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thehefnerDid I mention that food poisoning sucks? Because it really, seriously sucks. The good news is that I'm pretty much able to eat and digest food like a normal human being again, but my brain still feels weak and groggy.
I was hoping by now to have delved back into the happy retreat of the Harvey Dent novel, steeling myself for the hardcore hack-n-slash revisions for THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES: HOW HEFNERIAN,* but instead, I've just spent the past couple of days catching up on movies. Here's what I've seen:
IN BRUGES: I find Martin McDonough a little one-note as a playwright (I love THE PILLOWMAN, but I find THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN and THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE to both be rather pointless bits of entertaining fluff punctuated by spatterings of nastiness) but this was rather unsurprisingly grand. But then, Brendan Gleeson being awesome is always a good thing. Plus, Ralph Fiennes is slowly morphing into Christopher Eccleston. That is neither good nor bad, it simply is.
EASTERN PROMISES: Better than I remembered it; a solid little film without too much to make it stand out other than that utterly badass naked bathhouse fight. It's gratifying to know that Viggo is a grower not a shower too.
GONE BABY GONE: The hype is true. Ben Affleck has reinvented himself as a damn fine director. This is all the more impressive considering that I think I kind of hate Boston crime stories. Or rather, I am painfully unimpressed by them. THE DEPARTED, MYSTIC RIVER**, BOONDOCK SAINTS... that atmosphere does nothing for me, and the plot twists alone should have derailed it for me. I imagine I'd probably dislike the book. But somehow, Affleck crafted a compelling and challenging character-driven crime drama, one with no easy answers that somehow also ends on a pitch-perfect note of grace at the last minute. Also, he gave the unspeakably awesome Michelle Monaghan her first decent role since KISS KISS BANG BANG, so there's that too.
THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE: Holy crap, young Eric Roberts is a very surreal sight, let me tell you. Is that his natural hair? Sorry, this was a great little film, one of Rourke's true classics and a testament to the powerful actors they both were and are, but every time Eric Roberts was on the screen, my brain kept trying to reconcile that guy with Sal Maroni. Good thing I haven't seen THE WRESTLER yet, or I think my head would have exploded. Even Mom didn't recognize either Roberts nor Rourke.
THE PAPER CHASE: A classic "teacher-student" movie, featuring future three-time George W. Bush portrayer Timothy Bottoms as the douchbaggiest protagonist that I've seen in recent memory. A good but very, very dry, somewhat-dated law school drama which I watched expressly for Harvey Dent research. Not sure what help it could be, since I've cut out all the law school days (even the scene where he debated with some blind, redheaded, hotshot New York law student!). That said, there was one term that I never heard before but just might come in handy. Locus poenitentiae: an opportunity to withdraw from a contract or obligation before it is completed or to decide not to commit an intended crime. In Latin, literally means, place of repentance. Yes, there just might be a place for that in the Harvey Dent novel, wouldn't you say?
Not sure what else is on the docket for tonight, although based on what's on On Demand, choices include HARD TARGET, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, and BREAKIN' 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALLOO.
*When I told![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
badmagic about how I needed to cut HOW HEFNERIAN down to sixty minutes--as per Orlando Fringe's required time limit--he became crestfallen and said, "What? Why? But I like the two hour version!"
To which I said, "Uh, Joe, it was only seventy-five minutes."
Which I think says it all, don't you?
**God I fucking hate MYSTIC RIVER. I skimmed through the book to see if it'd be any better, and I came upon the Laura Linney character's big speech, her goddamn Lady Macbeth moment, and I was filled with hate all over again. Fuck that book and fuck that movie. Not that I think it's actually bad, as much as just blah and mediocre, and there's just something about blah and mediocre things being hailed as brilliant masterworks of art that really just gets under my skin.
I was hoping by now to have delved back into the happy retreat of the Harvey Dent novel, steeling myself for the hardcore hack-n-slash revisions for THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES: HOW HEFNERIAN,* but instead, I've just spent the past couple of days catching up on movies. Here's what I've seen:
IN BRUGES: I find Martin McDonough a little one-note as a playwright (I love THE PILLOWMAN, but I find THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN and THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE to both be rather pointless bits of entertaining fluff punctuated by spatterings of nastiness) but this was rather unsurprisingly grand. But then, Brendan Gleeson being awesome is always a good thing. Plus, Ralph Fiennes is slowly morphing into Christopher Eccleston. That is neither good nor bad, it simply is.
EASTERN PROMISES: Better than I remembered it; a solid little film without too much to make it stand out other than that utterly badass naked bathhouse fight. It's gratifying to know that Viggo is a grower not a shower too.
GONE BABY GONE: The hype is true. Ben Affleck has reinvented himself as a damn fine director. This is all the more impressive considering that I think I kind of hate Boston crime stories. Or rather, I am painfully unimpressed by them. THE DEPARTED, MYSTIC RIVER**, BOONDOCK SAINTS... that atmosphere does nothing for me, and the plot twists alone should have derailed it for me. I imagine I'd probably dislike the book. But somehow, Affleck crafted a compelling and challenging character-driven crime drama, one with no easy answers that somehow also ends on a pitch-perfect note of grace at the last minute. Also, he gave the unspeakably awesome Michelle Monaghan her first decent role since KISS KISS BANG BANG, so there's that too.
THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE: Holy crap, young Eric Roberts is a very surreal sight, let me tell you. Is that his natural hair? Sorry, this was a great little film, one of Rourke's true classics and a testament to the powerful actors they both were and are, but every time Eric Roberts was on the screen, my brain kept trying to reconcile that guy with Sal Maroni. Good thing I haven't seen THE WRESTLER yet, or I think my head would have exploded. Even Mom didn't recognize either Roberts nor Rourke.
THE PAPER CHASE: A classic "teacher-student" movie, featuring future three-time George W. Bush portrayer Timothy Bottoms as the douchbaggiest protagonist that I've seen in recent memory. A good but very, very dry, somewhat-dated law school drama which I watched expressly for Harvey Dent research. Not sure what help it could be, since I've cut out all the law school days (even the scene where he debated with some blind, redheaded, hotshot New York law student!). That said, there was one term that I never heard before but just might come in handy. Locus poenitentiae: an opportunity to withdraw from a contract or obligation before it is completed or to decide not to commit an intended crime. In Latin, literally means, place of repentance. Yes, there just might be a place for that in the Harvey Dent novel, wouldn't you say?
Not sure what else is on the docket for tonight, although based on what's on On Demand, choices include HARD TARGET, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, and BREAKIN' 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALLOO.
*When I told
badmagic about how I needed to cut HOW HEFNERIAN down to sixty minutes--as per Orlando Fringe's required time limit--he became crestfallen and said, "What? Why? But I like the two hour version!"To which I said, "Uh, Joe, it was only seventy-five minutes."
Which I think says it all, don't you?
**God I fucking hate MYSTIC RIVER. I skimmed through the book to see if it'd be any better, and I came upon the Laura Linney character's big speech, her goddamn Lady Macbeth moment, and I was filled with hate all over again. Fuck that book and fuck that movie. Not that I think it's actually bad, as much as just blah and mediocre, and there's just something about blah and mediocre things being hailed as brilliant masterworks of art that really just gets under my skin.
