we've pretty much been hanging around the house for the past few days. baby and hubs have been sick, and the weather got the email and helped effectively carve out delicious home hibernation time. after the baby went to bed one night we watched most of Ghandi, and at the point where Indian men, women, and children were being massacred by English soldiers for the crime of publicly meeting together I lost my mind and started bawling. I cannot bear cruelty. I cannot bear being reminded that babies lose their parents every day, that there are those who would kill the most defenseless among us, that people treat people (and other living things) so thoughtlessly and cheaply. I look at my baby and wonder about her life, and wonder about my own. I want to stop everything and put up a forcefield to repel the evil.
I appreciated very much Ghandi's philosophy, and am still a little challenged to wrap my mind around it. to practice 'non-cooperation', a non-violent civil disobedience, to bring change about... there's nothing passive, wimpy, or safe about that. I mentioned to M last night that, to me, when the people began to really act out their convictions in a civil way, it only served to magnify the sheer brutality of the opposition, the lengths people and powers will go to maintain control whether there's actual cause for violence or not. while performing a cursory search, I found that there are many opposing opinions worldwide about both Ghandi and the philosophy he espoused. I'm glad of the movie, though, for challenging me. What would I do or condone to contain those I want to repress? Is violence part of our natural, God-given makeup to be allowed healthy exercise, or maybe just exercise in arenas we deem 'safe' or 'justified', like video games/sports/politics/religion/the dude who cut me off today? Do we claim an acceptable place for holy violence citing Christ in the temple, or call spiritual maturity the ability to suppress our tendencies to lash out and pursue the path of peace in His name?
and on an entirely different note:
while surfing the 'net this weekend, this post about body image issues for children at cjane (Feb 2 posting) caught my attention, reminding me that I simply must get over my own body issues to help magz grow up as free as possible of unhealthy self-scrutiny. I can happily report that my body seems to be, finally, bouncing back, and I'm so grateful for it.
I hadn't seen this version of the trailer for Where The Wild Things Are... for some reason, it makes me a bit teary:
this book made me a bit apprehensive when I was little... I think it was the drawings of the monsters. or maybe it was Max being so naughty. at any rate, I don't think you can help feeling something when you read or look at it. wikepedia says that it's only ten sentences long, so I'll be interested to see how Spike Jonze filled in the story. it LOOKS so wonderful! somehow nostalgic and magical. there were apparently issues with the monsters and the story that had to be seriously reworked... read more trivia about the film here.
for my yarn-loving friends, I was reading about this darling-sounding store this morning... maybe we could give it a go sometime. they sound like nice ladies, and it might be fun to go sit and knit on a Thursday evening and make friends. today I should be getting October's blow money, and have high hopes of purchasing lovely yarn with some of it.
I'm also thinking about how grateful I am for our latest FPU class. in addition to those we knew were coming, four people showed up for the first class that we'd never seen before, having found our listing online. I hope they all decide to come back. I was in the other room tending to little L, but could still hear a lot of what was going on and the vibe sounded so good and positive. it's so much nicer to walk through personal examination, change, and challenges with others who can offer you support. after doing our budget last night, we estimated that we're a couple of months away from our next goal of 'baby step three'. it's taken longer to accomplish this one than we'd have liked... lovely summer vacations and things might have slowed down our savings plan a little... but really I'm just so thankful.
I'm home alone after a good day of work, waiting for the husband to come back from his evening. week mostly spent in Dallas, then back last night... audition and spots this morning, narration through the afternoon, an unforeseen bonus session at my agency, early dinner snack with M, finance team meeting at the church, loud iphone shuffling on the stereo all the way home. all in all, a lovely, blessed day in this lovely, hot city, praises and riches and there's no place like home. I'm listening to one of my favorite 'decompress' artists, Mr. Erik Satie. I actually heard a refrain from one of his pieces in an anime I was recording, of all places, and was so captured by it I went and found his music. which was called 'furniture music', if I recall, as it sort of blends into the background of the room. I used to think it was just 'autumn' music, good for leaves turning colors and the invigorating melancholy that comes with the onset of colder weather, but now I'm want to listen to it all year round to accompany different moods. the anime title in question, incidentally, just happens to be one of my all time favorite dubbing experiences... a really sweet, dark, lovely little show about ballerinas and talking animals. but that's not what I intended to post about, so click on the arrow below and let's move further down the page together, shall we, my people?
ah. it's better already, isn't it?
mellow.
we've seen quite a few movies lately, and here's my moviegoing scorecard: out of 5 stars, Harry Pott-ah, four stars. I've heard some not-so enamored reviews, but I thought it did what it needed to do and pretty well enjoyed myself. Food, Inc., four stars. Funny People, an expletive-laden 2.5 stars at midpoint (liked the cameos, and there were some really real-feeling, touching moments), which dropped to an apathetic and annoyed .5 stars by movie's end that was, like, a million minutes later. the movie was in desperate need of an editor. and maybe a tighter story. and the last half of it cut out almost completely, even though that would mean slicing up the bits staring the director's wife and kids. my opinion only, of course. take it or leave it, Mr. Apatow.. you know, whatever.
Food, Inc., was the propaganda piece you sort of expect it to be, and while I found it a bit long I thought it did a good job of getting across some salient points... like, you should probably know what's in the food you're eating. and maybe a bit about how the people who make the food are running their businesses. we were already into this topic, so it gave us the extra push we needed to really commit wholeheartedly to seeking out alternative food choices and elevating our opinion of the things we put into our bodies... to attempt to think about the bigger picture, to try to purchase local, organic foods when possible, and learn a bit more about companies that attempt to put out healthier, whole-food options. we agreed to allot extra monies to our monthly food budget and made our first trek to Central Market to get the lay of the land, as it were, and begin to replace some items in our pantry with organic or local options. I'll tell you, I was a bit daunted. I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't really know what foods are in season when, and if buying locally grown produce was better than buying organic stuff from another state (if there wasn't a local, organic option). this is going to be educational for me, and I'm glad of it. we're already dreaming of the hypothetical garden at Woodfin... the idea of inviting friends and family over to eat things we've grown and harvested in ground we've worked is massively appealing to both of us. I really hope it happens. in the interim, it's all about the baby steps. I've replaced my Aunt Jemima Lite syrup (like the 'Lite' part is making me any skinnier, c'mon) with organic pure grade A maple syrup, my Eggo waffles got chucked for all-natural, gluten and dairy free Central Market Blueberry Buckwheat Waffles (not a perfectly whole food, I realize, but still), and our bacon got an incredibly succulent upgrade to uncured smoked bacon from Pedersons Farms, a Texas outfit that sells natural pork products. Pedersons Farms makes this tasty bacon in Hamilton, Texas. where I graduated from high school. coincidence? I think not.
my husband, being a lover of food and a bit of an artist with the cooking of it, has made some really lovely meals for us in the last month or so. here are a few offerings:
tender pork with brussell sprouts:
the FANTASTIC meatloaf with braised cabbage and green beans with almonds.
and then, the evening after our Central Market trip, he threw down scallops on spinach linguine with cantaloupe:
acting the part of the waiter and pouring me a glass of bubbly sparkling water, which is a fun way for us to feel special and tastes so good and refreshing to me:
when I got home from Dallas late last night, husband had made me a delicious salad of cucumber and fresh mozzarella in balsamic vinegar & olive oil with sea salt and ground pepper... plus one of our favorite dishes of Randall's store brand cheese-stuffed shells and pasta sauce. we loooove their store brand frozen pasta and sauces (which actually don't have much of anything bad in them... try the vodka sauce! new discovery...). I don't know that frozen stuffed shells or asparagus ravioli quite make the organic list... but they sure are tasty. like I said, baby steps.
I realize that, for some people, making these sorts of food choices doesn't seem realistic, and I don't mean to come across flippantly or judgemental about these things. to eat well is more expensive, as the delicious uncured natural bacon reminded me, and it could easily be viewed as a luxury. for me, right now I think I might rather sacrifice in another area to be able to put better food in my body. I liked the parting ideas from Food, Inc... that we all get to vote on what we want to support three times a day, and I'm grateful to be able to make such a choice. plus, if I were really all that awesome would I have scarfed two or three fat cookies from Fudruckers or some such thing in the finance team meeting? seriously. the real trick for me will be to learn about local farmers markets and actually go buy something there.
-m.y.
p.s. speaking of food, we apparently had dinner with Mo last night... see us there, in the picture? God love this little girl.
lately, I've struggled with my emotional barometer. you know how it is - you know you're in a funk but you can't seem to shake it... you know you should go run or work out, because it's guaranteed to make you feel better, but you don't. and then you just feel like a blob with no discipline. you know you should eat better, but Texas Tamale Company is on the way and wouldn't a Baskin Robbins chaser make the afternoon brighter? you know you should actually appear to work at work and not read Watchman and magazines on the job. you know that fear about your job and the future is debilitating, that trying to control things too much seems to actually hinder and that God has always steered your ship faithfully, but the vaguely panicked feeling won't seem to go away. you know you should be in serious prayer. but you're not.
welp, I took steps toward the other side of the funk this weekend. Saturday morning, after my husband left to volunteer at his high school's yearly Latin tournament, I got my shoes on and went to our nearby park. I walked the 3 miles mostly, just running the final lap. it felt good to be outside and moving, jamming to the tunes in my ears. I kept feeling tugs inside and I got the sense God might like to have a little time with me... so I called my mother instead and walked around the track trying to talk to her and keep up my pace....
I met B2 for yummy tofu and veggie lunch, and a stroll around the Village. it was such a beautiful day. again, just being outside and walking around was good for my soul, as was spending time with B2. we hadn't had some touchstone time in awhile, and were way overdue. Saturday night I hit my meeting, and when the leader this week introduced the topic by saying, "Well, I don't know about all of you, but I've really been in a funk this week...", I smiled. that's why I show up every week, to be reminded that I'm not unique and to gain strength from the people around me who aren't afraid to put themselves out there. turns out a lot of people were feeling blah and blue for all sorts of reasons: various fears, post-holiday letdown, economic woes, job loss, family challenges, the 11th anniversary of the death of a husband. one older gentlemen, who we haven't seen for awhile, shared that he'd come to tell us that he's been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, that he'd just had his first cancer treatment but is on his 'last lap'. he told us to be careful for what we ask for - Bob had apparently had a heart attack when he was 41, and was always worried he'd die suddenly and not have time to 'get ready'. so, he said, now he has been given the time, and he is taking it. of course, he said all of this very calmly and matter-of-factly. as some of us wiped away tears, our leader sweetly remarked at the honor of having walked alongside the people in that room for so long. even I, who've been there only 5.5 years (a drop in the bucket compared to most of them), feel the same - that I've been privileged to know and be known in that community.
so all of this culminated in my answering the God-tugs in one way Sunday morning by testifying/confessing at church. Mike McA was talking about Jesus, and His lordship in our lives, and who we say He is, and repentance. I was overcome thinking about the past - the thankfulness I feel to have been delivered and changed so amazingly, the memories and messages that pop into my head sometimes that still bring deep pangs of shame, and even a couple of things inside me now that are festering and in need of exposure to light. repentance is life-giving, and I know this. it's still scary to face the church like that, but I honestly do believe very much in confession and being 'known', whether publicly like that or in more intimate company, as awkward and uncomfortable as it can feel. I'm positive there are people there feeling the same things. and what to do with your experience but share it in the hopes that others will feel freer to do the same? when we got home I emptied my heart into my husband's loving, compassionate ear, and the things that felt so big and gross were suddenly... not as big. not as big at all, and different with him looking at them with me, affirming and encouraging me. and I thanked God all over again for teaching me about love and Himself through my husband. then I laid down on the couch with a blanket and slept like a baby...
and woke up, and went to see Gran Torino*, and slept like a baby again all night long. I dreamt about a large house, some people I work with, and a girl band. one of the first thoughts I had when I woke up was the scripture, "in my Father's house are many room. if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
I don't know that I'm done with my time in this particular funk, but I'm definitely on the move and that feels so much more natural and right.
* has anyone seen Gran Torino?? I confess, I enjoyed the movie as a whole and I'm glad I saw it, but was completely befuddled. I thought the writing was pretty awful and the performances on the whole reeely unpolished and sometimes comical... when it shouldn't be. It all felt a little too deliberate and I wasn't quite sure what to take away about race and prejudice. I was distracted by the language and racial slurs... again, the words too deliberate come to mind. I felt like they must've had Complete Listing of Racial Slurs and were bent on using every one of them in this film. Not that there weren't some affecting scenes... and I did giggle a few times at Clint Eastwood's crazy-gruff character (he was reminding me of Henry Fonda throughout a lot of the movie). But when the film ends with Mr. Eastwood himself brokenly crooning a song about 'Gran Torino' I gave up and laughed out loud. it was all just so weird to me. then I poked around online and read that 'only gross and bourgeois, uppity jerks won't love this move'. I paraphrase a little. thoughts? other opinions?
and we had a totally fun belated birthday dinner for M:
somehow, we inhaled the food before I could get a few pictures, but our menu included chicken piccata (made by M himself), bird's nest pasta w/ homemade tomato sauce, steamed vegetables, and this awesome spinach salad that I can't wait to make again. I cut back on the bacon/bacon grease, used balsamic vinegar instead of cider, and since not everyone loves goat cheese as much as I do I served it crumbled on the side for individual sprinkling, but it was still a totally yummy salad that everyone seemed to really like.
the homemade tomato sauce wasn't on purpose. I had thrown butter and chopped up mushrooms in a pan with some chopped garlic, and discovered that the cupboard was bare of Diablo (devil) Sauce, our current favorite cheap & spicy pasta sauce by Francesco Rinaldi. I'd already been to the store and didn't feel like going again, so I started going through the pantry. into the blender went the following:
1 large can of peeled, crushed tomatoes dried herbs: basil, thyme, oregano, pizza seasoning celery salt fresh ground pepper red pepper flakes a splash of red wine vinegar a baby splash of chili oil a couple of glugs of extra virgin olive oil
I blended the above together, then added a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley and let that blend a bit. I poured the sauce from the blender into the saucepan with the mushrooms and garlic, and let it simmer for awhile. It was a smoother sauce than we're used to, but I've got to say we really liked it a lot and I hope to keep making it and trying new things.
for dessert, we had wild blueberry pie with almond crumble topping, which was really great and easy (especially since I cheated and used a store-bought crust. sue me!). a word to the wise - um, you really do need to let it cool, like the recipe says. especially before trying to put candles in it. I'll spare you the story of me throwing away the first batch of candles and furtively fishing wax out of my lovely pie. the topping on this dish comes out really crunchy with just the right amount of sweet, and rather than grab our usual Kroger brand ice cream I splurged on Blue Bell. this was the bomb with a nice cup of decaf:
it was a really wonderful night. we loved having you guys over! extra points and snaps for C, my brother-in-law's girlfriend, for loaning me the third Twilight book! yeah, I've already started it...
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taken when we went to see our 3-D slasher movie the other day:
not only is it the best for getting sticker residue off of things, like picture frames and such, but it also works great if you're something of a careless cook or eater and tend to splash oily things on your clothes. I've even tried it AFTER a piece of clothing has been washed and dried and THEN discovered to have spots and stains, and it still works!
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I cut my husband's hair last night. actually, I sort of sheared it all off. when I met mr. b, he was bald and had an earring in each ear. we can't find the earrings.
it was a weird, faintly alarming feeling to see how easily all of his hair fell off and piled up on the floor. I did it in stages... frankly, I thought he looked kinda hot with a mohawk-ish thing goin' on. I had an unexplainable impulse to go crazy and take the razor to my own head, that same sort of thing that happens when I'm somewhere high and I can't help but think of jumping or falling.
let's all be glad that I have all of my hair this morning. I don't think my actual head would be as attractive as mr. b's.
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speaking of mr. b, he's still in bed and I'm looking forward to this day. we're going to see My Bloody Valentine 3-D this afternoon. um, he picked this one. I'm okay with it, though - I can see scary movies if I'm with other people, just not by myself. ever. I have watched The Shining and Seven by myself. it's not pretty. after renting Seven in grad school, I literally moved the couch so that my back was to the wall and I could see every doorway and window and stayed there most of the night keeping vigil, with the phone glued to my hand and a kitchen knife tucked into the cushion beside me. Seven is actually the midnight movie at the River Oaks Theatre this weekend...
there are so many movies we want to see right now! my short list: Slumdog Millionaire, Revolutionary Road, Happy Go Lucky, Gran Torino, Frost/Nixon. maybe The Reader. maybe Benjamin Button. maybe Bride Wars. maybe Valkyrie. my sister-in-law said Marley & Me is wonderful and positive and she really loved it, but we'll see if I can overcome my STRONG aversion to beloved-pet-dies-in-the-end plots. we may rent that one.
other things I would like to do today:
take Chi on a walk. and bathe him. sorry bubba, I know you hate it. convince mr. b. to go walking/running with me in the park. dust and vacuum this house. wash our sheets. I want to do this every time I come home after a long-ish trip. the laundry needs to be put away, too. begin work on taxes nap later. go to my meeting tonight! I've missed it so! read more of Watchmen.
I also need to swing by an office supply store and pick up more clear sheet protectors for recipes in the book I've been trying to make for a year. we've got so many magazines, torn out recipes, etc.... I want them organized in a handy book, please. otherwise, it just looks like I've got a magazine addiction around here. which is more true than I care to admit.
husband likes pie better than cake, I think, and we're having family birthday dinner for him here next week.... I wonder if he'd like this tasty-looking Warm Apple Buttermilk Custard Pie from health.com:
aside from last week's grody and annoying sickness, one of the things I will remember about this holiday are the mini-addictions that took over my life and sleep schedule... namely:
and
we barreled through and watched the whole first season of 24, and have begun the second. I hate to speak ill of my sex, but why are the women on 24 so stupid?! ack, I wanted to strangle Kim Bauer myself!
as for the Twilight series... um, yeah, I know. vampires. vampire love in high school. mm-hmm. I feel your judgement. and yet I - dare I say it? yes, I think I shall - I DEVOURED them, staying up all hours of the night to finish the stories. M took me to see the movie yesterday afternoon, and I was predictably let down. books turned into movies are a tricky thing, aren't they? the things I liked about the 2 Twilight books I've read - the overall eloquence and thoughtful quality of the books, the sweeping and all-encompassing 'forever' love between Bella and Edward, the concept of restraint between lovers - all of that takes time to set and develop, to hook you in and help you believe, and it's hard to achieve that in a couple of hours. I was also not appreciative of some of the liberties taken with the story and dialogue, but what can you do. C. Hardwicke directed, and she directed Thirteen, which was horrifying and something probably every parent would do well to watch, but I couldn't help but wish it wasn't such a... teen movie. silly, I know, since that's it's primary audience... but still. the setting looked like I imagined it would, though. another series that I think has had a good visual jump to the big screen are the Harry Potter books... it all looks as I thought it would, and they've done a fairly decent job of concentrating on the major plot points in the films and faithfully rendering them. probably my all time favorite book-to-screen experience is this one:
the novels by L. Alcott are my favorite of all time. for me, this film wins for being very very true to the book. all of the girls were wonderful... special mention must obviously be made of K. Hepburn as Jo. it's affecting and has the feel of the book... sweet and fun and earnest and home-spun in the best way.
don't talk to me about the newest version.... w. ryder as Jo is just... no. and s. sarandon is not Marmee.
any books you think made great movies? or wretched movies?
we saw two - count 'em - two movies last week! how 'with it' are we?! first was Body of Lies.. which was fine, I like Leo, but which was also pretty violent and I worried about the psyche of the kid sitting in front of us. then, Saturday night, we went to the River Oaks to see Rachel Getting Married. we both really liked this movie... here's the trailer:
the characterizations are good, it's fun to look at and listen to, and, considering the subject matter, I thought the writer, the director, the actors all did a good job of keeping the dialogue on the organic-feeling side and not so cliched and speechy. M and I also both noted how this movie more accurately portrayed a real 12 step meeting than most - it's not all smoke filled rooms and platitudes. anyway, we were still talking about it the next day and would recommend it.
*****
we had our small group over last night, and it was so fun! I think there were 18 (or 19) adults, 2 toddlers, and 2 babies, which was just wonderful! it was so great to be able to host this gathering - to allow us to become more familiar with people and catch up, to get to know new faces, to (hopefully) just relax and just have a good time with people who love Jesus. M made spaghetti sauce with tasty turkey meatballs, and we served it on top of a pile of wheat-blend spaghetti in Honey's huge cast iron dutch oven alongside salad, couscous/chick pea/ feta salad that C brought, and that awesome garlic bread the McD's brought. and dessert! pie and brownies and ice cream and homemade candy and pretzels.... man, it was good stuff. thanks to all who brought goodies, drinks, ice, etc. our 242 meetings have really become something I look forward to - with so much going on in people's lives, so much travel and work and competing obligations - it's good to hang out and talk movies, politics, church, babies, life with these peeps. and the singing at T's last month was awesome, too! it's my hope that God helps our group become more and more a source of strength, camaraderie, trust, and service.
here are a few pics... some of them are dark and sorta blurry, but I wasn't feeling the flash so whatever!
I have to go read into a microphone for a bit. I'm getting up obnoxiously early again in the morning to go work in Dallas for a couple of days, so I'm determined to squeeze every drop of enjoyment and peace out of this day in the fair city of Houston.
portrait of flowers cut out of the backyard this morning:
*****
here's the trailer for the awesome independent film M and I met on...
awesome.
*****
*MAJOR Office spoiler ahead*
*I'm warning you...*
Jim proposed last night!! I literally stood up and clasped my hands to my mouth. so sweet! I made M back the DVR up so I could see it again... and he didn't delete it so I can watch it again if I want to! if I can figure out the freaking DVR...
to commemorate a new season of The Office, I gave myself a pedi! it was much, much needed.... been walking around with chipped and sad looking toes for weeks. I used to get them done regularly at University Nails on Bellaire, and then Magic Nails on Shepard when I moved to Montrose. Somewhere along the way in the past year and a half, my priorities shifted...
I've been trolling around reading some viewer's opinions of Wall*E. The other day the husband I watched a snippet of some "news" channel opining about the liberal bias of the movie and blasting Pixar...
I get that it takes all types, that people are different, that art is subjective.
I know that some people listen to conservative talk radio and really like it, and will even go so far as to buy a ticket to Glen Beck's Comedy Tour. *shudder* (to clarify: I don't hate talk radio. I love talk radio! It can make long drives a better experience. However, since I've grown more and more sensitive to general meanness (see my 112) and etremism, I can't stomach a lot of things anymore. Wus!)
having said all that... it's disappointing.
to begin: I am sick, disgusted, that if a movie, a book, an art piece, a club, a PERSON has something to say about the planet, or dares to suggest that humans might take a look at our consumption, our stewardship of what we've been given, it/they must have some evil liberal bias and a scratched copy of Al Gore's documentary. It is so completely ridiculous to me. As a person of faith, I find that issues of stewardship are at the heart of a lot of what I choose to do and how I live. Likewise, the planet and all of it's resources that impact our lives and those of our food sources/neighboring countries fall under the same 'stewardship' heading in the column in my head, and while I don't have a lot of answers I bristle at the labels thrown around. I didn't feel *preached to* during the movie as some apparently did... granted, the setting is clearly in a world that humans junked up and left to be cleaned up by robots, but how offended can we really be?? Come on now. You know what you've put out on the curb. I know what I have, and it's sort of gross! Does learning about recycling kill me, insult me, or mean I can't concurrently believe in (ethical) capitalism? Does the movie's portrayal of humans, mostly inactive for the past 700 years, as fat people hooked on meals they can sip in a cup offend me? Um, let's go walk around the Galleria a bit and do a little people-watching...
*tangential thought... Wall*E aside, I may be predisposed to like a little 'preach' in my product. That's totally why I love books like Little Women, The Chronicles of Narnia... there is something in my psyche that wants something of substance, of quality, of a prod toward a better way... or even just a good old fashioned struggle of conscience and right/wrong. I think moral lessons and thought-provoking concepts are so much of what art is all about, in my mind. That and the summer blockbuster, duh. As one person on the Marquee Blog so succinctly put it, "Hey, I get it, we need to take care of the planet. Thanks. Memo read. Next time I shell out $20 for the movie, please entertain me...."*
I am also more than a little annoyed at the reaction of some adults toward the movie, who seem to think that if a feature is animated it intrinsically must, by default, be full of bright colors and capture the attention of their 3 year old or it's failed it's duty. This is a very good, creative company - they made Finding Nemo and the Toy Stories. They made The Incredibles. They made Cars and Monsters, Inc, and Ratatouille. If you look across their body of work so far, they've shown a lot of range, and they take some risks. I haven't loved everything they've put out, but I have a ton of respect for them. They don't go for the kid ticket every time and they continue to push the envelope when it comes to animation... did you SEE Ratatouille??! But what really gets me the most, I think, is the complaint of having very little dialogue for the first 40 minutes of the film (a fact much publicized, so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone). For those old enough to know better... again, come on. This just cements in my mind that everyone is growing more and more ADD. Bah. And for those parents who, for whatever reason, chose to take their 2 year old to this movie - though a cursory online search would've most likely led you to conclude it might not be the best flick for them - keep taking your kids to Kung Fu Panda or this horrible-looking Chihuahua movie, where everything is broad and entertaining. Leave the rest of us in the dark staring at the outer-space robot ballet onscreen, thankful for artistry and, if not enamored of the product, at least appreciative of the quality and risk the company took in doing something new. In my opinion - which is, I'm sure, equally myopic and meaningless - it's like accusing crunchy bruschetta of not being enough triscuits and squeezy cheese. the red stuff tasted too much like tomatoes and I wasn't expecting it - where was the cheese in a can that I don't even need a cracker for I can just squeeze it in my mouth!?
or something.
(for the record, I think there's a place for both triscuits and cheese in a can AND bruschetta. I will merely, humbly point out, for the record, that one requires more care and concentration to make.)
We saw this lovely film this weekend... it was so good! Go see it, and marvel at how an animated movie out story-tells a lot of what gets released nowadays... Pixar is a remarkable company.
(and here's a great review my husband found that is spoiler free)
