March Round-Up

These round-ups are getting harder to post at the beginning of the month, and I have no idea why. No matter, really, since these aren't really for anyone else but me and my OCD ass, so I don't think I'm disappointing anyone but myself with their lateness.

March was chock full o' nuts, though. And by nuts, I mean fun.

Movies Seen: Fourteen, with two in the theater. Again! For whatever reason, I can't seem to get out and see more than two in a theater a month. One was "Zodiac," which I really enjoyed, but I could tell its audience would be limited. The girl next to me, who obviously didn't know anything about the history of the Zodiac killer, was so prepared to be scared that she kept practically jumping into her boyfriend's lap. Thing is, she was doing this way into the second hour of the movie, and all of the Zodiac killer action takes place in the first 45 minutes or so. I bet she was pretty disappointed when none of that suspense really paid off. Then again, maybe if I didn't know that the killer basically stopped after 1969 and was never caught I would have been able to enjoy some moments of suspense later in the movie, too. As it was, it felt like a really long episode of "Cold Case," or "CSI." Which isn't to say it wasn't enjoyable--I really appreciated Fincher's attention to detail and seeing all the San Francisco locales (including a digitally rendered Embarcadero freeway!) but I don't think it's a movie that lends itself to repeated viewings, and the most common comment I overheard while leaving the theater was "Wow. That could have been shorter!" and, "So, he basically spent 30 minutes of the movie on a dead end?" And I can't say I disagree.

The other film was "The Host," the Korean monster movie. Once again I was presented with a film that could have been truly great if it was about 30 minutes shorter. The beginning is awesome, with the introduction of the monster in full daylight running amok amongst a bunch of picnickers, and a totally amazing moment of mourning that turns into seriously black comedy occurs soon after that. But it eventually felt like the director wanted to do every scene twice, and a film like this needs good pacing. I still think it's worth seeing, but it's not the giant-monster-movie to end all giant-monster-movies.

Books Read: Four. Up a little from last month. I think the most interesting book I read was "Children of Men" by P.D. James. It was interesting in that I was surprised how much better I thought the movie was than the book. They're quite different; the movie is a lot more politically charged in a "see how this compares to life today" kind of way. And while the book and the film share some characters, the movie has them related in vastly different ways. I don't think I'll be spoiling anything by revealing that in the book Julian is the pregnant woman, and she and Theo don't have any previous relationship with each other, and I just thought that felt all wrong. I don't want to say much more without giving too much away to anyone who wants to read the book or see the movie except that the ending of the book lays on the Christ imagery really, really thick, and I found it incredibly cheesy.

The other book which-was-turned-into-a-movie-last-year I read was "Little Children." (Apparently, I will only read books which have been turned in movies if they have the the word "children" in the title. Next up: "Children of the Corn." Although that was just a short story, wasn't it? And besides, I've already read it.) Anyway, "Little Children." I liked it just about as much as I liked the movie, which is to say, not too much.

Fancy Dinners Out: Two. One was just OK, but they have some really good cocktails, and the atmosphere is fun. The other was at an old standby, and was great as always.

Nerd Conventions Attended: One, but for two days. And I think I might face the horror and cringe-inducing nerds again this year by attending the Comic-Con in San Diego in July. Horrors!

Live Shows Seen: Once again, none. Color me "L" for "Loser."

Shoes Bought: None! Wow...how is that possible? I better get to shopping before the month is out!