Cheating (Random musing)

Reading an interesting article on what men would consider cheating, I thought upon what I would think of as cheating and came up with this. I think cheating is doing something with a member of the opposite sex you would not do with a friend of the same sex. So for example, I have a good buddy and his name is Jaemin (names have been changed to protect the tainted). I hang out with him and we might catch dinner and a movie. All fine and dandy. I think if I was in a relationship, I should be able to do that with a female friend. Now, when I see these movies with Jaemin, I'm not holding his hand or kissing him good-night afterwards. I think whatever I do with my female friends, I should be able to do with Jaemin and if I can't, maybe I'm cheating. I think it's a pretty good rule of thumb to have.

300 (Film)

An incredibly faithful adaptation of the comic book mini-series by Frank Miller. While I found this to be much more watchable than the previous movie adaptation of Miller's Sin City, I still feel there are times when what really works on the printed page, a two dimensional environment, does not always translate successfully to the moving world of cinema. I do feel that this film represents the future of spectacle film making on a budget as a vast majority of the film was shot on a stage in front of large green screens with the background to be added in later. As impressive as the film looked, it still had that odd sheen of digital perfection. In fact, I would say the biggest gripe I had of the film was how pristine the film looked. As grimy and sweat covered everything was, it all looked as if was a hair from being over art directed. I can't help but wonder how this film would have looked if they actually filmed on location. Minor quibbles aside, I give this spartan epic a B.

Relationships (Random Musing)

The sure sign you are in a mature relationship is that you have occasional moments when you hate your partner's guts, but don't bail because you know you aren't going to find better -- only different.

Black Snake Moan (Film)

What starts out as a lurid southern fried gothic sex tale ends up being about the powers of love and the meaning of redemption. Not bad, but I wish the movie didn't start out so over the top and pulpy, that's it's hard to reconcile the ending with the beginning. I liked the playing of the stereotypes and implications of having Samuel L. Jackson chaining up a petite, almost naked Christina Ricci set in the deep South. As the poster shows, it can be a powerful image. I did think the reasoning of why Ricci was so sex starved came across a bit simplistic. I give this tale of wanton lust and love a C+.

Zodiac (Film)

Easily one of the most well made movies I've ever seen. It seems director Fincher has put away all those fancy camera tricks he's employed in his previous movies and has the confidence in this story to just let be. In some ways, this movie has reminds me of the movie JFK, lots of dense factual material streamlined in such a way that you never feel lost while the movie's unfolding. If any criticism can be said is, it is long, but in a good way, and the movie may lack an emotional resolution. And not to spoil things, the actual Zodiac killer was never caught. Film making of this caliber deserves an A.