30 Days of Film - Day Seventeen
Today has been... not a good day.
I started out the day trying to get broadband sorted for my flat. So it's written into my contract that I can't change the telephone number of the flat without written permission from the landlord. Which is fair enough, just need to check the "keep my old number box". Except to do that you need to know your old number. Which I don't. So I can either find this out when I get to my flat with a phone or ring the letting agents to see if they know. As the point of the exercise was to get all of this sorted before I moved, so I could organise any installations during the week before I start work I go with option B. Except the guy who manages my flat isn't in. And, obviously, this is specialised knowledge only he would know and it couldn't possibly be replicated, I don't know, in a file or something. So the girl says he'll call me back when he gets in. Which is, of course, estate agent code for "I probably won't even tell him about this call and even if I do he ain't ringing you back." But obviously, I wait all day to see if he will cos I don't wanna phone again and seem all nagging fish wife. Yeah, yeah, I know.
Anyway, during the course of this I look back over the stuff for the setting up of the internet, and it tells me that if I want to keep my own number, it will take 5 -7 weeks to sort out. Weeks. Fucking WEEKS. They expect me to be without internet for nearly two months! What the fucking fuck?
Anyway, all of this rather severely pissed me off, and I couldn't really complain to my mum and solicit advice, because she, my stepdad and my sisters are currently visiting my stepdad's parents in Spain. My dad is less use in situations like this because he always wants to be practical and offers advice when all I want to do is bitch and moan, and then when I do want advice, he's all "well it's up to you, what do you think you should do?"
It was at this point that my brain decided to fully comprehend the fact that I was moving out of my parents' house forever, moving to a city where I knew absolutely no one, would be working in an almost entirely male office, all of whom are at least five years older than me, and I'd be living completely on my own for the first time and, oh yeah, my mum wouldn't be here when I left and wouldn't be back in the country for another week. Cue me crying wretchedly for half an hour. And, you know what, sobbing in a house alone? Really not fun. And the worst bit of it was that I couldn't even phone my mum to tell her this because there was no way I was going to ruin her holiday by telling her that what I really wanted was for her to get on the next plane home so that she could come and give me a hug.
So this mood pretty much put paid to me doing anything productive today. Instead, I spent a couple of hours on regretsy, and looking at the weird shit made me feel better enough that I didn't feel the need to cry down the phone at my dad when he finished work at 12.30 as I had originally planned. Then I went to Tesco to buy doritos (there was much left over dip from the party last night) and Ben and Jerries. I came back to discover all the bread had gone mouldy in the last couple of days, so I had to throw away about 3/4s of a loaf. Then I discovered that someone had left a mug and a bowl in the dishwasher and not told me and the bowl was starting to grow things. After lunch I finally managed to enthuse myself with enough energy to walk into town to get a birthday present for my friend who I was going to see this evening. I really wasn't in the mood for doing anything other than hiding from the world under my duvet, let alone shopping so this took some doing. I rather stupidly decided not to take my mp3 player, and thus had nothing to distract myself from my thoughts as I walked, which were not exactly in my happy place at that point. Leading to me nearly bursting into tears in the middle of town on at least three separate occasions and starting crying on the way home. So I bought a phone for my house and the required birthday present, cheering up a little at Hawkins Bazaar. Then I walked through town feeling vaguely restless. I guess I was feeling slightly destructive, but even at my most upset and pissed off I generally remain rational enough to not do any lasting damage, so this transmuted itself to wanting to do something really stupid and spend loads of money on something I didn't need. Like a PS3. Which is a good idea when you have to wait a month before you get paid, have to pay rent and bills before then and owe your parents lots of money. So at this point I was walking past schuh and decided it was a better idea to go in. Where I ended up buying some Converse. Which is better than a PS3 I guess. They are really nice, double tongued black and royal/electric blue type colour, but it's not like I'd had my eye on them for a while, they were a complete impulse purchase. They are here: www.converse.com/#/products/Shoes/ChuckTaylor/117256F and according to the website are men's shoes but were in the ladies section of the shop, and frankly, Converse are pretty bloody unisex anyway. And I let myself be talked into buying a tote bag as well. And then I went into HMV and ended up buying Studio 60 on DVD. Which, at least, I had had my eye on for ages and was reduced to £7 in the sale.
I got home, really, really not in the mood to go back out and be sociable and just wanting to hide under my duvet even more. Cue more regretsy. But I had bought my friend a present and thus I needed to give it to her. I went to wrap the present and realised I had forgotten to get paper. It was too late to get any so I scoured the house for some. And ended up with Christmas paper. Really crap Christmas paper.
Oh yeah, and just to add insult to injury, the parka I really want, the replica of the Quadrophenia parka that I have wanted for nearly two years now and had promised myself I would buy this winter as I had a job, it's been discontinued. They don't make them anymore.
This story has a happy ending though, because once I'd actually got to my friend's house, it turned out that what I really needed was a few hours laughing and joking and not thinking about the future. And cake. And then when I got home, I got a phone call from a friend who had seen my tweets from earlier in the day and wanted to makes sure I was ok. We hadn't spoken to each other since graduation, and then only briefly, so we ended up chatting for nearly an hour until my phone battery died, catching up and comparing flats. Which completed the evenings cheering up, so much so that even recounting the day's events has not uncheered me.
I feel today's topic fits in rather well with the overall mood of today, so without further ado I give you:
• Day 17 - A movie that disappointed you the most
A few to choose from in this category, I guess. The Music of Chance was disappointing because it didn't end. We watched Point Break (1991) as part of the Hot Fuzz double bill (ie, with Bad Boys II) and that was disappointing. The only two good bits are the foot chase (which is pretty damn special) and the bit where he fires his gun in the air and says "ahhh". The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) is really disappointing, Sean Connery being the only thing that makes that film watchable.
But my number one pick is:
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
So why so disappointing? The ending. And the hype. And the hype about the ending. It's one of those films you hear of as being one of the most romantic films ever. And the final scene has to be one of the most parodied scenes ever.
It's the story of a group of cadets going through Naval Flight school to become Naval Aviators and their various relationships with the local women, focussing particularly on Richard Gere's character. He has a relationship with a girl, at the end of his training they break up, then he changes his mind and comes, in full Naval Dress Whites to the factory where she works with all the other girls and literally sweeps her off her feet and carries her out of there. Strings swell and the audience leaves the cinema wiping a tear from their eye. Romantic music, naval uniforms, Richard Gere back when he was pretty, what more could I want?
Except, I found myself thinking, hang on a minute, all she needed was a man to come and sweep her off her feet and take her away from this life of drudgery? Really?
And it doesn't feel like it fits with the film. It really feels tacked on, like the film originally ended with them breaking up and then they showed it to a test audience who said "make film have happy ending. me not like sad." and so they hastily shot this scene and threw it haphazardly at the end of the film.
And the worst part of it is, it could be a really good film. Right up until that point, up until the last five minutes of the film I was really enjoying it. It was a nice little drama, a character study of how a group of people are thrown together and bond with the cadets becoming friends over their tough training and the fact that they all start dating the local girls who are all friends (and who also serially date each new batch of recruits when they come in). It was about the different ways to fall in love and the different ways to cope. About how sometimes the person you need walks into your life at just the right time. The fact that the main couple broke up at the end was the perfect bittersweet ending. They didn't break up because of some massive fight, or misunderstanding, they just had both got all they needed from the relationship and it was time to move on.
And then they give it the big Hollywood production and they all live happily ever after the end. And I can't help thinking they'd both have been better off if they'd stayed apart.
So there we go, An Officer And A Gentleman is my most disappointing film because an absolutely lovely film is spoiled by a happy ending. And it's not often I say that.
I started out the day trying to get broadband sorted for my flat. So it's written into my contract that I can't change the telephone number of the flat without written permission from the landlord. Which is fair enough, just need to check the "keep my old number box". Except to do that you need to know your old number. Which I don't. So I can either find this out when I get to my flat with a phone or ring the letting agents to see if they know. As the point of the exercise was to get all of this sorted before I moved, so I could organise any installations during the week before I start work I go with option B. Except the guy who manages my flat isn't in. And, obviously, this is specialised knowledge only he would know and it couldn't possibly be replicated, I don't know, in a file or something. So the girl says he'll call me back when he gets in. Which is, of course, estate agent code for "I probably won't even tell him about this call and even if I do he ain't ringing you back." But obviously, I wait all day to see if he will cos I don't wanna phone again and seem all nagging fish wife. Yeah, yeah, I know.
Anyway, during the course of this I look back over the stuff for the setting up of the internet, and it tells me that if I want to keep my own number, it will take 5 -7 weeks to sort out. Weeks. Fucking WEEKS. They expect me to be without internet for nearly two months! What the fucking fuck?
Anyway, all of this rather severely pissed me off, and I couldn't really complain to my mum and solicit advice, because she, my stepdad and my sisters are currently visiting my stepdad's parents in Spain. My dad is less use in situations like this because he always wants to be practical and offers advice when all I want to do is bitch and moan, and then when I do want advice, he's all "well it's up to you, what do you think you should do?"
It was at this point that my brain decided to fully comprehend the fact that I was moving out of my parents' house forever, moving to a city where I knew absolutely no one, would be working in an almost entirely male office, all of whom are at least five years older than me, and I'd be living completely on my own for the first time and, oh yeah, my mum wouldn't be here when I left and wouldn't be back in the country for another week. Cue me crying wretchedly for half an hour. And, you know what, sobbing in a house alone? Really not fun. And the worst bit of it was that I couldn't even phone my mum to tell her this because there was no way I was going to ruin her holiday by telling her that what I really wanted was for her to get on the next plane home so that she could come and give me a hug.
So this mood pretty much put paid to me doing anything productive today. Instead, I spent a couple of hours on regretsy, and looking at the weird shit made me feel better enough that I didn't feel the need to cry down the phone at my dad when he finished work at 12.30 as I had originally planned. Then I went to Tesco to buy doritos (there was much left over dip from the party last night) and Ben and Jerries. I came back to discover all the bread had gone mouldy in the last couple of days, so I had to throw away about 3/4s of a loaf. Then I discovered that someone had left a mug and a bowl in the dishwasher and not told me and the bowl was starting to grow things. After lunch I finally managed to enthuse myself with enough energy to walk into town to get a birthday present for my friend who I was going to see this evening. I really wasn't in the mood for doing anything other than hiding from the world under my duvet, let alone shopping so this took some doing. I rather stupidly decided not to take my mp3 player, and thus had nothing to distract myself from my thoughts as I walked, which were not exactly in my happy place at that point. Leading to me nearly bursting into tears in the middle of town on at least three separate occasions and starting crying on the way home. So I bought a phone for my house and the required birthday present, cheering up a little at Hawkins Bazaar. Then I walked through town feeling vaguely restless. I guess I was feeling slightly destructive, but even at my most upset and pissed off I generally remain rational enough to not do any lasting damage, so this transmuted itself to wanting to do something really stupid and spend loads of money on something I didn't need. Like a PS3. Which is a good idea when you have to wait a month before you get paid, have to pay rent and bills before then and owe your parents lots of money. So at this point I was walking past schuh and decided it was a better idea to go in. Where I ended up buying some Converse. Which is better than a PS3 I guess. They are really nice, double tongued black and royal/electric blue type colour, but it's not like I'd had my eye on them for a while, they were a complete impulse purchase. They are here: www.converse.com/#/products/Shoes/ChuckTaylor/117256F and according to the website are men's shoes but were in the ladies section of the shop, and frankly, Converse are pretty bloody unisex anyway. And I let myself be talked into buying a tote bag as well. And then I went into HMV and ended up buying Studio 60 on DVD. Which, at least, I had had my eye on for ages and was reduced to £7 in the sale.
I got home, really, really not in the mood to go back out and be sociable and just wanting to hide under my duvet even more. Cue more regretsy. But I had bought my friend a present and thus I needed to give it to her. I went to wrap the present and realised I had forgotten to get paper. It was too late to get any so I scoured the house for some. And ended up with Christmas paper. Really crap Christmas paper.
Oh yeah, and just to add insult to injury, the parka I really want, the replica of the Quadrophenia parka that I have wanted for nearly two years now and had promised myself I would buy this winter as I had a job, it's been discontinued. They don't make them anymore.
This story has a happy ending though, because once I'd actually got to my friend's house, it turned out that what I really needed was a few hours laughing and joking and not thinking about the future. And cake. And then when I got home, I got a phone call from a friend who had seen my tweets from earlier in the day and wanted to makes sure I was ok. We hadn't spoken to each other since graduation, and then only briefly, so we ended up chatting for nearly an hour until my phone battery died, catching up and comparing flats. Which completed the evenings cheering up, so much so that even recounting the day's events has not uncheered me.
I feel today's topic fits in rather well with the overall mood of today, so without further ado I give you:
• Day 17 - A movie that disappointed you the most
A few to choose from in this category, I guess. The Music of Chance was disappointing because it didn't end. We watched Point Break (1991) as part of the Hot Fuzz double bill (ie, with Bad Boys II) and that was disappointing. The only two good bits are the foot chase (which is pretty damn special) and the bit where he fires his gun in the air and says "ahhh". The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) is really disappointing, Sean Connery being the only thing that makes that film watchable.
But my number one pick is:
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
So why so disappointing? The ending. And the hype. And the hype about the ending. It's one of those films you hear of as being one of the most romantic films ever. And the final scene has to be one of the most parodied scenes ever.
It's the story of a group of cadets going through Naval Flight school to become Naval Aviators and their various relationships with the local women, focussing particularly on Richard Gere's character. He has a relationship with a girl, at the end of his training they break up, then he changes his mind and comes, in full Naval Dress Whites to the factory where she works with all the other girls and literally sweeps her off her feet and carries her out of there. Strings swell and the audience leaves the cinema wiping a tear from their eye. Romantic music, naval uniforms, Richard Gere back when he was pretty, what more could I want?
Except, I found myself thinking, hang on a minute, all she needed was a man to come and sweep her off her feet and take her away from this life of drudgery? Really?
And it doesn't feel like it fits with the film. It really feels tacked on, like the film originally ended with them breaking up and then they showed it to a test audience who said "make film have happy ending. me not like sad." and so they hastily shot this scene and threw it haphazardly at the end of the film.
And the worst part of it is, it could be a really good film. Right up until that point, up until the last five minutes of the film I was really enjoying it. It was a nice little drama, a character study of how a group of people are thrown together and bond with the cadets becoming friends over their tough training and the fact that they all start dating the local girls who are all friends (and who also serially date each new batch of recruits when they come in). It was about the different ways to fall in love and the different ways to cope. About how sometimes the person you need walks into your life at just the right time. The fact that the main couple broke up at the end was the perfect bittersweet ending. They didn't break up because of some massive fight, or misunderstanding, they just had both got all they needed from the relationship and it was time to move on.
And then they give it the big Hollywood production and they all live happily ever after the end. And I can't help thinking they'd both have been better off if they'd stayed apart.
So there we go, An Officer And A Gentleman is my most disappointing film because an absolutely lovely film is spoiled by a happy ending. And it's not often I say that.