Stars or Starlets?

Chris was away overnight on a two day school trip to Camp Walden. He got back earlier this evening, tired and hoarse from the obligatory shouting back and forth and the late night. There were sixteen boys in his cabin! I've heard all about the meals, the activities and the trip, but what amused me was how much he enjoyed sitting out under the stars before bedtime. He's a chip off the old block I guess.

Sheryl and I took advantage of Chris' trip to get together for a movie last night. We scanned the listings and decided to watch The Black Dahlia. I enjoyed the performances, the cinematography and the sets, even though Brian De Palma couldn't resist adding his trademark gore. The detective novel plot held together pretty well until the final act when the macabre plot twists started piling on until the whole thing fell over. The plot followed two cops, played by Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart, who literally preferred to talk with their fists (they were both boxers). This didn't give them as much scope for character development as their femme fatale opposites. Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank were both solid, but I found Mia Kirshner's near-cameo performance as the title character the most moving. Fiona Shaw did a great job of chewing up the scenery as a drug addicted snob. The Black Dahlia is a bit of a mixed bag, but worth the time.

Quick cinema pet peeve: I am so sick of elaborate production company animatics. You funded the film so you name belongs there, but do we need to see a boy fishing from the moon, or thingies orbiting another thingie and then turning into a logo, or all the other pointless frippery? It's a wank. To counter that outburst I'll report that we saw two interesting trailers. Marie Antoinette looks interesting, although I don't know if Kirsten Dunst can carry it off (Sheryl is dying to see it for all the wrong reasons). Flags of Our Fathers, another Clint Eastwood/Paul Haggis effort, looks pretty gripping too.

Today it was back to earth with a thud as Sheryl and I went to a "job fair" to see if there were any opportunities. Uh-uh. Depressing! Still, I have some real positions to follow up at the moment.

Listening to: If I Could Talk I'd Tell You by The Lemonheads from The Best Of The Lemon Heads - The Atlantic Years.