Captain Kidd against the Black Pearl

I enjoyed Avatar. The world, Pandora, was beautiful, and watching it in IMAX 3D was worth the price of admission all by itself. It doesn't hurt that the religion on Pandora was the sort I love to bask in: everything living has energy and is sacred, taken seriously, and seen with wonder. (Which is to say those of you do not share those tendencies towards that kind of thinking will probably roll your eyes a lot at those aspects of the movie; but it is very very pretty to watch while they are espousing these beliefs, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.)

( Wherein there are many spoilers )

I spent the entire movie waiting for the Evil Technology Money People to destroy the lives of the Noble Savage Forest People. When that conflict actually happened, instead of cringing with annoyance at the trope or with anger at the villains, I found myself thinking about my clients' often antagonistic relationships with classmates or partners. We grow up hearing, "It takes two to fight." But, you know? That's not always the case. Sometimes, if one side is sufficiently determined or powerful, the other side doesn't have a choice. They can only capitulate or fight back.

I saw Endgame last night, with my brother. It was beautifully acted, I thought, and if only I liked Samuel Beckett's work, I would have had a great time. As it was, my favorite part was quietly beating him to the inevitable* Garfield and Friends reference upon an imprudent mention of a rat in the kitchen.

*Well, inevitable, considering we were in the audience.

It was well-acted, though. If you like Beckett, you should see it. There are performances this weekend and next weekend.

In other news, I am completely charmed by one of the new designs for Whole Foods' reusable bags. It features a checkerboard of silhouettes of differently shaped bottles, and bears the inscription, "I USED TO BE A PLASTIC BOTTLE"

Much cuter in person than in description, but I have no digital camera.

Last night, I went to see Transformers with my brother, chanaleh and -- somehow -- my mother. She didn't hate it as much as she thought she would.

My favorite part was the moment near the end, after the advanced technology has all been busted, when they are all in a tiny room trying to figure out how to communicate with the outside world to get help. The blond female analyst points to a short wave radio (I think), and asks if the hacker can do something helpful involving hacking, computers, radios, and Morse code. My brother, sitting next to me, makes a valiant and futile attempt to keep from clawing his eyes out in scientific frustration.*

*Despite this, he greatly enjoyed the movie. Possibly he was not expecting accurate representations of science.

Yes, that was a minor spoiler. I think if you care about spoilers for The Transformers Movie, you should really have seen it already.

...Okay, fine, let me know if I should put it under a cut-tag.

Anyway, my three word summary -- stolen from a fanfic summary somewhere, I'm sure -- is "hilariously improbable crap". I was curled up in my chair cackling for the first half of the film. Don't misunderstand, I mean all this lovingly. The screenwriters did a good job. I do think they could have cut some of the plot, but I will forgive them.


By the way, the neuroscience Hangman word from last week was PARAGIGANTOCELLULARIS. If you don't understand why that's a super cool word, just say it loudly, emphasizing the "giganto" bit, and flail around with your arms. Then you'll see.

lynnoxford and I saw Pan's Labyrinth yesterday, with much excitement. The short, non-spoilery review is that it was beautiful, grotesque, artistically solid, and not what we were expecting. Lest I mislead anyone, I will add that, though I would recommend it (mostly for the sake of the first three adjectives just listed), I do not do so unambiguously.

Given ayelle's review, however, I might change my mind about that if I'm able to talk with her about it. I did pick up on some of the references, but I know a missed a number, and more allusion always makes me happy. There are certainly enough layers and allusions that I would see the movie again, to try to pick up more.

( Cut for serious spoilers, for the sake of talking with the two or three people who have seen the movie *cough*ayelle*cough* )

I went to see Monsieur Chopin at the ART, with fleurdelis28 and lynnoxford. Monsieur Chopin is a one-man show about, of course, Frederic Chopin's life. The playwright/actor, Hershey Felder is clearly as much musician and music scholar as he is actor and playwright. According to the playbill, the play appears to be directed by the same guy who directed My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Given my general lack of interest in Chopin, I wasn't sure what to expect. But it was brilliant. The use of Chopin's music within the play was like nothing I've ever seen. It wasn't just incidental music: it was the center of the play. It was used as speech, in such a way that I felt I had some understanding of the language.

The downside of the play is that Felder is not quite as good an actor as he is at everything else. He makes a charming low-key Chopin. fleurdelis28 points out that the music history lecture, which Felder could not quite resist tacking on at the end of the play, contains some wonderful acting. (The music history lecture is also highy enjoyable in its own right. Seriously, I want to take classes with this guy.) His Emo Chopin invariably comes off as being a little stagey. It's a minor flaw, considering how much Felder does well. Also, I think that the things Felder does well are rare enough that the trade-off is worthwhile.

If you actively dislike classical music, don't go see it. Otherwise, I would recommend it. I'm certainly planning on seeing the prequel/"first movement" (Beethoven, premiering at some point this season) or sequel/"third movement" (George Gershwin Alone, which as been out for some time) if possible. I think I've lost my chance at Gershwin, at this point, but I imagine Beethoven is a possibility.

It runs until July 30th at the ART. Just, you know, in case you're wondering.

In other words, the promotional tickets did their job.

Gacked from meghatronn.

Name the song/artist from the quoted line. Lines have been edited for inclusion in the next version of the SATs. For bonus points, provide a translation of the line back to its original form.

1. The Agelaius phoeniceus has chosen to exercise its vocal chords at the moment that the portion of Earth he inhabits is facing 180 degrees away from the sun.

2. The nonplussed head of state creates new arrangements of musical notes and words in pleasing harmonies for the purpose of praising the Almighty.

3. For each circadian rhythm, the Earth recommences, good meterological conditions or bad.

4. I only experience the sensation of saline on my tongue when I create a conjunction between my lips and the salty excretions from your eyes.

5. She puts compressed carbon on the undersides of the apparel protecting her lower appendages.

Technically, I should have another five, but I'm not going to.

In other news, Wicked was fun. The first half was pretty similar to the book, with the major exception of Fiyaro's character. The second half was very different. Enjoyable, and it fit the conventions of a musical much better than the book would have. I am pleased that the musical clearly considered the major relationship* to be the one between Glinda and Elphaba rather than the one between Elphaba and Sexy Male Dude, for two reasons. (1) My usual political sensibilities; ie, my belief that romantic relationships are over-explored and overemphasized while other kinds of relations are dismissed. (2) Glinda and Elphaba's relationship was just much more interesting in the musical, and far more fraught with tensions.*

*Not a slashy relationship. Not sexual tensions.