Schweedie

For some reason I'm currently at a point where everywhere I look, I see things about people adopting dogs. Like, everywhere. I grew up with dogs, I LOVE dogs, and I really want a dog. But I only work part time, meaning I don't have a huge amount of money, and I live in a studio apartment (one room and a separate kitchen) that's 39 square metres. There are plenty of reasons why I shouldn't get a dog. But oh, I WANT a dog. And then I saw this on Humans of New York, and it struck a chord - "I always told myself that when I reached a certain point in life, I’d get a dog. I thought maybe when I get my own home. Or when I’m more settled. But that point never seemed to come. So I decided to go ahead and adopt." I've been thinking I should borrow my parents' dog for a couple of weeks and at least see how it goes.

I'm actually quite annoyed that I haven't seen any real awards buzz for it. This would honestly be my pick for both Best Actress for Taraji P Henson and Best Picture.

I actually can't remember whether or not I was spoiled when I watched it, but I saw it with a group of friends when we were... 18, maybe? - after we'd decided we were going to watch old classics and we were all completely underwhelmed. Someone was like, "Wait, that was it?!" after it finished. (We then watched Some Like It Hot and enjoyed that much more.)

Ha, same. Well, I'm not Canadian, but I have such a fondness for him from Young Hercules. I don't know why, but I've always had a hard time with Tobey Maguire. Like, for no real reason - he's just always struck me as so bland and same-y in everything I've seen him in. I have a vague memory that he was good in Brothers, but that might be coloured by the fact that he and Jake Gyllenhaal were playing said brothers which was just great casting. I don't know, something about him bugs me.

I'd guess early 20s, so pretty young, but not so young that I'll let them off the hook because of hormones. And yeah, why the hell would you pay good money on a film you're not even interested in watching? Making out is available for free!

I've always just sort of assumed that sad, depressing movies aren't movies you go and make out to. Tonight I learnt that I was wrong, since the couple next to me at Manchester by the Sea were practically climbing each other throughout the entire film, starting during the trailers and just never stopped. Well, no, to be fair they stopped for air during the most dramatic moments, but oh my effing god, still. What on Earth about this film says "Oh yeah, hot, let's get it on"?! I actually don't think I've ever been distracted by people snogging in the cinema before (which I guess is a pretty impressive streak), but man, I really didn't expect (or want) this film to be the first one.

Not being American there's at least more of a reason for me to not know these particular stories, but the point still stands - there is bound to be so many stories like them, and I want more. Loved this. Especially Taraji P. Henson, she was just fantastic. Loved how the scene where she got up during that briefing for the first time to do the math mirrored the scene when she was little and in school; I just found that really touching. And I wasn't sold on Janelle Monáe at first, but she had me at the court scene. Really appreciated that one exchange between Dorothy and Kirsten Dunst's character in the bathroom: "Despite what you might think, I have nothing against y'all." "I know. I know you probably believe that." Nail on the head.

Aaaand it's been pulled, apparently. Thank god for that.

The first one that comes to mind for me is The Running Man. I usually just refuse to acknowledge that the 1987 travesty with Schwarzenegger exists, but I guess the fact is it does, and for that alone it should be remade. I mean - I don't know that it was popular, but it was certainly flawed. I thought there was a great film to be made from that book when I read it (I was a young teenager who'd just discovered dystopias) and I was very excited to find out there already WAS one... But then I watched it. I'm still a little sad that Nicolas Cage is too old to play the lead now, because he would've been perfect in the 90s. Oh well. They'd probably just get Jason Statham now anyway, too old or not, and make it the kind of film he does all the time.

Jesus. How, and why? Just - who the hell okayed this?

Hey, at least *you* didn't lose to them!

I wondered about this, actually - laws may be different over in the US, but where I am he'd almost certainly be charged with something like involuntary manslaughter or criminal negligence, especially considering the drinking and the drugs, so I felt like they sort of skipped over that part. Would they really just say "you just made a horrible mistake" and let him go in this situation? But yeah, I just assumed that was the main issue for those who wanted nothing to do with him; there was a whole bunch of them partying there that night, so I'm sure it would've gotten out. The bolded - that was exactly how I felt, too. What I thought was interesting was that as sad as it was I never felt like the film was *trying* to make me cry. I'm allergic to feeling emotionally manipulated and usually end up the opposite (Pay it Forward and Million Dollar Baby being prime examples), even when it works, but even with the music choices (which for some reason didn't really bother me) and some of the more heartbreaking scenes I never got that feeling here. It was just this sad story being rolled out in front of us, showing us this slice of life in an almost matter-of-fact way much of the time. I went to see it again and somehow I was just as tense the second time, even knowing what was coming, and clearly I wasn't alone - during that moment where Lee's walking back to the house and suddenly realises something is wrong, a woman behind me gasped and whispered "Oh, no!" with such despair I wanted to turn around and go "RIGHT?"

So what do we think, are Chelsea ever going to have a blip and drop off a little, or are they just going to keep this up until they win the league? Injuries or suspensions to Hazard or Costa could hurt them, but they seem pretty unstoppable. For me I'm worried about losing Sadio Mané to AFCON in January. People said Coutinho would be our biggest loss attacking-wise, but I think it could be Mané. (And Lallana, we didn't function nearly as well while he was out.)

For me, I think the best option would be to have her appear through some kind of media, so to speak - as a hologram, or on screen through video conferences of sorts. CGI-ing her that way might be less disturbing, and would allow for her looking somewhat distorted. I don't think I could bear to see her recast, but I also don't want the terrible sort of CGI we saw in Rogue One.

Yeah, that was about my guess, too. Casey Affleck's appearance threw me off, I think - in the flashbacks Lee sort of seems early to mid-20s. In that scene where he says goodbye to Joe and leaves for Boston he looks like a hurt, broken-down kid. And yeah, seven or so years really isn't long at all for that kind of loss.

In retrospect I think it went on a little longer than necessary. I get why the scene was needed, because it showed how Patrick was running out of possibilities that would let him stay, but I think a brief shot of them quietly, awkwardly eating lunch would have been enough to get the point across that it wasn't a success like Patrick hoped it would be, especially with his line to Lee in the car afterwards, about how Lee would do anything to get rid of him. That line alone was enough to show how awkward it had been and that he definitely didn't want to stay with them. This was one of the few quibbles I had, actually, that Patrick didn't seem to understand at all at first why Lee didn't want to stay there. Sure, he was a kid when it happened, but it seems like everyone in town is highly aware of it, even the high school kids. But yeah, it might just be that he didn't truly understand how that kind of loss doesn't go away - it's easy to think when you're a teenager that maybe time heals all wounds, and it's been years. (Do we know how many years passed, by the way? How old was Patrick in the flashbacks? Casey Affleck has a really young-looking face, and still looked like early 30s in the present timeline to me.) I got to read the screenplay, and in all the bleakness I've clung to how it describes Lee in a final scene; "He looks a little better than we've seen him." So it does end on a hopeful note, at least.

I finally got to see this yesterday and I'm still thinking about it. It was so tense - I felt weirdly like I was on the edge of my seat somehow, because there was constantly this tension running through it. Not just before the big reveal about Lee's past, but afterwards, too. I really enjoyed this, too. The dialogue felt real, not over-scripted. They sounded like real people. There were quite a few smaller things I appreciated, like Patrick's friends coming over to hug him after he was told what happened, and their Star Trek conversation that night. Patrick getting stuck on the freezer thing; that felt very real to me, how this one thing becomes very important. Also, the continued theme of Lee's "It's up to you, what do you want to do?" whenever he was faced with making a decision on someone else's behalf. He just wouldn't. I thought that was a nice touch in the end, showing that maybe he'd gotten *somewhere*, when he finally made actual arrangements for Patrick. I actually feel like I want to see it again, as heavy as it was, to be able to take it all in. ETA - so, listening to Hamilton's "It's Quiet Uptown" with this movie still on your mind? Ouch. "If you see him in the street, walking by himself, talking to himself, have pity; he is going through the unimaginable."

Exactly! And initially when I first heard of the movie it sounded to me like that was what it was about. (Spoiler tags on all of it just to be safe.) So, yeah. I'm extremely frustrated with this movie, because it's very different from what it could have been and sounded like it was going to be.

Wait, IS the twist actually that ? Or something else? Because I could've sworn that was in the actual film synopsis on IMDB back when I first found out about the movie; I've been under the assumption that everyone would know that going in. I wonder when they decided it should be kept under wraps and changed the description. That would have been a pretty great way to do it.

The first person present tense, with rare exceptions. It's just - it's not the way for me to experience a story. When I first listened to The Hunger Games (I audiobook a lot) I actually gave it up about an hour in because of that. I did end up going back and finishing the whole trilogy because the world-building was enough to draw me in, but I despised that choice the whole way through and as much as I enjoy the story, I can't make myself re-read the books. There's something so frustrating and limiting to me about the FPPT - I'm not hugely fond of the first person in general, but the present tense is the make-or-break part of it. I've seen the argument that it creates a sense of immediacy for the reader, but it doesn't work on me at all.

Warrior certainly isn't a funny movie, but when Brendan has his first match and they suddenly show his surly boss (who refused to open the school gym so that the kids could watch together) on the sofa yelling at the television, completely into the whole thing and jumping up and down with joy when Brendan wins? Unexpected and hilarious.

Ah, I still remember the relief I felt when I realised I wasn't a total weirdo alone in having had a crush on Justin from NIMH and fox!Robin Hood. That seems more common than I ever would've thought back then!

Just Like Heaven is one of the very few romantic comedies I like, and it's largely due to Mark Ruffalo. I think that was the first movie I noticed him in, and I've also loved him since. I don't know what it is, but he just has something about him that I find super attractive.

Heh, I had the same reaction. A brief "Oh no" when I heard him at the start, and then with the clips of the real Doss I got it. Nailed my feelings exactly. I had the same problem with this movie - the pacing. It felt off throughout. I could've done without so much of the backstory and spent more time on the actual war and Doss' non-climactic heroics there. Andrew Garfield was brilliant and there was so much good acting throughout the cast, but for me the writing/pacing took away from what could have been a really fantastic WW2 movie.

I have a bunch of books that I re-read regularly, but I don't think all of them count as comfort books (The Secret History and Never Let me Go? Nope.) But some of them are definitely that: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Pride & Prejudice, and Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down. Chicken soup for the soul, particularly the last one for some reason - even though it's about four depressed people (not even sympathetic ones, all of them) who accidentally meet on a rooftop where they're all planning to commit suicide, it's, well. Comforting, in a weird way. And it has this: “When someone uses the phrase ‘the prick one’, and you know immediately that this is a synonym for the word ‘metaphorically’, you are entitled to wonder whether you know the speaker too well. You are even entitled to wonder whether you should know her at all.” It's not for everyone, but I love it. Good Omens as mentioned above might end up on this list for me, too! Only read it a little while ago and loved it.