books and movies and stuff
Aug. 23rd, 2010 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
Conan O'Brien: The FDA egg recall has hit a total of 380 million eggs. I can't wait till they find the tired, evil hen that did this.
:))))))))))
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If you've requested books from me and aren't someone I regularly see in person, please provide your address (if you haven't already). Sadly, the day has not yet come when I can beam them to you using only the powers of my mind. ;-) Also, a few of those books have been requested through the PBS system, so they're no longer available. If I have somewhere to send them I can take them out of the system. If you've changed your mind that's fine too. :-)
===
Tried a new burger joint perjade_okelani's recommendation: Five Guys Burgers and Fries. They have a ton of great press/awards from the east coast/south, but I think they are slowly making their way westward. Apparently they started out in the DC area; I can't believe I never heard about this place when I lived there. They have 2 locations in the Seattle area, one in Northgate and one "coming soon" in Lynnwood (yay). It was very, very good. I still like In-N-Out burgers more, but their fries are way better.
I got to use Lexus Destination Assist for the first time trying to find this place, lol. Jade had told me it was called "Five Brothers." So this woman was trying to help me find it, and we kept going back and forth on what it could be; I knew the location and that it served burgers. The coolest thing was her finding it for me, then "beaming" the location to the navigation system in my car, which then led me to it. For as long as my free trial lasts, I won't have to call Jade for addresses/directions to places!
===
Books I am excited about:
- Mockingjay, the last book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Amazon has told me that they've shipped it. Yay!
- Clockwork Angel, Cassie Clare's new steampunk series, which is going to be out at the end of this month.
- The Passage by Justin Cronin, whichcorianderstem highly rec'ed. I've been looking for a used copy at HPB, but couldn't find one until the other day when I found a signed first edition -- argh! I can't resist such things! So I ended up paying more than cover price for it. Sigh, hopefully one day it will be worth more.
- Tongues of Serpents, which I hope to have soon. I'm #3 in the queue!
===
I watched Inception again this weekend. Still love it. Even after second viewing I still have some unanswered questions.
1) I know the ending was supposed to leave things up in the air re: whether Cobb's happy ending was a dream or reality, but *does* it really matter re: the spinning top? Because I thought that the whole thing that Cobb did was LIE to Mal (yes, that is how they spell it, lame) about that -- that was "the idea" he planted in her to make her question her reality. I mean, isn't that why he spins it and then puts it in the safe?? And if so, if he made it up, then how can it really be an indication of whether something is reality or a dream?
Edit: A top is just a top. <g> I get it now, I guess I was trying to see the symbolism behind this but I understand now that it was literally Mal locking away her top so that she wouldn't have to face up to reality (or non-reality, as the case may be). Then when Cobb was able to find it and touch it, he was then able to manipulate her and commit inception.
2) You know how Cobb and Mal die on the train tracks? Well, they were on level 4 (a dream within a dream within a dream). Wouldn't they have had to have 2-3 more kicks in order to wake up in reality?? Or are we supposed to assume that they did, and for the sake of expediency, we don't see those?
3) While the team's on the mission, whose dreams are they in?? Specifically, the first one? Was that Yousef's dream? I know the second dream was Arthur's, and the 3rd dream was Robert Fischer's... (and the 4th was... Cobb's? Or whose?)
Edit: Duh, of course the first dream was Yousef's! They were totally making fun of him for the rain. I'm still 99% sure that the 3rd dream was Fischer's. The 4th dream is still what I'm not sure about. Fischer's or Cobb's? They seem the most likely candidates... I mean, we DO see the world that Cobb and Mal built, so most likely it was Cobb's?
Edit #2: Okay, I was totally wrong about the 3rd dream. It's not Fischer's, it's Eames's dream. Thank you tolaria_gwyn for the excellent explanation and xcarol for the awesome chart. :D
4) I think there was some fudging on the timing thing, but I'm gonna let it go. Because they specifically say at one point, while in the snowy area, that Arthur has 3 minutes and they have an hour. And then later Arthur has 2 minutes and they only have 20 minutes.
5) Why wasn't Cobb an old man too by the time he finds Saito in limbo? Why did Saito age so much more? He didn't die THAT much longer before Cobb went into the 4th level... in fact, he wasn't dead at all. He died while Cobb went to the 4th level *before* him.
Edit: Maybe there's a difference if you *die* to enter limbo, vs going there voluntarily through sleeping? And that's why Cobb and Mal were able to wake up from the train death (at least for that level).
Edit #2: Oooh andxcarol points out that Saito never had a totem of his own, that we ever saw, so he couldn't tell the difference between dream and reality, whereas Cobb could, and maybe that affects the aging process...
6) Was Michael Caine supposed to be Cobb's father?? Or Mal's? I kind of felt like the grandparents were supposed to be Mal's family. Yet if they were, would they be OK with a son in law accused of murdering their daughter? Except MC seemed very in the know about the dream stuff, so they might actually understand that/his innocence. I guess it's because of all the accents. MC has a British accent, Cobb an American one, and Mal has a French accent. But MC is in Paris, and the grandmother seemed to have a French accent, which would make sense if Mal were their daughter. But the accents don't make any sense at all if Cobb is their son. Plus, he never calls MC "Dad" as far as I remember...
7) If Mal is simply a projection of Cobb's own mind, why is she so malevolent??
Edit: She's a projection of his own guilt and self-loathing, which manifests itself in a mal Mal. Teehee.
Jade found this, which is hysterically funny due to Leo's face in the last panel, but also confuses me, because -- aren't his kids in France? I assumed they were because of Mal and the grandmother having French accents, and because Michael Caine is in Paris, and he seemed to have ready access to them to give them presents...
Okay, Jade assures me that the kids were always in the U.S. I didn't really pay that much attention to this part, because I just assumed since Michael Caine was in Paris that they were too. However, this does give more credence to the idea that MC is Cobb's dad, because unless MC and the grandmother are divorced (which is another detail never gone into), why would he be in Paris while his wife/grandkids are in the States?
I also saw The Switch, which I had great hopes for because I love the leads. Ugh, what a total waste of talent. It was terrible. It sucked the life out of me when I was watching it. It's not good when the movie makes you DISLIKE Jennifer Aniston's character. I can't even recall a single time that she smiled. I'm sure she did, but it's problematic that mostly I just remember her frowning or wearing a pinched look. If it hadn't been for JA, the female character would have had no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and even with it being JA, it was still a stretch.
Jason Bateman, whose movie it really is, isn't allowed to be as brilliant as he could be. He had bad material and apparently stood out TOO much as being the stronger lead, so they cut a bunch of his scenes (says Jade, who saw a screening of it and also the final cut). Yes, that's the answer to a weak movie -- MAKE IT WEAKER. Ugh.
It was *totally* not believable how the 'romance' resolved itself. There was SO LITTLE of Kassie/Wally developing into a real romantic relationship -- esp on Kassie's part -- that when it came about it was like, okay yeah, the movie had to go here so that's why it's here, but they didn't earn it at ALL. I wasn't into them as a couple whatsoever, mainly because she's so unlikable and oblivious practically the whole time, they wasted a bunch of time with Patrick Wilson's character when they could have been developing the primary relationship, and the kid just didn't do much for me.
The whole movie was badly paced -- the whole first part where the accidental switching happens could/should have been much shorter, and more dedicated to developing the relationships. It was just tedious. And after really liking Juliette Lewis in Whip It, I thought she was utterly wasted in this movie. I mean, JL playing The Best Friend? I guess she's finally sold out -- only wish it could have been for a better movie.
The "feel" of the movie wasn't right at all. It should have been more comedic than it was -- it was like, a 90% *serious* movie!! Which is just so wrong for the wacky premise, the comedic actors, and just... everything. They should have gone for all-out comedy/heart, something like Knocked Up (or one of my fave romcoms, One Fine Day). instead it was like, a drama with a romcom premise. And JA playing the "straight" woman without neuroses, etc., SO goes against her strengths. She and Jason both should have been comedic leads; instead Jason was supposed to carry all that while Jennifer frowned a bunch, and he wasn't given great material nor the leeway to go all out on his strengths.
The actors and the premise were totally wasted; they should have made for an awesome starting point for a really great romcom, and instead they flushed it all down the proverbial toilet.
Finally, I also saw Brick, a whodunit set in high school, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I LOVED it. He is so mysteriously hot. And it's an excellent movie, even if the dialogue takes getting used to.
===
TV Show Meme, Day 24 - Best quote: "Remember when he ate my goldfish, then you said I never had a goldfish? Then why did I have the bowl Bart? WHY DID I HAVE THE BOWL?" - Milhouse, The Simpsons
LOLOL that still cracks me up. Oh Simpsons, there's no one like you.
:))))))))))
===
If you've requested books from me and aren't someone I regularly see in person, please provide your address (if you haven't already). Sadly, the day has not yet come when I can beam them to you using only the powers of my mind. ;-) Also, a few of those books have been requested through the PBS system, so they're no longer available. If I have somewhere to send them I can take them out of the system. If you've changed your mind that's fine too. :-)
===
Tried a new burger joint per
jade_okelani's recommendation: Five Guys Burgers and Fries. They have a ton of great press/awards from the east coast/south, but I think they are slowly making their way westward. Apparently they started out in the DC area; I can't believe I never heard about this place when I lived there. They have 2 locations in the Seattle area, one in Northgate and one "coming soon" in Lynnwood (yay). It was very, very good. I still like In-N-Out burgers more, but their fries are way better.I got to use Lexus Destination Assist for the first time trying to find this place, lol. Jade had told me it was called "Five Brothers." So this woman was trying to help me find it, and we kept going back and forth on what it could be; I knew the location and that it served burgers. The coolest thing was her finding it for me, then "beaming" the location to the navigation system in my car, which then led me to it. For as long as my free trial lasts, I won't have to call Jade for addresses/directions to places!
===
Books I am excited about:
- Mockingjay, the last book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Amazon has told me that they've shipped it. Yay!
- Clockwork Angel, Cassie Clare's new steampunk series, which is going to be out at the end of this month.
- The Passage by Justin Cronin, which
corianderstem highly rec'ed. I've been looking for a used copy at HPB, but couldn't find one until the other day when I found a signed first edition -- argh! I can't resist such things! So I ended up paying more than cover price for it. Sigh, hopefully one day it will be worth more.- Tongues of Serpents, which I hope to have soon. I'm #3 in the queue!
===
I watched Inception again this weekend. Still love it. Even after second viewing I still have some unanswered questions.
1) I know the ending was supposed to leave things up in the air re: whether Cobb's happy ending was a dream or reality, but *does* it really matter re: the spinning top? Because I thought that the whole thing that Cobb did was LIE to Mal (yes, that is how they spell it, lame) about that -- that was "the idea" he planted in her to make her question her reality. I mean, isn't that why he spins it and then puts it in the safe?? And if so, if he made it up, then how can it really be an indication of whether something is reality or a dream?
Edit: A top is just a top. <g> I get it now, I guess I was trying to see the symbolism behind this but I understand now that it was literally Mal locking away her top so that she wouldn't have to face up to reality (or non-reality, as the case may be). Then when Cobb was able to find it and touch it, he was then able to manipulate her and commit inception.
2) You know how Cobb and Mal die on the train tracks? Well, they were on level 4 (a dream within a dream within a dream). Wouldn't they have had to have 2-3 more kicks in order to wake up in reality?? Or are we supposed to assume that they did, and for the sake of expediency, we don't see those?
3) While the team's on the mission, whose dreams are they in?? Specifically, the first one? Was that Yousef's dream? I know the second dream was Arthur's, and the 3rd dream was Robert Fischer's... (and the 4th was... Cobb's? Or whose?)
Edit: Duh, of course the first dream was Yousef's! They were totally making fun of him for the rain. I'm still 99% sure that the 3rd dream was Fischer's. The 4th dream is still what I'm not sure about. Fischer's or Cobb's? They seem the most likely candidates... I mean, we DO see the world that Cobb and Mal built, so most likely it was Cobb's?
Edit #2: Okay, I was totally wrong about the 3rd dream. It's not Fischer's, it's Eames's dream. Thank you to
laria_gwyn for the excellent explanation and xcarol for the awesome chart. :D4) I think there was some fudging on the timing thing, but I'm gonna let it go. Because they specifically say at one point, while in the snowy area, that Arthur has 3 minutes and they have an hour. And then later Arthur has 2 minutes and they only have 20 minutes.
5) Why wasn't Cobb an old man too by the time he finds Saito in limbo? Why did Saito age so much more? He didn't die THAT much longer before Cobb went into the 4th level... in fact, he wasn't dead at all. He died while Cobb went to the 4th level *before* him.
Edit: Maybe there's a difference if you *die* to enter limbo, vs going there voluntarily through sleeping? And that's why Cobb and Mal were able to wake up from the train death (at least for that level).
Edit #2: Oooh and
xcarol points out that Saito never had a totem of his own, that we ever saw, so he couldn't tell the difference between dream and reality, whereas Cobb could, and maybe that affects the aging process...6) Was Michael Caine supposed to be Cobb's father?? Or Mal's? I kind of felt like the grandparents were supposed to be Mal's family. Yet if they were, would they be OK with a son in law accused of murdering their daughter? Except MC seemed very in the know about the dream stuff, so they might actually understand that/his innocence. I guess it's because of all the accents. MC has a British accent, Cobb an American one, and Mal has a French accent. But MC is in Paris, and the grandmother seemed to have a French accent, which would make sense if Mal were their daughter. But the accents don't make any sense at all if Cobb is their son. Plus, he never calls MC "Dad" as far as I remember...
7) If Mal is simply a projection of Cobb's own mind, why is she so malevolent??
Edit: She's a projection of his own guilt and self-loathing, which manifests itself in a mal Mal. Teehee.
Jade found this, which is hysterically funny due to Leo's face in the last panel, but also confuses me, because -- aren't his kids in France? I assumed they were because of Mal and the grandmother having French accents, and because Michael Caine is in Paris, and he seemed to have ready access to them to give them presents...
Okay, Jade assures me that the kids were always in the U.S. I didn't really pay that much attention to this part, because I just assumed since Michael Caine was in Paris that they were too. However, this does give more credence to the idea that MC is Cobb's dad, because unless MC and the grandmother are divorced (which is another detail never gone into), why would he be in Paris while his wife/grandkids are in the States?
I also saw The Switch, which I had great hopes for because I love the leads. Ugh, what a total waste of talent. It was terrible. It sucked the life out of me when I was watching it. It's not good when the movie makes you DISLIKE Jennifer Aniston's character. I can't even recall a single time that she smiled. I'm sure she did, but it's problematic that mostly I just remember her frowning or wearing a pinched look. If it hadn't been for JA, the female character would have had no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and even with it being JA, it was still a stretch.
Jason Bateman, whose movie it really is, isn't allowed to be as brilliant as he could be. He had bad material and apparently stood out TOO much as being the stronger lead, so they cut a bunch of his scenes (says Jade, who saw a screening of it and also the final cut). Yes, that's the answer to a weak movie -- MAKE IT WEAKER. Ugh.
It was *totally* not believable how the 'romance' resolved itself. There was SO LITTLE of Kassie/Wally developing into a real romantic relationship -- esp on Kassie's part -- that when it came about it was like, okay yeah, the movie had to go here so that's why it's here, but they didn't earn it at ALL. I wasn't into them as a couple whatsoever, mainly because she's so unlikable and oblivious practically the whole time, they wasted a bunch of time with Patrick Wilson's character when they could have been developing the primary relationship, and the kid just didn't do much for me.
The whole movie was badly paced -- the whole first part where the accidental switching happens could/should have been much shorter, and more dedicated to developing the relationships. It was just tedious. And after really liking Juliette Lewis in Whip It, I thought she was utterly wasted in this movie. I mean, JL playing The Best Friend? I guess she's finally sold out -- only wish it could have been for a better movie.
The "feel" of the movie wasn't right at all. It should have been more comedic than it was -- it was like, a 90% *serious* movie!! Which is just so wrong for the wacky premise, the comedic actors, and just... everything. They should have gone for all-out comedy/heart, something like Knocked Up (or one of my fave romcoms, One Fine Day). instead it was like, a drama with a romcom premise. And JA playing the "straight" woman without neuroses, etc., SO goes against her strengths. She and Jason both should have been comedic leads; instead Jason was supposed to carry all that while Jennifer frowned a bunch, and he wasn't given great material nor the leeway to go all out on his strengths.
The actors and the premise were totally wasted; they should have made for an awesome starting point for a really great romcom, and instead they flushed it all down the proverbial toilet.
Finally, I also saw Brick, a whodunit set in high school, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I LOVED it. He is so mysteriously hot. And it's an excellent movie, even if the dialogue takes getting used to.
===
TV Show Meme, Day 24 - Best quote: "Remember when he ate my goldfish, then you said I never had a goldfish? Then why did I have the bowl Bart? WHY DID I HAVE THE BOWL?" - Milhouse, The Simpsons
LOLOL that still cracks me up. Oh Simpsons, there's no one like you.
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