Entertaining, but not earth-shattering

M. Night Shymanaialainan has given us another Signs. That is, an MNS movie that you usually don't think about or particularly remember because of its mediocrity.

Lady in the Water was a satisfying enough movie, as was Signs. The characters were well contrived, humorous, archetypal, all that good stuff. The movie was entertaining, as well; Giamatti did perform excellently -- assuring us that he's going to be the next $50 million superstar. MNS portrayed one of the main characters, and it's at that point you realize why he's usually BEHIND the camera... because he sure as heck doesn't belong in front of it.

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Which brings me to what was WRONG with the movie -- and it's all in the writing. The basic principle of M. Night Shaymanyanmlan movies in the past has been that intervention by some supernatural force has changed the outcome of current events for the better. Even in Signs, the near-death ramblings of the preacher's wife allow humanity to defeat the alien menace. However, when watching LitW, you quickly realize that the only reason for the Lady's coming is... so that they can allow an eagle to come and take her away again? In her wake, she leaves nothing changed. Shaymamlalmyan's character (the writer) still publishes the book he was going to publish anyway, and we can assume that the future stays exactly the way it would have even if she hadn't come.

So, why the hell make a movie about a fairie coming to do nothing but cry and take showers? All good questions.

Well..., you ask me, what SHOULD have happened?

I had a great plan for the end of the movie, complete with an MNS-esque twist. Unfortunately, this movie was like Signs in that there was no twist at all. Of course, my version called for an evil Narf and the writer choosing to burn the manuscript after he finds out he'll be killed for it. After all, what's worth dying for? Some kid he'll never meet becoming president? That's awful self-sacrificing of the guy.

Thing is, I couldn't stand that at the end of the movie everyone was exactly the same as at the beginning. Nothing - changed. I guess maybe they had to get a new tenant for 13B. But that's about it.

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What I DID enjoy this weekend was getting my electricity back. Now I'm cleaning up and getting ready for my inspection tomorrow (what inspection? I don't know... they just posted something on my door today). I suppose just electrical wiring and stuff like that. Then I'm off for the library to get some more work done on this project -- we should have a manuscript done by the fall, which will be super sweet! Then next week I start Wash U Medical Plunge (WUMP) and will be busy shadowing public health officials, working in free clinics, doing the med student thing!! The week after is orientation, and then -- MED SCHOOL STARTS! I can't believe it's almost that time already.

Anyway, it's 11:30 and I'm already bushed. So I'll post more later. Take care everyone.

48 Hours

I'm just waiting for CBS to sue me for copyright violation. Let them try. I'll flee to Canada and live with the Canucks for a while.

Coming up on 48 hours with no electricity. In fact, in a shake-your-head-in-dismay-type twist, the short storm we had this morning took down ANOTHER power line next to my place. Because it fell into the street the intersection will be blocked off until the electric company gets around to fixing it.

Needless to say, I'm somewhat skeptical about getting electricity back anytime soon. The electric company was saying 72 hours, but if I'm watching DVDs by Monday or Tuesday I'll be happy.

So..................... until then................................. not too much .... to do....... Maybe write a ... uh... that novel I've been workin' on...... for, um, two years now............. make the main character a little bit more three-dimensional........ add in a little, um, a little personal experience............. Oh, I can't wait to read it.



I did have a brilliant recollection this afternoon - "Hey," I said to myself, "Lady in the Water premieres today." Of course, I've been looking forward to M. Night Shymaalailalaiynan's newest thriller for quite some time. Now, I know what you're all saying... "Two words, Boyum, The - Village." OK. The Village was worse than The Birds (see prior post for my feelings on that crapcake of a movie). But M. Night Shyyamayliyanalyian has had to live with that disgrace for two years. Now, he must realize that he has to make another GOOD movie like Unbreakable or The Sixth Sense to escape from it. And, come now, with a star like Paul Giamatti it's hard to go wrong.

As long as he plays a mopey guy, Giamatti is superb. I mean, it's hard to get more neurotic than Miles, his character in Sideways. Even in The Truman Show, in which his role called for more eating than speaking, he managed to portray the image that he was nothing but Ed Harris's bitch. So... I'll see how he does playing an average guy with no college buddies around played by Thomas Hayden Church. Should get interesting.

Picture 1: Mopey Giamatti in American Splendor,
Picture 2: Mopey Giamatti in The Truman Show,
Picture 3: Mopey Giamatti in Sideways...
















Man, thinking about Paul Giamatti in Truman Show made me hungry for some pizza. So, whup, see ya later.

The Irony...

In perhaps the most ironic move in my recent life, yesterday about 4 hours before the storm, Netflix shipped me my first 3 DVD rentals. They arrived this afternoon.

1. Being John Malkovich
2. Syriana
3. The Game

When I got the email that they had been delivered, I said to myself, "Yes! I can't wait to watch them." Oh ... wait...

Well, I guess I'll enjoy them that much more when the power comes back on.

Power Outage

Well, no power expected for around 5 days, according to the newspaper this morning. 500,000 are without electricity today in St. Louis county. Worst storm to hit St. Louis in recent history, 80 mi/hr straight-line winds and all. Of course, this must be a resounding "WELCOME!" just for me. I'm like the Jonah of Missouri.

So I'm sticking around the hospital today (they have power, internet access, and AC, 3 things I don't). Later I have to go home and throw out 2 dozen eggs, half a gallon of milk, a 6 lb bag of chicken breasts and a box of 8 sirloin tip steaks. Dammit. :^(

BUT... I'm thankful. One high-rise downtown was taken down on top of Eads Bridge, trapping some people on the bridge during the storm. Some people were injured at the Cards game and had to be hospitalized. Long story short, it could have been much, much worse.

Disaster!