watching things
Just watched The Social Network. Thought it was a good story; definitely got wrapped up in it. Perhaps I should say good story-telling? I was pretty much instantly sympathetic to Zuckerberg-the-character, and was nonplussed when early on a (justly) irritated date called him an asshole. To me he came off like many other socially-awkward and highly intelligent guys; self-involved, sure, but not in an arrogant way. Fell immediately for Saverin, too, both because I think Andrew Garfield's attractive and 'cause you could tell right away what an impossible position he'd be thrown into. It was interesting to see later in the film the power dynamic between them, in several instances of Saverin-the-character acting with poor judgment because of how he felt about Zuckerberg. Found it very easy to pin all the blame for bad-doing (aside from the degree of human flawedness I am easily empathetic towards) on Sean Parker's character, though I was probably primed for that in reviews I read back when the film came out. I could've sworn I read a review that compared his portrayal to Mephistopheles. Then we read Doctor Faustus in class, so I got a full idea of what that reference meant. Watching for it in the film, I was disappointed, 'cause I didn't think it fit. But on reflection I realise that it's a good comparison, just not a direct parallel. Sorkin's cameo was so incongruous! I'll admit I didn't realise it was him in the moment, but I really felt like he didn't fit the image of average-business-manager-type. At least, not the way(s) they come from central casting ;P. The ending was kind of graceful, but it felt incomplete. Which makes sense, 'cause this is really a story-in-progress. Or so I tell myself, vaguely imagining what a future biopic might look like, and how it might incorporate mention of this film...'cause that's how my mind works.
Speaking of biopics, except not really - watched Country Strong a few weeks ago. And it was mostly a lot better, more watchable than I thought it'd be, because I am a fan of melodrama. It's maybe a mood thing, though; I can easily imagine being seriously impatient with some of the characters' behaviour otherwise. Ummmm the ending absolutely broke my heart and I did not like it one little bit. But it worked within the story, and a happier ending would certainly have been cliche and insipid.
Watched The King's Speech around then too. Enjoyed it muchly, but found it felt strangely light. I mean, there's some pretty serious context there. But it was such a feel-good film...its tone never got heavy enough to override that. It felt more like a vignette than a full-bodied film - or maybe more precisely, like a cropped picture, or a film clip. Just, that sense of being only part of the story. I guess that was kind of the point; it's a micro-story, always part of a larger narrative but worth focussing on for a bit.
Speaking of royals, more or less. Yes, I did watch the royal wedding. I had the luxury of not having to go to work or classes that day. Loved the dress; during the run-up there were many documentaries broadcast featuring clips from the Queen's wedding, and after seeing her lovely (and intense) veil I was predicting that the dress would involve lace, more from personal preference to see it than anything else. And it did and I was unnecessarily triumphant. I thought the whole thing was grand without being overdone, but I don't know how much that's worth since I was watching on television so very far away.
Umm more films I've watched recently. The Sorceror's Apprentice was amusing and not what I was expecting but everything you would probably have expected from the ad campaign when it first came out. As my sister noted, it was obvious how much it was "meant for" boys. I read somewhere that the approach to Tangled was meant to heighten its appeal for boys, too, and that was easy to see in the film. I was impressed that they managed to blend in a good dose of the princessy-ness that's supposed to appeal to little girls, too. Some really scary bits in there with the foster mother, and some fun action-adventure. The latter quite balanced the sweetness of the rest.
Oh hey, watched the election results coming in too. Coming up on a week tomorrow. It felt so odd that the whole thing was pretty much done and declared in two hours, especially considering how significant of a change it was. I was not hoping for a Conservative majority, to say the least. And the craziness of FPTP never felt so bad to me, until I had to realise how very firmly I'm in the 60% of voters who didn't choose this government. Aack. I'm actually pleased to see the success of the NDP, mostly because it's always nice to see the success of the little-guy or the dark-horse or whatever condescending term is preferred to describe the people most were counting out. It's historic and it's something I wanted to see. I find it really bizarre and quite ominous that it picked up 50 seats in Quebec - it cannot be good for the country that Quebec voted so differently from everybody else. Which might be silly to say considering how they've been doing that since the BQ first appeared on the scene, but it's a lot easier to see now that they decided to pick from the parties that played nationwide. I do hope the BQ stays down and disappears. I don't think by any means that that would be sufficient to really bring Quebec back into the fold, but it's been a formidable obstacle to rehabilitating federalism and for that I'm glad it's seeming to crumble. Oh, and I suppose in the immediate term it is a good thing for the country that Quebec voted in so many dippers - we seem to have the conditions for a strong and energetic opposition just based on the size of the NDP caucus.
As for the Liberals. I am still quite a partisan for them. And I've been hearing a lot of awesome, really resonant ideas in the various post-mortems that have featured Liberals talking about Liberals ;). I don't think we're out of the game at all; the key now is to actually do some rejuvenating and not stay shocked that the unthinkable is now reality. I agree that this has been a long time coming, and am hoping that the party takes it as a serious wake up call since it missed its chances to fix these problems when the message was milder. I think one thing that was done really badly - because it irritated me so much - was Ignatieff saying early and often that it was between the Libs and the Cons and the NDP would never have a chance. That idiocy about doors! There's nothing like a leader saying that it's between him and the other guy and no one else can ever form government to, umm, instantly raise lots of hackles.
One other thing that really got to me during the campaign was how badly everyone handled the coalition issue. I really hope we never again have a Prime Minister who chooses rhetoric that so disrespects the system, or opposition leaders who can't find it within themselves to state unequivocally how it's meant to work. I actually think it might be exciting to have a coalition government, because it'd help dissolve the stranglehold of party discipline. But I guess that's all on the shelf for now; four years of a Conservative majority is hardly the most likely time to expect innovative changes...!
Speaking of biopics, except not really - watched Country Strong a few weeks ago. And it was mostly a lot better, more watchable than I thought it'd be, because I am a fan of melodrama. It's maybe a mood thing, though; I can easily imagine being seriously impatient with some of the characters' behaviour otherwise. Ummmm the ending absolutely broke my heart and I did not like it one little bit. But it worked within the story, and a happier ending would certainly have been cliche and insipid.
Watched The King's Speech around then too. Enjoyed it muchly, but found it felt strangely light. I mean, there's some pretty serious context there. But it was such a feel-good film...its tone never got heavy enough to override that. It felt more like a vignette than a full-bodied film - or maybe more precisely, like a cropped picture, or a film clip. Just, that sense of being only part of the story. I guess that was kind of the point; it's a micro-story, always part of a larger narrative but worth focussing on for a bit.
Speaking of royals, more or less. Yes, I did watch the royal wedding. I had the luxury of not having to go to work or classes that day. Loved the dress; during the run-up there were many documentaries broadcast featuring clips from the Queen's wedding, and after seeing her lovely (and intense) veil I was predicting that the dress would involve lace, more from personal preference to see it than anything else. And it did and I was unnecessarily triumphant. I thought the whole thing was grand without being overdone, but I don't know how much that's worth since I was watching on television so very far away.
Umm more films I've watched recently. The Sorceror's Apprentice was amusing and not what I was expecting but everything you would probably have expected from the ad campaign when it first came out. As my sister noted, it was obvious how much it was "meant for" boys. I read somewhere that the approach to Tangled was meant to heighten its appeal for boys, too, and that was easy to see in the film. I was impressed that they managed to blend in a good dose of the princessy-ness that's supposed to appeal to little girls, too. Some really scary bits in there with the foster mother, and some fun action-adventure. The latter quite balanced the sweetness of the rest.
Oh hey, watched the election results coming in too. Coming up on a week tomorrow. It felt so odd that the whole thing was pretty much done and declared in two hours, especially considering how significant of a change it was. I was not hoping for a Conservative majority, to say the least. And the craziness of FPTP never felt so bad to me, until I had to realise how very firmly I'm in the 60% of voters who didn't choose this government. Aack. I'm actually pleased to see the success of the NDP, mostly because it's always nice to see the success of the little-guy or the dark-horse or whatever condescending term is preferred to describe the people most were counting out. It's historic and it's something I wanted to see. I find it really bizarre and quite ominous that it picked up 50 seats in Quebec - it cannot be good for the country that Quebec voted so differently from everybody else. Which might be silly to say considering how they've been doing that since the BQ first appeared on the scene, but it's a lot easier to see now that they decided to pick from the parties that played nationwide. I do hope the BQ stays down and disappears. I don't think by any means that that would be sufficient to really bring Quebec back into the fold, but it's been a formidable obstacle to rehabilitating federalism and for that I'm glad it's seeming to crumble. Oh, and I suppose in the immediate term it is a good thing for the country that Quebec voted in so many dippers - we seem to have the conditions for a strong and energetic opposition just based on the size of the NDP caucus.
As for the Liberals. I am still quite a partisan for them. And I've been hearing a lot of awesome, really resonant ideas in the various post-mortems that have featured Liberals talking about Liberals ;). I don't think we're out of the game at all; the key now is to actually do some rejuvenating and not stay shocked that the unthinkable is now reality. I agree that this has been a long time coming, and am hoping that the party takes it as a serious wake up call since it missed its chances to fix these problems when the message was milder. I think one thing that was done really badly - because it irritated me so much - was Ignatieff saying early and often that it was between the Libs and the Cons and the NDP would never have a chance. That idiocy about doors! There's nothing like a leader saying that it's between him and the other guy and no one else can ever form government to, umm, instantly raise lots of hackles.
One other thing that really got to me during the campaign was how badly everyone handled the coalition issue. I really hope we never again have a Prime Minister who chooses rhetoric that so disrespects the system, or opposition leaders who can't find it within themselves to state unequivocally how it's meant to work. I actually think it might be exciting to have a coalition government, because it'd help dissolve the stranglehold of party discipline. But I guess that's all on the shelf for now; four years of a Conservative majority is hardly the most likely time to expect innovative changes...!