The Tyranny of Saturday Morning

Tomorrow morning is, as usual, my triathlon group's ride. This week I volunteered to be the Ride Coordinator, but as it stands it's going to be "showering" all Saturday. Yuck. I'll let you know tomorrow whether my sense of duty gets the best of me...

Earlier this evening I finally saw Crash. It had been sitting on my PVR for four months, waiting for Sheryl and I to get to it. Worth the wait though, as it's a good flick... Great performances, and an intricate plot laced with coincidences that intensified the film's perspective rather than seeming lazy. It really made me think about racism and people's fear of crime. Afterward we took Barkley for an evening stroll (along my ultra-safe streets). As there was a chill in the air we dropped into Starbucks for a coffee, but when we left it had started raining pretty steadily. We caught a cab home. A five block ride!

What else have I seen lately? While donating platelets earlier this week I watched Aeon Flux, mainly because it was short enough to watch all the way through. Charlize Theron is easy on the eyes, but I have to say the film stunk. The next night I saw The Illusionist with Sheryl. It was entertaining but felt like a old-world rehash of The Sting. Funnily enough given the subject the special effects were quite mediocre. Maybe I'm just getting jaded. The performances of Edward Norton, Jessica Biel and Paul Giamatti (especially Paul!) were the main pleasures. Prague looked fantastic too. It was interesting to see Aeon Flux and The Illusionist in the same week. Aeon Flux was all effects and zero substance, The Illusionist was minimal in the effects department and tried a lot harder to draw you in.

A few weeks ago, again while donating platelets, I saw Everything is Illuminated. What great writing and performances! Eugene Hutz was very entertaining as the America-obsessed Ukrainian guide, while Elijah Wood as the compulsive protagonist searching for his family history struck just the right note. The first half of the film can be read as a comic road movie, the second half as a sensitive look at how past events, in this case the annihilation of a village by the Nazis during WWII, can echo forward.

Listening to: Should I Stay Or Should I Go by The Clash from Combat Rock.