Movies and Cars
Freckles failed her test. The only important test that Freckles has to pass each year. I mean, honestly, I have to pass several exams for each class I am in every semester passing one every year should not be that hard. But not only did Freckles fail she impressed all of the mechanic guys with the extent of her failure.
Yeah. I put Freckles on academic probation, and sent her to the mechanic to learn to be more friendly towards the environment. She failed. Again.
So now Momo (really Juan, but saying Momo is more fun to say) has decided to send Freckles off to another mechanic to get her catalytic converter replaced. No, I do not know what a catalytic converter is. No, I do not know what a catalytic converter does. No, I do not know where I would find a catalytic converter. But it is getting replaced. And taking forever since apparently catalytic converters are not readily available and have to be special ordered.
Well damn.
On the other hand, Daddy has decided to buy a car for me to lease from him. A car that doesn’t break every three months. That could be nice.
On Monday we went shopping for a new used car and I had me first experience with used car salesmen. Wow. I’ll tell you what... Wow.
Yes, some of them do look as sleazy as they are in the movies. Amazing, I know, but it is true. Anyway, they all zoomed in on “Dad buying is little girl a car” and went to town. You could buy this cheap ass Toyota Corolla, but it is a small car; you would be better off buying this Lexus because it is safer. Your kid likes the Lexus better anyway, it is a Lexus and it has spiffy stuff like automatic seats.
So I drove a rather crappy 2000 Corolla(by crappy I just mean without power anything, it was actually a nice car), a 1997 Lexus, a 1998 BMW 3mumble mumble mumble, a 1999 Honda civic, another Corolla, and a 1999 Toyota Camry. Over all my favorite was the BMW, but its maintenance costs would be obscene. Next I liked the civic and the camry, they are relatively close in cost and number of miles. Here is the thing: I don’t know which I like better.
Either way I decide, however, I will get another white car. Ironic that before I turned 16 I decided that I would never have a white car, because it is too easy to tell when they are dirty. Beggars can’t be choosers.
And as promised my Christmas movie reviews.
The Chronicles of Narnia:
First I must hege my response by stating very clearly that I do not remember this book. Sure I read it, but mostly under duress. So I only really remember the beginning and the end, other that that I really couldn’t tell you. At the end f the movie I asked Meredith and Laura how many books they had put into the movie, and they gave me a startled look and said one. So I will trust that the movie was reasonably close to the book.
Otherwise, the movie was very good. The acting was well done, and even if the Christianity was palpable in a large part of the movie it can be dealt with, especially if you aren’t big on Christian mythology. The weirdest part of the movie was the kids fighting with swords, because they obviously had no clue what they were doing and just kind of waved a sharp object around with some vague intention of doing harm to something in the vicinity. It was bad for staged, choreographed sword play. The kids should have just been dead. Several times.
The soundtrack was good. The film was vivid and the costumes for all of the beasts where excellent. The plot is good and the movie is not half as frightening as the BBC mini-series, which gave me nightmares and I refused to watch more than the first half of the first one.
On the downside: Christianity so thick you can taste it. It was generally a little gawky.
Overall, worth it.
Harry Potter:
Disappointing, especially after all of the hype. I understand that they had to cut stuff from the book out of the movie, but I must admit to being disappointed by some of the plots and subplots that they chose to do away with. Rita Skeeter is in the movie, but they ignored the whole bit about her being an unregistered animangus... which seems like it could be problematic in the fifth book when they publish her article on Harry in the Quibbler. They cut out Winky, and through her Dobby. They did a good job on the tasks, even if they didn’t end up being quite like the book says.
The kids were obviously no longer 14, Voldemort was totally NOT evil enough, and some other things didn’t work with my imagination. But that always happens.
The dragon bit was good. The mermaids were coolish. The maze was… empty except of course for mists that don’t do anything and scary hedges that collapse on themselves. Yeah, kind of disappointing really.
Brokeback Mountain:
Two hot guys, horses, beautiful scenery, and sheep. What more could a girl ask for? Oh I know! A happy ending. If you are looking for a happy movie that just happens to be about gay cowboys who meet each other and fall in love then do not go see this movie. Really, don’t. It is one of the most depressing movies that I have seen in a while, but it was good.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger star in the movie. They meet on a job herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain in the 60s. They fall in love, get done with the job and move on with their lives. They get married(to women) and don’t see each other for years, until they start getting together every few months to have “romantic” camping getaways.
But it is Wyoming in the 60s. NO ONE is going to be understanding about gay cowboys. You just aren’t gay in the 60s.
Through out the whole movie I just kept thinking that they were being silly, and should just get together. But then you understand why they can’t. Why they don’t. It is very tragic.
The acting is good, even if sometimes you feel as though the movie is going a bit slowly. The scenery is beautiful. The plot is great. Just don’t expect to be happy when you leave the theater.
Very worth it, even worth driving down to River Oaks to see it.
Memoirs of a Geisha:
Wow. Out of all of the movies that I saw over the holidays this was my favorite. Honestly, if you are one of those people who is boycotting the movie because they are using Chinese people to play Japanese people you should just get over it and see the movie. Or better yet, read the book.
This movie is about a Japanese girl, named Chiyo, who is taken from her family when she is young to go to Miyako(Gion in the book) in order to become a Geisha. Chiyo struggles through a lot to try and escape, but eventually she decides to become a Geisha. A key figure in her decision is a man who is kind to her as a little girl, he is The Chairman. So she spends her life doing things in the hopes that one day she will be able to have The Chairman as her danna (A guy who pays for you and buys you nice stuff and you let him sleep with you). It is great. Really, great!
The entire movie is so brilliantly colorful, it is amazing. The scenery is stunning. The costumes are gorgeous. The music is beautiful. The acting is good. The story is nice.
The book is better.
I want this movie.
Yeah. I put Freckles on academic probation, and sent her to the mechanic to learn to be more friendly towards the environment. She failed. Again.
So now Momo (really Juan, but saying Momo is more fun to say) has decided to send Freckles off to another mechanic to get her catalytic converter replaced. No, I do not know what a catalytic converter is. No, I do not know what a catalytic converter does. No, I do not know where I would find a catalytic converter. But it is getting replaced. And taking forever since apparently catalytic converters are not readily available and have to be special ordered.
Well damn.
On the other hand, Daddy has decided to buy a car for me to lease from him. A car that doesn’t break every three months. That could be nice.
On Monday we went shopping for a new used car and I had me first experience with used car salesmen. Wow. I’ll tell you what... Wow.
Yes, some of them do look as sleazy as they are in the movies. Amazing, I know, but it is true. Anyway, they all zoomed in on “Dad buying is little girl a car” and went to town. You could buy this cheap ass Toyota Corolla, but it is a small car; you would be better off buying this Lexus because it is safer. Your kid likes the Lexus better anyway, it is a Lexus and it has spiffy stuff like automatic seats.
So I drove a rather crappy 2000 Corolla(by crappy I just mean without power anything, it was actually a nice car), a 1997 Lexus, a 1998 BMW 3mumble mumble mumble, a 1999 Honda civic, another Corolla, and a 1999 Toyota Camry. Over all my favorite was the BMW, but its maintenance costs would be obscene. Next I liked the civic and the camry, they are relatively close in cost and number of miles. Here is the thing: I don’t know which I like better.
Either way I decide, however, I will get another white car. Ironic that before I turned 16 I decided that I would never have a white car, because it is too easy to tell when they are dirty. Beggars can’t be choosers.
And as promised my Christmas movie reviews.
The Chronicles of Narnia:
First I must hege my response by stating very clearly that I do not remember this book. Sure I read it, but mostly under duress. So I only really remember the beginning and the end, other that that I really couldn’t tell you. At the end f the movie I asked Meredith and Laura how many books they had put into the movie, and they gave me a startled look and said one. So I will trust that the movie was reasonably close to the book.
Otherwise, the movie was very good. The acting was well done, and even if the Christianity was palpable in a large part of the movie it can be dealt with, especially if you aren’t big on Christian mythology. The weirdest part of the movie was the kids fighting with swords, because they obviously had no clue what they were doing and just kind of waved a sharp object around with some vague intention of doing harm to something in the vicinity. It was bad for staged, choreographed sword play. The kids should have just been dead. Several times.
The soundtrack was good. The film was vivid and the costumes for all of the beasts where excellent. The plot is good and the movie is not half as frightening as the BBC mini-series, which gave me nightmares and I refused to watch more than the first half of the first one.
On the downside: Christianity so thick you can taste it. It was generally a little gawky.
Overall, worth it.
Harry Potter:
Disappointing, especially after all of the hype. I understand that they had to cut stuff from the book out of the movie, but I must admit to being disappointed by some of the plots and subplots that they chose to do away with. Rita Skeeter is in the movie, but they ignored the whole bit about her being an unregistered animangus... which seems like it could be problematic in the fifth book when they publish her article on Harry in the Quibbler. They cut out Winky, and through her Dobby. They did a good job on the tasks, even if they didn’t end up being quite like the book says.
The kids were obviously no longer 14, Voldemort was totally NOT evil enough, and some other things didn’t work with my imagination. But that always happens.
The dragon bit was good. The mermaids were coolish. The maze was… empty except of course for mists that don’t do anything and scary hedges that collapse on themselves. Yeah, kind of disappointing really.
Brokeback Mountain:
Two hot guys, horses, beautiful scenery, and sheep. What more could a girl ask for? Oh I know! A happy ending. If you are looking for a happy movie that just happens to be about gay cowboys who meet each other and fall in love then do not go see this movie. Really, don’t. It is one of the most depressing movies that I have seen in a while, but it was good.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger star in the movie. They meet on a job herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain in the 60s. They fall in love, get done with the job and move on with their lives. They get married(to women) and don’t see each other for years, until they start getting together every few months to have “romantic” camping getaways.
But it is Wyoming in the 60s. NO ONE is going to be understanding about gay cowboys. You just aren’t gay in the 60s.
Through out the whole movie I just kept thinking that they were being silly, and should just get together. But then you understand why they can’t. Why they don’t. It is very tragic.
The acting is good, even if sometimes you feel as though the movie is going a bit slowly. The scenery is beautiful. The plot is great. Just don’t expect to be happy when you leave the theater.
Very worth it, even worth driving down to River Oaks to see it.
Memoirs of a Geisha:
Wow. Out of all of the movies that I saw over the holidays this was my favorite. Honestly, if you are one of those people who is boycotting the movie because they are using Chinese people to play Japanese people you should just get over it and see the movie. Or better yet, read the book.
This movie is about a Japanese girl, named Chiyo, who is taken from her family when she is young to go to Miyako(Gion in the book) in order to become a Geisha. Chiyo struggles through a lot to try and escape, but eventually she decides to become a Geisha. A key figure in her decision is a man who is kind to her as a little girl, he is The Chairman. So she spends her life doing things in the hopes that one day she will be able to have The Chairman as her danna (A guy who pays for you and buys you nice stuff and you let him sleep with you). It is great. Really, great!
The entire movie is so brilliantly colorful, it is amazing. The scenery is stunning. The costumes are gorgeous. The music is beautiful. The acting is good. The story is nice.
The book is better.
I want this movie.