What I Watched -- Skyfall

On a day last weekend when I felt like doing nothing, I went over to T's house, where he was doing some paperwork.  I pretended to work on my computer, but really I was spending most of my time watching Skyfall.

I have lost track of the order of the recent James Bond movies, and I know I haven't seen all of them.  This is one of the ones I hadn't seen, and I don't know why.  I won't even bother explaining the plot.  Every Bond movie goes like this: 007 suffers some setback.  He has to catch a bad guy in order to save England.  There are girls in tight clothes, or nothing at all.  Bond wins.  Bad guy doesn't fare so well.

And as with every Bond film every made, this one is a ton of fun.

Bottom line: I think I just said this: a ton of fun.

What I Watched -- Foxcatcher

Foxcatcher is not the movie I expected.  I didn't even know it was based on a true story, although there has been some controversy about that since the movie came out. 

Here's the rundown: Channing Tatum plays Mark Schultz, an Olympic wrestler in need of a patron.  Mark Ruffalo plays his older brother David Schultz, also an Olympic wrestler.  Steve Carrell plays John du Pont, an eccentric millionaire who sponsors the younger brother at his family's estate, Foxcatcher Farms.

As Mark's fame increases, du Pont pours and increasing amount of money into his own training program at Foxcatcher, eventually enticing David to live there as well, to train and coach.  He also became a major sponsor of USA Wrestling.  du Pont's behavior becomes increasingly odd, and (SPOILER ALERT, if you didn't know the true story) he shoots and kills David.  The closing text of the film lets you know that John du Pont died in prison in 2009.

Now, to the controversy.  du Pont was convicted of the murder of David Schultz, and he did die in prison.  There are some historical inaccuracies though.  David was killed in 1996, and the entire movie (including David's death) is set in the 1980s.  This was done so that the film could portray Mark and Dave as living at Foxcatcher concurrently, which does not appear to be the case.

Probably the most contested issue, though, is that of whether a homosexual relationship developed between Mark and du Pont.  I felt like the movie implied that one did, but that point has been vehemently disputed by Mark.  Mark's reaction to the film has been strange though: first he liked it, then he blasted the director, Bennett Miller, for telling lies about him (specifically related to the suggestion of his intimate relationship with du Pont), then he apologized for blasting Bennett Miller.  He is using the film as a tool to sell his book, and his Twitter feed is full of identifications of the inaccuracies in the movie.

Bottom line: there were some excellent performances in this movie, but it is not one I will watch again.  Disturbing.

What I Watched -- Happy

Want to learn a few things about happiness?  Happy can teach you.

Here's a sneak preview on how to get yourself a jolt of happiness:
-- Find a way to make your body release dopamine.  One surefire option: aerobic exercise, especially if done in a novel way (like participating in a gorilla run).
-- Do an activity that allows you to find your "flow."  Experiencing that energized focus that comes with being "in the zone" is great for your state of mind.
-- Count your blessings.
-- Perform acts of kindness.  It's contagious.

Some other fun facts:
-- Our baseline level of happiness is about 50% genetic and only 10% situational.  The other 40% is due to our behavior or other aspects which are under our control.
-- Happy people aren't always happy.  They have a normal response to adversity in the moment, but they come back to their baseline of happiness more quickly than unhappy people.
-- Hedonic adaptation is a major enemy of happiness, insofar as our expectations tend to rise as our condition improves, which leads to little or no recognition of "how far we've come," and hence, a general blindness towards those blessings we're supposed to be counting.

Bottom line: good lessons, that's for sure.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

T got us tickets to see Neil deGrasse Tyson when he came to St. Louis to speak a while back.  His lecture was titled "Science as a Way of Knowing."  My favorite part: the first thing he did when he came out on stage, as he was giving his little intro -- about how human senses are only a teeny sliver of the spectrum of scientific senses -- was take off his shoes!  And he gave the rest of the lecture in his socks.  A man after my own heart.

Over the course of the talk, he covered many subjects in astrophysics, relativity, astronomy, planetary exploration, food science, Star Trek, biology, and bears (audience question).

I can't possibly recap the humor with which NdGT discussed these topics, so I won't try.  All I'll say is this: if you get a chance to see a lecture, go.

What I Watched -- A Separation

A Separation got lots of Oscar buzz in the year it came out, and in fact won the statuette for best foreign language film.  The scene that I saw in all the previews, where an Iranian wife is asking for a divorce from her husband, actually happens right at the beginning -- that's not the big conflict of the movie, as it turns out.  It felt a bit like false advertising to discover that the true legal issue in the film is a criminal one; the husband is accused of pushing a woman (not his wife) down the stairs, causing a miscarriage. 

I was distracted while I was watching this, and it is subtitled, which is not a good combination.  But it is at heart a simple story of a marriage falling apart, for reasons we know and reasons we don't.

Bottom line: not something I would call enjoyable, but worth seeing if you're into the film festival movies.  Otherwise, skip it.  It's a bit depressing.

Goal #30

Goal #30: recipe organization.

I have amassed quite a collection of recipes.  They need a bit of organization and mostly need to be put away.  I'm tired of looking at them on my table!

Recap of goal #29: I finally did start reading my book on California.  I didn't get very far, but I started!

Random Links

Some promising news out of Texas.

The science of boarding an airplane.

My recent design/reading/podcast obsession now has travel guides, and the first two profile my two favorite cities, in order!

A fascinating, real-life version of Big Business.

Some old-fashioned comedy.  And drinking.  And smoking.

Anyone up for a ride?

What I Watched -- Kill the Messenger

T and I took advantage of his fancy TV to catch a movie not too long ago.  Kill the Messenger is based on the true story of a investigative journalist named Gary Webb.  Webb worked for the San Jose Mercury News when he investigated and, in 1996, published a series of stories which amounted to an indictment of the CIA for supporting the importation of cocaine from Nicaragua into urban areas in order to fund guerrilla forces in Central America (which Congress had refused to fund otherwise).

There were some problems with the reporting that were honed in on by other news sources who either thought they were doing there job or were overly aggressive because they were mad about being scooped, depending on whom you ask.

In any case, the whole business eventually cost Webb his job at the Mercury News.  He never made a living as a journalist again.

His work, however, did spark a justice department investigation into the same subject matter.  Their findings, which were released in December 1997 and supported some (but not all) of what Webb had claimed, were not widely reported in the media.  And yes, this is letting the fox guard the hen house.  If you want to read the findings for yourself, they're available here.

Gary Webb was found dead in his home in 2004 with two gunshot wounds to the head.  His death was ruled a suicide.  (It appears that that's possible.)

My Fair Lady and Buddy

P has been kind enough to invite me to two Muny shows this season, and they have both been so much fun -- and more importantly, not too miserably hot!

First up was an old classic, My Fair Lady. Every time I see this show, I am surprised that there is a second act.  The entire premise which is set out at the beginning of the show -- that Professor Higgins will pass off Eliza Doolittle as a lady at an embassy ball -- occurs in the first act.  All the songs I love to sing are in the first act.  So, much to my surprise, the show does not end at intermission.

There is an entire second act which follows!  As far as I'm concerned, it pales in comparison to the first.  Sure, the real heart of the show is in the second act.  But the fun is in the first one!  Nevertheless, always an enjoyable experience.

Show the second was a new one on me: Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. Prior to the show, the extent of my knowledge about Buddy Holly was that he died in a plane crash with some other musicians.

Now that I've seen the show, I know a few more things: Buddy was only 22 when he died; the other musicians were Ritchie Valens (age 17) and J.P. Richardson (aka "The Big Bopper); Buddy's meteoric rise to fame only lasted a couple of years; I know more of his music than I realized; Buddy married a girl to whom he proposed while they were out on their first date.

This show was especially fun because it was really just a concert of 1950s rock music.  What's not to love?

Goal #29

Goal #29: California, take 3.

If I don't start planning soon, the trip just won't happen.  I'd like it to happen, so I suppose I have to get to work!

Recap of goal #28: I survived for a week without buying the new bike toys that I want.  One down, 22 to go until Christmas!

Richard the Lionheart

The final opera of the season went to K, and the show was Richard the Lionheart. The show was fun, sort of a Twelfth Night-esque comedy of costumes and shipwrecks.

The acting was engaging, but I was not a big fan of the voices in the show.  They were well-trained voices, to be sure, but of the three males, two of them (including Richard himself) were countertenors.  Perhaps I feel differently about kings than other people, but I don't want my king to have a super high-pitched voice.  It's just not kingly.

That's really my only complaint though.  Otherwise, excellent.  And a lovely date with K!

Goal #28

Goal #28: Christmas list (plus).

Yes, I'm aware it's July.  But I have been researching a bunch of fun stuff lately (much of it bike related), and I am going to try to organize it all into a Christmas list so as to 1) not buy all the things for myself immediately, and 2) actually have some suggestions when Christmas finally rolls around!

In addition to that, I have a few other lists stored in Evernote (without which my life would fall apart) that I would like to cull this week.

Recap of goal #27: obviously planning a trip just is not in the cards right now.  I failed miserably.  Again.  Oy.

What I Watched -- Boyhood

Boyhood got such acclaim as a concept movie when if first came out that I can't believe I hadn't seen it until now.  I love this Linklaterean highbrow stuff.

I had been warned that not much happens in Boyhood.  That's true.  The plot is basically the passage of time.  So if you're not into that, it's probably not worth your time.

What I loved about it is that Linklater had this crazy idea, he got enough people to sign on and stick it out for twelve years to make it work, and the child actors (including his daughter) worked out!  With kids I think that would be a serious risk!

I have to wonder how much of where the movie went had to do with how those kids developed.  Maybe one or both of them didn't have the "look" he had planned on, so they had to rewrite the remainder of the script in order to fit the real person.  Was there even a script?  Before I watched the movie, I didn't know that Patricia Arquette's character (mom) and Ethan Hawke's character (dad) were separated, so that added an extra interesting layer for me, given my chosen profession.

Bottom line: intellectually interesting.  Don't plan to be on the edge of your seat.

Random Links

The art of making a book.

A sweet and sad tribute to one particular man's best friend.

A fascinating story about an imposter posing as the last Lemp heir.

Don't believe you're being spied on?  Watch this.

I like emoji as much as the next guy, but I don't want to read a book that way.

This guy is going to have a nap, and he's going to have it right where he pleases, thankyouverymuch.

Goal #27

Goal #27: California planning, part deux.

See last week.

Recap of goal #26: no planning was done.  I was busy playing in the out-of-doors.  Oops.

Happy Birthday, America!

What I Watched -- There Will Be Blood

Perhaps the title There Will Be Blood should have tipped me off that this would be an extremely dark movie.  Not dark in a weird, creepy, David Lynch kind of way.  I mean dark in a there-is-no-redemption-and-everyone-is-terrible kind of way.  Let's hear it for Upton Sinclair, on whose book the movie is loosely based (and the book, in turn, was loosely based on a real-life guy).

I had to see some of the worst scenes twice because I fell asleep while I was watching it the first time.  Much of the movie has no soundtrack and little dialogue, and it was late, so I drifted off.  Those long quiet spells are punctuated by periods of furious shouting, so I got to see most of the nasty bits, and then had to see them again when I re-watched the last third of the movie.

Also, There Will Be Blood has a bizarre soundtrack, or lack thereof.  I pointed it out to T and he put his finger on it in a way that I couldn't: its soundtrack sounds like it comes directly out of a horror movie.  It's not orchestral, as you might expect for a film like this.  It's electronic, with lots of heavy beats.  Jaws-type stuff.

Daniel Day-Lewis, as usual, was powerful.  He can do furious intensity like few other people these days.  I'm still wondering what his character meant when he mumbled the final two words of the movie.  I will never know.

Bottom line: if you ever start to doubt the goodness of humanity, watch this movie to confirm your suspicions.

What I Watched -- Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road was not properly named.  It should be called Furiosa.  Here's why: Tom Hardy, who plays Max, is terrible.  (I liked him in Locke, and probably there wasn't much that could be done with the terrible dialogue that was written for Max, but still.)  Charlize Theron, who plays Furiosa, kicks ass.  She deserves a movie title, if for no other reason than that she transformed herself from her typically stunning, red carpet self into a hardcore beast.

There are some problems with her character.  Like why the heck does she have half an arm?  It was never explained or even alluded to, and it was totally unnecessary.  There was nothing she used her metal hand for that she couldn't have done with a real hand or a pistol.  I suspect the explanation for how that happened to her, and why she hates the bad guy, got left on the cutting room floor.  The other theory that I've heard is that it's a tribute to folks with prostheses (possibly a relative of the script writer?), specifically because it is never discussed.  That's just how she is.  Deal with it.  I think it's probably more likely the former.

Then there's the whole issue of the plot.  Yes, yes, I know.  T reminded me several times that this is an action movie and plot isn't the point.  (I don't even consider what I'm about to say a spoiler, but you might.)  Why on Earth, Furiosa who is otherwise awesome, would you spend 2/3 of the move running away from the bad guys, and then decide to turn around and go right back towards the bad guys?  What a ridiculous premise.

There were a few interesting camera shots, or key moments when all the sudden the picture changed from color to black and white.

Bottom line: despite its obvious, sometimes excusable-because-it's-an-action-movie flaws, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this.  Even now that I've seen it, the previews still make me think it's horrible.  All credit to Charlize.

Emmeline

My friend E and I went to dinner at The Block before the opera.  I hadn't been there in quite some time, and I sure do like it.

I started out with the bartender's cocktail of the evening.  I don't remember all the ingredients, but it was a citrus-inspired vodka concoction, and just what was needed on a humid evening.  E and I shared the flash-fried Brussels sprouts as an appetizer.  I realize that nearly every ounce of health-food-i-ness is removed from Brussels sprouts when they are friend, but I don't care because they were delicious.  I had their nightly special, and E and I shared a delicious bowl of ice cream before dashing off to the show.

SPOILERS FOLLOW, but it's a true story as well as being an old fable.  Consider yourself warned.

Emmeline is a tragic but true story of a girl sent to work in a textile mill in Lowell, away from her family.  The (married) mill owner took a liking to her, and she to him, and Emmeline became pregnant.  Her aunt, with whom she was living, hid the pregnancy and gave the baby daughter up for adoption to a couple who was moving to the west.  Twenty years passed, and Emmeline found herself back home with her family, caring for her aging mother.  Her younger siblings had married and had children, but Emmeline remained single.

Emmeline's family took on boarders to help cover expenses.  Emmeline and a much younger man fell in love.  They married.  Emmeline's mother passed away, and the aunt who had cared for Emmeline when she was young came for the funeral.  Much to Emmeline's horror, she discovers that the child she had had so many years earlier was a boy, not a girl as she always though.  Her husband was not 27 as he said, but 21.  His family came from Kansas, and Ohio before that, and Massachusetts before that.

He was her son.  How very Oedipal.  Everyone's eyeballs stayed in their heads, but the son ran off out of shame, and Emmeline was cast out by her family and the townspeople.

The first few pieces in this opera I did not like at all.  They were discordant and harsh.  But even as the first act went on and we got away from some of the choral pieces into duets, the situation vastly improved.  By the second act, even the choral pieces sounding better.  Though the show was extremely dark, I was entertained by the performance, and by the fact that the mill owner was booed by the crowd when he came out for his bow at the end of the show!