So Tired, So Boring, So What

[handful_ofdust]

Slept very little of tonight, since one nostril was complete filled with liquid and the other clogged up into what feels like the entire side of my head, partially cutting off hearing in my left ear; I have a sore, scratchy throat and a hacking cough which feels like someone scraping the inside of my chest with a melon-baller. So I watched 3:10 to Yuma instead, enjoyed it a lot--I wonder how, or if, that final twist played in the original?--and spent an hour afterwards looking for Charlie Prince (Ben Foster)/Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) fic, which was...surprisingly easy to find. Foster's fast becoming one of my favorite contemporary character villains; like Brendan Fraser, he's easy on the eyes, but seems to treat his own good looks mainly as a form of eccentricity. Between Charlie (Ben's right-hand man, who still wears his Confederate uniform jacket and likes to shoot accurately in two directions at once, flourishing his guns in and out of their holsters like he's auditioning to back up Annie Oakley) and the psychotic, dentally-challenged Renfield he played in 30 Days of Night, I'd say his "Angel from X3" days are now pretty much officially over. (I'm also fond of Roger Ebert's verdict on Charlie, in his Yuma review, where he describes him as "half in love with Wade, or perhaps only half-aware that he's completely in love with him.")

Last night, meanwhile, I watched Danny Boyle's Sunshine, which didn't disappoint either: The visual choices are stunning, down to its use of intercut flashes, deformed perspective and continually shifting deep focus shots; exemplary acting; fun, tight script; if the science was bad, it's not like I'd notice. I was surprised, however, to later discover that Boyle conceived the film as a bitch-slap to religion--if so, that message really got lost in the translation (yes, there's a guy who claims God is talking to him and telling him to do stupid shit, but, uh--he's INSANE). To me, the overall message seemed to come down squarely between A) it's really never a good idea to stare prolongedly at the sun, especially as you're getting nearer and nearer to it, and B) it's a fine thing to sacrifice one's self unselfishly so that even the innocents you have no personal ties to can survive. Or, in other words: Gee, Dan--if you hate Christianity that much, maybe you shouldn't've based your entire narrative on recognizably "Christian" values. People might get confused!

Well, that went on longer than I thought it would. As for the Geneva Centre trip, I got there late, and Steve forgot we were going there at all. But at least we have money now, though it's not like the two things are really linked in any way...

Comments

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

I have over the last few years, refrained from commenting to various people: "God may or may not exist but the fact that Sister Agatha who taught you Grade 5 math was a bitch does not actually prove the latter" ;)

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Yezzz-ah.