Once Upon a Time in Mexico....

I saw this when it opened a week ago, and I've been mulling over what to say about it. I'm still not sure.

On a purely emotional level, I didn't like it. Too violent, too feeble a plot, uninteresting characters - with the partial exception of Agent Sands. I'm not a big fan of Antonio Banderas and though I liked him more here than I usually did, I found his character sort of dull and opaque. Uninteresting. Maybe if I'd seen the previous movies I'd have cared more about his situation?

I even had odd PC reactions, that this was an unfair representation of Mexicans.

On another level - there were things about it I really liked, and they seem better in retrospect. I thought at first I didn't want to see it again. Now... I'm not so sure.

There have been a number of movies I've seen in the past year or so that I thought were too fast-moving, too fast-paced. I lost all interest in the action because it was going by so far. My mind disengaged.... That happened with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and to a lesser degree with Tomb Raider Two. It happened here. Maybe there was more plot than I gave it credit for, and it passed me by.

I had the feeling I was watching the parody of a genre I'd never encountered. Entertainment from another planet or something.

It drove me nuts that the actor playing Jorge FBI looked familiar, but I couldn't recall why, and looking him up on IMDb was no help. I've seen none of his movies. So - why? Does he look like someone else I was thinking of? Or am I just dreaming? Actually, now I think of it, I found him an interesting character, too.

Things I liked:

• The aesthetics. The composition of pictures. The images. The choreography of the movement. I'm not sure how to analyze or articulate it, but there was a beauty to some of the violence and the way it was used. The way the blood on Depp's cheeks spread and streaked, a macabre clown image.
  
  
• Johnny Depp. I suppose in a way this is a 'goes without saying' thing, but it wasn't that I liked Agent Sands: it was that he was a fascinating anomaly, a series of ideas put together in the guise of a character. permetaform suggested that he is a symbol of Death, and that works well for me, with the way he chooses his victims idiosyncratically, remains detached, remains witty, is blind, is led by the innocent boy, is surrounded by figures in death masks, wears black, wears different guises - and has many arms to strike. Moreover, aside from the loss of his eyes, he seems indestructable. It isn't exactly Neil Gaiman's Death (and it sure isn't Terry Pratchett's) but as a variation on a theme, he's extremely interesting. He had all the best lines.
  
  And his gorgeousness is part of the reason I found the movie so aesthetic.
  
  
• My favourite line: the just-blinded Agent Sands (Johnny Depp) to the kid: "I'm having a really bad day."
  
  
• The various times Sands removed his arm. As a repetitive gag, it made be laugh every time. A couple of times I saw it coming. A couple of times (even better) I didn't.
  
  
• Sands' famous/infamous T-shirts.
  

A happy thought....

I got this from essayel:






The HP Male Marriage Quiz made by Sapphire.


I like the result here!

The Smallville 2004 calendar....

acampbell was talking about getting the 2004 Smallville calendar from amazon.com, and wondered what it was like. She had ordered it last year, and failed to get it.

Me too. I got delay after delay in the promised shipping date, and finally a message (in February) that they couldn't fill the order. Luckily I was able to buy a copy when I was in the Chicago area. As far as I can tell it was never sold anywhere in Canada.

This year, I saw a copy at the Silver Snail here in town - my regular comic shop - and grabbed it. Yes, only one copy. As far as I know, the only copy in Ottawa.

Because acampbell wondered what it was like, here's a description of the pictures:

January - from the Pilot, the famous close-up of Clark's profile when he's on the cross in the cornfield wit the red S on his chest, wearing the kryptonite necklace. Sweaty, anguished Clark.

February - Clark kissing Chloe at the dance. What am I forgetting? I thought he just almost kissed her. Must watch again....

March - Oooh ooh ooh. Excuse me while I regain my composure. (Ooh.) Okay, I'm under control. Uh-huh. Let me try again:

March - A picture of Lex Luthor on one knee, in a zippered jacket and black T-shirt, looking thoughtfully at the kryptonite necklace that has fallen from Clark's neck.

April - Lana and Clark facing each other, their hands touching, holding the kryptonite necklace. Is the necklace the theme of the calendar? Except for February it's been in each picture so far.

May - My favourite Clark picture ever: the graveyard scene where he is standing in front of the statue of the angel.

June - Aww. Clark and Pete, in their tuxedos, with a read bow tie on Pete and a black one on Clark, holding their drinks and looking sophisticated. So cute. Clark is wearing a white rose, Pete a pink one. Or is it a carnation? I don't usually like Pete Ross, but this picture of them both is adorable.

July - Another "aww". This is Martha and Jonathan Kent, a close-up of their faces, her arm over his shoulders. They are looking serious and looking over to their left.

August - Looking down at Clark, at an angle above him. He looks intense, sweaty and in action. Should I be recognizing this? He's in a tan jacket with jeans. Rough boards behind him, and dirt floor - the storm cellar? the barn?

September - Chloe and Pete side by side in the school bus, as in the pilot.

October - From "Vortex", a close-up of Clark's face after the tornado, all muddy and tousled, with his tux the worse for wear. Squinty-eyed in the nicest possible way.

November - A close-up of Lana's as she looked earnestly into Clark's eyes. Clark is turned away from the camera and all out of focus. I guess it was inevitable that we'd have the requisite Lana page. At least there's only one. She looks about ten years old. (For November, I plan to tear off the cover page, which shows Lana, Clark and Lex, and put it in place of this one. Or maybe revisit March. Yeah.)

December - A close-up of Chloe's face, with her hair up, and bare shoulders, and the earrings she wore to the dance in "Tempest". She looks soulful. Not her best look in my opinion, but I love Chloe so much I'm glad to see her any way I can.

It has not escaped my notice that Chloe appears more than Lana does on this calendar. Not that I'm keeping score or anything.

Number of appearances, counting the cover: Clark - 8 (I'm not counting November, where he's out of focus in the foreground); Chloe - 3; Lex - 1; Lana - 2; Pete - 2; Jonathan and Martha - 1.

That isn't all. Each month also has a small picture one-and-a-half by two-and-a-half inches, in the upper right corner of the date page. These show:

January - Lana in the pink dress from the Pilot
February - Clark in a plaid flannel shirt, backlit, moody, arms crossed (yummy)
March - Lana posed artfully, leaning on a haystack.
April - Clark looking up at the bridge in the Pilot in that moment when Lex said "I thought I hit you."
May - The same little picture as March. Huh.
June - Lana. Enough, already. At least they are small pictures.
July - The publicity photo where Clark is squatting with his knees apart in jeans beside a truck.
August - The publicity photo with Lex in black, leaning against a barn door. I forgive them for the Lana pictures.
September - Lana, Clark and Chloe posed in front of a Crows banner. School photo.
October - Same as the cover: Lana, Clark and Lex with a dark background.
November - Clark looking thoughtful, backlit.
December - Clark with his hands on a wire fence, looking sideways at the camera. Lots of biceps.

That's it. Looking through it, I'm all the more glad I bought it. What a gorgeous calendar! Okay, I'd like more of Lex, but the pictures that are there are beautiful.