I just got back from seeing the latest Harry Potter film and my god what a pretty movie. I suppose I should really have more coherent things to say about plot and characters and acting and pacing and so forth, all of which mostly exceeded my expectations, but the sheer visual pleasure of the thing seems to me to be the movie's strongest selling point.

Once the last movie is out -- both parts -- I think I may have to have a Harry Potter marathon of some sort. Or at least I'll have to find some excuse to rewatch this film. It's only a pity that I probably won't end up seeing it on the big screen again. Unless... hey, diamondbark? Interested in seeing some Harry Potter with me while I'm in Nova Scotia?

I just got ahold of a copy of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a movie that I absolutely adored when it first came out, but which I hadn't seen in so long that I'd forgotten a lot of the details. (Including the fact that the fabulously wealthy, eccentric old man who arranges to have a crew of misfits and mercenaries sent off in search of a mysterious, magical island is named "Mr. Whitmore"; the Lost fan in me was very much amused. Can that really be a coincidence? Are both the show and the movie making reference to some third thing of which I am unaware?)

Anyhow, the weirdest thing about watching the film was the way that it so strongly echoes so many of my own story ideas, and the fact that I honestly can't remember what the causality of that is. Did I watch the movie and love it so much that I decided, consciously or subconsciously, to steal many the bits I liked best and insert them into my own stories? Or did my stories come first, and the reason I loved the movie was that it reflected the ideas that were already in my mind so beautifully? A bit of both? I kind of suspect it was the former, though I honestly can't remember well enough to be sure. It was a pretty strange feeling, regardless.

However, as much as I love it, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is also one of those films that makes me doubt my good taste when it comes to movies. Most movie reviewers didn't like it much at all, and for the most part, I can even understand and agree with their reasoning. And yet, and yet. The combination of visual spectacle and sharply written banter is more than I can resist. When a film is this fun to watch, it's hard for me to get too hung up on details of plausibility, depth, or even coherence.

Besides, a solid majority of reviewers liked -- even loved -- The Reader, so what do they know anyhow.

Since Dr. Tiller's murder, I've been reading a lot of online discussions about abortion. And I really need to stop now. It's only making me angry, and not accomplishing anything at all productive.

I also finally got around to watching Pan's Labyrinth. Which was just as horrifying and excellent as I'd heard it was. Though, man, the second trial annoyed me. I don't mind main characters making dumb choices, as a general rule, but I'd at least like to be able to understand why they made the choice they did. "Because I thought I could get away with it" was a pretty unreasonable reason to take such a pointless risk.

On the positive side of life, I found out what my annual bonus is going to be. It's not a huge amount of money, but then I've only been working for the company for a little over half a year, so that's not exactly surprising. Anyway, I now have the delightful task of deciding what to spend it on. Honestly, I'm torn. I've been wanting to get a roomba for ages, but haven't been able to justify the expense to myself so far; this could be my chance to indulge. On the other hand, I also am kind of drawn to the idea of buying new clothes, etc, in an attempt to improve my appearance and maybe look a bit more professional. Or I guess I could do both. Hmm, hmm. Really, that's the kind of conundrum I don't mind facing.

The Examined Life may not be a great movie, but it is pretty great fuel for conversation. Though I suppose it's possible I'm biased, since I tend to think that philosophy is pretty much one of the most fun things to discuss ever. Perhaps I should say that it's great fuel for conversation if you like conversations about philosophy? Regardless, I enjoyed it, and I enjoyed getting to talk to people about it afterwards even more.

Just got back from seeing the new Watchmen movie, which was better than I expected and much, much better than I feared. Certainly, there were bits and pieces that irked me (I am a fangirl of the comic, after all), but on the whole the richness and attention to detail were impressive, and, for the most part, the few changes that were made served the movie well.

Mind you, it could well be argued that the film is actually so faithful to the comic that it is actually totally redundant. But when it comes to adaptations, especially of such beloved source material, there are much worse things to be than redundant.

Speaking of which... Supposedly, the video below has already been linked all over the internet, but I only saw it for the first time today, and I felt the urge to share. The YouTube description calls it a"classic cartoon intro ripped from an old VHS", and certainly it emulates the style of those cheesy old 80's cartoons brilliantly. If kind of distressingly.

Last week I more or less challenged myself to uncover a particular coworker's online alias. Now I've finally gotten around to figuring it out, but I'm afraid to brag because what if he retaliates and tracks down my online alias(es)? I figure I'd probably end up being more embarrassed than him in the end. Maybe I'll just send him a short, smug little note and hope that's the end of it.

In other, older news, I seem to have well and truly lost the notes on Waltz With Bashir I made the day after I saw the movie, so it looks like I may have to review it by memory alone.

So. My impressions.

( Cut for rambling incoherence and vague spoilers )

I just rewatched The Devil Wears Prada, mostly just to have something to occupy my attention while I was on hold for nearly two freakin' hours waiting to talk to someone at the DriveTest licensing office. My response to the movie a second time around was pretty much exactly the same as my reaction the first time I saw it, to whit:

• Meryl Streep is really, really good at what she does. I can't imagine the movie without her. Or rather, I can, but it's not anything like as entertaining or emotional.



• The movie seems perfectly calculated to make me feel bloated and hideous. Which is just how reading fashion magazines makes me feel, so I suppose that's a stylistic triumph of a sort.



• The main character's boyfriend really irritates me, and I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps it's because the movie sets up a love triangle of sorts (a commitment triangle?) in which the main character is forced to choose between the boyfriend and Meryl Streep's character, and I happen to find Meryl Streep's character infinitely more interesting than said boyfriend.


Unlike the first time I saw it, however, I spent much of my second viewing of The Devil Wears Prada wishing the TV show Damages was back on the air already. Where else am I going to get my fix of dysfunctional, professional female mentor/mentee relationships? Truly, they are in unforgivably short supply.

I've got an apartment lined up for next year! The building itself is only so-so in my (probably extremely spoiled) opinion, but for ~$450/month all inclusive in Toronto I'm more than willing to put up with so-so. More importantly, the people I'm going to live with seem like a really excellent bunch. Arty, laid-back, sociable... and they have a whole wall devoted to random flyers/posters/limewire contracts they found amusing, which endears them to me greatly.

Also, I really enjoyed Transformers. Really a lot. Even though I think my neck still has a crick in it from staring up -- WAY up -- at that enormous screen.