Shemsi and Andy in South Carolina

Addendum to Snippets 2.0

Hi,
Apparently, Blogger ate my last post which elaborated on Shemsi's Snippets. I'll recreate now, so scroll that little mousewheel down to Shemsi's post and read that one first.

1) The incident with the chipmunk at the Atlanta zoo was extra funny because we were looking at some lions at the time. Shemsi and I are looking over the cement barricade at some large jungle cats imported from Africa when a chipmunk scurries over the barricade. We both go "Oooh! What's up with that tail-less squirrel!" A local explains "umm that's a chipmunk." I won't speak for Shemsi, but I at least had assumed that it was a zoo animal. It was in fact just the local vermin.

2) Shemsi thought that I didn't like The Prestige as much as her, and I thought she didn't like it as much as me. We both recommend it but with three caviats. The first is that this movie is a downer. It's kind of like Memento---it's got a weird twisted plot, and sort of a surprise ending, and the surprise is that everything is horrible. But most liked Memento, and I think most would like this. Just don't expect to leave the movie giggling. It only gets more disturbing as the pieces fall together on the way home. Second is that while there is a twist, you will figure it out way before the audience does if you have a sizable audience. In this sense, there are boring parts, as at the end, the movie spends considerable time making it crystal clear what exactly has been going on for the dumbest person in the room with you. I suspect that the director is compensating for the people who left Memento confused. At least you get to feel smug, as no matter how clear things get, you still occasionally hear someone go "Oooohhh..." Thirdly, Michael Caine is in the movie, playing the same character Michael Caine plays in every movie.
I gave three strikes against the prestige; here are three plusses: First, it's a awesome that they staged this crazy story in the wings of nineteenth century English magic shows. Second, David Bowie is in it and is awesome. Third, you get to find out who would win in a fight: Batman or Wolverine.

3) We saw Borat this weekend. As we approached the movie, Shemsi dared me to buy tickets using the full name of the movie, which is "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." I successfully did this and we cracked our concessionist up. (Now I dare you!) This was a very strange movie. One of the great aspects is that the man playing Borat has somehow figured out that he is able to get Americans to reveal that their deep prejudices to foreigners much more easily thatn to a typical documentarian. A man high-fives Borat when Borat tells the story of how his retarded brother raped his sister. A man lauds the (I assume fictional) Kazakhstani custom of hanging homosexuals. Our audience cheered a little when Borat catches a ride with three young men from the University of South Carolina (our school!) but the audience exudes nausea as these men explain to Borat how America has too many minorities, and life is so easy in America for minorities. Also, it is excellent to have sex with a woman and never call her back. (Borat: "Because she has no phone! Am I right!? High five!") Borat is also an excellent movie and I have a hard time giving you advice of which of our two to see. Maybe see Borat so you can help me figure out how much of the final sequence was scripted and how much was not.

In conclusion.

posted by Andy @ 1:55 AM