orichalcum

Job Search update: Got rejected from Emory. :( No good news yet.

Baby update: Mac can do one-armed pushups! _I_ can't do one-armed pushups. It's a terrible feeling to be weaker than your 5-month old.

Athens update: The Rich Athlete was acquitted by default by a tie-verdict - very dramatic. Meanwhile, they've passed public education for the intellectually elite, as determined by a test devised by a council of philosophers and sophists. The schools will be paid for by a progressive tax and teach (the compromise) democratic values, Socratic philosophy, and the history of Athens' founders. Meanwhile, they're trying to figure out if they can pay both for schools and war.

Reflection of the Day: I think living with two creatures who need frequent reminders of affection and praise has turned me into a more demonstrative and compassionate person. It doesn't matter if I'm feeling sulky and sorry for myself; Eowyn still wants to be petted and rewarded for being a good puppy, and Mac still wants to be nuzzled and cuddled and smiled at. I can't shut them out, and as a result, I'm less selfish, and probably happier, because it _does_ cheer me up to smile at a baby.

OK, julianyap and havenstone and retsuko were totally right....and I don't always agree with their movie tastes, fond as I am of them. (Although we went to see it partially on the principle that when that many of your closest friends love a movie...) This movie has some of the best directing and cinematography I've seen in a decade. It's unbelievably intense, and shocking, and the vision of the future is so scarily plausible, apart from the central conceit. As a young parent, it's a particularly gripping movie. It's also one of the most Christian movies I've seen in a long time, something few people seem to be commenting on, and I mean that in a good, C.S. Lewisy kind of way.

Random comments: I love Cuaron's habit of visual motifs - in this case, the border collies. foldedfish and hokulea, there are tons of adorable border collies in this film; in general, the subtle use of pets is quite remarkable.

i love the little details that indicate "future" without drumming it into our heads, like the subtly wrong cars. They don't fly and they don't talk to you, but they are shaped just a little bit differently than 2006 cars - in the same way that 1970s cars look different.

The soundtrack rocks, particularly because of Cuaron's willingness to suddenly increase the volume to shock and startle the listener.

I almost didn't go to see this movie because I disliked the book so much; in particular, I found that there were no likable characters in the book. The movie fixes that problem without going overboard in a Hollywood Action Hero direction; Clive Owen is a terribly human, ordinary man who is tested by an extraordinary situation.

So, um, yeah, go see this film. It's a criminal shame Cuaron wasn't nominated for Best Director, at the least, and if it doesn't get Cinematography, I will cry.