Snake Surly

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November 22, 2008

kill the turkeys, ducks and chickens

Can it be time for Dickens again already? It seems impossible. I have the flu and I have no time to trim two bonnets and clean stuff and knit a new shawl before next week. Also, I don't really *want* to do any of that stuff, which sort of makes it harder.

In other news, remember those cute kittens we got? Well, it turns out that if you feed them, they become cats. It's weird.

Posted by Kate at 7:50 PM | Comments (4)

November 7, 2008

Oscar Challenge: Casablanca

Okay, so it's the Best Movie in the Whole World Except for Citizen Kane (which I've never seen), and volumes have been written about how and why is it so great, so naturally I have nothing original to say about it.

But it's hard to deny that it really is pretty much the Best Movie in the Whole World. It really shouldn't be. It's kind of a schlocky, cheesy, melodramatic story. It seems like one string of cliches after another. But sometimes cheese works. This works like Star Wars works. It KNOWS it's cheese, it revels in its cheesiness.

Rick's Cafe is practically the Mos Eisley Cantina, and Han Solo owes a huge debt to Rick. I tried to expand this Casablanca/Star Wars parallel theory, but it's fatally flawed by the fact that Ilsa Lund is *way* too ladylike to shoot anyone with a blaster. Also, there is no Darth Vader.

But maybe that's why this flick transcends cheese. There ISN'T a mustache-twirling, mouth-breathing villain for everyone to hate. It's like in Bambi. You never really see the bad guy. But you know the evil is out there, and the stakes are ratcheted up so high that you can forgive a lot of interpersonal melodrama for the sake of of the fate of the free world, and stuff.

Wait, did I just switch from Star Wars to the Bush Administration? Never mind, ignore me. Go get yourself a couple of bottles of bubbly for to make some Champagne cocktails, and go fucking watch Casablanca. If you don't, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life.

November 2, 2008

Oscar Challenge: Mrs. Miniver

Forgive me, movie fans, it's been months since we watched anything after work other than All My Children (TORNADO!) or Amazing Race or Survivor. No, seriously. It's pretty sad.

Even considering my extreme slackitude, we would have watched our next Oscar Challenge film a while ago if it hadn't involved hauling out the laser disc player. Call me crazy, but I just can't get rid of the thing. Dude, I have the original non-fucked-up Star Wars on laser. I will keep it until the end of time.

AAAAnyway, Mrs. Miniver. Damn. Every time I watch it, I think, "Don't get all caught up, it's a propaganda film." But it's sooooo good. Teresa Wright is sooooo good. Greer Garson is soooooo good. The story, the supporting actors, and the message are soooooo good.

As a would-be actress, I've always had the greatest respect for Greer Garson's technique. She had the most amazing ability to convey precisely what she was thinking and feeling without saying a word, and sometimes even with her back to the camera. She and Teresa Wright both absolutely, positively deserved their Best Actress/Best Supporting Actress Oscars. Every single scene they share is riveting.

If you haven't seen this, please do. It's a beautiful film. It's a little difficult to watch at this particular moment in time. It's hard to watch these wonderful actors eloquently make the case for fighting an absolutely necessary war while we're off screwing things up overseas.

Next up in the Oscar Challenge Propaganda-fest: Casablanca! Bring kleenex!