Happy New Years' Eve!

[quidditchgrrl]

I've had sushi (all right, California roll), a nice salad, and am ready to settle in for some arbitrary festivites surrounding a mid-winter evening.

We saw The Good Shepherd today.  AWESOME.  I'm at the stage of life where I watch only two kinds of movies:  those that feature actors that make my head spin, and those whose plot makes my head spin.  This was a little less of the former (but omg Matt Damon is still hot, even with really bad hair) and much with the latter.  Loved it, although Angelina Jolie has entered Tom Cruise/Mel Gibson territory - every time she was in a scene I involuntarily thought "Angelina Jolie!  What are you doing in 1940s Washington?"  I liked it better than Syriana, since TGS is a complete fabrication stuck into a historical context rather than a real story disguised as historical fiction.  It's also not a "heart of gold" story, all the better.  People rarely, if ever, do anything out of the goodness of their hearts.

ANYWAY, go see it if you have the chance to.

I watched Wordplay last night - a documentary about the NYT crossword puzzle, people who create it, and who compete in crossword contests.  Neat to see how a crossword puzzle is made, and all the little things that can be done to manipulate them (like making two answers fit into one area).  Yes, I admit it, I'm a crossword geek, although my fastest NYT Sunday solving time is a little over 2 and a half hours. 

Here's hoping that 2007 is great year for everyone!

Comments

[authenticjoy.livejournal.com]

Cool. The spouse has been wanting to see TGS. Now we shall go see it.

I liked 'Syriana' very much, btw. The end felt a bit contrived - As if they had to give it some sort of movie-goers resolution, where none exists in the real world. I would have liked it better if the characters had simply followed their counterparts into the murky obscurity that is the hallmark of Middle East politics. The deaths seemed too neat and easy. Someday I want to read the book associated with the movie.

There were a lot of really good documentaries released last year, eh?

[quidditchgrrl.livejournal.com]

I loved Syriana, but I hated that there were several stories interwoven into the plot that are true (the overthrow of the oldest, more moderate son, and his later death are, iirc, about a Syrian family?)

I need to read the book, too. Although I get so frustrated with Middle East politics. :\

[authenticjoy.livejournal.com]

I really like the stories that are woven together like that. I just love making the connections and watching them all come together. It hits so hard when they do. The idea of converging realities really fascinates me. Particularly when the storyteller uses such diverse cultures to weave the tale.

The movie is loosely based on a book by a guy named Baer (?spell?) who was a CIA agent who simply couldn't stomach it anymore. IIRC, he said that if you wanted someone to disappear you sent them to Syria. He didn't die, he wrote the book.

Middle East politics are as the icon indicates. It's complicated because religion is the state. It's complicated because the state is drawn along tribal loyalties and the tribes have been forever artificially divided. It's complicated because the press there a good tin-hatter story, and the masses believe things that we'd say "WTFBBQ???" to.

It's different.

[authenticjoy.livejournal.com]

That should read "the press there loves a good tin-hatter story"

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Happy 2007!