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2003-07-08 Entry: "Filmic Holiday"

I kicked off the "Will Smith" holiday weekend early - by spending Thursday afternoon camped in a cinema attempting to catch up on films.

First off was "Alex and Emma" which I quite enjoyed. Kate Hudson was irritating at times (playing the maid in any of her many guises), but was good when just playing the stenographer. Another in a long line of films in the "fluffy romantic comedy with obvious ending" category, but not a bad example of the type.

This was followed up by "Legally Blonde 2" - don't see this film unless you're a dog lover! I'm not, and it dragged on with endless stupid scenes with dogs in them. The politics was kinda' fun, if a bit too fluffy to be realistic, but enough with the dogs!

And finally, rounding out the three-fer "Finding Nemo" - guaranteed to be loved just on the principle that Pixar appear to be able to do no wrong at the moment. Ellen DeGeneres was great as the slightly forgetful Dory, although who voiced Nemo and Marlin I've no idea. Presumably the film is a veritable who's who of Antipodean actors, but I didn't really recognize anyone. The school of shiny fish doing impressions was great, as were the seagulls - "Mine" indeed. I'm not sure what the point of the Fish-Eaters Anonymous meeting was all about, but the antics in the fish tank were a hoot.

So one unabashed success, one middle of the road okay, and one "please no, make it stop" - not bad, and about par for the course.

This was followed up on "Will Smith Day" itself by food, miniature golf, fireworks, and beer. There's something decidedly wrong about fireworks when you're not huddled in the biggest coat you own, scarf, hat, gloves, trying to stand as close to a bonfire as possible without catching light. But maybe that's just me! Fireworks in July indeed!

Saturday and Sunday proved non-starters. I puttered around the apartment, trying to put off doing anything for the move (which is at five days and counting). I watched a couple of DVDs - I finished the Sports Night marathon, and partook of 28 Days Later - which probably works just as well on the my home TV as it would if I bothered to see it at the cinema (it's nice for a change to have the DVD before the film gets a US release!). I found out the cinema 100 yards from my apartment is closed - whether they are redecorating/rebuilding/demolishing is unknown, as there wasn't any warning, and there aren't any signs up declaring what's going on (but the big "United Artists" logo has disappeared from the front, which is a bit ominous). And finally the Dead Zone decided to start back up on USA with an episode that referred back to the pilot quite a lot (reminding me I've got to watch the second half of it at some point).

Oh, and my laptop appears not to want to read DVDs (which, considering I'll be without DVD player/desktop PC for a few weeks after the move, may leave me completely lost!). They can't fix it without shipping it off to a repair center, as the drive doesn't appear to slide out! What moron designed that?!