San Juan Island.... sans camera

Today mom and I went to San Juan Island with some friends of hers from Bellevue. It's an absolutely lovely place. I went there once before, to Friday Harbor, when I was in high school by whale watching boat. I got seasick. That wasn't so much fun. But today was wonderful. If I had been organizing the trip, I would have done things quite a bit differently, but I wasn't. For example, it's not exactly a large island. I would have preferred to rent a bike and see the island that way. Instead, we rode around in a big van. Also, we went on a short hike, and one of the ladies is rather overweight and could barely manage the 2.5mi or so. She's a lovely person, but she would probably do well to be more active. There was also a huge kayaking group, and it was such a beautiful day today, just as good as yesterday.

Unfortunately, I had only a disposable camera that I bought at the general store in Friday Harbor. Still, the place is simply so beautiful that my pictures will be good regardless of the inferiority of my equipment. There was one point, walking along the coastline, that I had to stop and just absorb the beauty all around me because it was so overwhelming. I didn't appreciate my home enough while I lived here before. I won't make that mistake again. Speaking of cameras, I believe I'm going to buy myself a new lens if I successfully get this job in Seattle. My current standard lens is fairly low quality, and I want to take better pictures. The camera body is quite good, but the lens really makes or breaks the picture, and I can see that clearly with the difference between the pictures I take with the telephoto lens and my standard, because the standard is a low quality consumer product and the telephoto is a medium quality product. I would like to get an actually good lens and see what I can do with it.

Last night, I saw '3:10 to Yuma' with M. It was wonderful!! I have always loved Westerns, it reminds me of going to visit my grandpa. We always watched the Sunday morning Western re-runs. I don't know how many reruns of Bonanza and Gunsmoke I've seen, but Marshal Dillon (played by James Arness) was my hero as a kid. (The Westerns were mainly because we weren't allowed to watch anything else but painting shows and the news, and you can only take so much Brillo-head before wanting to watch something else). Anyway, Russell Crowe and Christian Bale OWNED their parts, and Ben Foster did a fantastic job as Charlie Prince. I really, really enjoyed the performances in this movie. When I get Netflix, I'm going to order everything Christian Bale has ever done that I haven't seen yet. I am, as ever, completely blown away by his talent.

Movie Review + Germans

I went to see a movie tonight with my German tourist friends from Melaka, the Bourne Ultimatum. Much fun was had by half of us, one girl from Britain prefers romantic comedies, and one German guy decided he likes Bruce Willis better. But, I thought it was fantastic! Lots of fast chase scenes, fight scenes, jumping around, clever traps, clever ways out of traps - really, a very well done movie, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The sound editing is pretty good, too, good enough that I actually noticed how good the sound editing was.

I really like Germans. I also like Austrians. I don't like Italians. I have decided that this is because Italians are too friendly. In a bad way. I have also realized that the reputation some Germans have for being stand-offish is probably deserved, but more than likely results from the shyness a lot of Germans have about their English. They're so much fun to hang out with when they're speaking their own language. Amazing how that happens. Of course, none of my jokes work in German, but I sure am learning a lot. I have learned a lot of fantastic new German phrases, too, to add to my collection from Austria. :)

All in all, it's shaping up to be quite the nice final week here in Singapore. Not only do I have my imminent return to look forward to, I have also done some fun stuff and met some very nice people in the process. What else could one ask for?

Reviews

It is an unfortunate habit of most of the population of the planet to believe that what they have to say is inherently interesting to someone else. I am no exception.

For various reasons, I have had the opportunity to view a number of movies in the past few days. Here's the quick and dirty for your reading pleasure.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" - Excellent! Loved it. I liked Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka, completely different than Gene Wilder's interpretation. I loved the cinematography, the colors, the dancing/singing Oompah-Loompahs - everything. It was a very good movie, in my humble opinion, and if you haven't seen it, you should. I watched this one, along with Madagascar, with the boys, so it was really fun to see the movie through a child's eyes. They were also impressed.

"Madagascar" - I was pleased with this movie as well, because I got exactly what I expected: a cute, decent story involving talking animals that solve deep emotional problems in less than two hours, complete with singing and dancing. This is better than a lot of the drivel that gets made for the children's audience, though, and I would MUCH rather watch "Madagascar" than the "Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy."

"The Fugitive" - I have always liked Harrison Ford, just because you know what to expect from his action movies. He's always the everyman placed in an extraordinary situation and he has to rise to the challenge and kick butt. Which he always does, much to the audience's satisfaction. Some of my friends in junior high had the Backstreet Boys on their walls. I had Indiana Jones. Anyway, I had not noticed before the pharmaceutical company angle in the movie. He, Richard Kimble, is supposed to be killed because he wouldn't lie about the efficacy of a drug being tested at the hospital where he worked, but his wife is killed instead. Fascinating that this was a topic back when the movie was made in 1992, and yet nothing has been done, and the problem is now far worse. Big pharmas are scary. Very scary.

"Knocked Up" - I saw this in the theater tonight as their father and his girlfriend were watching "The Fellowship of the Ring" with the boys and I wanted to not be there. It was either this or "Vacancy" and I much preferred this. It is irreverent, funny, sweet, and by turns, gross (she has a baby, and they show part of the birth - I was 'sick' the day we were supposed to watch the baby being born video in health class - I really don't want to think about that part of the process until it's absolutely necessary). I enjoyed the performances - Katharine Heigl is better than I expected, and I adore Paul Rudd anyway (Phoebe's husband from "Friends").

Thus ends the - of course - fascinating reviews for the evening. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing "Rush Hour 3" - you know exactly what to expect from Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. Should be a blast!

'Little Children'

This is my review of Little Children. **Warning, spoiler ahead**

When I left the movie, I was feeling slightly sick and was NOT pleased with the way I had spent my money for the evening. The movie is completely disturbing, and really upsetting in a lot of ways. After a while, I decided that meant that the director and actors did a fantastic job getting their message across because if they hadn't, it wouldn't have been so disturbing.

The basic story is of Sarah, a stay at home mom who used to study literature, and Brad, a stay at home dad whose wife is trying to get him pass the bar exam and finally start working as a lawyer. They meet at a playground, and through a series of meeting and getting to know each other, start an affair. Meanwhile, a man, Ronnie, arrested for indecent exposure to a minor moved back into their neighborhood to live with his mother. His storyline intersects with theirs, but everything hinges on the children.

For Sarah, it's when she finally realizes how much she cares about and loves her daughter, Lucy, and that changes her perspective. For Brad, it's finally feeling alive again after years of marking of time after his mother's death and during his marriage - he's also a dedicated father. For Ronnie, it's trying to manage his 'illness' - aka, the desire for a 10 year old 'girlfriend' - and the steps he takes to control it after his mother's untimely death. For Brad's friend, it's the 13 year old boy he accidentally shot while he was a police officer. For Kathy, Brad's wife, it's the little boy whose father was killed in Iraq and how he and his mother are now dealing with that.

The message of the story, as I saw it, was a combination of "suffer the little children" and "if anyone harms one of these little children, it would be better for him to have a millstone around his neck and then tossed into the sea." I'm also assuming this is where the name comes from. The theme seemed to be how we, as adults, have failed to protect the Little Children, and the price we pay for not doing so. However, the movie ended on a hopeful note and the narrator said that while we can't change the mistakes of the past, we have a choice in what we do in the future.

Overall, brilliant movie, good casting - Kate Winslet is fantastic, has a perfect American accent - and the movie set out to do what it set out to do. But if you do see it, don't buy the popcorn.