to seeing pics of the shawl.

Mia said...

Have you watched "The Queen" yet? I wasn't sure about the movie but I love Helen Mirren so I gave it a shot. It wasn't that bad. The scenery in Scotland is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I just saw Eastern Promises, too. It's the kind of movie where it's better if I don't know in advance how gory it's going to be, because it's hard to steel myself for graphic movies. I did think this one was really good, and I think it was harder for my father-in-law, who hadn't realized how far big-screen blood-and-guts has evolved since The Godfather was made.

Best movies I've seen this year, though? The Lives of Others and Hot Fuzz.

melissa said...

ooh, hell house was great. disturbing, but great.

i saw 'king of kong' recently and it's amazing. go see it! :)

Jillian said...

I got the chance to see Shoot 'Em Up, which is an amazing non stop action flick that is so rediculous and funny that it had me and my fiance laughing throughout the entire movie. Beware, it's a "guy's movie" so the women are just there for sex.

laura said...

Not a movie, but I loooooved the HBO series Rome (I almost wrote Roam - how telling is that?!). Really sucked me in.

Anonymous said...

I second "King of Kong", and I saw 3:10 to Yuma. I'm not much of a western girl, but I LOVED this movie.

It took about 1 week for Grey Gardens to leave me. Mesmerizing and very strange!

Nadia said...

The Fountain, written and directed by Darren Aronofsky. It's a veryvery pretty movie, starring the veryvery pretty Hugh Jackman.

rachel m. said...

are you really going to rhinebeck?? i am too. i would love to finally meet you!!!

Anonymous said...

I ordered "hell house" after I saw "Jesus camp" in the theatres, that will make for a great double bill indeed.
The best movie I've seen recently was The Lives of Others-- it was brilliant!

Anonymous said...

Ang Lee's Lust, Caution.

Dr. Steph said...

I must be totally desensitized because I don't think of the violence when I think of Eastern Promises. Yes, it is graphic and very realistic (having not seen these things in real life, I imagine this is how they would look) but I also think it is not the over the top, man gets skewered on a conveniently located spike violence which detracts from, rather than contributes to the story. There are some "very bad people" (tm) in this film and the violence helps underscore that point.

Anonymous said...

The King of Kong (and not just because the subtitle is 'A Fistful of Quarters). That movie is amazing, you will LOVE it.

Grey Gardens, man I love that movie. I think it's time for another viewing. Do you know they're making a 'movie' out of it starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758751/
http://www.totalfilm.com/movie_news/drew_barrymores_in_the_gardens

Anonymous said...

I think I found Jesus Camp more disturbing than the typewriter in Naked Lunch.

Ellen said...

Moliere! It has costumes, baroque gardens, Romain Duris. What's not to love?

Anonymous said...

I saw Pi the other night, and dozed through it. I wish he'd put the drill to his head earlier so I could've slept better.

Liz said...

Oh, I loooove Grey Gardens. I wish I could remember everything they say--it seems like it would be so quotable, though I guess a lot of the appeal is the context (Little Edie singing with her mother hollering in the background...). Have you ever seen the episode of Gilmore Girls where they watch it? It's pretty awesome.

Hmmm. Weekend movies. I watched Stranger Than Fiction. Twice. Once I saw how it was put together, I thought it was pretty thoughtful. And, you know, funny.