barely fatal

My grandma’s 80th birthday turned out to be fun. We had great weather, the food was excellent and it didn’t take tooooo long. Way to go, grandma!

Today’s big Spring-time clean-up day. Scrubbing the floors, washing all clothes, dusting off everything. I can hardly breath *cough*.

Borat came in the mail yesterday. Now guess what. Borat stays in a hotel in New York, the Wellington. Picture my astonishment when I realized it’s the same hotel I will stay in when I visit New York in May!

I finally started planning the details of my New York trip. I got me a new tourist guide and yes, I think I’ll leave the hotel now and then.

My family and I went to see Neues vom Wixxer. I totally loved it, laughed my ass off. Better than the first. Sorry Brits, it’s German-only, an Edgar Wallace parody.

I bought Stalker. I’m not exactly sure why and I have not installed it yet, but I’ll let you know if it’s any good.

I decided to yet again postpone doing my taxes, until next weekend. I already have all the copies I need, though.

Now I’m hungry. I bought me a sandwich toaster. There’s no better way to feed a geek. Well after work anyways, the food in the canteen is good, but not enough for the day. And I don’t eat bread (yeah yeah call me Frenchie as long as you like).

It’s Spring!

Tonight I watched Stay. Not a totally bad movie, but over-stylized if you ask me (I know, nobody does. Bleh!). Anyways, I think the story lacks a little. Well the acting was good I guess. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts. Anyways, again. It’s a mystery-psycho-fool me-drama-thriller of sorts. And I’ve really had enough of those this month: Butterfly Effect, Donnie Darko, 11:14, and now Stay.

I need comedy! Craving. Time for some Borat or stuff. Fun! Story I can follow! Less weirdo-artsy-effects. More simplicity, more irrelevance!

Donnie Darko is one of the most surreal movies I have ever seen. A drugged wacko who sleepwalks and has visions in which he talks to a time-travelling guy in a bunny suit. Me saying that I liked it very much and consider it one of the best movies I have seen recently might strike you odd – it nonetheless is the truth.

Anyways, I saw it on a Friday, a special Friday, a Friday worth a small celebration, and a busy Friday. So I was a bit tired and after the second half of the movie I think I lost a few pointers – I don’t know, I can’t say I full understand it. I will have to give it a second go, I think, and catch up on all the details before I return it to Anne, who was again kind enough to lend it to me.

The second movie I saw on a Thursday, that went without much of a problem. It’s called Thank You For Smoking and it plays in one league with Lord Of War, meaning that you in some way sympathize with the main character, immoral and hate-worthy as he might be. A tobacco industry lobbyist who talks his way through life, and shines as a prime example for his son. So yes it’s a satire and not what the title might suggest, a pro-smoking movie – on the contrary. I’ve always been what you may call a militant non-smoker, but I think even people who do smoke would have fun with it. Especially noteworthy are the parallels to real-world events, namely the warning labels on cigarette packs that were introduced a few years ago. In the movie the exact same issue is discussed to some extend. Some of the dialog is incredibly well written. The flick misses a few more highlights towards the end, overall I liked it, and as a satire it has the perfect pace, tone and tricks.

Nick Naylor: Michael Jordan plays ball. Charles Manson kills people. I talk. Everyone has a talent.

What does it mean when you take a beer out of your fridge and notice that the “Best before” date lies 4 months in the past?
- Rrrright, “You are not a student anymore. You work too much, sleep too little and no friends come to visit you to drink your booze.” Why, thanks, fridge.

I have just spend 2 hours reading about the Matrix movies. When I mentioned to a colleague that I can think of a whole lot of weak spots especially in Reloaded, he just disagreed without explaining himself any further – probably to prevent starting an argument he already had with many other people. Now, I’m a curious person and I always want to know what motivates people’s opinions, mostly because I want to find out if my own view is skewed, plain wrong or single-sided.

Now I know more about philosophy, ancient Greek myths and biblical analogies that I ever wanted to know. I found out that there is more in Reloaded that you can see and that there’s not THE ONE explanation or interpretation – pun intended – but an endless number of assumptions, possibilities and … fanatics.

And I know for a fact that even if all those deep, insight- and meaningful arguments might be true: it’s also a movie. And as such, it lacks coherence, good dialogs and plausibility and it features bad CGI, lame action sequences and wooden acting. I understand it better, and I’ll watch out for details next time, but that doesn’t change the facts. It could make an awesome book, though.

Saw 11:14. Cool movie. Recommend.