Gloomy day, perfect video weather...
Jan. 1st, 2007 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatSomewhat annoyed with my internet browser, for reasons that remain a mystery to me it decided to erase all my passcodes and favorites requiring me to hunt them down again and reestablish the few I could find. I'm guessing it's a security measure - albeit a dumb one. You think at the very least it could have asked first, that after all would have been the polite thing to do. But then experience has taught me that computers are only as polite as those who create and program them. So am not altogether suprised.
2006 passed with little fanfair, two hours into 2007, we had rain..the day gloomy and dark, perfect for watching videos, eating popcorn, reading and trying to figure out how to knit. (The friend who'd come over the evening before tried to teach me and was kind enough to give me a pair of old knitting needles and some thick multi-colored green yarn. I haven't a clue if I'm doing it right and may to venture to the knitting store and get an owners manual or something, assuming such a thing exists: "Learning How to Knit in Five Easy Steps". Why am I attempting this? Ah. Figured it will give me something constructive to do with my fingers in front of the television outside of reading magazines (which doesn't quite work), surfing the internet, and well, eating. Plus, I hear it is relaxing. Right now, it's just frustrating.]
Main accomplishment was finishing the novel Snowstorms in A Hot Climate by Sarah Dunant. A book about two women, two drug smugglers, and the chaos that ensues. The book left me raging internally at three of the characters and feeling abjectly sorry for the narrator/protagonist - who gets swept up in the chaos and is forever changed by it through little fault of her own. Not sure that was the author's intent. Also a fervent desire to discuss it with someone. Don't know if I recommend it or not. I certainly raced through it, couldn't put it down. And while the ending was satisfying, I can't say I left it feeling much for the characters involved. It did however reaffirm one thing - I have moved past the desire to write this type of tale myself - which is a good thing. My last novel uncomfortably reminded me of this one. Perhaps I'll write an indepth review of it at some point, just not now. For want of words more than want of desire. Sometimes words just don't come and I feel that I am pulling them from the ether like one might pull teeth from a disagreeable donkey.
On the video front, watched United 93 last night. And it is as horrifying, disturbing, and heartbreaking as you imagine. For anyone who has been living under a rock for the last six years, United 93 was the hijacked plane that went down over Pennsylvania during 9/11 - it was the fourth of the four planes the terrorists got their hands on. And the last to be taken over - which may explain why the passengers, upon hearing about what happened with the other three flights - took matters in their own hands and charged the terrorists - thinking they could get control of the plane and actually get themselves to safety. I do not recommend this film to anyone who lost relatives in the disaster or still has nightmares regarding it. It is in my opinion far more terrifying than any horror movie that has been released, partly because it happened and partly in how it is filmed - which is as a documentary. We start literally at the airport with people boarding the plane, talking on cell phones, and go step by step through the day in the point of views of the people in the Air Traffic Control Tower, Air Force Defense, and United 93 - including the four terrorists who hijacked the plane.
People talk over one another, you see first hand the chaos, the disorganization, the fervent unwavering conviction of the terrorists - who honestly think they are doing "God"'s work, and the frustrating lack of a timely response by the authorities in charge due to numerous reasons - such as disorganization, miscommunication, mistrust, politics, and just plain human incompetence. Is it a good film? Yes. But I'm not sure I can ever sit through it again. Nor am I certain I will forget it. And seeing it? I'm not certain I can forgive our government for their incompetence. (They basically stand around yelling at each other and trying to track down someone in authority to give the order to stop the planes - they couldn't find Bush or Cheney, who for a while were unreachable.) I already knew all this of course from the 9/11 Commission Report - but this film hammers home the point that the heroes that day were not the people in charge., who acted too little too late.
The film left me and my friend angry, horrified and depressed. Neither us able to wrap our minds around a religion that justifies the taking of human life to benefit itself and its beliefs. The trouble with evil is it doesn't always look like evil from the person committing the evil act. Murder is too high a price to pay for your beliefs. Any religion that condones such acts is doomed. History has certainly demonstrated that.
Which brings me to video number 2, The Da Vinci Code. The film ends differently than the novel by the way. In the novel, Sophie has a brother who is still alive and joins her.
It's the brother - Langdon leaves her with. My immediate reaction to this film, after watching United 93, was - oh great another film about fantical religious people willing to kill people just to preserve their idiotic religious beliefs. Honestly, if you watch these two films back to back, you begin to think Richard Dawkins might be on to something - and maybe letting go of religion and belief in God is the road to human salvation. But, to give Da Vinici credit - it does feature as a villian - an fanatical aethesist - alongside the fanatical Christians, demonstrating that religion is not the problem here so much as human nature or the human desire to control our environment regardless of who or what we hurt in the process.
Did I like Da Vinici? Found it sort of slow and boring to be honest, much like the book. The mythology doesn't interest me that much. I studied it ad nasuem in under-grad. Did like the puzzle bits, but I've read books that did that before. But more to the point? Tom Hanks has the worst hairstyle in this film. It's distracting. And while he was believable in the role, he was not charming or engrossing and I found it difficult to care what happened to him.
Suffice it to say, when one thinks of an action hero, professor, or detective, Tom Hanks does not come to mind.
The other two films? Posideon and Rumor Has it skippable. If you want to see Posideon - go rent the original with Gene Hackman and Shelly Winters and the upside down Christmas Tree. It's more engrossing with better character development. What can I say? They just don't make disaster films the way they used to. Irwin Allen knew how to do it. Towering Inferno, Airport, and The Posideon Adventure all come to mind.
Now, more time is spent on the disaster than on the story. I'm a sucker for disaster flicks.
Specifically natural disaster flicks. Man against nature. Not terrorist films which just anger and frustrate me. Nature is a foe I can respect. The new version of Poisdeon was just dull. Spent a lot of time watching they climb their way through the ship but you aren't given enough information to really care about our five-six characters. There isn't much conflict, the little that is there is cliche ridden. It just does not pack the power of the first one, which is saying something, considering the first was hardly A quality entertainment.
2006 passed with little fanfair, two hours into 2007, we had rain..the day gloomy and dark, perfect for watching videos, eating popcorn, reading and trying to figure out how to knit. (The friend who'd come over the evening before tried to teach me and was kind enough to give me a pair of old knitting needles and some thick multi-colored green yarn. I haven't a clue if I'm doing it right and may to venture to the knitting store and get an owners manual or something, assuming such a thing exists: "Learning How to Knit in Five Easy Steps". Why am I attempting this? Ah. Figured it will give me something constructive to do with my fingers in front of the television outside of reading magazines (which doesn't quite work), surfing the internet, and well, eating. Plus, I hear it is relaxing. Right now, it's just frustrating.]
Main accomplishment was finishing the novel Snowstorms in A Hot Climate by Sarah Dunant. A book about two women, two drug smugglers, and the chaos that ensues. The book left me raging internally at three of the characters and feeling abjectly sorry for the narrator/protagonist - who gets swept up in the chaos and is forever changed by it through little fault of her own. Not sure that was the author's intent. Also a fervent desire to discuss it with someone. Don't know if I recommend it or not. I certainly raced through it, couldn't put it down. And while the ending was satisfying, I can't say I left it feeling much for the characters involved. It did however reaffirm one thing - I have moved past the desire to write this type of tale myself - which is a good thing. My last novel uncomfortably reminded me of this one. Perhaps I'll write an indepth review of it at some point, just not now. For want of words more than want of desire. Sometimes words just don't come and I feel that I am pulling them from the ether like one might pull teeth from a disagreeable donkey.
On the video front, watched United 93 last night. And it is as horrifying, disturbing, and heartbreaking as you imagine. For anyone who has been living under a rock for the last six years, United 93 was the hijacked plane that went down over Pennsylvania during 9/11 - it was the fourth of the four planes the terrorists got their hands on. And the last to be taken over - which may explain why the passengers, upon hearing about what happened with the other three flights - took matters in their own hands and charged the terrorists - thinking they could get control of the plane and actually get themselves to safety. I do not recommend this film to anyone who lost relatives in the disaster or still has nightmares regarding it. It is in my opinion far more terrifying than any horror movie that has been released, partly because it happened and partly in how it is filmed - which is as a documentary. We start literally at the airport with people boarding the plane, talking on cell phones, and go step by step through the day in the point of views of the people in the Air Traffic Control Tower, Air Force Defense, and United 93 - including the four terrorists who hijacked the plane.
People talk over one another, you see first hand the chaos, the disorganization, the fervent unwavering conviction of the terrorists - who honestly think they are doing "God"'s work, and the frustrating lack of a timely response by the authorities in charge due to numerous reasons - such as disorganization, miscommunication, mistrust, politics, and just plain human incompetence. Is it a good film? Yes. But I'm not sure I can ever sit through it again. Nor am I certain I will forget it. And seeing it? I'm not certain I can forgive our government for their incompetence. (They basically stand around yelling at each other and trying to track down someone in authority to give the order to stop the planes - they couldn't find Bush or Cheney, who for a while were unreachable.) I already knew all this of course from the 9/11 Commission Report - but this film hammers home the point that the heroes that day were not the people in charge., who acted too little too late.
The film left me and my friend angry, horrified and depressed. Neither us able to wrap our minds around a religion that justifies the taking of human life to benefit itself and its beliefs. The trouble with evil is it doesn't always look like evil from the person committing the evil act. Murder is too high a price to pay for your beliefs. Any religion that condones such acts is doomed. History has certainly demonstrated that.
Which brings me to video number 2, The Da Vinci Code. The film ends differently than the novel by the way. In the novel, Sophie has a brother who is still alive and joins her.
It's the brother - Langdon leaves her with. My immediate reaction to this film, after watching United 93, was - oh great another film about fantical religious people willing to kill people just to preserve their idiotic religious beliefs. Honestly, if you watch these two films back to back, you begin to think Richard Dawkins might be on to something - and maybe letting go of religion and belief in God is the road to human salvation. But, to give Da Vinici credit - it does feature as a villian - an fanatical aethesist - alongside the fanatical Christians, demonstrating that religion is not the problem here so much as human nature or the human desire to control our environment regardless of who or what we hurt in the process.
Did I like Da Vinici? Found it sort of slow and boring to be honest, much like the book. The mythology doesn't interest me that much. I studied it ad nasuem in under-grad. Did like the puzzle bits, but I've read books that did that before. But more to the point? Tom Hanks has the worst hairstyle in this film. It's distracting. And while he was believable in the role, he was not charming or engrossing and I found it difficult to care what happened to him.
Suffice it to say, when one thinks of an action hero, professor, or detective, Tom Hanks does not come to mind.
The other two films? Posideon and Rumor Has it skippable. If you want to see Posideon - go rent the original with Gene Hackman and Shelly Winters and the upside down Christmas Tree. It's more engrossing with better character development. What can I say? They just don't make disaster films the way they used to. Irwin Allen knew how to do it. Towering Inferno, Airport, and The Posideon Adventure all come to mind.
Now, more time is spent on the disaster than on the story. I'm a sucker for disaster flicks.
Specifically natural disaster flicks. Man against nature. Not terrorist films which just anger and frustrate me. Nature is a foe I can respect. The new version of Poisdeon was just dull. Spent a lot of time watching they climb their way through the ship but you aren't given enough information to really care about our five-six characters. There isn't much conflict, the little that is there is cliche ridden. It just does not pack the power of the first one, which is saying something, considering the first was hardly A quality entertainment.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
just fyi...
Date: 2007-01-02 06:18 am (UTC)Man I am So not explaining this right. Anyway, very cool program that plugs in to ie or Firefox. It's highly configurable and frequently updated. I think you get 20 free accounts it can keep track of in the demo version. Hundreds in the (relatively cheap) full version.
Happy New Year.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 07:24 am (UTC)