Science Fiction, Double Feature
Another night of two-for-one thrills with my mother. Since I got this second job, all of six days ago, I've learned the value of "free time" and by that I mean time when I am not paid to stand in one place and assist customers. Tonight is the first and only night off I'll have until Sunday. I've also picked up some time at the Gap, so in addition to giving up all nights, my gardening hour is reduced to a watering five minutes on my way out the door, dinner in hand. I will add that my plants are taking root nicely - my squash is nearly tripled in size and my peppers are really climbing. Unfortunately, some pest or animal has taken a real shine to my sweet basil, so I think I'll have to get some more and leave it as a window sil herb garden. But anyway... to make something of my time-off, to make it leisurely, I decided to go for a double feature with my mom. This means we pay for one movie and sneak around to get into the second. Cheap thrills is all I have, boys.
First movie, 7pm screening of Pixar's newest tale,
Finding Nemo. Very sad and very intense for a so-called "kids' flick." It just goes to show you that today's children are desensitized. Back in the 80s, one scene of Snow White's Wicked Queen would send my sister wailing and hiding into my mother's lap... this movie has several intense moments, some very scary sharks, and lots of tragedy early on. It's a good one though, those Pixarians never fail to come through, but
Toy Story and
Monsters Inc. really are their touchstones. The movie needed a little more music to really jazz it up, but the animation is great, there are lots of clever puns (like Sharks in AA and lots of comedy from Ellen Degeneres) that likely go over the toeheads of most of the audience, but were nevertheless enjoyed by sophistos like my madre and I. Last night I caught
Ice Age on HBO (honestly, I really am out of elementary school) but that was a good one too.
Anyway, then I had that exciting rush that only sneaking into movies **illegally** can provide. Picture it - my mom and I sitting an empty theater just minutes before
Down With Love was scheduled to run. Since no paying customers showed, we were afraid they simply wouldn't bother to screen it. Thus we schlepped next door for
Bruce Almighty, but thankfully two honest paying types showed up for Ewan and Renee and I got my 1960s pun fix. I had been itching to see this movie for some time, but I was a little scared to learn that it is no longer playing at most of the theaters around here, and even this movie theater only shows it twice a day, Monday-Thursday. Usually when a movie falls off the radar that quickly, it means that it is forgettable, unprofitable, and a complete waste of time. Despite its commercial failure, I actually liked this one. It's clever, very tongue and cheeky, and filled with blindsiding surprises that make the movie distinct. It is a pun of the era, its fashions and habits, its (by modern day standards disgusting) sexism, and even the cinematic fingerprints of the Roc Hudson / Doris Day hard-to-get love stories. I can see why it doesn't appeal widely to average audiences, but I enjoyed it, its "freshness" (even if freshness is here defined as a postmodern reconcoction and utterly unoriginal), and the story itself. I think it is going to vanish quickly and I think it's more of a theater movie than a rental, so if the
Hulk is all sold out this weekend, give
Down With Love a try, or make it a double feature if you see some ticketholders patronizing the film. Meanwhile, I just want to get it out there at I am sure my gaydar would be as off as ever and I would have had a huge crush on Roc Hudson, just goes to show you that it is a universal and timeless fact that gay men make the best boyfriends.
Strange fact tying together these two unlikely conspirers in my Monday double feature: my two favorite Frank Sinatra song performances,
Somewhere Beyond the Sea and
Fly Me to the Moon.
Monday, kicking off a new month and the start of a very long and work saturated week. Working every night and on Saturday, I am working what is probably an illegal shift, get this, 10:00am - 11:30pm. You have got to be kidding me, but no, I am not. I guess it's a good thing that I got myself all recreationed tonight or I'd be a drone. I'll still be a drone by the time hour eight rolls around in my marathon shift Saturday, but boy oh boy, that wallet is getting thicker. Today was your average day at the Gap, usual customers, some shoplifters came in and we stuck to them like glue until they left in a huff, and I finally got the pink ribbon belt I've been eyeing since the Gap introduced the style in February. I actually liked being back there after what has been almost two weeks, good to see my old retail gal pals and catch up. Although my spare time is tight, my goal for the next few weeks is to get my affairs (laundry, some paperwork) in order around the house (this is quite a challenge when you aren't awake and home very much) and send out some photos and notes to friends lost in the scuffle of coming home and resuming life here away from Midd. Time at home is going much faster, but I am sure I can't stand this lifestyle any longer than the 10 or so weeks before I ship out. The kicker is that working 65 hours at a job is enough to ware you down to a sleepy stub, but being a student where 12 hour days are the easy ones, is a whole different ballgame. It is good to see the alternatives before I head decisively down a path, there's something comforting and reaffirming about it.
Bedtime... since tonight seems to be a spoof-night, I'll reacquaint myself with the classic
Spaceballs that TBS is running. They say a classic never dies, but boy, this one should have been creamated long ago.
posted by lmjasinski at 11:13 PM
