Sunday, August 13, 2006
Dastardly plots
I was out of the loop for a week -- sort of like JJ, in blissful ignorance of what's going on. Was jolted back to reality at the airport, where the guys checking things pulled me over, and started taking away my toothpaste, deodorant, etc. Whoa! I said, what's wrong with that? So they said, hey man, dontcha know we're on orange alert? Hah! Can't wait to see what happens when JJ checks in, after 4 months chasing the mountain goats in the Alps... That ouzo stashed away will surely go down the drain.
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15 comments:
Just chicken thieves, nothing to worry about, says Dacia. Hmmmm....
Funny how they always, but always, express shock, after the fact:
Relatives and other neighbors of the Raufs expressed shock that they were caught up in the inquiry, but the family is no stranger to the authorities.
State of denial:
The explanation for Britain’s deep state of denial, Phillips said, is partly psychological: “A holy war is a horrific concept. It is a protracted fight with an uncertain outcome and an enormous cost in terms of casualties. Human nature, when we are faced with a reality that is overwhelmingly awful, is to deny its existence and alight instead on something that is less bad.”
Sure-- have more ouzo, you'll see la vie en rose. And hey, they're not attacking Versailles, so everything must be peachy-creamy, yes?
Just Molotov cocktails, Pepe would say. Well, yes, literally in this case. But it's all about les Anglo-Saxons, so no beef, right?
Even the SF Chronicle (well, a small subset thereof) is getting a bit edgy. Feeling the cold steel of the scimitar may wake up one or two from their imperturbable ouzo slumber? I wouldn't bet too much on that...
AI,
Quite the plot they (was it Scotland Yard?) unravelled. The over-head compartments are pretty bare these days.
Also: I guess there's been a couple dubious characters -- who just happened to be of Arabic descent -- who were buying up cellphones willy-nilly in Texas.
Also-also: I just saw World Trade Center last evening. It's likely Pepe will hate it: there are a couple Jesus referrences. The theatre was about half to 3/4 full, and completely silent as the film ended. Wow: it's been almost five years since Jihad finally got America's full attention.
The final also: Maybe we should all chip in and get JJ a case of ouzo for his welcome back gift? It looks like airline workers are gonna be able to stock up on their personal toiletries without any sort of damage to their personal checking accounts. They'll probably collect JJ's ouzo stock before letting him board the plane.
Yes -- on my way out (to the Left Coast), overhead bins were all jam-packed, I barely could fit mine. But on the way back, they were pretty much empty, like supermarket shelves before (or after?) a hurricane... Rather eerie.
So how's the movie? I'm rather skeptical of pretty much any Hollywood production, but maybe one day I'll make an exception, and go see one again...
As for JJ -- he likes to come back through London, take a bit of time off between flights at a local pub and ogle the English lasses (even strike up a conversation now and then, from what he says). I wonder how this work out now. Any scenarios you guys care to draw?
AI,
While understanding why you seldom, if ever, venture into the Hollywood cinema, I'd recommend that you go to one film at least once every three months. Even if you (again, understandably) vehemently disagree with what passes for entertainment, at least you'll be in touch with popular culture, and you'll be able to rip on it with incredible precision.
The movie itself kept my attention, so much that a few times I forgot I was sitting in a theatre. Don't expect much of a plot line (we already know what it's going to be about: broadly speaking, 9-11; at the personal-level, a rescue story where two Port Authority cops are saved). The movie moves back and forth between the two families of the trapped cops. The younger of the officers sees Jesus in one of his hallucinations -- he's lost quite a bit of blood and is pretty dehydrated. Because this young officer is of Latin American descent, it's probably not too trendy for the Left to rip on his Catholic/metaphysical psychology. Then again, I'm sure they'll find a way.
If you're looking for deep philosophical dilemmas, this ain't the movie. If you're looking for a 9-11 memorial film, this is probably a good one.
Also: don't forget to ask for butter when you get your popcorn.
As for JJ: I'm going to hold off on any scenarios, but for some reason I'm thinking about JJ making it to Picadilly Circus -- for what reason I'm still uncertain.
OK, MFT, I will give it a shot, if I get the time while back on the Right Coast. But no popcorn for me, buttered on non-buttered. I have to agree with (the spirit of) Pepe on this one -- it's a rather barbaric custom to eat, munch, and otherwise make noises while watching a movie. This is another reason I don't much go to movies nowadays -- the other people are just too restless and noisy, can't really concentrate on what's going on on the screen.
As for JJ in London -- we can only speculate, but why would he go to Piccadilly Circus? Maybe because it's kind of like one of his beloved "squares" in Cambridge, only round?
Okay, okay: no popcorn at the movies. I know what you're talking about. During the previews of the movie I saw last evening there was so much chatter that I began wondering if it would cease during the movie. It did.
On the other hand, going to a movie is a shared experience, a social event, so in some regards there's a certain amount of background noise that'll accompany any public outing.
Yet I've had to do the full turn around and politely tell (not ask) people to be quiet. A couple years ago, another friend of mine (a man who has one of the biggest hearts) yelled at some noise-makers a couple aisles down to either "shut the f&ck up, or refund my ticket!!!" It's kind of a risky move, but in that instance total silence was the result.
Also: Pepe's bias might stem from his Parisian origins, and like it or not, the French, and Europe in general, have a tendency to make films that are worth thinking about compared with the eye-candy (which is good too) and EXPLOSIONS and shot-em-up that's so predictable with American Hollywood. You can munch buttered or non-buttered popcorn when Arnold is wasting space aliens, but you wouldn't want to when, for example, Carl Dreyer's Ordet is playing.
"Shut the f&ck up, or refund my ticket!!!" -- Hah, that's a good one, maybe I'll try it one day. If only people were commenting on the movie at hand, or some actor, that would be understandable, sort of. (I also do it, sotto voce, on the rare occasions I go to the talkies.) But what really grates is the mindless chatter, with zero content -- random noise (or verbal diarhhea, I like to call it).
At any rate, I could go on and on about this -- it's one of my pet peeves in life, and not just at the movies. The amount of mindless noise surrounding us is just mind-boggling, if you think about it. Any idea on how to filter out all this noise, and retain only talk that has some meaning? Just got a nano, maybe I'll try to listen to music when surrounded by noise. Anyone ever tried that?
>>>>...mindless chatter, with zero content -- random noise (or verbal diarhhea, I like to call it)... Any idea on how to filter out all this noise, and retain only talk that has some meaning?<<<<
Yeah, that'd be a hell of an invention. I only have two suggestions that come to my immediate mind:
Go to Sturgis and let the V-twins, daisy dukes, and the general spectacle drown out chatter all together. Or you can head north, and get away from people entirely for a week or so hiking in the badlands. It seemed to work pretty well for Teddy Roosevelt.
There are some movies where it is a shame not to see them on the large screen. Eisenstein's "Alexander Nevsky" or "Battleship Potemkin" come to mind. Or Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Even more uncertain fare, such as "Gone With the Wind" or "Ben Hur"....These are flicks where the visual richness of the world plays too important a role to be confined to the usual telly.
But I'm not convinced that either "United 93" or "World Trade Center" are that type....MFT, is it your recommendation that these be seen on the cinematic screen?
I don't recommend going out of your way to see WTC (if, for example, you have a good book to read at home, do that instead). I'd only recommend seeing WTC on the big screen if you're itching to go to a film with a 9-11 memorial-kind-a bent. I was curious about the reaction of the crowd. Everyone departed in complete silence, not because they were in awe of Oliver Stone's latest, but because they were seriously thinking, "Man, that was only five years ago."
Also, I haven't seen "United 93" so I cannot comment. If I remember right, the key phrase to that real-life scenario was, "Let's roll!"
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