me and messing up knit eyelets and having no idea why, name a more iconic duo. every time just one stitch off. why!!
sometimes, i wonder what a film by a male auteur would be like if they weren't all seemingly focused on their daddy issues. i'm getting tired of watching daddy issues: the movie.
i can't say that i expected the showing of double indemnity on a sunday morning to be nearly sold out, but it did make for a delightful viewing experience. before the movie started, the hosts asked the crowd how many were seeing the movie for the first time and it was nearly half the audience, at least, which meant there were so many audience reactions throughout the movie! the best were related to things that absolutely do not exist anymore, like being able to stop at a drive-in and order and drink a beer even as the driver. the snappy dialogue also got a lot of (surprised) laughs out of people. if this was their first experience with movies from that era of hollywood, i'm glad it was this one and that it seemed so enjoyable for them. great film!
the years-long waits between tv seasons are really killing my interest in most shows. i can't remember what happened in a show three years ago, and when i start watching a new season i often wonder if i actually liked the show in the first place or if i just watched it in some kind of fugue state or something—especially the stuff from the covid years—or maybe i'm just a different person after three years and the show is no longer to my taste. or some combination thereof, perhaps. regardless, i think it's clear the current model of tv is not suited to me...so maybe it's time to let it go and only watch limited series or shows that are already completed like so many others seem to be doing.
boris karloff being the voice of how the grinch stole christmas never ceases to please me immensely.
(the dog would have been so justified in biting that jerk, though. jeez!)
there was, indeed, stuff i really liked that i had forgotten all about in the dark forest. basically, the last 200-ish pages make up for all deficiencies in the first half of the book. that space "battle"! i was once again on the edge of my seat reading it, even though i knew what happened. good book, but luo ji still sucks—but at least even he knows it at the end.
that thrill of successfully finishing a long-time knitting project...nothing like it.
the podcast economy was one that could never be lucrative (or break even) without ad support, but when the podcast releases twice a month and now has close to 10 minutes of ads per episode, leaving about 20-25 minutes of content, and it costs $120/year to remove ads...i'm sorry, but maybe it's time to end it. i pay significantly less to remove ads from other podcasts that release 45–90 minute episodes weekly. i hate to unsubscribe from something that has brought me a lot of joy since 2013 when i listened to the whole back catalog on a plane when moving countries (and also has a lot of sentimental memories attached, obviously), but the math just ain't mathin' and the ads are getting more and more intrusive within the episodes. so, goodbye, welcome to night vale. i enjoyed you immensely for over a decade, but it's time to end it.
upon re-reading the dark forest, i'm realizing that i remember very little of the plot except that luo ji sucks and the best part of the book is the overall dark forest theory. the stuff with the other wallfacers and wallbreakers isn't particularly interesting and da shi (the most interesting character in the trilogy after ye wenjie) is removed pretty quickly, so the whole plot hinging on the dislike the reader has for luo ji to get to the author's theory of the universe and interactions with extraterrestrial life is certainly a choice. then again, i'm only about a third of the way through the book so maybe there's stuff i've forgotten that i really liked when i first read it...?
while i'm getting this rant out of my system, the absolute worst version of dubbing i've ever had the misfortune of hearing was prevalent across southeast asia. they would just dub over the original language but with a slight delay, so there were two different speakers in two different languages for every one character on the screen but not in sync. i understand why it was done that way (cost savings) but wow, it was one of the worst things i've ever heard in my life to date. absolutely grating!!
italian movies of a certain time period always being adr'd also drives me bonkers when watching. the cast all speaking different languages and then having dialogue in italian or english superimposed on top so no one's mouth movements ever match the words is maddening!!
...unless it's animated and i want to do something else at the same time. then i'll accept the dubbing.
a movie or tv show being dubbed completely ruins it for me. give me subtitles all the time. the mouth movements not matching the words is so distracting!!!
when the entire conceit of a movie can be undermined by basic hunting safety, that's probably a bad movie. two hours of angst that didn't need to happen only to resolve with a park ranger still not following basic safety and getting shot is incredibly tedious and just telegraphs a total lack of knowledge of the subject. anyway, wear blaze orange in the woods when hunting!!
sometimes (often) i look at reviews of something and am just baffled by the positive response. the book i just finished had adults laughing off the very clear, not at all joking threats by a powerful child witch against the main character, which was questionable enough until you find out they also buried the body of their benefactor in the garden and have been lying the whole time about it. sure, they claim it was an aneurysm that killed her, but we have no proof! the whole book i'm just thinking, "girl, run!" but she stays with them?? permanently?? and this is a happily ever after??? these characters are deeply concerning and it is extremely disproportionate to hide a body and just everything else these adults did if you're afraid of the found family having to split up like holy shit. and everyone reviewing it loves it???
it impresses me how people can see multiple movies in a day at a film festival. if i see just one that is emotionally heavy, i don't have any more emotional bandwidth to take in another story that entire day.
i only see a movie in 70mm every couple of years, but when i do i always wish it were the standard.
my lazy headcanon for the birds is that it's all orchestrated by the crows because they're big mad at the townspeople. i know there are other, more nuanced interpretations, but i like the idea of some crows being so fed up they convince a bunch of other birds to do coordinated attacks to really stick it to the humans. this was probably made before we knew that crows can hold grudges and share those grudges with friends and family for generations, so probably not quite what hitchcock had in mind, but it does make the movie a bit funnier if you watch it with the assumption the crows are behind it all. they really hated those kids! corvids are fun, and i hope to be friends with some one day.
sometimes reading a cozy novel as a way to drift to sleep works out for me, and sometimes i wind up crying into my pillow because the last chapter of we'll prescribe you a cat is absolutely heartbreaking. i did not sign up for that! (p.s.: hey, therapist or pcp, can you prescribe me a cat?! this book is proof that it solves all problems!)
527 albums into the 1,001 project and there is way more '90s brit pop/rock on the list than i ever would have guessed. it's getting repetitive!
there is never enough time for all the things i want to do, but is the real issue that i don't allow myself enough time to do them?
the 1,001 project for music is so interesting. i've discovered a good number of really good albums i've never heard of, which is great. new-to-me bands/artists to explore! but it has also really clarified what i don't like in music, which is making even approaching listening to an album that falls into those categories really difficult. like, morrissey (and by extension the smiths) and elvis costello can just shut up already, please. but they have so many albums on the list!
the influence of elmore leonard in quentin tarantino's early films is very apparent, and i think that's why i like them so much more than the later films. the dialogue and conversations are the most interesting part, just like in a leonard novel. →