September 08, 2005
Movies, Camping, and Knocking on Woodentry, September 8th, 2005
In my last entry I mentioned that I might be ready to go camping with my kids again in a year or so. I really should have knocked on wood.
Following this weekend's campout I really needed some more "modern" entertainment, so I saw a couple of films. The Brothers Grimm was delightful, and it's a pity it won't be out on DVD in time for this Hallowe'en, because it's a perfect October 31st movie -- there's some scary, there's some funny, and it's merrily dark in a way only a few filmmakers can make their films. Terry Gilliam is obviously one of them.
Interestingly, I thought the female lead, Lena Headey, looked a lot like Kiera Knightly, only aged enough to actually be attractive. I guess that says more about ME than about either actress.
Anyway, I liked it.
Tuesday I took time out to go see Transporter 2. This I didn't enjoy quite so much. When it comes right down to it, the parts of the movie I liked the least were the parts spent in the car, and it's a movie about a guy who makes his living being a fantastically unrealistically good driver. That corkscrew jump where he scrapes a bomb off the bottom of his car against a crane hook? Luc Besson (the director) pretty much lost me there.
Then again, the fight sequences and the dialog from Jason Statham were loads of fun. Sure, he does a lot of things the hard way (why KICK the firehose nozzle at a man's crotch from clear across the room when it can be THROWN with more force and more accurately?) but I didn't mind so much.
I'm going to have to pretend that the plane crash at the end never happened. My disbelief suspenders got hung up clear back on that crane and gave my imagination a wedgie.
Still and all, the modern entertainment was nice. Add to that a great Labor Day spent at Dragon's Keep, and the contrast with "camping" was sufficiently stark that my next foray into "sleeping on the ground and eating things with dirt in them" needs to be a long way off.
I really, REALLY should have knocked on wood.
Apparently the Ward Fathers-and-Sons campout this spring got postponed, not cancelled. It appeared, summoned as if by dark magics, on my calendar where it blocks out September 16th and 17th. The tent, the sleeping bags, the dutch oven, the flashlights, the matches, the first-aid kit, both my sons, and the painkillers are all ready to go. Me? I need another week to psych myself up for this.
Are there any good movies coming out this weekend?