I Am A Cranky Old Man
This is what happens when you don’t have kids, and thus have a modicum of disposable income.
I did not opt for the “Max” phone because I find the large-factor device a bit tedious to hold, plus it doesn’t fit in my back pocket easily. The iPhone XS is pocketable and large enough for me.
Lindsay’s neighbor rescued a puppy from Craigslist so she has been bringing it to the park in an attempt to find a home for it. I am constantly amazed and inspired by her compassion for animals.
I travelled out to San Francisco for the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament. I had a fantastic time at AT&T Park watching the best sevens rugby teams in the world play for the title of World Champion in Sevens Rugby. The New Zealand men and women’s teams both won the title this year.
I also explored the Mission District of San Francisco and some of the local craft breweries, as one would expect me to do.
I traveled back to my home town this weekend for my thirty-year high school class reunion. It was great seeing old friends again even though I had not kept in touch with most of them.
We started with a welcome mixer at an outdoor local bar where even the locals were sweating through their shirts. I sometimes forget how fortunate I am to live in the Denver, Colorado, area where it is rarely over 20% humidity and the temperatures rarely exceed 95 in the hottest part of the summer. I am also happy that we have outlawed smoking in most public places — I had to wash the clothing I was wearing twice when I made it back home to rid them of the nasty smoke odors.
On Saturday night we moved to an indoor venue, the local Country Club, for drinks, appetizers and an 80s tribute band, ostensively for dancing. Two of my favorite teachers from my high school years were also in attendance, and it was great to see them again!
I spent a few days with my father as well on this trip, which was wonderful. I am finding that spending time with family becomes more important as I get older.
Jodie Foster! Jeff Goldblum! Also: Dave Bautista, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jenny Slate, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Day!
I wasn’t sure what this film was going to actually be. I had seen the trailers that indicated the movie was about an exclusive, near-future Los Angeles hospital for criminals. There are the typical ten-years-from-now-technology-will-be-amazing plot points, and the story rides on the current vibe that the wealthy of the world will take advantage of the poor, to the point where the water supply in Southern California is privatized (isn’t it already, though?) and the population riots in response to high prices and limited availability. The riots make up the backdrop of this gritty, dirty Los Angeles where somehow Jeff Goldblum is the crime boss (“The Wolf King of L.A.”) — a crime lord who wears Gucci dress sandals.
Jodie Foster is the Nurse who runs the Hotel Artemis, where criminals and wealthy VIPs pay large amounts of money for membership to provide immediate medical treatment for any issues they may have, including 3D-printing of organs. There are Rules of Membership (“do not kill the other patients”, “no weapons allowed”) that are strictly followed until they’re not, and the Nurse has a backstory that explains her gripping anxiety and inability to leave the confines of the hotel. Dave Bautista plays the Orderly, “Everest,” who uses her agoraphobia for a little comic relief, until she overcomes it briefly to save an injured police officer who turns up at the alley door. This violates another Rule of the Hotel Artemis: No Cops.
A confrontation occurs later when a weapons dealer (Day), an assassin (Boutella), a former gangster (Brown) and the Wolf King all meet up during the height of the riot. Oh, and the former gangster was in the middle of a bank holdup with his brother who accidentally stole a pen-vault thingy from a guy wearing a suit (who looks a lot like Jason Statham) that contains six Uber-rare yellow diamonds that happen to belong to the Wolf King…
The plot is not quite as convoluted as my description makes it sound, and the film is enjoyable overall.
Recommended.
I would be crazy to say anything about “Avengers: Infinity War” in public before most people have a chance to see it themselves. Pro tip: don’t be a dick and talk/gasp/cry in the theatre. Nobody (me) wants to hear that.
I was not sure what to think about “A Quiet Place” when I first saw trailers for it. It looked okay, if a little derivative. Felt like I had seen something like it before. I started reading good press about it a few weeks ago and HOW DID I NOT KNOW EMILY BLUNT IS IN IT? Apparently the story (as she related it on dozens of PR interviews) is that her husband John Krasinski was directing and staring in it and another actress was cast for the role of “the wife.” After reading the script, Blunt decided to take the role for herself… I guess it’s good to sleep with the boss in this particular case.
I really enjoyed how much (but not all) of the film is nearly silent. The lack of sound adds to the tension in spots while the soundtrack does help to crank up the anxious moments. I really appreciated that there is almost no mention of the backstory of how these creatures came to be on Earth, destroying almost all of society. I love when a film doesn’t have to explain its backstory to the audience.
One warning: the lack of audio in the film will definitely make you notice how awful and noisy the average filmgoer is these days.
I went into viewing this film without ever reading (or hearing about) Jeff VanderMeer’s “Southern Reach” trilogy of novels, and therefore had no idea how director and screenplay author Alex Garland changed the book for the big screen. Nonetheless, the film looks great and literally had me hooked from a single audio effect used in the trailers that played at nearly every film I watched at The Alamo Drafthouse for a few months prior to its release. I cannot wait until the film is released on home video so I can sample that sound effect for text tones on my smart phone — yes, I am that nerd.
The film itself kept me enthralled as it explored a different type of alien invasion, where the invader attempts to change to fit our environment while inadvertently (?) changing ours with its presence. The visuals are beautifully shot and the climatic scene weirds out into a psychedelic sequence that made me think of the equally strange “Under The Skin” starring Scarlett Johansson from about five years ago. Unfortunately I think the visualization of the scene probably did not win many fans, although after reading the “Annihilation” novel of the Southern Reach trilogy it actually made more sense to me.
I recommend you find the Southern Reach trilogy and read it before seeing the film.
As an old, fat Caucasian man I am not qualified to review the social importance of this film beyond the standard platitudes of “finally, a big-budget action film with a mostly black cast.” Sitting in the bar before the showing I overheard a lot of people who were VERY excited about the social importance of this film, though. It was great to see so many people enthused about a film!
I enjoyed the film and look forward to see how Wakanda fits into Marvel’s idealized universe in the future.