Seasonal Spirits

For various reasons, this is the first Thanksgiving of which I’ve partaken in several years, and I think that I’ve finally found an aspect of the festival that’s uniquely appealing to me.

Generally, I enjoy the thematic spirit that pervades the wider world whenever the horizon allows a glimpse of an upcoming holiday.

"November's here? Frost those windows!"

However, the fact that Thanksgiving, which is already limited to a handful of places around the world, varies its timing so wildly between those locations means that the heady inundations of ostentatious cheer that surround the arrival of more broadly observed events are relatively scarce for this one. This seems to give it a rare sense of intimacy in a way. In the absence of constant reminders for this revelry, it feels more like something that’s celebrated on private, personal terms. I’m not supposing that this affords any inherent superiority, but the tonal difference it gives is somewhat refreshing. 

The comparative lack of promotion for Thanksgiving also carries the benefit of making Halloween the dominant focus of the entire season, which means that the durational difference between the world’s observance of that celebration and mine is only around 10 months.

Update on Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 10:05PM by Jaymes Buckman

Bonus Question?

Battle of holiday egg products! Cream eggs versus eggnog!

In light of their realisation of the sheer madness of restricting the sale of a prized treat to a mere fraction of the year, I'm giving this one to the Cadbury team. Because Easter can start in winter now.

Mounds Upon Shrouds of Seasonal Sounds

Moundshroud's summer home. Possibly.

I saw “The Box Trolls”. It had its charm.

But then I still had a bit of a mood for more cinematic animation. I also had a large amount of remaining popcorn. Consequently, I arrived at home with the decision to mark the incipient season with my annual viewing of “The Halloween Tree”, which was obviously amazing, for that’s how it is, and I supplemented its timely ambience with a light romp through a haunted castle in “World of Warcraft”.

Now, I’m not really one to cast aspersions on any who might accuse me of celebrating the month’s ultimate holiday in undue haste, but I could say that such claims lack accuracy. It’s not a celebration I ever really stop.

Update on Sunday, October 5, 2014 at 02:59PM by Jaymes Buckman

Bonus Question!

Best Box? Madison Jeffries.

The Sole Remaining Movie That Looked Suitable for Me at All

I did see “The F Word” in the end. Solid film. Glad for it. Second film in the fortnight with Adam Driver. That’s two out of two for Mr Driver. For all I know, it was his second film of the year. I suppose that I don’t really follow his work, but I like him when I see him. That mainly tends to be in “Girls”. Anyway. I think that he’d be my choice if I had to cast someone to play my old bassist.

There was this one scene in which each of the two central characters independently went to a cinema’s showing of “The Princess Bride” alone, and a discussion on the validity of such a decision ensued.

As I wrote previously, this was a decision I made a few months ago, and it was one that took me to the very theatre in which I watched these two characters have this discussion. Synchronicity!

Update on Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 04:23AM by Jaymes Buckman

Bonus Question!

Best driver? Captain Falcon.

The Midnight Moonlight of Paris Is Also Magical

I took the chance to see “Magic in the Moonlight” a few days ago. Since I was dragged along to see “Midnight in Paris” when it came out, I’ve been more attentive of Woody Allen’s modern comedic work. Man, that movie rocked tails. Now, I’ll generally give whatever his latest thing is a try, and it never works out particularly badly. He’s just one of those dudes. Even if something’s not dwelling among the top echelons of his oeuvre, it’s still a work of some worth. In this specific case, that worth might not even have been necessary. In absolute fairness, I could probably watch Colin Firth and Emma Stone play off each other in scenes of abject mediocrity. I’d want Hamish Linklater to be there too, though. That’d be a potential caveat. I love that little guy. Care for a quick primer on my vague history with “The New Adventures of Old Christine”? Come because of insomnia. Watch for Wanda Sykes. Stay for Hamish Linklater. That’s how it went, and now I know his name.

Update on Sunday, September 21, 2014 at 11:14PM by Jaymes Buckman

Bonus Question!

Most magical moonlight? Misty.

Of Vice and Menhirs

I recently saw “A Dame to Kill For”. I suspected that I’d get to it eventually, but despite my vague memories of enjoying my sole experience with the first “Sin City” in 2012, I wasn’t in any great rush to go until I reached a point where there was really nothing else in theatres to attract me. I mean . . . I suppose that “The F Word” looks alright. I might see “Magic in the Moonlight” at some point, but there appears to be a dearth of suitable show times, and I’m not in a bending mood.

Anyway, when I realised that “Dame” was the clear choice for the week, I did get somewhat more excited. The closer look at the cast helped. For one thing, I had no idea about the inclusion of Jeremy Piven. I love that guy in things! I never see him in things! He was great in this thing. And Bruce Willis came back? I hadn’t been paying enough attention to be fully aware of that, but he returns as the ghost of Dirty Harry. Christopher Lloyd and Lady Gaga were in it for several seconds, though the latter’s placement was slightly unusual in the fact that her character was probably the least flamboyant in the movie by a wide margin. It may have been a bit of a while since I’ve seen Joseph Gordon-Levitt in much, but he knocked his part out with the aplomb of one who has brought his own wardrobe to the role. Mickey Rourke’s Marv is wonderfully exultant as the David Lee Roth of violence.

I’m not customarily captivated by the whole thing of brutal machismo, but the deftness of execution on display here is transcendent. The substance of a film like this generally wouldn’t appeal to me in any significant way, and it wouldn’t help much to replace that with empty style. But here the substance is simply slathered with style, and that really does the trick. One notably attractive element is the use of lighting instead of colour. That’s downright masterful. Rodriguez and Miller, man. That’s a real, mean team.

The latter’s taste in silhouettes is clearly maintained. The otherwise diverse female cast share similarly sinuous frames, and the men are generally built like boulders, shrouded in trench coats, or blessed to be both. Even the role of the gawkish badge man is performed with the gravitas of something that tumbled out of a quarry into a cheap suit.

Maybe I was just in a particularly receptive mood, but this might have been my most thoroughly pleasurable experience with a Frank Miller work to date. It’s not my usual kind of tune, but it sang brilliantly.

Update on Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 03:28PM by Jaymes Buckman

Bonus Question!

Best dame? The beautiful one without the mercy.