TGIF...

[fajrdrako]

I did something I almost never do today: I went on a shopping spree. I only had an hour at lunchtime, and I made the most of it: got a pile of things I needed or wanted in double-quick time. This included a pair of winter boots - good treads, and the logo of a tree. (How could I resist boots with a tree on them?) I badly needed to replace the ones I've been wearing. They're shot. There's a picture of a boot in the style I got here. It's made of leather and thermolite. I've no idea what thermolite is (and I'm too tired to look it up), but I like the way it feels. Like it says on the package: warm and light.

Also got a large container of Vitabath (the best shower gel ever), antihistamines, a ream of coloured paper for my apazine, groceries, a DVD player, and a DVD (Casino Royale with Daniel Craig). The latter was because the CD Exchange on Rideau Street is going out of business. So many stores are leaving Rideau St., so few (so far) coming back. I'm hoping this will change when some of the snazzy new condos open up and there are more people living in the area. For lunch, I had a smoked meat sandwich from Nate's - and if Nate's closes up in a few months, as they say it will, this may be the smoked meat sandwich I ever get there. Heck, I'm still mourning the Harvey's that used to be on the corner of Rideau and Nelson. The Pizza Pizza that's there now sells what must be the worst pizza in town.

This evening I watched The Fifth Element. I'd seen it when it first came out - only a decade ago? It seemed longer. I didn't remember it well. I remember being dissatisfied with it, despite strong visuals, but I didn't recall why.

Well. Now I know. The good things about it:

1. great performances by Bruce Willis doing what he does best and Gary Oldman being a total nut as the evil Zorg, and

2. brilliant visual design created by Moebius and Jean-Claude Mézières. Scenes and setting replicated things I've seen in French albums - even the shapes of things and the poses of character. Colour and composition. And the magic. And the aliens.



But the script? It has neither cohesion or tension. Characters are stereotypes. The story wanders. So did my attention. Milla Jovovich was disappointing, maybe because she had almost no lines and not much action. No one in the movie seemed very bright.


I thought I saw elements that influenced Doctor Who, or were influenced by it: some of the aliens reminded me of Sontarans or the Judoon; the motorways of the undercity, frequented by floating cars and clogged with exhaust fumes, were like the motorways of "Gridlock".