Pushing thirty, and still clueless

In the grand scheme of things I'm not very old, but for the first time in my life, I don't particularly like the fact that I'm turning a year older. Twenty-seven is a lot closer to thirty than twenty-six was, and I have this (possibly erroneous) idea that by the time one is thirty, one should have an idea where one's life is headed. I'm not sure if I know where my life is headed, but here's what I've been thinking of in the last year:

I'm feeling a strong urge to start my "real career" in something arts related. (I always felt that working at the library was only temporary, and they know that.) At the same time, buying a hou$e, and talking about having child$ren has made me re-consider the advantage$ of a $teady job. I want to make a decision about how to balance these two factors, regardless of the fact that I'm pushing thirty. I've also learned that keeping issues in limbo is a very adult thing to do, so I'll try not to panic on July 25, 2009, when I still don't know where my life is headed....

Tristan & Isolde (2006)

The legend of Tristan and Isolde is apparently even older than the legend of King Arthur. With all this time to work the kinks out of the story, and all the variations to read when one is adapting the story for the screen, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that the story is the strongest part of the movie Tristan & Isolde. The rest of the film is solid, but has some distracing technical elements. Nevertheless, I eagerly looked forward to see how the story would end.

The story and screenplay are definitely the strongest elements of this movie. The plot is historically viable, and has no gaping holes. The characters are well-rounded and realistically motivated. There are no "good guys" and "bad guys"; everyone acts in a way consistent with their life circumstances, motivated by their fears and loves, and aided (or hindered) by their talents (or lack thereof).

I never thought twice about the costume design of the film, which means it was doing its job. The lighting, while taking the usual liberties during night scenes, was equally transparent. More obtrusive was the editing; there were some rough transitions back and forth between takes, and some slightly goofy stuff in which people and elements faded in and out of a static shot to show the passage of time. The movie does a good job of explaining who is who and where the action is taking place. I appreciated that near the beginning the filmmakers weren't afraid to put lots of text, and even maps, on screen to explain the history of the conflict and the locations.

I may have already attributed the "best casting of a character played by two different actors" in one of my earliest movie reviews, but the casting of the young and older Tristan is also among the best I've seen. What impressed me as much as the similarity between them was the sheer talent of the child actor. I've never seen children engage in fight sequences; the young Tristan did, and I knew instantly that his character was going to be an amazing warrior (which, indeed, he turns out to be). His ability to convey fear, anger, and confusion was equally impressive.

Before watching the film, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to take James DeFranco (Tristan) seriously in a medieval setting (he plays Peter's friend Harry in Spider-Man). I almost couldn't, but he did an excellent job none-the-less. Sophia Myles as Isolde was sublime (in beauty and acting), but the real acting award would go to Rufus Sewell, as Tristan's lord and adopted father. What could have been a generic "king" role has more depth of personality than the main characters in some movies I can think of.

Tristan & Isolde is an excellent love story, and a strong medieval-setting film. It should appeal to anyone who likes films in either of these genres.

Eight days a week

I realized this morning that starting last Monday, I'm going to be working 12 days in a row at the Library (or, for the Library: Sunday I'm at the Library Fair Booth from 12-2pm). I didn't mean to work every day, but I did mean to pick up extra hours where I could, because my wife is working 11 or 12 hour days at the moment (she is tutoring seasonal workers, so she has to do what she can before they all move away in a few weeks).

At the moment we're doing fine; we were a little stressed a few weeks ago. The hours, combined with LR's new job in the fall, mean that we'll really be able to afford the new windows we're getting for our house! Between these and attic insulation, I'm expecting big energy savings in the winter, and hopefully a cooler house for the rest of the summer.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Dead Man's Chest may be the movie Disney was intending to make when they made the first Pirates. You know, the movie that everyone thought would be a flop because it was based on a cheesy theme park ride, of all things!

The thing that annoyed me most about the movie was that it seemed to pander to 6-year-olds with cheesy thrills (Wow look, a big sea monster! Cool!!!!) and detailed exposition on any plot points that might not be completely obvious.

There are some interesting characters, old and new, many of whom we will likely meet in installment three next summer, but the movie was too busy trying to thrill us to spend time on anything with much depth (ha ha--no pun intended). The upshot of this was two-fold. On one hand I didn't buy that all the characters were praising Captain Jack at the end of the movie. I hadn't seen him do anything for anyone but himself during the entire story. On the other hand, I'm really curious to see what happens to a certain former Commodore, who may or may not be making a come-back....

Punks and Police

Someone rifled through my car again last night, presumably looking for valuables. Since I haven't put another stereo in my car yet, they couldn't steal it, and there was nothing else of value in the car. Also, I don't lock my doors anymore, so there was no damage done, but it's annoying.

Ironically, while this was happening, I was calling the police to complain about kids setting off firecrackers in the street (it's illegal for kids to set them off unsupervised, and it's illegal after 11pm, so even though I was really calling because it was annoying, the law was doubly on my side!)

Darth Simon

Hmm....a fine looking candidate for the Sith.....


Darth Sidious moves in for the recruit while Simon is distracted by the Dark Side of icecream.