What a busy week it was! I went to see Dallas Buyer’s Club, a film that takes some of the prettiest people in Hollywood and makes them ugly (even Jennifer Garner appeared…without makeup!). It totally fits the story, about a straight man who imports various unapproved substances into the US to deal with HIV and AIDS, first his own, but then that of people (mostly gay men) who can afford to become members of his club. It’s actually a really interesting film, with strong performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. Still, it has done very poorly at the box office; clearly, American audiences aren’t ready for ugly pretty people. (Either that, or their homophobic streak is showing – but, in this, I prefer to be generous.) Then, I saw Kill Your Darlings, a film about the early lives of Beat writers Alan Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. On the one hand, it’s obvious Daniel Radcliffe is trying to distance himself from his portrayal of Harry Potter in all of those movies, and he largely succeeds; he is growing into a very capable actor. On the other hand, I’ve never been all that interested in the Beats, whose work I find largely incoherent and unreadable (although Burroughs is a fascinating character). The true story of a murder at the heart of the film is interesting, but a lot of people might find it slow. (Look for comedians David Cross and David Rasche, who are effective in small dramatic roles.) Then, I saw The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. To the extent that it makes manifest the brutality of fascist governments and offers hope in the potential for rebellion, it is a more fascinating movie than the first in the series. And, Donald Sutherland and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are great actors who should be in more scenes together. And, Jennifer Lawrence’s face haunts the final frames of the movie. All in all, I found it quite entertaining. Then, switching media, I saw the first two episodes of Almost Human, the latest episode of Person of Interest and the first third of an episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Almost Human is fun science fiction with some performers I happen to like a lot (hi, Lili Taylor!). Person of Interest has, perhaps finally, wrapped up the HR storyline, which is good because the real highlight of this season will likely be the emerging consciousness of The Machine. I have mixed feelings about the comic book “In this issue, a character dies!” part of the episode: sure, it was inevitable, given the kind of work they do and the enemies they have made, but it’s still something of a shock. Oh, and I didn’t really buy the kiss. Still, the series keeps going from strength to strength. As for the other series, I didn’t see enough of the episode to comment, except to say that Tahiti, “It’s a magical…place.” Agent Coulson may be starting to realize that there is more to the story about his death than he realizes. Oh, and I finished reading Ian. M. Banks’ Look to Windward. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would rush out to buy more Culture books…if I didn’t already have stacks of unread books in my room. Some day, though. Some day… Did I actually get anything done this week? Sure. I worked some on the third novel (so close to finishing a first draft!), and got back into writing things for my Web site. Of course, this is a different kind of immersion in a fictional world. Given how much time I spend in unreal worlds, you might wonder if I got anything in the real world done. Maybe not. But, it’s not like I was ever all that good at navigating the real world. It’s probably for the best that I have found a realm in which I can function…
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:23:40 +0000
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