Res sees a movie

[resonant]

Kidlet dragged me to see Percy Jackson. Was not impressed with the book, was even less impressed with the movie. I mean, you could slash some of these people, but why bother? They're not characters.

However! Lots of the post-teenage actors were looking a lot hotter than I'm accustomed to them looking. Evidently I likes a beard.

Has Brandon Jackson ever been in anything that was actually good? I liked him and would enjoy seeing more of him.

Catherine Keener's looking good these days. I used to know her mother, back at my first job in the Blue Ridge. She was bonkers, but sweet and entertaining. She gave me a Medjugorje rosary even though I'm not Catholic, and my Catholic ex-roommate in Chicago said, "Oh, I wish she wouldn't do that," as if all Catholics knew each other personally.

Saw a preview for "Furry Vengeance" -- evidently Brendan Fraser is going to be the next John Goodman.

How's your world?

Comments

[lucitania]

Did you keep the rosary?

I'm just curious. I mean, I was very briefly Catholic in my late 0s, but I've always liked rosaries anyway. I put that in the same box as my great love of beautiful houses of worship despite my lack of Christian faith.

[blnchflr]

What does it mean to be the next John Goodman, *knows the guy, but not the reference*?

[delurker]

My world is awesome, because I just bought a whole lot of bulbs. I'm really looking forward to when they come up!

[pandarus]

Yeah, it was very meh-worthy, wasn't it? Although I perked the hell up when Uma Thurman's Medusa showed up, and was mentally cheering her on with her inappropriate cougarishness towards her ex's son. And Rosario Dawson needs to call me.

I think the book is rather better than the movie, inasmuchas it does at least work as a bit of a stepping stone to classical myth, and I appreciated details like Athena's children having grey eyes (and confess myself rather disarmed that the story originated with Riordan telling his dyslexic, ADHD son myths, and then, at said son's urging, making up impromptu fanficesque bedtime stories with the same characters, and working in his son's learning difficulties as a plot point) but the prose is nothing special, and it's all rather pedestrian.

I was quite disgruntled with the moviefication of Annabeth; I mean, book!Annabeth wasn't exactly Hermione, but she was a BIT more of a rounded character in her own right, and less of a feisty gal love interest cypher.

Mind you, I was absolutely DELIGHTED to find that the king of the gods is a Yorkshireman. That did get them points.

[resonant]

I actually can't remember what happened to it! I kept it for a while, but it certainly isn't among my effects now. It wasn't very pretty; the beads were pale pink plastic, and the metal parts tarnished very easily (for that "gold" effect that the Medjugorje people found so significant).

I'm an Episcopalian and never saw a rosary until I was in college, but I like the idea of prayer beads a lot. I think Protestants are always in danger of having a bodiless, unsensuous religion, and anything that gets our hands and our bodies involved is a good thing. Also, once I read a very old recipe in which something was supposed to "simmer for ten Hail Marys," which charmed me.

[resonant]

Big friendly-looking fat guy, mostly getting laughs by being either hapless in the face of undeserved misfortune or being cheerfully incompetent at everything he does, good sidekick and slightly beery voice of reason for the younger, better looking guy who gets the girl.

I mean, first I was all George of the Jungle, but then I didn't LOL.

[resonant]

Ooh! What kind did you get? I love tulips, but they don't grow well around here -- I think they want a warmer winter. But before too long I'll have a yard full of daffodils!

[resonant]

I didn't know that about how the books came to be; I figured the author just went, "Hey, this Harry Potter stuff shouldn't be too hard to rip off."

[pandarus]

Heh - yes, that was TOTALLY my read. With a side order of "You lucky, getting-paid-for-doing-that son of a bitch!" Because, really, how hard is it to sit down and go "Harry Potter, in America, with Greek Mythology" to yourself? Not hard at all. And that IS what he was doing - but he was also casting his own ADHD dyslexic kid in that role, and making the ADHD and dyslexia into superpowers. Which is kind of sweet.

But they're very unremarkable books, and the film was less remarkable still.

[delurker]

All kinds! Hyacinths (blue, yellow and dark pink), daffodils, tulips (white, black and red and white), freesias, and some star flowers. I, uh, may have gotten slightly carried away? But in the best possible way!

I grew a couple of bulbs last year, but I put them in too late and they didn't get enough winter for many of them to come up. This year I have higher hopes.

But before too long I'll have a yard full of daffodils!
Awesome!