the talkies!

Yes...so...I went to see Hellboy II this weekend. The only reason this is of note is because I wasn't actually intending to. A few weeks ago, while watching tv with my roomates, a commercial for it played and I said to them "that looks slightly interesting, I kind of want to see it." I looked around at them, to find them all looking at me with expressions ranging from utter bafflement to something bordering on disgust. Ever since that day, they have mocked me, until I swore a solemn oath to myself to avoid this film at all costs. With my friends, I made plans to go see "Son of Rambow" on Saturday, and waited with gleeful anticipation for the day to arrive. On Saturday morning, I received a text asking if we could see Hellboy instead because "it got three stars and Kyle really wants to see it." Thus I was forced to break the vow I had made so many weeks before.

I guess my point here is that we watched it and it was hilarious! Take that, roomates! I was right!

So the plot may have been a little cliche, but it's a comic book movie, what do you expect? The kind of film that is so emotionally draining on its actors that they need to start taking prescription drugs to escape its shadow? The fight scenes were spectacular, there were lots of really bizarre creatures (quickly becoming del Toro's trademark), and, as already stated, it was a very funny movie.

Yesterday, I watched A&E's version of that old classic The Mayor of Casterbridge. It's a sunshiny, heart-warming tale of the love that grows between one young girl (Elizabeth Jane) and the father who sold her and her mother to a wandering sailor when she was but a wee babe. It follows her adventures in ye olde towne of Casterbridge as she waits tables at an inn to pay her hotel bill, falls in love with a man who later falls in love with and marries Elizabeth Jane's Father's former lover who he's trying to force to marry him by threatening to reveal their former intimacy, and watches her "father" destroy his own life and relationship piece by excruciating piece. WHEW. But really, it's about her father (the mayor), Michael Henchard and his aforementioned slow road to self destruction. It's amazing to watch the way he alienates everyone with his cruelty and immaturity, and even more amazing that, after all he does, you still pity him.

Well acted, though starting to look a bit dated, I recommend it if you're feeling depressed and would like to go a bit lower.