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annathepiperThe first, because the folks at Honda claimed they needed to replace an engine oil seal, and they weren't going to charge me for it, so I let 'em do it.
The second, to kill time while waiting for the Honda folks to deal with the first. Mimi was not up for joining me for K-19 or a second viewing of Lilo and Stitch, so I opted for Signs instead. It was a so-so kind of film. Liked bits of it, like the little girl playing the younger of Mel Gibson's two kids, but I spent most of the film just thinking that Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix were moving around awfully jerkily and rigidly, as if they were puppets. The fact that most of the action in the plot was being conveyed via TV reports kind of distracted from the suspense for me. And M. Night Shyamalan writing himself into the movie -- well, not in any major way, mind you, but he did have a significant minor speaking role -- also kind of distracted me from the story he was trying to establish. The first time you see his character in the film Gibson and Phoenix and the two kids are watching him go by the restaurant they're in, and the little girl asks "Who's he?" while the adults have these weird and vaguely awed looks on their faces. All I could think of was, "That's God, honey! He invented the world!"
The second, to kill time while waiting for the Honda folks to deal with the first. Mimi was not up for joining me for K-19 or a second viewing of Lilo and Stitch, so I opted for Signs instead. It was a so-so kind of film. Liked bits of it, like the little girl playing the younger of Mel Gibson's two kids, but I spent most of the film just thinking that Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix were moving around awfully jerkily and rigidly, as if they were puppets. The fact that most of the action in the plot was being conveyed via TV reports kind of distracted from the suspense for me. And M. Night Shyamalan writing himself into the movie -- well, not in any major way, mind you, but he did have a significant minor speaking role -- also kind of distracted me from the story he was trying to establish. The first time you see his character in the film Gibson and Phoenix and the two kids are watching him go by the restaurant they're in, and the little girl asks "Who's he?" while the adults have these weird and vaguely awed looks on their faces. All I could think of was, "That's God, honey! He invented the world!"
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Signs
Date: 2002-08-14 12:23 pm (UTC)Re: Signs
Date: 2002-08-14 06:04 pm (UTC)Re: Signs
Date: 2002-08-15 10:16 am (UTC)Am I the only who figured out what Shyamalan's character was the first time he showed up onscreen? I thought it was pretty obvious, and never for a moment even considered the conclusion that Tom and all of his freinds leapt to.
Re: Signs
Date: 2002-08-15 11:38 am (UTC)I did obviously come out of the movie with a stronger reaction... though that isn't saying much since I came out mostly thinking "enh" as opposed to "that was godawful!"
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Date: 2002-08-15 06:15 pm (UTC)I was thinking about your comment -- That's God -- in the gym this afternoon (leg curls must put me in a contemplative frame of mind), and I realized that you may be right, that it may not be a coincidence that Ray Reddy is played by the writer/director. Think about it, the message of the movie is that God aranges patterns in the world that give us what we need to get by. What does Ray do in the movie? He's the one driving the car that kills Graham's wife, thus giving Graham the clues he needs to save his family, and he's the one who captures an alien in his pantry, and gives Graham the hint about the water.
It's like Ray/Shyamalan is a deity who sets up the universe so that his characters will lead lives that are entertaining to onlookers, but then feels guilty about it and sticks his pinky into the universe to give them a little indirect help, and then feels guilty about that and shuffles off to someplace safe (the lake/his director's chair).
Re:
Date: 2002-08-16 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-16 11:07 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-08-21 12:06 pm (UTC)