Blog 2784: 5terfish’5 Place

-I watched another movie we rented on Thursday, House of Sand and Fog. This is one of those movies you can only really watch once. That’s not to say that it isn’t interesting or that it doesn’t keep you guessing, but it’s damn depressing. I do commend the author of the book and the director of the movie for taking what sounds on paper to be a ridiculous premise (Woman loses house, Iranian immigrant family buys her house from the county, woman tries desperately to get it back) and turns it into a quiet, dramatic film. The characters are all fairly three-dimensional. The woman who loses her house but can’t bear to tell family or friends that she lost it...and her husband eight months earlier. The Iranian immigrant who used to be a Colonel who buys the house hoping to get that much closer to the great life he once had. The sheriff’s deputy who falls for the woman who loses the house, while in the process of leaving his wife and kids (oh yeah, he’s borderline racist). These characters all have flaws and good points, and the movie challenges you a bit to determine who is really right or wrong. Again, the downside is that the movie takes a surprising and depressing turn towards the end. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s not happy. So, it joins other pretty good but intense/depressing films that make such a mark that I only will sit through them once.

-In Monday's post, I said that my copies of Kinky’s Atlas and Interstella 5555: The 5tory of The 5ecret 5tar 5ystem would (hopefully) arrive by the end of the week. Well, wouldn’t you know it...they both arrived on Friday. I watched Interstella 5555 in its entirety on Friday. I am definitely glad I bought it. I like Daft Punk’s music (especially their album Discovery, which is the soundtrack of Interstella 5555), and I was looking forward to seeing the rest of the story started by the videos for “One More Time,” “Aerodynamic,” “Digital Love,” and “Harder Better Faster Stronger.” The movie looks gorgeous on DVD. The animation is bright and clearly digital in creation. The story continues nicely and it’s easy to figure out what’s going on despite the lack of dialogue. The movie itself is only 65 minutes since it’s only the length of the Discovery album. I highly recommend this film if you are a fan of Daft Punk’s music or the videos that inspired this film. If you are just an anime fan, it may or may not be your cup of tea, since enjoying the movie is based greatly on whether or not you like the music used in it.

As for Atlas by Kinky...I’m listening to it as I write. I will probably give it a real review in a couple of days. But upon preliminary listening, it seems to be damn good.

-Chappelle’s Show is always funny, but I laughed a lot at Wednesday’s show. It had Dave resigning from the show only to be replaced...by Wayne Brady. The skit with Wayne Brady acting blacker than we’ve ever seen him was extremely funny. Seeing Wayne Brady say “Does Wayne Brady have to smack a bitch?” is worth watching the episode alone. Chappelle’s Show has definitely supplanted both SNL and Mad TV as the funniest sketch comedy show on TV today.

-As for this week’s Friday Five...well, it’s one that I can’t honestly answer at this point...why? Well, take a look:

1. What do you do for a living?
2. What do you like most about your job?
3. What do you like least about your job?
4. When you have a bad day at work it's usually because _____...
5. What other career(s) are you interested in?

Okay, I need a job. I applied for a few more positions at NU (hourly ones), so I hope I’ll get one of those.