Current mood:

relaxed

Watchables!
Sarah Connor Chronicles: *lights cigarette*

Fuck, yeah.

That right there? That was some deeply satisfying character porn. Confirmation that John killed Sarkissian? Check. Confirmation that Savannah's still a very human little girl the Weavernator is, for some strange reason, continuing to raise instead of disposing of as quietly and efficiently as possible? Check. Confirmation that Ellison's not just acting blindly as the Weavernator's errand boy? Check. Confirmation that Cameron's starting not only to recognise human emotional needs, but to consider them seriously as factors of influence in her (and Sarah's) attempts to keep John alive and prepare him for the future? Check. Confirmation that Sarah's been totally out of her depth since 'Samson and Delilah', and is coping the only way she knows how to (aka Repress, Deny)? Check. Confirmation that Derek's still a hotass a very broken human being under all the military efficiency? Check and check.

...oh, my show. *hugs, squeezes, calls My Squishy*

*~*~*

In other news, I had a naturelf this weekend. We watched, among other things:

1) The Fall. OMG LEE PACE. (akamarykate, have you seen this? You rillyrillyRILLY should.) Those of you who were asquee all over my flist about this movie a few months ago piqued my interest; it did not disappoint in any way, shape or form.

2) Passchendaele. About which I shall say three not-particularly-spoilery things:

One: Paul Gross is pretty. He should only ever wear WWI-era clothing and indulge in spontaneous equestrianism.

Two: Crazy One-Armed Gil Bellows is...why? Whyyyyyyyyyyy???

Three: It is not a bad movie. In a lot of respects it's quite respectable: the story's engaging, the battle scenes are indeed exceptionally well-done (the gore is not only explicitly gross, it's also inventive! When's the last time you could say that about a war movie? *g*), and the vision behind it all never once comes through with anything but crystal, sympathetic clarity.

However, this movie is also a total indulgence of Mr Gross's hubris as a writer/director. The man may be a phenomenal actor (and yes, yes he TOTALLY IS), but he writes dialogue for his voice only (and even then, not wholly successfully--there were a couple lines even he couldn't make work), he has a bit of a tin ear when it comes to balancing tonal shifts with emotional continuity between scenes/storylines (the jaunty Downtown Calgary music is jarring as heck the first time it shows up, and not in the way it was obviously intended to be), and he never met an anvilicious visual metaphor he didn't want to have slow, hard, melodramatic sex with (the birds, THE BIRRRRDS! Also, Jesus). None of which makes for a bad movie; just a very, very earnest one.

All of that said, however, it is entirely watchable (and, as all the critics made sure to point out, Mr Gross should be roundly praised just for making the thing, period). I was pleased and proud to watch it in a mainstream theatre more than half-full of paying audience members. (I was even more pleased earlier tonight, when I saw an ad that focused on the movie's strongest points [the military stuff, including Colonel "Admirable Asskicker" Ormand] rather than its weakest points [the romantic dialogue]. I'd just like to know how many potential viewers saw the overplayed ad spotlighting Passchendaele's wants-to-be-"I wish I knew how to quit you!"-line, "In a heartbeat, I could fall so hard," cringed, and decided to go see Max Payne instead. I think that number might be rather large.)

So, this past week, I voted and went to see Passchendaele. Having performed those two patriotic duties, I now declare myself exempt for a month (...maybe two, even) from my usual nagging Canadian guilt over not watching Corner Gas. \o/