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Jul. 11th, 2007
(no subject)
Jul. 11th, 2007 04:36 amWell, I'm home safely, I finally found a cab. I'm not sure how it costs the same to go from the loop to M's place in Uptown as it does to go from the loop to my place in the (much further north) Edgewater, but I had an ace cabdriver who didn't need any help at all, which was nice.
That was not the greatest cinematic experience of my life, I have to say. (For reference: Maltese Falcon, Boston Public Library, 2003).
Most of it didn't have anything to do with the film, though I do have mixed emotions about it.
I think it did exactly what a really good editor would have done to the book and cleared away a lot of very dull deadwood. It tightened the story considerably and discarded a lot of window-dressing that I never felt the book needed in the first place. In a storytelling sense it is on a par, and perhaps surpasses, Cuaron's PoA, much as it pains me to say it.
I did have some issues; Luna's message at the end is the exact opposite of her message in the book, but whatever, it was still a nice scene. I felt cheated of the James-versus-Snape flashback, because a flashy montage was lame. Hermione still can't act, but that's okay because Harry can and Ron doesn't need to (sorry, the names fail me at three in the morning). Not enough Lupin, but since when is there such thing as enough Lupin?
Also, is it just me or was the whole winking thing a bit creepy? Though I did have a Stealing Harry moment, both when Sirius hugged Harry while Remus grinned in the background and when Sirius said to him "We'll be a proper family when all this is over."
Strangely, I think this is actually the film I enjoyed the most. I was ambivalent towards the first movie, hated the second passionately and was bored by the fourth. I liked PoA quite a lot, but this one feels more complete, which is a neat trick considering I didn't like the book overmuch. And yet...I have no need to see it again, except maybe for screencapping purposes. It was there, and now it's done.
I think part of my ambiguity about the experience as a whole was nothing to do with the film and a lot to do with the day I had, up to and including the midnight showing. I was planning to stay downtown and just run up to Navy Pier after getting dinner somewhere, but I ended up feeling so ill by the end of the workday that I ran home, puked, collapsed for two hours, got a shower, and went back downtown. So, not a great start to the evening.
I never do particularly well in crowds, especially when I don't know anyone, so the experience of being in amongst all this...fandom, all these fans, and feeling like an outsider in the place I should feel most at home was unpleasant. Nobody's fault but my own, I grant that. The people were perfectly nice and I'm glad that all these people got dressed up and were having a good time.
I've talked about the film above, so I won't go into that, but it's not the best IMAX cinema in existence. My knees cramped up from lack of legroom, and while 3-D scenes are neat in theory, unless you're sitting in the perfect hotspot you still get a lot of blurring and double-vision. The "signal" to put on the 3-D glasses was cool though, I thought it would take me out of the moment but it was fun because everyone went "oh!" and it felt very communal. There were a couple of moments like that. I will say that it is great to attend a film with a responsive, engaged crowd.
So, now to bed. I'm glad I did the midnight-show thing, but I don't think I'll feel the need to repeat it. :D
That was not the greatest cinematic experience of my life, I have to say. (For reference: Maltese Falcon, Boston Public Library, 2003).
Most of it didn't have anything to do with the film, though I do have mixed emotions about it.
I think it did exactly what a really good editor would have done to the book and cleared away a lot of very dull deadwood. It tightened the story considerably and discarded a lot of window-dressing that I never felt the book needed in the first place. In a storytelling sense it is on a par, and perhaps surpasses, Cuaron's PoA, much as it pains me to say it.
I did have some issues; Luna's message at the end is the exact opposite of her message in the book, but whatever, it was still a nice scene. I felt cheated of the James-versus-Snape flashback, because a flashy montage was lame. Hermione still can't act, but that's okay because Harry can and Ron doesn't need to (sorry, the names fail me at three in the morning). Not enough Lupin, but since when is there such thing as enough Lupin?
Also, is it just me or was the whole winking thing a bit creepy? Though I did have a Stealing Harry moment, both when Sirius hugged Harry while Remus grinned in the background and when Sirius said to him "We'll be a proper family when all this is over."
Strangely, I think this is actually the film I enjoyed the most. I was ambivalent towards the first movie, hated the second passionately and was bored by the fourth. I liked PoA quite a lot, but this one feels more complete, which is a neat trick considering I didn't like the book overmuch. And yet...I have no need to see it again, except maybe for screencapping purposes. It was there, and now it's done.
I think part of my ambiguity about the experience as a whole was nothing to do with the film and a lot to do with the day I had, up to and including the midnight showing. I was planning to stay downtown and just run up to Navy Pier after getting dinner somewhere, but I ended up feeling so ill by the end of the workday that I ran home, puked, collapsed for two hours, got a shower, and went back downtown. So, not a great start to the evening.
I never do particularly well in crowds, especially when I don't know anyone, so the experience of being in amongst all this...fandom, all these fans, and feeling like an outsider in the place I should feel most at home was unpleasant. Nobody's fault but my own, I grant that. The people were perfectly nice and I'm glad that all these people got dressed up and were having a good time.
I've talked about the film above, so I won't go into that, but it's not the best IMAX cinema in existence. My knees cramped up from lack of legroom, and while 3-D scenes are neat in theory, unless you're sitting in the perfect hotspot you still get a lot of blurring and double-vision. The "signal" to put on the 3-D glasses was cool though, I thought it would take me out of the moment but it was fun because everyone went "oh!" and it felt very communal. There were a couple of moments like that. I will say that it is great to attend a film with a responsive, engaged crowd.
So, now to bed. I'm glad I did the midnight-show thing, but I don't think I'll feel the need to repeat it. :D
(no subject)
Jul. 11th, 2007 11:37 amWell, that explains a lot.
I thought I got a bad sandwich or something yesterday, but the throwing up is now accompanied by the shaky, pain-in-my-joints, cramped-muscles feeling that is me coming down with the flu. It's to be expected, really -- for the first time in months I'm not working a fifty-hour week, and theatre people are good at manipulating our immune systems in the short-term.
It's 80 degrees in my flat and having crawled out of bed to check my email and call M (scheduling mixup; she forgot she was taking my shift today) I'm now shaking with cold, so BACK INTO THE BED FOR ME.
I thought I got a bad sandwich or something yesterday, but the throwing up is now accompanied by the shaky, pain-in-my-joints, cramped-muscles feeling that is me coming down with the flu. It's to be expected, really -- for the first time in months I'm not working a fifty-hour week, and theatre people are good at manipulating our immune systems in the short-term.
It's 80 degrees in my flat and having crawled out of bed to check my email and call M (scheduling mixup; she forgot she was taking my shift today) I'm now shaking with cold, so BACK INTO THE BED FOR ME.
(no subject)
Jul. 11th, 2007 02:38 pmWow, that care package from mum could not have been more well-timed.
As ever, the contents are amusing -- a pair of socks, a box of shortbread, a catalogue from the North Bennet Street School where I will go when I am rich and get a degree in bookbinding,...
And then there's the two Betty Crocker "warm delights" bowls, which are little cake mixes you stir up and then shove in the microwave to bake. They're not too bad and a nice comfort on a cold day except 1. It is 90 degrees out and 2. I HAVE NO MICROWAVE.
AND THEN THERE IS THE MONKEY.
She sent me a "needle-felted monkey kit" which apparently involves using a needle to turn a mass of dyed wool into a monkey doll.
I shall name it Jack.
As ever, the contents are amusing -- a pair of socks, a box of shortbread, a catalogue from the North Bennet Street School where I will go when I am rich and get a degree in bookbinding,...
And then there's the two Betty Crocker "warm delights" bowls, which are little cake mixes you stir up and then shove in the microwave to bake. They're not too bad and a nice comfort on a cold day except 1. It is 90 degrees out and 2. I HAVE NO MICROWAVE.
AND THEN THERE IS THE MONKEY.
She sent me a "needle-felted monkey kit" which apparently involves using a needle to turn a mass of dyed wool into a monkey doll.
I shall name it Jack.
(no subject)
Jul. 11th, 2007 09:38 pmI'm off tomorrow, so hopefully I will be recuperated (I want to say "recuperat") by the time I work again on Friday. I have stuff to do; Laundry, LC, drabbles, probably some paperwork or something, I've got to talk to people about scheduling, and my headphones broke on my mp3 player. LIFE IS A TRIAL.
In other news, Lady Bird Johnson has died at the age of ninety four. I don't pretend that I liked Texas very much while I lived there, but she did her best to make it a prettier place to live. Every summer when I came home from school there would be blankets of bluebonnets growing wild all over, a part of her plan to beautify the public landscape. So, a doff of the Stetson hat and some flowers for Lady Bird.
In other news, Lady Bird Johnson has died at the age of ninety four. I don't pretend that I liked Texas very much while I lived there, but she did her best to make it a prettier place to live. Every summer when I came home from school there would be blankets of bluebonnets growing wild all over, a part of her plan to beautify the public landscape. So, a doff of the Stetson hat and some flowers for Lady Bird.