Cinematical Matters

Hello, readers.

It's Friday and very sunny, but, I'm still determined to spend many quality hours in the dark this weekend.

Meaning time in cinemas, of course. Hardly ever visit the underground laboratory anymore. Too many not quite dead things at this point.

Speaking of which, Thirst, comes out in some theaters this weekend. It's Park Chan-Wook's new film concerning Catholic priests that become vampires. The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips gave it 3 1/2 stars and said it "oozes sex and nudity and blood..." Alas, it's not oozing anything anywhere near Nashville, yet.

To make up for that, though, The Belcourt Theatre is showing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly this weekend as part of their Leone lovefest. Quentin Tarantino once called it the best directed film ever and, seeing as how I've only ever seen it on tiny square boxes--and also my sister has never seen it--I think a trip will be in order.

Also, Miyazaki has a new film out. There's a girl who sometimes is a fish. That's all I know, and all I need to know, as Miyazaki's name pretty much guarantees no small amount of consideration, love, and magic.

And then there's that film about segregation, among other things, in which there are aliens and possibly Hobbits. Hopefully it's as amazing as people say. If nothing else, it makes me think that Battlestar Galactica's 21st century take on political sci-fi has done some good, or at least, done some influencing.

Oh, and I would be remiss not to mention, while we're on the subject of sci-fi, that The Time Traveler's Wife comes out today. I read the book. Found it ultimately moving, if somewhat creepy with the chrono-induced sexual oddness. According to Ms. Dargis, the creepiness doesn't lessen on screen. Another review I read wondered about the ability of the supposedly very different genres of sci-fi and romance to play nice together. This seemed funny to me as what we call science fiction today began as "scientific romances." But, who needs historical context when one has Rachel McAdams, I suppose.

Happy weekend, readers.

Hope you enjoy some quality time alone in the dark.

ttfn.