The hit count for this blog is currently at 147,059 since its inception on Dec. 20th 2017! Keep those hits coming and I'll keep writing. Views come in from virtually every country on the planet. Now back to our regular programming.
January has taken over the Homestead and surrounding area. It's very cold with worse to come, there is snow on the ground and the boiler is working hard to keep us happy. We have entered the coldest part of January not only statistically but actually. This happens from time to time and must be endured, but as we have already had many January days in December it's all getting to be a bit much. We should have about three weeks of true winter left, but since weather is no longer predictable, this could go on till June. We shall see.
My foot is healing up well. I will see the doctor in three days to get an official medical opinion, but I am optimistic. It still hurts to put shoes on, so I am unable to resume walking. The toe is likely still swollen.
My new piano pieces have now had ten hours of work put into them. In other words, I am still nowhere. I will give a more detailed report after the first month. Deb is inching along on her newest short film, and is ready to commission her composer from Mexico City. So we both have plenty to keep us busy. We recently finished playing "Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles," a PC game from 2010. It is packed with puzzles, many of them quite easy while others are nearly impossible to solve unless one randomly hits upon the solution. It was actually quite fun to play, even though its relationship to Doyle's book is pretty sketchy. Graphics were quite well done, as well as the story.
We have begun a replay of Myst III, having recently undertaken the most updated versions of Myst and Riven. This one badly needs an update. From 2001 we are now playing the game on Steam rather than loading 4 CDs and having to keep switching them. At the time, this game was rendered in 640 x 480 graphics! Hard to believe, as I still think of it as a modern game.
There are two movies to report, and a 9-part SF series. First the series. Dark Matter is from 2024 and based on a novel by Blake Crouch. It stars Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly. It has an interesting premise that eventually collapses in upon itself, and the series and its many tropes had us cursing the production several times. Overall it is watchable, especially the episodes where they are traveling within The Box, a room that allows access to different realities, though closely related to the existing one. It's fun seeing Chicago buried in snow, burnt to a crisp, covered in sand dunes, and looking very sleek and modern in a far future version of itself. There are many loopholes in the story, and the ending, which we both liked, sure left a heck of a mess behind in present day Chicago. Recommended, though not highly.
Two Chinese films round out this portion of today's blog. It was inevitable that we would watch Chinese Ghost Story 3 from 1991. Pretty much the same cast returns for pretty much the same story, along with similar scenes of utter grossness, and the familiar farcical humour. I still recommend the first in the series.
Wong Kar Wai has long led in the category of Chinese art film, and his 2004 film 2046 keeps that tradition alive, if not all well. I found the film overlong and actually on the boring side, despite all the fine photography. Billed as a romantic drama, that it is. A man (played by Tony Leung) has many affairs with beautiful women but will not commit to any of them. Not even the beautiful Gong Li, who comes to love him madly and deeply. We eventually learn why he is like he is. There was a woman for him, but she left and seems to have disappeared. My question is this: can't a person change? Not this guy, apparently. The movie is stylish and great to look at, and despite the SF glimmer to the plot the number 2046 refers to a rooming house number, one which he can't seem to leave. Watchable though not a truly great film (like so many other art films.....).
Coming next: A winter birthday celebration and a 4-film festival of early Nordic noir cinema. With the weather expected to worsen, the next post should come fairly soon.
Mapman Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment