avrelia | Entries tagged with movies

We went to see Pan's Labyrinth last weekend. And then we watched Star Wars Episode III at home. I wouldn't have noticed the common theme before, but now it seemed glaringly obvious:

( Spoilers, for both )

and finally, two silly Star Wars questions that keep poking in my head:

1) With the lightsabers and space travel, the technology in the Star Wars Universe seems pretty advanced. How is that no one knew Padme was carrying twins? Or, if she was hiding it from everyone save Anakin, couldn't he, being super-jedi and all that, feel the Force of two(that's apparently strong in the family) ?

2) What exactly Luke's uncle was farming on Tatooine?

I wish everyone a very happy October!

Good things that happened so far:

1)I am on vacation now.
Downsides: I’ve saddled some things to do while I am at it and some responsibility I don’t want
Up and Downsides: I am going crazy with the massive present-shopping. It starts like fun and soon descends into worries and tiredness and lack of time and money to buy everything for everyone.
2)We saw Serenity on Friday

( Here is it )

Current Mood: strange

Non-work-related:

The Corpse Bride – we saw it last Friday, and were rather disenchanted about it. I certainly expected to like it much more. The Bride was lovely, and visuals were stunning, the music with songs and without was good, and the dancing skeletons were amazing and very enjoyable, but… It was boring! The story was absent whatsoever, and the fact that I couldn’t care for any of the characters lost the movie for me.

Just like Heaven – rather enjoyable fluff, but utterly forgettable. The end was too happy for my taste (I am surprised, as I usually like happy ends) – too magical or whatever. They seem to put all the best things in the trailer, which is the wrong idea, as it brings higher expectations. Except I didn’t (as opposed to the Corpse Bride), and managed to enjoy the movie and forget it immediately after.

To say nothing about the dog by Connie Willis. I’ve never heard about it before, but somehow through some cross-references I found it, ordered from the library – and was happy for several days reading it. It hit all the right buttons with me- the time-travel, the mystery of time, the making of history, personal choices and general course of events, happy fluff and irony. Kittens and ugly objects of décor to add – all made for very satisfied Avrelia.

I almost didn’t watch TV, and I don’t feel anything about it. What I did watch though – AtS DVD, s1 and 2 – still the for the first time ever. And it feels a lot like filling in the blanks. And seeing it all again, it came to me that they face the same problems over and over again - it is they are running circles – first just running, then running and jumping through the hoops, them running, jumping through the hoops blinded, then all that but carrying 50-pounds stones, then all that, but with the left big toe in each others’ ear… Yes, a disturbing image…

Work-related:

It was crazy and very crazy – conducting the shareholders’ meeting in Russia, while being here. I didn’t sleep that well, and when I did, I dreamed about shareholders’ meetings and raccoons. It is done now, It could have been done better – I could have done it better, but it is done, and now I can focus on other things – not better, but different. I am still worried silly about the thing, but the important thing, it is over. (and on Friday night – after work- I fall asleep on the couch at our friends’ place watching Star Wars.)

Looking forward to the vacation…

Current Mood: exanimate

First of all I am very grateful for the lovely words you said in

luna_k's Love cup post. Every time I look at it - it makes me warm and fuzzy and able to fly. ;)

Otherwise the week was almost uneventful. We counted days and sent off our applications for Canadian citizenship. There is a good chance that in two years we will become Canadian citizens (in addition to Russian) it is a new big step, but too early to congratulate – and besides, I am feeling a little bit as a phoney – since I don’t feel nearly as excited as it is appropriate, though I am looking forward to Canadian citizenship, but not to singing the anthem and such stuff. I am not an anthem-singing person, generally.

We also realized that we probably will stay in our apartment for some time, and we need to make it more cozy than it is – so we bought some shelves and stuff, and moved the furniture around. Still miles to go, but overall it looks nicer.

Also I’ve seen unusual amount of movies this week. 5

Four brothers – I didn’t like it. The idea seemed interesting – four delinquents adopted by a woman and raised as brother meet after time passed, but it was such a clichéd vengeance story! Every single plot turn was trite, the villain was flat and cartoonish, the violence ruled, and mother was saintly and dead. The only “blemish” on the mother’s reputation was that she was dating a decent elderly lawyer. Couldn’t she date a young and evil lawyer at least? Besides, why the villain needed to kill her was never answered. Because he was evil, apparently. And the thing is, I cannot say that I utterly disliked it – I truly enjoyed watching the four brothers themselves, and the actors had good working chemistry that in my opinion was totally wasted in the movie.

Red eye. A very decent thriller I enjoyed a lot. A creepy villain, a mounting tension, and action that moves so fast that you don’t stop and notice the plot. Plus, a capable heroine is always a plus.

Intolerable Cruelty. I got it from the library mostly because it was there – but I was hoping I like it. And I almost did – but the ending spoiled all the fun. George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones are pleasing to my eyes and had a decent chemistry working together. But the romance between their characters and the kiss at the end seemed so artificial and so unearned that it spoiled the whole movie. I believed them as rivals, but I didn’t believe them as lovers - mostly at the Zeta-Jones’ part. Pity.

Team America. We went to see our friend, and she had the DVD, so we watched – with some wine and beer. I don’t remember the last time we laughed so hard. And we were dying over the puppet sex there, proving that we are all, in fact, twelve.

Forty-year old virgin. No puppet sex, but fun enough. The final song-and dance sequence kills me dead. ;)

Current Mood: discontent

Let’s see, this week was full of adventures and various stuff, and generally me being busy. It was good.
I had an interview today. With a temp agency, so no much hope for any results, but still fun. I tried to do my cheerful best, don’t know if it worked. I am the kind of person who has to remind oneself to smile on formal occasions. Will have to do some MS Office tests tomorrow, so probably I should stare at Excel a little bit.
I visited an allergist this morning, and left without much appreciation of modern allergy cures in Canada. Stay away from cats! Easy to say.

Yesterday I had a wonderful walk with Jonesie, but she’s already told all important points.

I have started to knit a pullover for myself recently. Wonder, how long will it take me to finish it? The last thing I knitted, a turtleneck for my husband, took me three years of work (I am serious, of course, there were interactions and stuff, but still)

Finally, convinced my husband to watch “Pirates of the Caribbean”. He liked it. Yay! I found myself again fascinated with the world of pirates and adventurers, and beautiful tall ships. But not with the characters, oddly.

Tomorrow the Olympics start. Hurray! The main hope of mine for these games – less scandals. Scandals kill for me all the fun and spirit I love the Games for.

Current Mood: cheerful

We have finally seen “Kill Bill”, and I love it dearly.
I don’t particularly like Tarantino, but he is a brilliant storyteller. The way everything in this movie cams together just right – picture, music, story, editing, actors, choreography – every single piece. The way they add to each other – meaning, colour, poignancy, gore. Even that ridiculous, over-the-top bloodiness, even some random details, even the cartoon in the middle…
Did I mention how much I enjoyed it?

And then I realized that vengeance is one of my bullet-proof kinks in fiction. Vengeance often makes for an interesting plot, but when it is not just the plot, but the workings of mind of the avenger, but when we have not just cool vengeance, but also its consequences, it gets me. I don’t like “Count Monte-Cristo” – classical vengeance story, though, I am not sure why – I tried to read it long ago, stopped, and never came back. I am thinking about reading “The Oresteia” – speaking of classics. I was kind of scared of reading Ancient Greek literature, so I had some bits and pieces, but recently I am in Greek mood, so probably I’ll give it a try.
Another movie I remembered while thinking about “Kill Bill” – “The Bride wore black” with Jeanne Moreau.

Current Mood: Greek
Current Music: Meiko Kaji - The Flower Of Carnage

I haven't seen LJ for two days, and now I feel terribly lost. How do people manage huge friends' lists? I have no idea how to write all those comments I want to post, I mean with my Internet schedule, my typing speed, and the fact that I have to have an actual thought to comment, and not just "Wow!", all my comments seem terribly outdated even before I post them. Besides, silly me has just found out that I cannot edit comments. Oh horror! My mistakes and typos are going to live forever!

On Friday we've seen Addams Family Values in n-th time, but after a long break. It is a delightful movie, that I can watch, and watch, and watch - Morticia and Gomez are dancing tango, Wednesday as Pocahontas, torture by Disney... But you, this time it was all about Harmony. :) I mean, Mercedes MacNab's character has some other name - but she is so Harmony!
The whole new perspective and lots of giggles. And did I tell how much I love Wednesday? The way she is trying to smile? Bwahaha!

I am busy with stuff, and you know? The story settled in my head and demand to write it! Very disturbing. Moreover, it is set 1500 BC or something, in Greece. So, I gave up and brought a big pile of books from the library. Now, I am trying not to write it until the important stuff is done.