Movie Reviews & Civic Duty (& more on pickle juice)

Voting

No, my civic duty is not to provide movie reviews. I did, however, perform my civic duty yesterday by taking advantage of early voting. I don't recall ever being so distracted by small loud playing children at the voting booth. It was so loud in the polling center that I could hardly concentrate on what the propositions said & was afraid I would vote the wrong way. In any event...my votes are in...including the unfortunate Lesser of Two Evils senatorial vote.

Movie Rentals

The two rentals of the weekend (actually rented last Tuesday) were Click and The Break Up.

Click: I knew as soon as Adam Sandler got comfy on the bed in the Bed, Bath, and Beyond store that the remainder of the movie would be a dream. How could it not be? It was sort of a Christmas Carol meets Wonderful Life type movie where he finds out that the remote control pusher Morty is an angel near the end of the movie. The lesson was "family first." Sandler set out to find a universal remote control & ends up with this new remote which uses technology that allows him to fast forward through the difficult times in his life. Although this was escapism for me, I don't recommend it. It certainly won't be on my list of favorites.

The Break Up: This was a disappointment, too. It consisted of a lot of yelling and spiteful behavior by two people living together post-break up. The lesson was basically, "You should have said that to begin with." --in reference to the nearly the end of the movie explanation of what Aniston's character wanted out of the relationship which was already over and too far gone to salvage. So, again...a couple hours of diversion, but I don't recommend this one, either.

New at the Movies

One Night With the King: Based on the Old Testament book of Esther. While relatively consistent with the biblical account, I was very disappointed. This didn't have the dramatic or inspirational impact I think it is intended to have. Some of the acting was poor and at times the story was hard to follow simply because of the thick accent of the narrator and the variety of difficult to understand accents of the cast. The costumes were great & the set was fantastic. The music was redundant (if you can characterize it like that)--a variety of music to match what was happening in the movie was not used.

Marie Antoinette: Another disappointment. Amazing set design and beautiful costumes, but again difficult to follow. In addition, there were periods of no meaningful action. I think this is getting some good reviews, but mostly because Sofia Coppola (director) is well-respected. It's almost like nobody wants to say anything to offend her. I would have much rather this movie focus heavily on the historical accuracy of the story. There was not a good explanation of why Louis & Marie Antoinette were driven from their home. We didn't even get to see Marie Antoinette beheaded! (check out this review: http://movies.ign.com/articles/740/740633p1.html)

So, did you calculate the number of hours I spent watching disappointing movies? I guess at least 8. At least that was 8 hours I wasn't sleeping my day away or pondering the empty nest. In the middle of all that, I did go to mass. Fr. Michael preaches his homily much longer than what I'm used to...I had a hard time paying attention toward the end. He does, however, have a great sense of humor, is very interactive, and does a good job grabbing attention at the beginning of the homily.

Back to the Pickle Juice

It seems that if you put your fingers in the juice to pull out a pickle that some sort of reaction takes place which clouds the pickle juice.

Now you know what I did this weekend. I'll bet you're jealous.