As I mentioned yesterday, I spend the brunt of the weekend being a recluse. This is actually one of my favorite activities. I filled my time with television, movies, and books. Well, book. And now, to review. (I didn't watch anything new, so I'm not going to use spoiler tags. I believe all of these things are passed the spoiler statute of limitations.)
Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut. I love this movie. It comes in at number four when I'm listing my four favorite movies. I like how when it ends you just kind of sit there and go "whaaa?" It's one of the few films that is over two hours long that I will watch multiple times. Also, I've never seen the original, theatrical version. At this point, I don't see how it could be better than this version. It turns out, the movie is about time travel and saving the universe. Or about creating a tangential universe and then fixing it, somehow. It also has a pretty awesome soundtrack. Admittedly, it's not for everyone. It's about ten years old by now, and it had been a few years since I had seen it last. There were a few bits I had forgotten about entirely, like the paths streaming from the chests. That part seems weird to me, but it's very brief, and it fits in, so it's ok. There's something that I love about watching the movie, and even rewatching it, not being really sure of what's going on precisely, but still wanting to see what happens. And then in the end the jet engine falls again, and time was reset and you go "oh. Wait. What? Oh. Ok." And then you're left to sit on your couch for a few minutes.
Wishful Drinking. A book by Carrie Fisher. The title and cover art are intriguing enough to make you pick it up, and when you do and flip through it, you can figure it should only take a few hours to get through. It's not a heavy read. And if it weren't for the fact that she's Carrie effing Fisher, so, incredibly famous already, her style and tone would be insufferable. Since she is Carrie effing Fisher, her tone makes complete sense, and, she states, it's basically the written out version of her one woman show. Oh but to be famous and screwed up enough to get one of those. It was a fun, easy read. I suppose if you didn't know anything about her at all, you might find it surprising. But if you didn't know anything about her at all, you probably wouldn't have noticed the book in the first place.
Meet The Press. I don't usually watch this show, because Sunday mornings are reserved for catching up on the week's programming or going to the farmer's market. But I was especially compelled this particular Sunday, and I actually think the round table discussion was a good one. There was no yelling. The yelling is normally what turns me off of shows that feature round table discussions, or present the opportunity for many people to speak at once. I can't listen to that. And it's not that I assumed this show was like that. It's just that it had never occurred to me before to watch it. I thought it was something you started watching when you turned 65 and really started caring about social security and couldn't understand the jokes on SNL anyway. Turns out, you can just watch it when you're a little weirded out by what just happened in the country.
Prelude To A Kiss. I didn't watch the whole thing. It came on after Joe Versus The Volcano. I only saw the last 15 minutes of that. That movie, I love. I like to say "you didn't get a second opinion?" a lot, though most people can't connect that to the line in the end of the movie. So I was pulled in to the Meg Ryan glow when Prelude To A Kiss began. I remember not liking the film the first time I saw it. Then I was taken aback by how old the movie was (almost 20 years), and how young Alec Baldwin was. (That's a weird thing to say. It was 20 years ago, so he was 20 years younger. Anyway.) I wasn't as bothered by it this time. I started getting drawn in by the deliberate dialogue. Something in my filmmaking brain was intrigued by their words and the passage of time. Also, I really enjoyed the scene where he meets her parents this time- I don't remember it being anything spectacular the first time I saw it. But it was on TV, and I do not like watching movies with commercials in it. It takes me out of it too much. I actually forget what I'm watching. I flipped over to Dances With Wolves briefly. I was struck by the fact that Mary McDonnell is in Dances With Wolves with Graham Greene, and that in Donnie Darko, the class is reading The Destroyers, written by a different Graham Greene. At the emergency PTA meeting, Mary McDonnell's character, Rose Darko, asks the gym teacher "do you even know who Graham Greene is?" "I think we've all seen 'Bananza.'" the gym teacher replies. Sure, it's not ha-ha rofl funny, but there's something to it, I think. Mary McDonnell knows damn well who both Graham Greenes are. But anyway, Prelude To A Kiss is only ok. It loses something near the middle, which is where I turned it off, after realizing I was still watching it.
Upon turning it off, I retreated to by bedroom and turned to my favorite invention of the year in which it was invented: Netflix Watch Instantly.
I'll continue the review of the recluse weekend tomorrow.
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