Spiderman 3 was similar to the earlier Spidermen (and, yes, I can create a plural for a trademarked movie franchise): fun but not spectacular. It would have been better if it focused on less stories. There's only so much you can do in two hours and change.
Julie and I went to see Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix. We were both very excited, and the movie was quite good. The wizard fight at the end was one of the best magic fights I've seen. I'm more convinced than ever that these are books that were written to be watched and not read.
Since I wrote that paragraph I read passed the first book, and started rewatching the movies (yes, I am a Harry Potter addict). While the books are not much deeper than the movies, the differences become more apparent and meaningful in the later books. As with all books, there are more details that fill in the whitespaces in the world. I still think the movies are more enjoyable, but it's best when you combine the two.
Julie was convinced my original rendition of the wand looked phallic. I explained to her it's very difficult drawing something coming toward the viewer. She nodded in agreement, and again asked why there was a penis sticking out of the wall.
In the posted version, I tried to make it more pointed, and less penis-like.
I'm on the seventh book of the Harry Potter series now. As I said before, she's a very good storyteller. The books don't have the meat of a deep fantasy series, say Robert Jordan's overly long saga, or George R. R. Martin's incredibly original series. But for all its faults, it is a great and addicting read. Ask Julie, who barely sees me without my nose buried in the middle of a book, waving her off so I can concentrate on finishing the latest chapter.
We saw Coraline today in 3D (the glasses transported me back to the 80's). It was a beautiful movie--although I was less impressed by the story than what seems like the rest of the world. I'm not sure if it's a dark fairy tale so much as a repetitive one. That doesn't take away from its beauty, however. Hence the Horrible.
Julie has been complaining about my backlog. She wants me to post every day and only use the backlog when I have nothing timely to share. It does sound like a good plan. Here's day one of the new plan.
I doodled this after watching the incredible movie Across the Universe. If I have to explain the doodle, then you didn't understand the movie. Come to think on it, I don't think I understood the movie either. Strawberries? Thrown at the computer screen? I don't get it. There's modern art for you.
We watched Avatar on Christmas Eve after we participated in the rest of a traditional Jewish Christmas by eating at a (vegetarian) Chinese restaurant. I ended up getting sick probably from a cold virus mixed with the 3D effects and a very nasty Avocado milkshake. Thinking about Chinese food now makes me nauseous, which is hard on the Julies.
Avatar is a beautifully rendered movie. I wish I could say the same for its characters and story. There will one day be a movie about a benevolent corporation that is trying to save the Earth from runaway Nature and the do-gooders who try to protect her by deifying her. Oh and there will be military people who are, like, real people who don’t want to fight just because they can, but actually care about their soldiers and civilians. And there won’t be any giant robots in this movie. Or flying blue people.
Otherwise the weekend was nice and long. We finally took the dogs out of the house thanks to the sun and mild temperature.
Another glorious day in the Northwest (and by glorious, I mean alternating between clouds and suns). Now if only I can get through this busy, busy week.