Wednesday, February 20, 2008

What's Up Wednesday - February 20, 2008

The Movie: Took Jago out to see There Will Be Blood for his birthday. He's probably the biggest P.T. Anderson fan that I know, so I figured that it would be a good present for him, and that we wouldn't have that many people we could have taken to see it anyhow, as most of our friends don't really like him. But we took Diego and the three of us sat through all two and a half hours of it, and my GOD is it good. Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing, pulling off both sliminess and genuine emotion, and wrapping it up in about fifteen tons of charisma. The story's unexpected and really powerful, and while it sure doesn't feel like your "typical P.T. Anderson movie" (much different than when I think of Boogie Nights or Magnolia), I can see how he would be interested in this kind of project. Really really good; I don't think it's going to beat No Country For Old Men at the Oscars on Sunday, but it might have a chance.

The DVD: I rented a few this past week, but I'm going to give the nod to Gone Baby Gone. I knew I would have to watch it because it's based on a Denis Lehane novel and I do like his books (and I liked Mystic River too). I was a little put off by the fact that it was directed by Ben Affleck, but he actually did a fairly good job. He made a perfectly good movie, with competent shots and he didn't let any obvious style get in the way of the story, but sometimes I felt that there could have been more exposition, as some things were even more confusing and unexplained than they needed to be. Casey Affleck was good, and Amy Smart (the other reason I watched it) was AMAZING. So, definitely worth a rental, particularly if you like a smart little mystery.

The TV Show: I got The Peach Whose Line Is It Anyway? The Complete Seasons One and Two as a random gift, and we've been working our way through it. It's...really uneven. Some episodes are brilliant, some are painful, and some are both at once. But it's good to see how the original series started, and there are some really nice scenes. We're most of the way through Season One, and while it was okay, I hope that Season Two picks up the quality a bit.

The Video Game: I've been playing our home version of Zuma a lot the past few weeks, but last Saturday night in a fit of insomnia, I finally finished the damn thing. Even though I finished the adventure level, I still like playing the other levels. Just a fun time-waster, and the last level's a DOOZY!

The Job: I'm slowly gearing up to be working another part-time job, just eight to ten additional hours a week. Still working with kids with ASD, and still doing research instead of clinical work, but it's a fun grind interacting with the kids. And I'm meeting a few families I used to work with five and six years ago, so it's really interesting to catch up with them. Plus, the extra income will be useful.

The Real Life: My grandmother's birthday was Valentine's day and I gave her a call to give her best wishes. For the first two minutes, she thought I was my dad. "I thought things were strange," she said when I cleared it all up. "Your dad doesn't sing that well!"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, Zuma. That game drove me insane. I eventually edited the files driving it so that I could kill every level in record time.

Don't look at me that way!! I feel NO SHAME

Morgan Smith said...

I. DRINK. YOUR. MILKSHAKE!!!

I DRINK IT UP!!!!

Sylvana said...

Great post. Your grandmother sounds like a hoot!

The Doc said...

Justice, I'm afraid I need to judge you on that. That's pretty sad, man.

Morgoid, that was a good one, but I think I preferred: "Give me the blood Eli and let me get the hell out of here!"

Sy, yeah, I like her. Don't get to see her much, but she's a spitfire.