huagl – Page 13 – Crafts, Cats, and Occasionally Cursing

That Movie Book – Week Twenty Five

This week’s theme was “Play It Again, Sam: remakes that are better than the original”. Last week’s theme about being royalty was a bit of a non-event seeing as I was on holiday when I would normally be typing things up, so I moved on to this one instead. Remakes are becoming such a common occurrence these days that it’s becoming old hat. Most of the time you just roll your eyes and mutter about lazy filmmaking, but sometimes a remake is done that is, dare I say it, better than expected.

Unfortunately for me, computer issues (which I’m blaming Ben for, seeing as he touched my computer last) means I only watched one film from this week, and it was one that I had seen many times before. I was planning on watching one I hadn’t seen on Sunday, but instead I’m on an old Macbook that whirs ferociously out of the blue and all my movie collection is on the second (thankfully/hopefully fine) hard drive in my box that won’t start up. I am getting withdrawals already; our dvd collection has nowhere near enough trashy entertainment to meet my needs.

So, when I did end up watching was Ocean’s Eleven. Danny Ocean gets out of jail and decides to rob three of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. To do this he needs to gather associates to help pull the heist off (the ‘Eleven’ in ‘Ocean’s Eleven’) and hope that everything goes according to plan.

I just want to say straight up that I really like this movie. The sequels I didn’t like as much, but this one is probably up there on my list of Films I Like Quite A Bit. I am pretty sure it was one of the first films that I wanted to watch multiple times (that wasn’t a kid’s movie) to catch things I missed. I feel like I should watch the original to compare, but I don’t think I would enjoy it as much as I might have if I hadn’t seen the remake.

From what I can remember, this was one of those films that my brother got a little obsessed about and decided he (and by extension, I) needed to watch it. Maybe he secretly wanted to be like George Clooney, who knows? Whatever the reason I probably wasn’t overly enthusiastic to watch it. My brother and I have some similarities in our tastes, but it seems that most of the time he insists I watch something I am not that fussed about it. But I guess this was one of those times where our tastes match up.

I think this version just has a consistent feel to it that I really like. The soundtrack, the costumes, the actors, the sets, all work well and play off each other to create a well-balanced theme to te film. Everyone’s a little weird and sleazy and everything’s a little too shiny and bright, it just makes up the (probably cliched) image of Las Vegas nicely.

That’s not saying I don’t dislike some parts of it. Don Cheadle’s cockney accent is fucking appalling. I hope he is embarrassed by it because it was so terrible that I couldn’t help but laugh at it. Was it imperative to the story that Basher had to be British? If so couldn’t they have gotten a British actor to play the role and not have it be less of a terrible fake cockney accent? Also, Julia Roberts as Mrs Ocean? Whenever she walked anywhere she just clomped along like she was wearing high heels for the first time. There are so many other people out there who could look sexy and confident and strong willed without being Julia Roberts. This dislike for her is probably also fuelled by the fact that in one of the sequels the other characters mention how much Tess looked like Julia Roberts and get her to “pretend” to be her so they can sneak into an art gallery. Ham. Fisted. Comedy. Like I said, the sequels were kinda shitty.

So yeah, I liked the film I watched this week. But I also knew I was going to like it, so I feel a bit lazy. I should be expanding my horizons, not sticking with comfortable options. The other suggestions were Scarface (which I was intending on watching before this whole computer fiasco), The Man Who Knew Too Much, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and 3:10 To Yuma.

Biscuits

Since I finished my granny square blanket (finally! I’ve been working on it on and off for over six months!) and ran out of the yarn for my other blanket I was crocheting, I’ve been feeling a bit stir crazy. I need something to do with my hands, and now that I don’t have the necessary materials to keep going with my current obsession I have been trying to come up with things to keep my mind occupied that also mean I don’t have to leave the house.

So I decided I needed to catch up on awful TV shows I had so far avoided. 48 episodes of sexy vampires and terrible soap opera storylines later I had watched the previous 4 series of True Blood and run out of episodes to watch. Once again I was at a loss of things to do. It got to the point that I was watching at least 4 episodes of True Blood a day, and when explaining to Ben what was going on it showed how dumb the stories are and yet I still persevered. I am a terrible person, I know, but luckily the latest season is starting now that Game of Thrones and Mad Men are finished, so I can still watch something instead of doing writing every Monday as per usual.

If I don’t have things to keep me occupied I tend to wallow, especially seeing I’m still looking for a job. For some reason repetitive tasks like knitting or crochet or embroidery coupled with something mindless to watch seems to help with that. Ben doesn’t understand it, just the idea of doing the same thing over and over and over bores him to tears. Which, to be fair, is a perfectly rational opinion to have; hell, it’s only certain repetitive tasks I like, anyway. Sometimes I wish I could just crochet blankets for a living, making granny squares till I can’t any more. There was a real sense of achievement when I finally finished mine. But then I guess I can’t just get bored and do something else for months at a time like I would end up doing.

Scout caught a lizard, which was entertaining for a while. We have a fair few skinks like this around which she likes to catch, play with then bring inside. Sometimes she eats them (and throws them back up), but most of the time I am able to save them before she actually kills them. This one is the biggest she’s ever caught and was surprisingly calm for a lizard caught by two separate giant entities. It seemed pretty happy to run away once I took it outside, though. Hopefully it stays away for good, but lizards can be pretty dumb. I could just sit and watch animals for ages, especially little ones like lizards. I’ve always been fascinated with them. This one was a good distraction, but I had to let it go eventually, so it didn’t take up my attention for long.

So yesterday I decided that biscuits would be just the thing to fix this feeling that had been building. I had encountered some added bullshit when dealing with the RTA to get my license renewed, which resulted in me buying a pair of shoes in an attempt to feel better about it, but I figured biscuits would also help with that. When all else fails, biscuits. I grabbed this recipe and went to town. Donna Hay has never let me down so far, and the recipe looked really simple, so it was a good way to spend an afternoon.

I forgot that when recipes say “butter, softened” they mean actually softened butter, not butter from the fridge left out for a little while until I get too impatient and start mixing anyway. Also, measurements aren’t something to eyeball and hope for the best. Thankfully they all came out fine, delicious and cakey and sweet. Now I just have to make sure I don’t eat them all. It was nice to focus just on something simple like baking biscuits, plus there was a tasty reward at the end of it! I really should bake more.

I guess sometimes I have to remember that even if things are a bit messy or not quite what I expected, if the end result is delicious (or pretty, or just functional, I guess) then that’s all that matters. Also that I need to get off my arse and go buy more craft stuff or use up what I have. I know that it will help improve my mood and my vague crafting skills, so I should stop overthinking things and just go for it. If I start now I might even have some things I can use as Christmas presents.

That Movie Book – Week Twenty Three

Sorry I’m a bit late, the public holiday messed with my schedule as only a public holiday can. This weekend’s theme was “Nicolas Cage: loser at large”. A weekend of Nic Cage being Nic Cage, a weekend forecast to be good movie-watching weather, sounded like a perfect match. Then I watched some of the films and was reminded that I don’t actually like Nicolas Cage’s acting that much. I guess that’s one of those things that I forget about when I associate him with bird hair.

(isn’t it glorious?)

But I didn’t realise that when I started out. So, on Saturday I watched The Weather Man. David Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is a local weatherman who is the son of a famous author. His marriage has failed, his kids are messed up, things are falling apart but he has the chance to be a big shot weatherman on a big shot morning show and make everything better.

I figure the film was supposed to echo his life, where there’s not real highs or lows in the plot, and what peaks and troughs there are has David just stumbling through it all. I can see what was tried to be said, but to me it just was kinda bland and boring. I guess I kinda missed the point of the film in that regard, but for the most part I was just wondering when this movie was going to get interesting or just be over. David is suck an awkward character that it made it pretty uncomfortable to watch and I hate those kinds of films.

That being said, there were some funny bits. Michael Caine’s really dodgy American accent was funny (in a distracting way), and there were some of the interactions between Nic Cage and his family that made me laugh aloud.The thing is that for most of the amusing parts it was either unintentional or the other actors that were the funny ones. So this film was not what I was expecting, and not really encouraging me to watch any more.

But I figured I would try again on Sunday, with Adaptation. This is the film about Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) and his struggles to write a screenplay based on a book about orchids. Meanwhile his twin brother Donald (also Nicolas Cage) is also trying to become a screenwriter as well, playing to Hollywood stereotypes rather than originality. After a while Charlie tries to write himself into the screenplay to show the obsession that he, the author of the book and the main character of the book all seem to have about their respective subjects.

The film starts off with Cage having a stream of conscious ramble about himself and how pathetic he is. Not a good sign. I got so sick of the self loathing and self deprecation that Kaufman embodied that I tended to check out whenever Nic Cage was on screen. At one point Ben looked over when the Kaufman brothers were both on screen. “There are two of him. Why are there two of him?” I explained that they were twin brothers, and he just gave a little sigh. “Of course they are” he commented before turning back to his computer. That’s pretty much how I felt about this film. The storyline with the author and the orchid specialist was much more interesting to me, and thankfully the second half of the film focussed on them (albeit with some Kaufman interruptions) so I didn’t turn it off and actually watched it to the conclusion. I am almost certain I’ll never watch it again, though. Fuck that.

My main problem with the film was that it really just felt like Charlie Kaufman (who is a real screenwriter and who wrote this film) was trying to show how clever he was with all the stories within stories and the way he plays with the ties to reality. It sounded interesting to see how it played with that, but ended up more kinda wanky. Plus the whole meta story of “A man writes a movie about himself struggling to write a movie who inserts himself into that screenplay to try and write the movie.” was a bit ham fisted at times and obvious and annoying.

So because that was two for two that I didn’t like, I didn’t bother with any of the others suggested for this theme. They were, if you have the inclination to watch them, Lord of War, The Bad Lieutenant, and Leaving Las Vegas. It’s a bit of a let down when things don’t go well on the movie front, but I guess I’m never going to like all the films suggested over the course of the book. Par for the course and all that. I’m going to Melbourne this weekend, so the next lot of reviews might be a bit late (or early), but I’ll try hard to watch something and do a write up anyway.

What I Wore – June 6th

Most of the time these days I dress more for comfort than anything else. I’m not going anywhere or seeing anyone, so there’s not much point. I make sure to change out of my pyjamas, because then I can convince myself I’m going to be productive, but jeans and t-shirts are generally the norm. But then there are days where I feel like dressing up a little, even if I’m not going anywhere. Wednesday was one of those days.

One day I’ll work out how to not be really awkward when trying to take photos of myself, but I guess today isn’t that day. I bought this dress from a shop in Newtown that I didn’t go into very often because it intimidated me for some reason, Elvis 4 Cleo. Ben and I were nearby for lunch and saw they were having a Closing Down Sale (it’s going to be just online now), so Ben decided we should have a look. I left with two dresses that day after Ben insisted I try some on. He’s a good boy; he knows I’m still a bit weird when it comes to clothes shopping, especially dresses.

The dress has a really nice pattern in that it it’s complicated but not overwhelmingly busy, especially from a bit of a distance; It’s too light for this weather, but I guess that’s what layering’s for. The black knitted top came in handy when I worked in a freezing office but I haven’t been wearing it much since I left that job. I had been looking for something similar for ages and finally found it at Dotti on sale and it’s been great. There’s probably a billion of them around now but at the time it was a wonderful discovery. It was probably too cold for just that, to be honest, but I knew I was going to spend most of the day in the house next to a heater, so it was perfect for that. Next time I’ll wear a long sleeve top under the dress, and that coupled with the knitted top and some tights (I’m wearing some grey ones that you can almost see in the photos) and it would be pretty perfect for this kind of weather.

Scout decided to come and keep me company in the front yard and look at me funny while I kept walking back and forth to the camera. Because of the weather lately the cats have been kept inside and both of them have been going a bit stir crazy, so I think Scout was happy to be outside even though all the cars driving past kept scaring her. I’m a bit glad that she seems so scared of traffic, because then she’s not that likely to go running out onto the road, but I also feel a bit bad that she’s so jumpy. I wonder if she’d do well as just an inside cat now that she’s had a fair amount of time outside. Knowing her she’d probably whinge at us even more than she already does.

That Movie Book – Week Twenty Two

This week’s theme was “It’s Not A Weekend, It’s A Wrinkle In Time: how to time travel (according to films).” The weekend was forecast to be rainy and miserable, so I figured it would be a good time to smash out a few of the suggestions. I watched… two out of the five films. Better than nothing, I suppose, seeing as I felt like sleeping the whole weekend away instead.

I started out on Saturday with Back to the Future. Teenage boy meets up with his crazy inventor friend one night and inadvertently travels back in time 30 years in said friend’s time machine Delorean. While waiting a week before he can go back home he has to make sure his parents actually meet and get together so that he doesn’t fade out of existence.

(I know the quality’s not great on this, but I thought the original trailer would be the most appropriate to use.)

I wasn’t really that interested in watching this, if I am honest with you. My brother would make me watch this (and the sequels) so many times over the years, and I am the kind of person who will not enjoy something out of spite when someone tries really hard to get me to watch/read/listen/do something. So because I’d seen it so many times and had that particular association with it, this felt like a bit of a chore. But I figured I’d give it another go for old time’s sake.

I guess the different atmosphere made a difference, because I actually enjoyed it this time. Maybe because I paid attention to it instead of sullenly trying to ignore it. Some of the acting was kinda wooden, but Michael J Fox was actually pretty good in it! I kinda always thought he was a good actor, especially now seeing how he hides his Parkinson’s quite well. I still never really got the whole hype about the trilogy, and probably won’t watch the others in the trilogy, but I did like the film.

I think I liked the storyline of the second Back to the Future film better. This one was a good intro to the characters and the series’ universe, but out of the trilogy the second film was the most interesting to me story-wise. I guess I’m a sucker for futuristic settings, even though by now that one is so hilariously incorrect and dated. That’s probably what adds to its charm. The first film was cute in that the 50’s seemed like a much more innocent time, but what people thought it would be like in 2015 is also cute in its own way.

On Sunday we watched Twelve Monkeys. It’s the future, and a virus has caused humans to go underground to survive. A prisoner ‘volunteers’ to go back and forth in time to get information about an organisation that claims to have created the virus.

I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like this film. I didn’t really know anything about it, but I had a strange hunch that it wasn’t going to be my thing. Ben liked it and seemed excited aboutit being a suggestion though, so I figured I would at least give it a try. My first impression was that it most definitely was a film by Terry Gilliam. He seems to have a very definite set of things he likes to include when making a film, so all the movies I have seen that he’s done feel very similar. I think it’s mainly the kinda dirty, dystopian future where everything looks like it’s about to fall apart that I noticed more than anything else. It’s like Tim Burton with Johnny Depp and swirls; you know once you see those two things in the one film that it is almost certainly a Burton Film. And I guess I just don’t really like the look of everything seemingly held together by duct tape.

Also it seemed that it took a while to get to the ‘good bit’. I watched about an hour of it waiting for Bruce Willis’ character to get to where he needed to and still didn’t get there in that time. I’m sure that’s all part of the pacing or whatever, but it just resulted in me getting bored and wanting things to pick up a bit. After an hour I realised that I had pretty much stopped caring about any of the characters and hadn’t been paying attention to it properly for a while, so I turned it off. I’m a bit disappointed because the storyline sounded interesting and I could have potentially really enjoyed it, but I guess I’m just not a fan of Terry Gilliam’s style enough that it distracted me too much to try and tough it out. Ben is probably Very Disappointed that I didn’t like it, but I tried! I watched almost half of it! If a film hasn’t grabbed me by the halfway mark I feel like it’s time to try something else.

That was it for the weekend, it seems. Next week is one of the themes I have been looking forward to a fair bit. That’s right people, Next weekend is Nicholas Cage weekend in this house. My mum is going to be visiting, but I am going to try and watch three of the suggestions anyway.