Nuit Blanche, odd hours, lots of movies

This year's Nuit Blanche was marred by large crowds and mundane exhibits. Is it my old man syndrome speaking thus? It's how I feel and I am certain that there are some who feel the same as I do. Certainly the size of the throngs cannot be disputed; I believe this year attracted the largest numbers yet. It wasn't all bad, I guess, but my dislike of line-ups was taken to its limit Saturday night.

Sunday I stayed in, having gone to bed near 6 AM and getting up around 4 PM, groggy with a broken Circadian rhythm. I watched the first season of Party Down, an excellent new comedy. The next following I woke up feeling awful and was plagued with a malaise I had not felt in ages: a decidedly colitis-like sensation, only without the sharp abdominal pain. I plan to retire by 11 so that my body can get some extra rest.

I guess I've watched a few other films since I last wrote, including:
  1. Wet Hot American Summer (2001). It has quite the who's-who cast in comedy, and the movie is very funny though its wackiness may put-off some. My personal favourite scenes: when Garofalo's character makes Paul Rudd clean up his mess, the trip to town, anything with the crazed cook, the "new way" training.
  2. Vertigo (1958), which you may be surprised to know I've never seen. But golly what a movie! It gives me shudders. The intro sequence sends chills up my back. "... he wanted to penetrate to the heart of obsession." I don't want to spoil a drop of this delicious, intoxicating brew should you have the pleasure of seeing it for the first time in front of you. Suffice to say, I envy you.
  3. North by Northwest (1959), another classic Hitchcock film. My enjoyment of this film differs from Vertigo; I found the former haunting while this latter one was simply entertaining. I really only found the soundtrack to be memorable.
  4. The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Intense from start to end. Hasn't aged a bit. I heard the remake was not as good but I will still seek it out for comparison's sake.
  5. Silent Running (1972). I saw this one after it was mentioned to be a source of inspiration for Moon. Slow, with ups and downs but I liked the ending so overall I enjoyed it.
  6. Moon (2009). "'Moon' is a superior example of that threatened genre, hard science-fiction, which is often about the interface between humans and alien intelligence of one kind of or other, including digital. John W. Campbell Jr., the godfather of this genre, would have approved. The movie is really all about ideas. It only seems to be about emotions. How real are our emotions, anyway? How real are we? Someday I will die. This laptop I'm using is patient and can wait." -- Roger Ebert. Me, I loved it.
  7. The Iron Giant (1999). I can't remember why I wanted to see this film. I mean, I recall wanting to see this film back when it came out. I enjoyed the visuals and the art-style. It's a good kids movie, don't get me wrong. I guess I just wanted to satisfy a very old itch.
  8. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Another film I'd meant to see in the theater but was too forgetful to get around to doing. Too forgetful, or maybe just too hermit-like. I liked it a lot! It's a shame it didn't fare better. A fun, quirky film.
  9. The Hangover (2009). Yeah it was funny. I laughed. The best of this movie? Discovering Zach Galifianakis: that dude is hilarious.
  10. All Quiet on the Western Front (1979). I watched this by accident, meaning to see the original 1930 version. This remake was fairly ho-hum.
  11. Role Models (2008). Funny with a flash of heart, as these Rudd/Apatow films are.
  12. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). Also funny, but I've never found Jason Segel to be all that amusing.

I actually saw those last two some time ago but I neglected to mention it at the time.

I said I would go to bed soon but I lied, it would seem. Typing these things up takes time! Well folks, I guess that's it for now. I had also wanted to talk about the new Curb and The Office and that new Jason Schwartzman show, but I tire of my voice. Later!

Comments

Post a Comment

Hotness

Enter Whitby

So yes, the move happened, and like all moves was a haze of mind-numbing packing, desperate rushing, meals on the run. We hired help to pack and move, which really, is the only option, but the experience remained a heavy energy drain. MJ and Sora stayed at the apartment while I got the cats accustomed to their new home. I'd anticipated that the larger space would ease their stress, and it has measurably, but not as as completely as I'd hoped -- they remain aloof at best to each other. How's Whitby, you ask? While my bitter disappointment of moving out of Toronto has lost the worst of its sting, the wound is reopened whenever I go outside, whether to walk the missing sidewalks, or ride the infrequent buses, or drive the inscrutably clogged roads. We're located on the edge of the downtown, such as it is, which simply highlights the slapdash zoning and lack of any kind of urban planning. The library is really nice though . We are mostly settled: The boxes are gone, the fur
Read more

Peterborough

Image
Back in September we took a family trip to Peterborough -- a sort of holiday for Sora and I and a regular work day for MJ. I guess I must be getting old because I found the 2+ hour drive draining, a real slog. The Prius is a pretty comfortable ride but my body complains from sitting that way for so long. Arriving in Peterborough, my first time, felt both familiar and strange. I could see how the freshly resurfaced downtown attempted to hide some dusty history, bringing to mind the downtowns of Kitchener and Guelph, which I guess makes sense as this is another university town: The same 60s low-rise downtown, pockmarked with signs of poverty, the same pre-war homes, many chopped into multi-unit rentals, the same bafflingly congested roads that compete with inadequate public transit. Our hotel was located just outside the downtown and served well enough. Sora found the experience exhilarating, excited by the new bed, a new room with just mama and papa. We ordered some Greek takeout, very
Read more

Yo

So yeah, I continue to float and bob along with the tides of 2023. The initial shocks and surprises of owning and maintaining a house have mostly dimmed themselves into the background, a hum that periodically bumps into shape, sometimes scary, sometimes less so. I am hopeful for a more relaxed December. Sora is growing so fast, it’s really true what they say. I do miss her being a little peanut but I’m routinely amazed by her development. And as she gets bigger I find watching over her a lot less draining, a lot more interactive. I’ve started watching a lot of chess and thinking about chess. I’m still quite terrible, laughably terrible. I am curious to know if I can get Sora into it. I played and loved Lies of P, definitely my favourite game this year. Diablo 4 was disappointing and Starfield was just so tedious and dead. I am currently really into Sekiro, a game I’d always wanted to try. I do wonder how many more years I can play these flicky-reaction games. Speaking of years, my eyes
Read more