Thanksgiving....

I've been reading everyone's LJ account of their American Thanksgiving - envying the feasting, you don't want to know what I had for supper yesterday. I was reading this morning about the history of the American Thanksgiving, and I wondered: what about the history of Thanksgiving in Canada? We really haven't replaced the stories of pilgrims and Indians with anything of our own, so what is the history?

The first Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated by Martin Frobisher and his people in 1581. It became a legal holiday (the first Monday in October) in 1957.

Cool.

Timeline....

It was Sandi's birthday. We had dinner at Montana's and then went to see Timeline at South Keys - me, Sandi, Pat, Lyn and Beulah.

The review in The Ottawa Citizen was so bad it was funny. It said that Paul Walker as Chris Johnston was remarkable only in his ability to walk around with the nervous, clueless express an actor gets when trying to remember his lines. It also said the history was terrible.

Okay, the history was terrible. Chris Johnston won't win the Academy Award but he wasn't so bad. Frances O'Connor as Kate wasn't too remarkable either, but she was fine, and besides, they weren't the ones I was watching. I was enjoying the looks and performances of Gerard Butler and Anna Friel, both of whom I like - a lot. Especially Anna Friel. Haven't seen her for a while. I had a major crush on her for a while. She is gorgeous, and I like her acting style.

The movie is a typical Michael Crichton story: don't expect to think too much. (And if you do, you'll notice the bad science and worse history, so it's better not to.) My favourite cringeworthy moment was when they translated the Latin "magister" as "scientist". Right.

I liked the way the movie combined science fiction and medieval history. Basically it's about the (failed) attempt to invent the transport beam, which results in unintended time travel. They were supposed to be in 14th century France and it didn't look in the least like any part of France I ever saw. "It looks as if it was filmed around here," I thought. "If not Ontario, maybe Quebec." Yes: It turned out to have been filmed in Quebec, and most of the many French names in the credits were familiar French-Canadian names.

It reminded me of Reign of Fire and not just because Gerard Butler was in it. Similar visuals.

I particularly liked the resolution of the plot - the end of the story.