Captain Subtext

C - Johanna McCuen, who's collection of Mystery Science Theaters makes me jealous. But, also the mere fact that she's awesome helps to endear her to me on a regular basis.
L - The Fudges. For 7 hours. Boring? Now, why would you say that? It's the Fudges for pete's sake! We had cake! With Nutella frosting! And Arrested Development!
O - An iPod touch. No, I didn't buy one, but I sure have been lusting. Seriously. It's become such a problem, I can almost guarantee you that Kevin Spacey will visit me, and murder me all clever-like...
S - Waking up with a migraine again. I'm not sure what's wrong, but it's frightening me the more I think about it. I haven't had this happen since Paris, so I don't know what's up... I really don't.
A - Finally finishing Cormac McCarthy's The Road, which was equal parts brilliant and sad. It ended better than I expected, but still, a hard one to get through, especially in our day and age.
T - True sadness is achieved whilst eating the last piece of Orange Chicken in the box... *sniff*

I just barely saw two films worthy of note in terms of the year's best: Michael Clayton and The Darjeeling Limited.

Michael Clayton - This was a pretty intense legal thriller. While I knew where it was heading for the most part, the character of Michael Clayton himself made the piece a bit different than what we've seen in the past. Flawed, complex, and brilliantly acted by George Clooney, it's a tour de force character who we are constantly struggling to understand. We're told he's a "Fixer", or as he puts it a "Janitor", and it isn't until the film's end that we really get a sense of what exactly that means. When I saw it's Oscar nod for Best Picture, I was indeed shocked, but after having seen the film, it's not surprising. Is it deserving? Probably not, but it's a great thriller, unlike many supposed thrillers we've seen in the months and even years past. Director/writer Tony Gilroy has a sense for great pacing, and being able to engage us with fantastically rendered characters (he wrote the last two Bourne films). Check this one out.

The Darjeeling Limited - I had heard a lot of bad mouthing in regards to this film, and a lot of it is probably deserved. It is most assuredly esoteric, odd, distancing, and many other adjectives often associated with Wes Anderson films, but it also has a lot of heart, and that's hard to ignore, in this person's opinion. For all of the wide angle shots, and all of the slow mo moments, Anderson, and co-writers Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman manage to actually make us come to love our three leads over time, and not instantly. Lush visuals of a rather colorful India (a perfect fit for Anderson's normal obsession with production design), typical non-sequiturs spouted by ambiguous but charming characters, and an interesting turn of events makes this film a nice entry into Anderson's Canon of Quirk. I liked it, a lot more than I expected to. See it!

I may go check out yet another film tonight, Dan in Real Life. I chanced upon the opening sequence awhile back thanks to one of my professors (WGA member, with a screener), and it intrigued me greatly. It starts in an hour and half or so. We'll see... I still have the migraine from this morning... Ugh... And I thought a little bit of Panda could cure all ails. Not so... *sigh*.

Maybe a second shot at some OC would help........
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I joke, really... Honest....


Oh, and let me know what you think of the new title. I'm not completely sold on it, but it's clever. I do so miss the old Haberdashery, but this title fits... What should I do? Keep this one, or go back to the tried and true? Quite the conundrum...