Sunday, February 15, 2009

Entertainment Rundown for the Weekend

This weekend was for the most part spent indulging in entertainment, be it cinematic or literary. Save for a short stint of work involving disposing of paint and some much needed shopping, I fed the mind. Items and thoughts follow:

Thursday Night: Some say the weekend starts on Friday eve....not in my world

King of King: A Fistful of Quarters

This is an amazing documentary. You may think that you don't care about video games, but you are wrong. One evening with these characters and you will be sucked in. My application to Twin Galaxies is currently being reviewed. Down with Billy Mitchell.

Friday Night: Feeling anti-social, time to catch up on my shows.

Criminal Minds
Scrubs
CSI: New York
Scrubs
24

That is the order I watched them in. CM was good, but not the best. Scrubs is always hilarious, except Todd Bosley. I am not a fan of Todd Bosley. It's personal. CSI...eh. 24. Now that is a show that is picking up speed. I can't wait to see what happens on Monday.

Saturday Morning: Time for some humor.

Be Kind Rewind

Coop said it best. Very funny, but no wrap up. It left me feeling dissatisfied with my morning choice. The re-makes, however, were awesome.

Saturday Afternoon: Time to turn off the tube, and read a book.

Cross by James Patterson

In the brain candy department, this is a favorite. The series, starring Alex Cross, a street-smart and brain smart detective from Washington D.C., began with Along Came A Spider. I have followed it ever since. Does it change my world view? No. Does it relax my brain and let me have some fun. Yes. Is it about serial killers? Yes. Is it normal to "relax" while reading about serial killers? No.

Saturday Afternoon: Took time out for the K-State/KU game

It was an entertaining game, but I would have liked to see K-State win. I hate KU.

Saturday Evening: Some peeps came over, time for some culture

The Motorcycle Diaries

This is a favorite of mine. I had seen it before, but many (if not all) of the others had not. While it gives a very whimsical picture of Che Guevara's mid-twenties trip across South America, it is a beautiful story. On top of that, the cinematography is fantastic. The scenery as Guevara and Granado travel is breathtaking. It is enough to make a fella want to travel the world again.

Sunday Afternoon: My morning was my own. Mind your own business.

Monk
Psych

Monk was okay. Psych was grand. It spoofed Friday the 13th. And it showed on Friday the 13th. And it was hilarious. That show is brilliant.

Sunday Evening: Time for the reel thing. Haha. I went there. Reel thing. I am a genius.

The Strangers

After Psych, I knew I needed the real thing, so I grabbed one of my current Netflix movies and settled in for horror. I was somewhat impressed. It was a bit slow at first, and then traveled at break-neck speed through the end. Two big jumps for me, the rest was just good and creepy. Oh- and the "based on true events"? Well, if you believe Wikipedia, which I am hesitant to do, it was based on a series of break-in robberies in writer/director Bryan Bertino's home town. The killer profiles were influenced by Helter Skelter and the Manson murders. All in all, not a bad way to spend 1 hour and 26 minutes.

Born Into Brothels

I went in a completely different direction to end my entertainment weekend. I had never seen this film, and I must say, I was impressed. I felt that it did an excellent job of portraying the children without trying to play on their emotions to make the viewer connect. We did not have to see the children cry or tell us their horrible stories, we just had to look into their eyes, and listen to their responses about how their lives would turn out. And while some have said that this was a western propaganda movie showcasing India's problems and presenting the West as the only solution, I disagree. It was one woman's response to the pain she saw. She saw a problem, and she worked to fix it. And yes, that is a bit "western". We want to fix everything. That is how we roll, and it gets us into trouble. But I will take someone who acts first and fights hard to save a child over someone who wants to wait and see what will happen any day. So to those who think that solution must be thought over more, you are probably correct. But I will applaud those who move while you hash out the answer. Let me know when you are ready.

So that is the end. I have more movies to watch, more books to read. But I also need to get to Colorado, do some fishing, and hike the Konza. Perhaps soon I will have an "Active Weekend" to counteract my entertainment one.

5 comments:

rachel rianne said...

what a freaking amazing weekend.
such diversity...
jc, no one genre could ever define you, that's for sure.


i bought be kind rewind at the dillon's movie cleanout dealie... because i LOVE the creativity. the story SUCKS. like seriously. i hate it. but i could watch the remake montage part over and over again, then turn it off and daydream about all the home videos i could make. michel gondry is a genius. his story just sucked.

and esmith told me that you watch a che guevara movie, and somehow she led me to believe that you watched the recently released, "CHE" starring benecio del toro. i thought that it was ridiculous that you guys would watch that, but now that i know you watched motorcycle diaries, i'm okay. except that esmith misled me. eh, i'll get over it.

LET'S GO CANOEING.

Anonymous said...

thank you for accusing me of bad parenting.

was your creativity ever suppressed as a child?

looks like you had an eventful weekend. good thing i don't know your phone number...

erica said...

i love monk.
it will never just be 'ok'.
take it back.

psych.
is grand.

my word: gulasm
that sounds like a mean verb.

erica said...

rachel.
i'm sorry i misled you.
i only watched the last ten minutes-i had no idea.
there are no motorcycles in the last ten minutes.
i promise you this.

Sara said...

Down with Billy Mitchell indeed!

I hate video games but got so into that documentary it was ridiculous! Almost as ridiculous as Mitchell's 'do.

Nice choice!