onfocus

Yesterday I secured a copy of True Crime: New York City for the xbox and was just getting settled in a for an evening of shooting and car crashes in the back alleys of New York when sk asked if I wanted to go to the new Pride and Prejudice film. I started weighing 1800's England dialog and manners vs. modern New York explosions and gunfire. I knew this film was going to be the ultimate chick flick, probably like watching an entire marathon of Hugh Grant movies. I couldn't think of anything more tedious, and there was virtual killin' to be done. Some intense negotiations followed, and long story short I found myself in line at the theater behind hordes of "girls night out" crowds fighting for tickets.

The theater was packed, and I have to reluctantly admit that the film was entertaining. I haven't read Pride and Prejudice—or any Jane Austen—but it's one of sk's favorite books. I didn't know the characters or the story, but Pride and Prejudice is so archetypal that it was all very familiar. I'm not a big fan of period films, but this one had a grit of reality to the settings and costumes that was fun to watch. (It was no Barry Lyndon, but seemed a bit better than those films where everything is shiny & new.) It was also interesting watching the way class distinctions were portrayed in the film, and seemed a bit more authentic than similar films. But the ending had a very Sixteen Candles sort of feel, and sk assured me this was a Hollywood invention and not part of the novel. So I enjoyed the film even though I was dragged to it, and now I'll have a better sense of what it means when sk drops "Mr. Darcy" and other Pride and Prejudice references into casual conversation. Now if I can just get sk to go on a few missions in True Crime, we'll really be sharing.

Don't take a recovering smoker to Good Night, and Good Luck. A current smoker won't last five minutes without ducking out for a smoke break. There was at least one cigarette burning on screen in every scene, and often multiple cigarettes. I find it hard to believe that television control rooms didn't have a smoking ban because of the electronics, but I guess that's the way it was (so to speak). I'd seen clips of the McCarthy hearings and the Edward Murrow broadcasts, but it was good to see a more complete picture of the Murrow shows. And of course the movie has a lot of food for thought about the media and politics today. But the smoking was out of control. Maybe cigarettes should be nominated for an academy award for supporting actor in this movie. It was great to exit the theater and take a deep breath of the cold, rainy air.

I've seen the shirts. I've heard the references to skills in magic and a delicious bass. And I finally the saw Napoleon Dynamite this week and I didn't get it. There were a few surreal moments in the film that I enjoyed—especially the scenes at the chicken farm. But a few sparks does not a movie make. My only conclusion is that I've passed some cranky threshold and I'm not to be trusted.