- Was very excited…very, very excited…when my favorite café finally had my favorite sandwich (mozzarella, tomato, and basil on ranch roll) again on Monday after a long hiatus. I had to stop myself from doing my excited dance, which consists of me bouncing slightly from foot to foot and flapping my hands. Couldn’t hold it in at St. Andrews when we rounded the corner and saw the 18th green at the Old Course…but I just managed on this occasion…just.
- On a somewhat related note…I’ve probably mentioned my troubles with the British coins. How I’m always hesitant to use them because I don’t have a full handle on which coins are which and I don’t want to look bad in front of the cashier. On the flip side…it’s important to use the coins at some point otherwise you end up with an ever growing pocketful of like 20 pounds in coin form. Anyway, when I was buying my sandwich and crisps…I had figured that the total would come to exactly 3.90. I was pumped to find that I had exactly 3.90 in coins in my pocket (I counted 3 times to triple check). When it was my turn…the total came up as 4.00. Foiled again…yet another coin added to the collection.
- Saw The King’s Speech this week at the cinema. There was so much hype surrounding it, I was a bit worried that I would be disappointed…but it held up quite well. Very solid movie. The British people in the crowd loved it (obviously). Well acted by the two leads. Colin Firth was perfect and the other guy was excellent as well. It was a bit odd watching Firth, because the entire time I was half-expecting Hugh Grant (swoon) to appear at any moment…but, alas. That slight disappointment aside I enjoyed it. And I never once wondered how much longer till this is over…that’s generally how I decide if a movie is good or not. In fact, it definitely built to my favorite, goosebump-inducing moment near the end…when the speech therapist bates the King into an angry exchange and ends up asking him, mockingly something like, “Why should I listen to you?” The King yells back angrily, “Because I have a voice!!” (Dramatic pause.) Therapist, “Yes…you do.” I was waiting for that one because it was in all the previews and commercials. I probably punched the air to punctuate the moment.
And perhaps the best thing I can say about the film was that it held up despite having one of the most ludicrous movie characters in the history of film. The Winston Churchill character was preposterous. Now, since I’m far from a conservative, Churchill is definitely not a demi-god to me like he is to some on the right. However, being a member of the college that’s named after him and having visited his home place, I never once got the impression that he was mentally handicapped. If the character in this film was your first exposure to Churchill…I don’t see how you could come away with any other conclusion. If he would have been in the film for even one more scene, it probably would have ruined the whole thing.
As for the Best Picture award…I would give the nod to Black Swan, but apparently it’s supposed to be between The King’s Speech and The Social Network (which I haven’t seen…but JT is in it, so it must be good). The King’s Speech is just a bit too uplifting for my taste.
- Oh, maybe you're interested (or not) in what I'm doing for school. Turned in an essay yesterday on the topic, "What are the most effective strategies for global poverty reduction considering the disparate approaches taken by the World Bank and the UNDP?" Now I'm working on another essay due Friday on how a development policy area (I chose population policy and family planning) can deepen rather than alleviate gender inequalities. Fascinating.
No comments:
Post a Comment