Purged by Sparticle

Frost/Nixon/Yes Man

With a very low turn out for class and a promo poster so near, who wouldn't be tempted to send their students down to the movie lounge for a little Frost/Nixon? The poster for the following week's offering of Yes Man hung right next to it. And although I had never even seen a preview of Yes Man, I knew the premise was all about being open to new experiences. So it's like I had to. In my defense, I did tell students they could write their comparison essays about the flick.

Sure, I liked it and figured anyone could get a few pages out of the contrasts between the president and host. But during the brief discussion afterward, it became quite clear that my students didn't really get much out of it. "I wondered why they called that thing with Clinton 'Monica-Gate." Since they had never heard of Watergate, it can be safely assumed they missed the Checkers joke completely.

The next night I found myself at a stranger's airplane hanger and later driving the  back home alone in a '77 Pontiac Sunbird. Squishy brakes, no tail lights, and just the red glow of the check engine light to guide me the seventy miles. All because I had seen the poster for Yes Man. I had agreed to do this only if I would be allowed to smoke in the bird on the way home. I knew it would be a long stressful drive. Worst case scenario: I was too stressed to smoke.

The following week, the other half of the class showed up. At first I thought "how can I justify another visit to the movie lounge?" Mind you, this class meets just once a week. But then I remembered Yes Man was about to start on a continuous reel. The answer to the could I really get away with this two weeks in a row issue was a clear yes.

Having now actually seen the film, don't call me to go pick up a car or eat something weird. I don't have to. But I've since gotten Daisy to watch it and she subsequently agreed to go with me on a bus trip to see The Counting Crowes. So watch it at least once.

The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Blah Blah Blah

Did I ever tell you about the time I wished I was struck by lightening?

Some Fun

Infamous

Almost wrote the title as Insipid or Intolerable. Either would have been more accurate. The best part was Ms Bullock's take on Harper Lee as an ambidextrous chain smoker. More like a burning cigarette handler. Somewhere in her contract it clearly stated she would simulate smoking by keeping a lit cigarette (in either hand) at arm's length.

I strongly urge anyone with 98% recall to avoid this experience. Losing just 2% wouldn't be enough.

A Scanner Darkly

Winona Ryder has never looked better.

Chumscrubbers

No shit, within 24 hours of watching this movie I noticed these in my neighborhood:

Glitter

Inexplicable.  With break out performances by:

Craig Castaldo

....

Radioman Street Bum (as Craig-Radioman)

AND

Michael S. Bennett

....

Peg legged pirate (uncredited)

An Unfinished Life

Studies show that when people have a bad experince, be it customer service or whatever, they will tell an average of seven people. But when everything goes well, it is unlikely they pass this information on at all. Maybe that is why I feel compelled to write about this movie. It beats phoning seven people at random. There are movies I love. I mean, I love movies so there must be, right? But it seems I see more than my share of crap.

Anyway, this one is as dumb as they come. Ebert & Whoever are quoted on the DVD cover as having said "Two thumbs way up." And I'm sure they have said that. But about this movie? And I didn't notice any elipses. So it's not as though they ommitted "may help you catch a ride away from the theatre." There must be another explanation. Oh yeah. Maybe they are yammeering idiots with the shared goal of helping the dim witted while away yet another evening in the crazy house.

But I would like more than seven people to know about the end. Not really the end - just some random conversation going on between the half grizzly eaten Morgan Freeman and just as grizzly Robert Redford.

RR "Do you think the dead care about what goes on with us?"

MF "I do. And I think they forgive us for our mistakes. In fact I think it's easy for them."

I love this idea. And of course it explains how Ebert & Co. sleep at night.

Oscar's 78th

My favorite moment, although untelevised, was the flurry of activity that took palce before Lauren Bacall took the stage. I'm confident it went something like this:

Ms Bacall: "Where are my glasses?"
Assistants and stylist: "unintelligible, unintelligble" accompanied by a flurry of activity.
Ms Bacall: "Screw it. Just get me some more whiskey."

The Staircase (an interactive post)

JeanXavier de Lestrade chronicles the case of author Michael Peterson, who stood trial in 2003 for the murder of his nextel executive wife Kathleen. She fell down a flight of stairs while Peterson lounged by their pool. Three hours covers Parts 1-4 and got me through the first day of the trial. I must say it has been fascinating watching his attorney spend a million dollars.

There's a witness coach who teaches Peterson to swing his arms while doing the yodel song from Sound of Music.

Happy are they lay dee olay dee lee o ...
... yodeling ...
Soon the duet will become a trio
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

Odl lay ee, old lay ee
Odl lay hee hee, odl lay ee
Odl lay odl lay, odl lay odl lee, odl lay odl lee
Odl lay odl lay odl lay

The coach, who looks like he's fresh from a Broadway run as Tevye, walks him to the stand while commanding "repeat after me:

     She sits on a slit sheet."  No problem

     "On a slitted sheet she sits" Peterson hesitates as is gets more complicated.

     "She sits upon a slitted sheet upon a slitted sheet she sits." Peterson, now seated in the witness stand, trips up.

     "C'mon - do it! Do it!  Shesitsuponaslittedsheetuponaslittedsheetshesits!" Peterson comes off a shade less plesant as he tries to wade through it and is immediately stopped by Tevye when he clearly says "shit."

     "There!" declares a triumphant Tevye. "You made a mistake. Don't be afraid of that." Powerful stuff. "Now, tell the jury, what part of Kathleen lives on in you?" Peterson is unable to answer. He's not breaking down, just doesn't have an answer. "Good. That's good. Just your willingness to go there is great."

I don't know if Peterson takes the stand. I need another disc. But clearly, Tevye feels he is prepared. So far, this is how it's adding up: (I love what a shock each of these things is to the attorney as the DA's office uncovers them)

Turns out he is bi-sexual. The DA has a witness willing to testify to a fairly current relationship. Attorney commissions a survey of 400 people for $40,000 to find out how the community at large feels about this.  My take: Sexual preference is no indiction of a propensity to murder, but I can see how this might make the marriage seem less than ideal. Ultimately - irrelevant?

A woman very close to him also died after a fall down some stairs. He was the last person to be with her and adopted and raised her children afterward. Her body is exhumed and, seventeen years after the fact, it is now ruled a homicide.  Ultimately - bad luck?

Peterson's published memoirs turn out to be partially fabricated. Ultimately - do I need to get another disc in this series?