Bunch of Stuff
Jun. 13th, 2005 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxSo it was the tropical storm weekend, so it rained all weekend (fun). To add to the fun my broadband was out (they claim to have been upgrading) all of Friday and Saturday. I did manage to finally get some work done on my fanfic chapter six. And I watched several movies (plus ep 1 of the new Dr. Who).
The Aviator was pretty interesting but kind of sad. It's a shame to see all that drive and ambition descend into madness. DiCaprio did a pretty good job. Cate Blanchett made an acceptable Kathryn Hepburn (but why did they never name Spencer Tracy as the actor she became involved with?) Was that Jude Law in the very tiny bit part as Errol Flynn? It's a shame that Hughes wealth was probably a detriment to him since according to the extras the more someone gives into a compulsion the more...er... compulsive it becomes. Since his entire world was set up to cater to his every whim, the fact that he was so powerful worked against him. Sad.
Nothing is "wrong" with this "Alfie" but it seems emotionally hollow. And I don't think the changes that they made from the original helped because I felt it watered it down. I thought it was curious that the writers chose to make "Julie" a generic single mother rather than the mother of his child by saying it was "too harsh." What? No way in hell is it more harsh NOW than when the first movie was made in the 60s. If anything it's easier to get away with that one now than it was then. And then they cut out the abortion. Weirder still they made the character that got an abortion in the original actually HAVE Alfie's baby. So... huh? I don't think that they actually helped-- and instead hurt-- the potential depth of this movie. Jude Law is cute, but the movie really lacked resonance. And, strangely, the shots filmed in Manchester really DIDN'T (to me) pass for New York.
National Treasure makes The DaVinci Code look like it makes a lot of sense. I mean, the founding fathers had access to immeasurable wealth and they just buried it rather than using it to bribe France to help them in the Revolutionary War?! Yeah, right. Uh-huh. It's silliness. Enjoyable to an extent as mindless silliness, but silliness nontheless. Beane looked good though.
The 4400... okay, why isn't CrazyLaura (I'm sorry, I don't remember the 4400 character's name but the actress was whacko insane Laura on All My Children a couple of years ago so that's who she remains to me today) more concerned about superpowered baby not having a good moral foundation? I mean, that kid has some major power and it probably isn't good to instill in an infant the concept that it can have everything it wants when it's willing to kill to get it. And after a group of mine's long discussion on the Tom Cruise meltdown complete with articles on Scientology, it seems to me that the cult in 4400 is really an imiatation of Scientology and it's high handed/paranoid tactics.
I've now seen the first two episodes of the new Dr. Who. I really like Eccolson (sp?) and I like Piper. Both are engaging leads. Like the Dr's style both in action and in dress. He's a bit geek and guite cheeky... with intriguing hints of angst. Rose is sympathetic and heroic. The show still has cheese, but the cheese is enjoyable. All in all, good work. Like the show. Look forward to the other episodes.
Can't say that I'm surprised by the Michael Jackson verdict. Seriously, it was going to be damn near impossible to get a conviction. The problem is no rightminded, normal parent would send their child to spend the night at Michael Jackson's house! They just wouldn't. So it would take someone of highly questionable background, or a hell of a lot of greed, to endanger their child that way. Because of the fact that said parent would be so greedy and irresponsible automatically introduces the "reasonable doubt." It's a catch 22. He gets away with what he does because it would take someone greedy and reckless to allow it. Therefore when he's accused, they point out that the parents are greedy and reckless and so there's an question of just how greedy and how reckless. It's a damn shame nothing can be done about him, but I fear he'll only become worse now that he's gotten away with it twice.
Hadn't commented on this one. It's been very strange watching this covered both on the local news and on all the cable news channels. I've noticed that the local news is far more careful in what they imply about the girl and what she was doing by going off with the boys in Aruba. I had noticed that some national programs are quick to start blaming her but local news (in many ways understandably) does not. They bend over backward to stay positive. Then again, it's fairly clear why. I mean it's Mountain Brook, enclave of wealthy suburbia that is pretty darn insulated and close enough that my friend Peter knows one of the chaperones and my sister knows another of the chaperones who were on the trip to Aruba. A block from my office the Starbucks has the yellow ribbons on the door (and around the circle) and I pass yellow ribbons on my way home. Of course the local news wishes to be senstitive to the topic.
And after reading a bit more about it, it seems that she had met the boy several days earlier and had been hanging out with him the whole trip, which makes the idea that she had walked out of the club with him a bit more comprehensible. Still, where the hell were her friends that they let her walk out of the bar and get into a car with three BOYS she barely knew? Drunk teenage girl with three adolescent boys at 1:30am is NOT a combination for anything good. Though the mother isn't giving on air interviews, it seems from printed interviews that she's fairly realistic. She no longer sounds at all optimistic about finding her daughter, and she's stated that she believes that the two security guards should be released because she believes that they are totally innocent. She's apparently seen the Holiday Inn surveilance tapes and she doesn't believe the boys ever brought her daughter back to the hotel.
Let's face it. The poor child was almost certainly gang raped. They probably slipped GHB into her drink, gang raped her, and she probably died. They hid the body, and now are trying desperately to blufff their way through. Further complicating the issue is the power the father of one of the boys seems to have on the island.
It's sad, but anyone who is still holding out for a happy ending in this case is grasping at straws. While people commenting on the news say that they remain hopeful, the stuff in written interviews makes it sound as though the parents realize what has almost certainly happened. It's sad.
The Aviator was pretty interesting but kind of sad. It's a shame to see all that drive and ambition descend into madness. DiCaprio did a pretty good job. Cate Blanchett made an acceptable Kathryn Hepburn (but why did they never name Spencer Tracy as the actor she became involved with?) Was that Jude Law in the very tiny bit part as Errol Flynn? It's a shame that Hughes wealth was probably a detriment to him since according to the extras the more someone gives into a compulsion the more...er... compulsive it becomes. Since his entire world was set up to cater to his every whim, the fact that he was so powerful worked against him. Sad.
Nothing is "wrong" with this "Alfie" but it seems emotionally hollow. And I don't think the changes that they made from the original helped because I felt it watered it down. I thought it was curious that the writers chose to make "Julie" a generic single mother rather than the mother of his child by saying it was "too harsh." What? No way in hell is it more harsh NOW than when the first movie was made in the 60s. If anything it's easier to get away with that one now than it was then. And then they cut out the abortion. Weirder still they made the character that got an abortion in the original actually HAVE Alfie's baby. So... huh? I don't think that they actually helped-- and instead hurt-- the potential depth of this movie. Jude Law is cute, but the movie really lacked resonance. And, strangely, the shots filmed in Manchester really DIDN'T (to me) pass for New York.
National Treasure makes The DaVinci Code look like it makes a lot of sense. I mean, the founding fathers had access to immeasurable wealth and they just buried it rather than using it to bribe France to help them in the Revolutionary War?! Yeah, right. Uh-huh. It's silliness. Enjoyable to an extent as mindless silliness, but silliness nontheless. Beane looked good though.
The 4400... okay, why isn't CrazyLaura (I'm sorry, I don't remember the 4400 character's name but the actress was whacko insane Laura on All My Children a couple of years ago so that's who she remains to me today) more concerned about superpowered baby not having a good moral foundation? I mean, that kid has some major power and it probably isn't good to instill in an infant the concept that it can have everything it wants when it's willing to kill to get it. And after a group of mine's long discussion on the Tom Cruise meltdown complete with articles on Scientology, it seems to me that the cult in 4400 is really an imiatation of Scientology and it's high handed/paranoid tactics.
I've now seen the first two episodes of the new Dr. Who. I really like Eccolson (sp?) and I like Piper. Both are engaging leads. Like the Dr's style both in action and in dress. He's a bit geek and guite cheeky... with intriguing hints of angst. Rose is sympathetic and heroic. The show still has cheese, but the cheese is enjoyable. All in all, good work. Like the show. Look forward to the other episodes.
Can't say that I'm surprised by the Michael Jackson verdict. Seriously, it was going to be damn near impossible to get a conviction. The problem is no rightminded, normal parent would send their child to spend the night at Michael Jackson's house! They just wouldn't. So it would take someone of highly questionable background, or a hell of a lot of greed, to endanger their child that way. Because of the fact that said parent would be so greedy and irresponsible automatically introduces the "reasonable doubt." It's a catch 22. He gets away with what he does because it would take someone greedy and reckless to allow it. Therefore when he's accused, they point out that the parents are greedy and reckless and so there's an question of just how greedy and how reckless. It's a damn shame nothing can be done about him, but I fear he'll only become worse now that he's gotten away with it twice.
Hadn't commented on this one. It's been very strange watching this covered both on the local news and on all the cable news channels. I've noticed that the local news is far more careful in what they imply about the girl and what she was doing by going off with the boys in Aruba. I had noticed that some national programs are quick to start blaming her but local news (in many ways understandably) does not. They bend over backward to stay positive. Then again, it's fairly clear why. I mean it's Mountain Brook, enclave of wealthy suburbia that is pretty darn insulated and close enough that my friend Peter knows one of the chaperones and my sister knows another of the chaperones who were on the trip to Aruba. A block from my office the Starbucks has the yellow ribbons on the door (and around the circle) and I pass yellow ribbons on my way home. Of course the local news wishes to be senstitive to the topic.
And after reading a bit more about it, it seems that she had met the boy several days earlier and had been hanging out with him the whole trip, which makes the idea that she had walked out of the club with him a bit more comprehensible. Still, where the hell were her friends that they let her walk out of the bar and get into a car with three BOYS she barely knew? Drunk teenage girl with three adolescent boys at 1:30am is NOT a combination for anything good. Though the mother isn't giving on air interviews, it seems from printed interviews that she's fairly realistic. She no longer sounds at all optimistic about finding her daughter, and she's stated that she believes that the two security guards should be released because she believes that they are totally innocent. She's apparently seen the Holiday Inn surveilance tapes and she doesn't believe the boys ever brought her daughter back to the hotel.
Let's face it. The poor child was almost certainly gang raped. They probably slipped GHB into her drink, gang raped her, and she probably died. They hid the body, and now are trying desperately to blufff their way through. Further complicating the issue is the power the father of one of the boys seems to have on the island.
It's sad, but anyone who is still holding out for a happy ending in this case is grasping at straws. While people commenting on the news say that they remain hopeful, the stuff in written interviews makes it sound as though the parents realize what has almost certainly happened. It's sad.
