Mary and Max

I just saw a great movie: Mary and Max.

I wrote a couple of movie reviews in college that I was really proud of, but I've never written one outside an academic setting, or one that didn't relate to some other book or article I read or should have read. Is this my first?

(what makes a good movie review? should it be limited to how great - or lousy - it is, or is it better if you analyze other aspects like themes and relevance and stuff? is it ok to throw in a bunch of "I feel"s? who even reads this shit?)

I was talking with a friend - I'll call her "Mary" - who recommended the movie to me. She told me she watched it with a kid, and we were talking about what movies are appropriate for kids. I'm really not sure about this one, but I don't have any kids of my own, so I guess I don't have to worry about it much. Maybe it's just because I'm sleep deprived or something, but it felt really heavy, especially for claymation. I cried a couple times - which is not to say that it's a constant downer; it's got some hilarious and cute scenes, but it wasn't a movie like Bio-Dome or Plan 9 From Outer Space where you can just laugh it off and go about your day. On the other hand, I have a friend whose ex was bored by Todd Solondz's Happiness (spoiler alert: Happiness was an amazing movie, but it probably won't put a smile on your face - at least not a smile you'd feel good about.)

So - was Mary and Max uplifting? Kinda, although it was full of drab colors - a lot of grays and browns. It also had a lot of deaths in it, so that might be a reason to keep it away from kids. But "Mary" told me the kid she watched it with wanted to watch it again several times, so who knows? Other deep or adult themes: drug addiction, religion, fate, sex - some of these things are spelled out in print, so maybe it's safer for babies or illiterate people. Maybe especially babies, although even babies might get scared. But babies are always crying for no obvious reason, right? Babies are crazy ;)

I found the plot refreshingly unpredictable - there really wasn't an Act I, II, and III. It was also full of weirdness and non-sequiturs, which I'm a big fan of. There's a lot of lines I want to quote, but I'm not going to because I'm feeling spent, and I can't decide what to quote and what to leave out. Hysterically funny stuff, profound stuff...

Overall, I'd recommend it to wierdos and people who struggle to fit in and work out what to do with their lives - which is a lot of people!

no rest for the whiny

I've been having a really hard time getting enough sleep lately, and too often I wake up sweaty and sore and stiff. (no innuendo intended, but now the image is in your head. Ha!) If I had more perspective, I guess I wouldn't be so anxious, but I feel like I'm responsible for a lot of stuff, maybe more than I can handle. Pounding cheap vodka isn't doing the trick.

Just kidding, Mom! I'm not really a binge drinker.

Outside of my job, bills, chores, and babysitting my roommate's imaginary friend (or ghost?) I feel obligated to my friends and family, especially since they put up with so much bullshit from me - less than they've had to in the past, but still. This is what I fear people hear when I whine: "Work is hard! Things are expensive! Life is short! Nobody understands me! Where's my Nobel Prize?" I even whine about my whining.

But I obviously have lots of things and people I should be grateful for, and sometimes I AM grateful for them. I can afford to feed myself, I don't have to sleep outside in the cold, I can walk about 3 blocks for a pack of cigarettes and leap tall buildings in a single bound, I have people who care about me, I have donuts, I have time to relax. I can relax. I am relaxing. I am relaxed. I am...

...zzxzxxzzxzxxzzz...