Not my dogs. My dogs are delightful and, although somewhat malodorous, devoted to me. Follow me everywhere, gazing up at me, longingly, hoping I have chicken in my pocket… but even when I don’t, they are on me like white on rice. Here they are napping by my desk. If you want unconditional love, get a dog.
The deplorable dogs are three of the movies I rented last week: Untraceable, The Brave One, and The Flock. Depressingly deplorable AND disturbing. The Brave One was just boring: predictable girl-with-a-gun. Waste of time. Can Jodie Foster get more boring?
TBO was violent, but the other two were disturbingly so. Not car-wreck shoot-the-bad-guy violent, but human beings doing very bad things to other human beings. Are there really such bad people in the world who do this kind of stuff to each other? I guess… probably on an SSRI. I can’t think about it.
And is this entertainment? Not for me. "A pornography of violence," Hal called it. For once, I’m glad the boys were not watching the movies with us but glued to their computer screens in their imaginery worlds where you can get banned for saying "hell."
Dogville
"Can’t wait to discuss Dogville with you – watched it twice; wanted to understand it better so rounded up three very heady intellectual friends and enticed them over with free pizza dinner so they could explain it to me."
Maureen says one of her intellectual friends nailed it. I need to find out what it’s about, then watch it again…
Sounds like when Arp made me watch “Hostel”. If any movie was a pornography of violence, that was. It left me emotionally wounded for weeks. I sometimes can’t imagine that people would want to put themselves through watching this stuff.
Remember the movie “Seven”? That left me wounded for weeks – that was my first porn of violence experience. Hal and I were both slack-jawed at what we were watching in public. As we were leaving the theatre, there was a couple leaving with their two kids, around 6-8 years old. We couldn’t believe it. She was pregnant… To me, THAT’s scary.
I have two dogs and intend to have a few more once I get down there. Love ’em. They are work sometimes but most anything worth having or doing has a cost. I imagine the Costa Rican flora and fauna will mean even MORE work in keeping my two chuckleheads free of parasites and other maladies. I also note that I never see any Ticos walking their dogs on a leash. I am going to stick out like a sore thumb down there for so many reasons no matter how well I speak spanish……
I avoid the pornographically violent movies like the plague. I can’t even understand how anyone can like that stuff but apparently, quite a large segment of the human population is sick enough to warrant the business of making those kinds of films. I don’t see a whole lot of difference between that crap and child pornography…and I am not sure if permitting that stuff acts as a relief valve for the sickos who like it or if it promotes that behavior. I’d rather just not even think about it.
Dogville is an older movie. I remember being entertained, especially by the unique stage setting technique of telling the story. I remember the story but am still unclear as to the
moral. Perhaps sometimes I should just be content with having been entertained?
I had no idea what the deal with Hostel was. Or Turistas. I guess they’re updated slasher flicks. However, I didn’t make Trish watch them – she likes horror flicks! I wasn’t disgusted but the movies weren’t all that. The scariest thing I’ve seen in a while was the Hammer Films version of Dracula, the scene where Van Helsing & Co see the undead Lucy return. She looks normal, but you know she’s not – and the huge fangs that appear as she opens her mouth are freaky. Way more than some gore.
The bad parent taking her kids to see Seven is scarier than any movie tho. You hear about a group of third-graders who planned on capturing a teacher? I don’t recall if they planned on killing or not, but I wonder where the hell they got the idea to have a lookout, tie the teacher to a chair and whatnot.
I liked Untraceable but I am biased because I love the leading actress (Diane Lane) and also that movie had small techie accurate facts, the part where thy talk about the TTL on the DNS requests (I know ….boring! but since all I do is troubleshoot computer networks its refreshing to see a movie with accurate technical background instead of the classic ‘hacker’ movie where the actor types furiously and sees all sort of ‘Matrix like’ screens)
to James about “I also note that I never see any Ticos walking their dogs on a leash.” , I would say ‘never’ is much closer to 60/40 (60 with leash ) I for one do not understand those freaking id…. that walk their dogs without a leash, all it takes is a loud noise/a dog barking/cat going in front of them and boom……..dog goes running and is lost and /or ends up being hit by a car. Totally asine to walk your dog without a leash (for their protection and also the safety of the human population) BUT I know logic is too much to ask sometimes.
That was the fun thing about Untraceable, all the computer stuff. A little unnerving thinking the cops can push a button and hear all your phone conversations over the last year… a slight exaggeration, but there was enough there to make the paranoid come out in me big time.
I used to think like James just because there are SO MANY strays here. But I see at least as many ticos as gringos walking their dogs on leashes. I think it depends on where you live how much of that you see – dog walking at all.
Arp, I do think guys have more of a stomach for violence. Somewhat… Those kids got that idea from the internet and Seven, no question. They sure didn’t read it. Truth is stranger than fiction.
don’t I know about “me and my shadows”. Love it though. Heads up: Under the Tuscan Sun is coming on Tuesday night (TNT, I think). It’s a great movie and one I totally related to when I first saw it living in Costa Rica. Teri
oh!! TINA and Cher is on Oprah Thursday.
You could do a great TINA with a long blonde wig!! Rolling!…
TINA and CHER ARE on Thursday. I do know good grammer, just forget to use it.
all calls over the last year you are right, they would need a lotttttt of storage space to store all the conversations but they can do pretty nasty things like this one that never crossed my mind until I read about it
http://www.news.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html
Gee, thanks for letting me know THIS!!! I didn’t think about the storage space problem. I feel a little better… and who could listen to all those phone calls??? I bet the burn-out factor would be high.
tina AND cher? that will inspire me. the band wants to do proud mary. but I think there’s a limit to what chubby 52 year old white women can get away with. even with a wig and TONS of makeup… we’ll see. if we do it, it goes on youtube.