Archive for March, 2007

Brokeback Mountain

{ March 18, 2007 @ 8:57 pm } · { Homosexuality, Love, Movies }
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If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to learn any of the plot points etc. before viewing it, don’t read any further.

Yes, I finally saw it.  But it wasn’t an easy thing.  My friend lent me his DVD player so I could watch some movies but he didn’t want to see Brokeback so I watched it alone.  Unfortunately, my friend forgot to bring the remote.  As most of you know, there is very little one can do without the remote except for ‘play’ and ‘pause’ and ‘open/close’. 

Anyways, I started to watch the movie and it seemed awfully dark, literally, but I didn’t think much of it because a lot of the scenes were at night or dusk (or so I thought).  By the time I got to the tent scene I knew something was wrong.  It was completely black and I couldn’t see a thing of what was going on.  For a moment I entertained the idea that the filmaker made the love scene dark so as to accommodate more sensitive viewers or to receive a lower guidance rating. 

It piqued my curiosity as to what was going on because it sounded like they were fighting and that seemed a little odd (try just listening to that scene and you’ll know what I mean).  So when it was over I turned up the brightness on my tv.  Well what do you know?  It was literally like the difference between night and day.  But of course, I had no way to rewind so I could find out what happened in the tent. 

It seemed something important had happened especially since the characters seemed angry and confused the next morning.  So I started the movie over.  And that’s when I found out what happened and the whole movie started to make sense again.  Anyways, it was a nice love story but in the end quite sad. 

I will say there was one thing I didn’t like about it – the incessant and over-powering music.  It was ringing in my ears for an hour afterwards.  I would recommend seeing it though, as it’s a nice commentary on how things used to be and how far they’ve come. 

Obviously, the world isn’t out of the woods yet in terms of accepting homosexuality (I mean they can’t even get married in most places!) but I haven’t heard any stories lately in which a man was dragged to his death by a rope tied around his penis simply because he loved other men. 

Alfie (1966)

{ March 11, 2007 @ 6:04 pm } · { Arrested Adolescence, Love, Movies, Myself }
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Well, I just finished watching ‘Alfie’; the original version of course.  It always seems to me that if a movie is worth re-making then it must have been pretty darn good – and that the re-make is subsequently disappointing.  I very rarely see re-makes for that very reason – they usually suck, compared to the original. 

I can never understand why contemporary audiences find it so difficult to relate to movies made more that a dozen years ago (with a few obvious exceptions).  I think it ties in with the arrested adolescence that is so pervasive in our society.  Everyone seems to consider people in their twenties as somehow not-quite adults (and the twenty-somethings are the lead purveyors of this type of thinking).  And what goes hand-in-hand with this type of thinking?  Disdain for anything ‘Old’.  It makes me laugh really.  On a regular basis.  I enjoy being called old by someone ten years younger than me, because I know in ten years it will really hit them hard.  Anyways, I digress – and not very gracefully or lucidly.  I know what I mean and that’s all that matters!  Ha ha.

‘Alfie’ is a great movie.  Michael Caine is superb.  I mean absolutely superb as Alfie.  It’s a wonderful movie about the pitfalls of protecting your heart at all costs.  Now, one could argue that he is a man without a heart – perhaps an anti-social personality even, but there is one scene where that little argument is laid to rest quite decisively – despite what the character says about it afterwards. 

It reminds me of every playboy I’ve ever known – right down to the British accent.  Not that they all have British accents but it seems to suit somehow – you know? 

As an added bonus the movie has a young actress by the name of Jane Asher.  I knew I recognized her face but it wasn’t until the credits that I realized who she was.  At the time of filming she was engaged to Paul McCartney.  She went on to have quite a successful career of her own – acting and writing – but she never married McCartney, and apparently to this day refuses to speak of him.  Smart girl – very classy. 

And last but not least I liked watching this movie because the year it was released is the year my Mum was pregnant with me – and I like to watch movies of that time period so I can say to myself ’so that’s what the world looked like when I came out’.

Tits in a Bowl

{ March 2, 2007 @ 12:33 am } · { Funny, Work }
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I was at work the other day speaking to a co-worker about another co-worker, and she said, “he’s about as useless as two tits in a bowl”.  To which I replied rather facetiously, “yes, and almost as useless as two tits on a bull”.  Well, she stopped dead in her tracks and looked at me like I had turned lead into gold.  “What did you say?”  she asked, and I repeated myself.  “My God”, she said, “is that the saying?  My Mum has been saying that to me for 30 years and I always thought she was saying ‘two tits in a bowl’ and I could never figure out what she meant!!!” 

“Mystery solved!” I replied, and told her that the actual saying is “useless as tits on a bull”.  And with that little epiphany behind her, we went on to agree that he is useless no matter how you describe it!