David Gilmour, Eat Your Heart Out

I got distracted last night and accidentally watched The Dark Side of the Moon on NWI. Apparently the devil lives in the Bermuda Triangle and apparently there is also a "Bermuda triangle" on the moon. And if you draw dotted lines in outer space between the two, you can steer your spaceship clear and keep the devil from trying to take over your ship. Also, when the devil does take over your ship because you didn't steer clear, your sexy-android, low-cut cleavage ship's computer will sit uselessly in her chair and eventually get her head taken off. By the devil. Who is a Luddite, contrary to popular opinion.

The day before that, I finally found the time (3 hours!) to watch Short Cuts, which was a much better film than The Dark Side of the Moon. I could probably say a lot about it, but one of my favorite aspects was how Altman didn't insult his viewers by telling too much about the characters. You learned eventually how they were connected to each other, even the more obvious ones, through the events of the story, which is a far more organic way to do it. He didn't waste any time on exposition. It makes a film like this more challenging at first, but the payoff is much more satisfying. It reminded me of Crash and Magnolia, but wasn't quite as melodramatic as either. There were melodramatic moments, but it didn't have the same intense tone overall as the other two. That's not to say that it's better, just different. I'd have to watch the other two again to make a more qualitative assessment. There's a fair amount of infidelity that goes unpunished, John, so you might want to skip this one.

Lisa: I love Patricia Clarkson, too! Have you seen The Station Agent? It's probably in my top 50 favorite films. Also, I loved your science film rundown. I like a lot of that stuff, too. And NWI has a pretty good selection. I bet you'd like this: Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey. It's not in print, but you can get it through Netflix (or the library, perhaps).

John: I'm sorry Thor was so disappointing to you. I'm curious as to why you disliked it so much. Do you ever like a film simply because it's a good ride? Can you enjoy a film that has no real substance but is fun to watch? I presume you can, but what kind of other standards do such fluffy films also have to abide by in order for you to enjoy them?  No criticism intended here; I'm genuinely curious. I thought Thor was great fun. Not great, but good, and entertaining. I liked the Asgardian scenes better than the earth scenes, but certainly wasn't sorry I'd spent my money. Also, I get what you're saying about Brokeback, but I think there's a lot more going on for the main characters than struggling with their sexuality. I think it's also a film about intimacy in general, and maybe specifically how hard intimacy is for men, whether straight or homosexual. Intimacy and honesty early on in the film could have saved a lot of heartache for a lot of the characters.

Brandon: Junebug is where my crush on Amy Adams started. So far, she has not been able to make a film unappealing enough for me to not want to watch it solely because she's in it. Not even Leap Year. That's not to say that she hasn't starred in a number of excellent films as well. Doubt, Sunshine Cleaning, and Julie & Julia come to mind. And I actually really liked Enchanted. The music, especially. Wolf Creek made me finally decide I was done with torture porn horror for awhile. That one blurred the lines between fantasy and reality a little too much for my liking. And I saw the unrated version to boot.

Kick Ass is fun, but read the comic, too. It's better, of course. Did any of you recognize the 28 Days Later (In the House-In a Heartbeat) music in the soundtrack to the movie? There's also one that's a variation on a piece in Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor).