Movie Monday - Anonymous

No. I'm not anonymously posting. I'm posting about the movie "Anonymous."

It's this relatively convoluted movie based on the idea that Shakespeare may not have written any of the plays attributed to him. It's set in a gritty, grungy, Shakespearean London, with gritty, grungy players, as well as non-grungy (but still gritty) royals.

The story could have been kind of interesting. In fact, it was kind of interesting. It just wasn't what I would call well done.

You see, while we're still trying to figure out who everyone is in the movie (and there are a lot of characters called both by first names and last names and lordly names and nicknames), they started jumping back and forth in time. (Remember my recent, coincidental, complaint about "Thrashbacks"?) So just when you think you know which one is Stratford and which one is Oxford, they go and make them both teenagers, and you have to start over again.

On the plus side, it was quite easy to figure out which one was Elizabeth I, whether she was Joely Richardson or Vanessa Redgrave (a nifty bit of casting, if you ask me), because they kind of had the same look of "I'm the queen" throughout. And Shakespeare, Jonson, Marlowe, and many of their crew mostly stayed in one timeline.

But, by the time I had that all figured out I was so confused by the other players that I basically just had to sit and let the rest of it wash over me and not try to figure it out. And gritty and grungy frequently don't make for the most pleasant of "over-washing."

I think there were bastard children, some political posturing, and at least one dwarf, but honestly I'm not entirely sure. Sadly, I feel the same way about the plot and storyline.

Overall rating: C-. I think it made it worse that a story told in a straight line would probably have been pretty interesting.

Could This Be My Soundtrack?

I found this little video online while doing Florida research.

The video itself is kind of unremarkable (especially since it promises amazing scenery and doesn't really deliver), but the music in the background totally makes up for that in my opinion.

Click HERE to see/hear what I'm talking about.

Who wouldn't want to take a drive down to the Keys with that music playing in the background?

Of course, as Christopher can attest, the music that goes in and out my head is frequently more inspired by whatever I'm seeing or doing at any given time. Which means that, as we drive, I'll probably be hearing this song in my head, instead. (I apologize if it gets stuck in yours.)

Thotful Thursday - Mile Markers

While I've been researching driving from Miami to Key West, I've noticed that a lot of the the establishments along the way list their locations by "Mile Marker." In other words, they use their mileage from the very end of Highway 1 (in Key West) to designate where they are.

The closer you get to the end of the road in Key West, the smaller the numbers get. Until, of course, you end up with Mile Marker 0 in Key West, itself.

(Photo from KeyWestWeb.net, since I haven't been there.)

There's something to be said for Mile Markers.

When I first moved to Minnesota, the first time I drove home to South Dakota to see my parents, I was driving west along I-90 and found myself getting really excited as I got closer and closer to Mile Marker 1 - the last stretch of I-90 in Minnesota before crossing in to my home state. Sure, I still had about 2 hours of driving ahead of me, but just knowing I was almost to my home state made me feel like I was almost home.

Of course, the countdown only works in one direction per highway. Going the other way, you only know that the numbers are going up. Unless you've travelled the road a lot before, or checked a map, or can just guess *really* well, you don't know what the top number is going to be.

Milestone birthdays are kind of that way, too. As you look down the road you can see the markers coming.

And although you always know how far you've come from Zero, you usually don't know how far you have to go until you get to your next destination.

Travel Tuesday - The Strange Things You Agree To

Yes, we're almost to vacation.

Yes, we've been making lists, checking them thrice, and trying to decide which things we really want to do versus the things we only think might be interesting if we have extra time.

Yes, we're honestly trying to watch our budget, but when you're going on a vacation to somewhere you may never go again - and it's your only vacation of the year because you don't get enough time off to take more than one - you do some silly things.

Like when we were in Las Vegas earlier this year and rented a convertible to drive to Hoover Dam. On a day when the temps were cool enough that we had to have the heat on.

Sometimes you just do strange things when vacation is involved.

For me, I fully admit that I have agreed to do something very strange while we're gone. I'm committing - with no coercion - to getting a massage. And not just my usual 30-minute jobber, but a full hour-long massage.

In part, this stems from the surprise chair massage that we got in the office a week or two ago. The woman who did mine said, as I was leaving "You need to get a full-body massage sometime soon. You're really tight."

It also stems in part from the fact that Christopher loves massages, and there's a spa place just down the block from where we'll be staying. And I didn't want to deprive him. Yep. It's all about the altruism - even on vacation.

So I'll be attempting an hour-long hot stone massage (I totally admit that I've wanted to try the hot stone thing for a while).

I'm sure there will be stories to tell. Hopefully they won't start with "I have a burn mark, and my arm won't move the right way anymore..."

Ecliptical

You know how, sometimes, the small things get in the way of your ability to see the bigger picture? I think that we need to call those things "ecliptical."

And, yeah, that's really all I've got to say for tonight.

Well, that and I hope that none of you burned out your retinas trying to look at tonight's solar eclipse.

Thrashback Thursday

I don't really have a problem with the occasional spoilers before I watch a TV show or a movie - or even when I read a book. I always figure that even if I know a single detail, the rest of the journey from the beginning to the end could still be a lot of fun.

That's why I don't usually worry about being the first person to see a movie. Or about hearing people talk about TV shows I haven't seen. I mean, it's not like I go out and hunt for those people, but I also don't run screaming with my fingers in my ears if they say something.

But here's the thing: Lately, a *lot* of TV shows have been starting episodes with some overly dramatic event, then doing something like "36 Hours Earlier" and backing up.

It's as if they don't think the journey is interesting on its own, and that we need to have enough of a teaser to get us to stay through the first 50 minutes of the show. It used to be that this would happen about once every season. I'd have a few shows I watched regularly and one of those shows would use the technique.

In the past two weeks, I've had at least 3 shows do it, though. And I gotta admit that I think it's getting really old.

Kinda makes me wish every network would flash back to 10 (or 20) years earlier before they start next season.

TV Tuesday - The Finales

I'm not going to surprise anyone by admitting that I am a "TV cryer." I get wrapped up in things on TV and the emotions get to me, and I get teary. Once in a while I get a little more than teary. And, since this is - typically - in the privacy of my home, my defenses are usually low enough that the tears manifest.

Sure, in the movies this happens, too. But in a movie theater you're with strangers and so it's not as likely that emotions will truly completely manifest. The same thing can be said for those times when I either see something online or (in very rare occasions) am moved by something I'm reading at work. The emotions will bubble to the surface, but not come out because of the public space.

But then there's being at home, magnified by also watching things typically late in the evening when I'm tired.

This week, it's only Tuesday and I've already dealt with one Series finale ("Desperate Housewives" - which I hadn't even watched much, recently), one Season finale ("Smash"), and one not-even-the-finale-yet ("Glee").

Sunday night "Desperate Housewives" did a great job of wrapping everything up in a bow. And although I haven't been a constant watcher in the past year or so (because I kept having to fight to find it around "Amazing Race"), I was admittedly moved by what they did.

On Monday, the final song from this season of "Smash" gave me goosebumps. Literally. Or it may have been the fact that I was sitting down in the basement and it was chilly. But I think it was the song, because I watched it again this morning and felt the same way.

Tonight... Oy... Two hours of "Glee" back-to-back. They've been hit-or-miss, lately, but both episodes did really well. And the final 20 minutes of the night were great. And, as stupid as it sounds, I'm feeling that angst of not wanting to watch some of the characters graduate in the season finale. Which I fully admit is what they're hoping for, and... you know... I'm okay with that.

So now I'm going to watch an episode of "Doctor Who" from a couple of years ago in which I know that none of the main characters dies. Sure, there's mayhem and an almost-end of the world, but on the scale of things that will bug me when I go to bed, this is definitely going to get me a better night's sleep.