No Butts

Kaj has the stomach flu, poor thing. He keeps saying "I'm not gon' throw up again", as if I'd possibly be mad about it. What I'm mad at is he can't go to preschool tomorrow. That's kind of throwing a wrench in my day. I'm supposed to work on a client's project--my mother's kitchen. I've completely reworked the design from the original iteration because I just wasn't feelin' it dog. It wasn't good enough. What can you do, right? Not going to hand in crap.

We have been watching many movies lately, 2 per weekend. We've just re-joined Netflix and it is great. This weekend we watched Junebug and Walk the Line. I absolutely loved Junebug, mostly because the supporting actrees nominee, Amy Adams, is a living doll and does such a great job in the movie. My expectations for "Line" were so-so, but I really enjoyed Joaquin Phoenix's performance. He was very intense and vulnerable. Now I want to read Johnny Cash's autobiography. I'm sort of mystified about Reese Witherspoon's win for best actress. She's fine, but she's not a particularly gritty actress and I think the role of June Carter calls for a bit of grit. I think the actress who played Johnny's first wife (Ginnifer Goodwin) would perhaps have been a better choice for June. But she's not really a "name" yet. Although she is doing a good job in the new HBO series "Big Love" which is about a family that practices polygamy and she plays one of the wives.

So to answer one of my readers in South Dakota-- "Sassy" from Sioux Falls, I would definitely recommend both of these films. Also Sassy: Happy Birthday!

Unlike last weekend's fare which was sort of pitiful and/or boring, depending on the film you're talking about. We saw "Goodnight and Good Luck" first and while it was interesting since I wasn't around during the McCarthy thing. However, it was a bit like watching the transcripts of the scenario played out by actors. Nobody seemed like they were acting naturally. It was all very stilted and flat. Somehow David Straitharn transcended the problem (caused by the writing, directing? who knows) and his incredible focus and obvious intelligence is so riveting to watch. He barely moves his face but you can see his brain waves crashing around.

Last Saturday's movie was just a bunch of goofy, melodramatic poo. It was "A History of Violence" (yes, I know i'm inconsistent with my titles and quotes, but geez, it's a pain). First of all, the writing sucked. Just the dumbest, unconnected things came out of people's mouths. And I absolutely hate when you're watching a movie and something happens right away that leaves a big gaping hole, and shatters your belief in the characters, which makes you think the writers/director/whoever must be a huge idiot to have left that little thing hanging. It was something so minor, honestly, it was probably some editing gaffe that they forgot to fix and they figured it wouldn't be a big deal. Here's what it was: the small-town diner owner gets a ride (his truck is broken) in the morning from his wife. He kisses her, gets out of the car and proceeds to walk what seems like several blocks before he reaches the diner. I think that's dumb, don't you? Especially since they live in a really small town and talked about a ride....

Oh, and the sex scenes between the husband and wife were so embarrassing. And I was just watching them with Eric. They were supposed to be incredibly passionate and intense and instead they looked like painful rape. Which is kind of redundant isn't it? God, if I see Viggo Mortenson's butt again, it'll be too soon.