NDBT

I am mighty close to collapsing. I’ve spent the whole day being productive and walking all over town. Started off at the temp agency. They’ve haven’t called me all day – which I find worrisome. Spent most of the day at bookstores being told that they were not hiring. Or that they had just hired someone (the video store, the body shop) or were waiting on someone to be interviewed in ten minutes (the arthouse cinema). However, I left a couple of CVs including one for a bookstore and one for part-time weekend work at the local multiplex, and I’m supposed to go back to another bookstore tomorrow. In the meantime, I had fun wandering around town. I set up a local bank account, got a library card, and joined the arthouse video rental place (after leaving my CV in case the trial guy doesn’t make it). Feeling very much like a local citizen. The video place is like leVideo in SF – it has Charlie Chaplin at the door and everything. Overall I’ve found that Christchurch has a lot of used bookstores, mexican places, CD stores, tattoo parlors, and artsy places. And good architecture. There’s even a entire arts complex, that I believe at one time used to be a mini-version of Christchurch college. Probably a high school or something. But its nice to be wandering around quads and gothic buildings filled with craft stores and indie cinemas and theatres and such. It’s also over the Avon river, which is very cute. I saw some ducks and a water wheel. (Lots of settler names around here; we’ve got Belfast, Armagh, Christchurch, Canterbury, the Avon – and yes there are some buildings nearby in the stratford/York style, oxford, cambridge, manchester, and salisbury). Lots of public art and statues (not just for the arts fest). I did see about 3 Irish bars that’re hiring, so… if nothing pops up by Thursday or so – I’ll go apply there. Or the burrito place. Something. I need money!

As I was finishing my wanderings, what should appear on the horizon, but… A Denny’s! I haven’t seen one of those since I left the US. They had some local specialties, and the tuna melt was not like any I had had before, but I am still stuffed with cheesy, greasy, mercury-laden, truck-stop diner food goodness. I did not buy tix for Perfume because the 2 last night – WEREN’T SOLD OUT (can you believe it? Rescue Dawn sold out in about 5 minutes in Dublin).  And in case I find something part time on the weekend (hopefully not, but you never know), I’ll already have to bug off the one afternoon for Death at a funeral. I’ve waited this long to see perfume, I can wait till its on video.
Right – so; A Mighty Heart and Rescue Dawn. I wouldn’t be surprised if those two were the actor winners next year. A Mighty Heart; really, really good and I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a theater with so many crying people at once. It’s like – you know what’s coming, but watching here hear it is just heartbreaking. Rescue dawn was also really good. It constantly amazes me how chameleon-like Christian Bale is. It’s like he inhabits these other people. The cinematography on that one is really gorgeous, as well (it could hardly be otherwise). And there were moments that were surprisingly funny. The crowd laughed a lot during the film (well – not a LOT – it isn’t a comedy). Anyways – easily two of the best films of the year.

Speaking of Death at a Funeral, check out the rottentomatoes page (93%). I like, “it puts the fun in funeral”

Argh! Youtube sucks! They took off all the colbert bloopers and strangers with candy stuff. WHAT’S WITH THAT GOOGLE? I wanted to watch part of the career episode. Maybe they’ll have it at Alice in videoland (they have season 2 of the Office – yay! Season 3 would be even better.)
Why San Francisco rocks (part 47).  Please note Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, in addition to AFI, Third Eye Blind, NOFX, and Green Day. (CCR? En Vogue? Seriously? Ah well – its wikipedia. I won’t believe it all). I guess in fairness, I should note smashmouth is on that list, too. Also this. I like the mass/serial murderers sub-heading. Oh – and I thought Winona Ryder lived up in Pacific Heights, no?
Highlight of a review of the Kingdom, ” ‘The Kingdom’ is a movie that doesn’t really fall into any category. It’s too smart to be just an action movie, but it’s got too much action to be a political thriller and it’s definitely not a character study. No, what ‘The Kingdom’ really is is a smart movie set between two of the most intensely powerful action scenes I’ve ever seen.”

Oh – and apparently Bill Murray will cameo as agent 13 in Get Smart. Awesome.
Hey – did you know Sam Rockwell won best actor at the Sitges-Catalonian Intntl Film Fest.? Did you know there was such a thing?

How ridiculous is this plot (*coughmatrixripoffcough*)? And how incredibly likely is it that I will go see it anyways?

Farenheit 451 casting; Tom Hanks? I’m not sure how I feel about this. No – wait – I know exactly how I feel. Christian Bale! Christian Bale! Watch as he says, “Burn it” in Equilibrium. Clearly an audition for this. Then again – at least its a big enough name that it could do well if its a good adaptation.
This weekend’s box office. Interesting; “the fact that this is the eighth bow north of $70 mil in 2007 — a truly eye-opening stat when you consider that there have only been 28 such premieres in history. That’s right, more than a quarter of all the huge debuts of all time have come in this year alone.” Of course, as the author points out, large openings, massive marketing, and higher ticket prices all affect these figures.

Linkspam, courtesy of cleolinda:

“Huge DH answers in a Bloomsbury online chat. Read this if you read nothing else, although there are bits about Ron and Luna that contradict what she said in the Today interview. Includes what Hermione’s love potion smelled like (GOD, I WANTED TO KNOW THAT!); what Aunt Petunia wanted to say the last time she saw Harry; and what Dudley’s worst “memory” was.

New York Magazine presents the Harry Potter obituaries. (Confession: Harry’s made me laugh out loud. Also Snape’s. And Bellatrix’s. And…)

7 signs you’re infected with Harry Potter fever. I love how number seven is basically an excuse to go, “Woooo! This one guy, he so crazy!”

The 2007 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest results. Worst purposely awful opening line, grand prize winner: “Gerald began–but was interrupted by a piercing whistle which cost him ten percent of his hearing permanently, as it did everyone else in a ten-mile radius of the eruption, not that it mattered much because for them ‘permanently’ meant the next ten minutes or so until buried by searing lava or suffocated by choking ash–to pee.” The Children’s Lit winner is also for the win.

How not to Save Our Show, by someone who has actually worked in TV. Hint: boycott threats and bombardments of junk? Don’t work.

New R-Rated ‘Beowulf’ Trailer Arrives, With Naked Angelina Jolie. You know, I was more impressed with the whole CG idea when I thought that maybe they’d go for something more impressionistic than, you know, photorealism. Which we could get just by… filming the actors. [Ed: I totally agree. Were they worried about having a CG monster and non-CG humans? Because that might have been the way to go…]
(What’s good for the goose: Cinematical’s Best Films for Gratuitous Male Nudity.)” [Ed: I like how the guy specifically talks about how much he looked for Ewan McGragor and couldn’t find him]
musica: ladytron, Rolling stones, BRMC, xiu xiu.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 5th, 2007 at 11:13 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.