weekend epic

Friday:

Abbotsford, BC.
arrived via trusty 1982 Volvo a.k.a. "Olga"

watched: The Prestige
It was decent. The first act was a little clunky and took a while to find its tone. The second was fairly successful, and finally builds enough momentum to justify its frantic pacing. David Bowie as Tesla was a highlight. The third act gets a little crazy, pushes the audience's ability to suspend disbelief and ventures out into the realm of science fiction. The actors do a fairly good job of selling it to the audience, and I have to give due credit for involvement- just before the final denouement I was yelling out a plot solution at the screen and I was half-right (sorry, Ryan's family!) Throughout, some interesting points are raised about the nature of magic and human optimism, and there is an interesting flip in the portrayal of which of the two magicians is the "good" or "bad" guy.

Overall comments: I am getting really sick of Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as the female seductress. The only time this was interesting was in Lost in Translation and, arguably, Girl with the Pearl Earring, where she wasn't a very overt sexpot. Please change it up, or change the way you act these characters. Hugh Jackman's American accent really bothered me (apparently this was explained in five seconds in an early scene which I missed), but then he played a totally great out of work actor-lush with a passable accent and I forgave him that. I didn't find the final twist overly compelling, but again, I have to give credit for simplicity, as venturing out into another weird science-fiction twist would have been too much for the audience to bear. However, if it could have been guessed in the first act: "haha, wouldn't it be simple if X were the case all along," I don't think it counts as a compelling plot twist.

Also, there are a few instances that I think may be plot holes (like whatever happened to that kid in the first act who disappears the rest of the movie? Why does the "manservant" only appear in the middle of the second act when he must be there for the whole thing for the bait-and switch to make sense? (SPOILER: Why does the "mentor" character appear to know about the final plot twist beforehand but allows this person to be framed for murder and sentenced to death, and person's brother isn't mad in the least? is the point that he preserves all magician's secrets at the cost of their lives and everybody thinks it's worth it?/END) or it could be that I didn't pick up on some things at first go-round.

There are many more funny, twisty moments that are pretty redeeming, or at least amusing, that I can't reveal without also revealing too much of the plot. Overall, recommended as a decent Hollywood-style movie.

Saturday:

Wal*Mart (bought a sport watch for $30; every time I go in there a little bit of my soul stays behind and, hopefully, is claimed by a child labourer in China.)

Sport-Check
Ethical Addictions for an americano and chat with Ryan. I saw a Jeremy Penner doppelganger but I don't think it was him.


The Da Vinci Code (p. 150-375?) I am reading this and while I'm actually not a fan of this book and Dan Brown hitting the reader over the head with his overstatement of every single "fact" and clue as if we are idiots (come on. two experts on Da Vinci fail to recognize mirrored writing?), for some reason I'm devouring it quickly. I am just to the part where we are discovering the Big Plot Twist, and since I've seen the movie and know what it is I feel like he's being cheap about it as he is totally misleading the reader and we are supposed to be all "oh wow, he's like SO clever I totally never would have guessed." Ha.

At least the book lacks Tom Hanks saying hambone lines such as "surely this cannot be the keystone!" with a pained expression on his face at having to play Robert Langdon, but it has more than its share of writing that is as elegantly phrased as, say an installment of CSI, and is similarly replete with awful one-liners. Also it lacks Ian McKellen's awesome scenery chewing which was maybe the only redeeming part of the movie. Nobody can have more fun in a bad movie than a really good British actor.

More later.

F1 racing
Canucks game

Sunday:

epic run in Abbotsford - 55 minutes
home-made waffles
D.V.C. (p. 375-420)

Coquitlam - Ryan's Grandparents
UBC: guided tour by my former co-worker Aiden

Ryan's apartment
Sushi from Samurai on Davie

Sonya's apartment
Laundry
Phone call from Mom