Movie Review - The Raven

I am a big John Cusack fan. He is a great actor and has turned out some incredible movies over the years - Grosse Point Blank and The Jack Bull are among my favorites.  I went to see "The Raven" today with mixed feelings - the critics have not been kind to the movie.

So, let me start with the good things - I liked the movie, generally speaking. Cusack was good and the conceit of the story was interesting, but the movie was basically muddled. I can give you an example - there is a scene about three quarters of the way through the movie when the heroes have arrived at and are surrounding a church where they think the killer is.  One of the lesser characters, a police man, is sent around the side.  As he approaches a door way he looks up and the killer, all dressed in black, is on top of the arched doorway.  He leaps off and attacks!

Except, uh, what the heck was he doing standing on top of an arched doorway, dressed in black, in broad daylight?  Unfortunately, the movie never tells you why.  Unfortunately, the real reason is the director probably thought it would be cool to have the villain leaping with his cape flapping.  Sadly, there are several other scenes in the movie, some of them fairly long, that are cut from the same piece of film.  Scenes with no foreshadowing, no purpose, and no motivation.  There was a good movie in there, but what came out at the final end of the editing process wasn't it.

Relativity Media

Just saw the Relativity Media presentation with John Cusack for "The Raven". It looks excellent. I'm in Hall H - "The Big Hall" and eating lunch while waiting for the Underworld 4 presentation. A good day so far.
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A Day In Five Parts

Part One: I wake in the gray light of the bedroom, curled beneath my comforter. Nothing in particular woke me. I was simply done sleeping. I linger for a while and then roll out and take a shower. I dress simply, blue jeans and a black button down shirt. I make coffee for the morning. I go online and journey into the Spiritual Insights chat room. As I sit there I realize I have fallen into an introspective mood. I simply read the chat for about an hour. I exchange pleasantries with a few people. I note the absence of a few people who always brighten the room. I leave chat. I write a journal entry. I respond to One Minute Writer. I gather my laundry.

Part Two: I drive down to the laundromat and load three machines. 24 minutes for the wash cycle. I text a dear friend whom I am thinking of. There is no response. I read "One Bullet Away". The timer sounds and I switch the clothes over to the dryers. 36 minutes to go. I go back to the car. I think. I write. I read. Then comes the moment I enjoy so much. I stand at a table and fold laundry. The warmth. The textures. The soft scents. I stand, I fold, I gaze out the windows and watch the wind swirl in the vivid green leaves of the trees across the street.

Part Three: I drive a few blocks to Boston Market for lunch. Dido's "White Flag" is playing on the radio. I sit in the car for a moment to let the song echo to a close. A young woman in gray sweat pants and a gray SJSU sweater walks by carrying an over-sized bottle of coke. A gust of wind buffets her and she drops the bottle. It hits the pavement and explodes. She leaps nimbly out of the way of the spraying soda. She stands there and looks forlornly at the bottle until it
stops spraying. She picks it up and throws it into the trash can twenty feet away - a clean and crisp jump shot. Lunch is chicken, red potatoes and sweet corn, washed down with iced tea. I drive home. I carry the laundry up to the apartment and put it away. I sit in my chair and write, bathed in the peculiar gray light of the impending rain. I am still restless. I decide to wander back out. I slip my camera in my pocket.

Part Four:  Lacking an organizing principle I drive over to Santana Row, to CineArts, to see "The Reader", with Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes.  The movie is a mish-mash. I want to like it but, ultimately, I don't.  A pair of powerful actors in a movie that hits a half a dozen cliches that we have seen before - there is simplicity in movies and their is mock simplicity.  "The Reader" abounds with mock simplicity.  It tries to hard but lacks the underlying imagination to pull it off.  As I walk out of the movie theatre I get a text.  I read it.  No response is necessary. I walk back to the car and drive home.

Part Five:  I order a delivery pizza. I work on my other laptop, running scans, making adjustments.  I watch the last half of Juno while eating pizza.  Grosse Pointe Blank comes on so I settle in to watch a movie I have seen a dozen times, but still love.  John Cusack plays Martin Blank, a hitman, going home for his high school reunion.  I would rank it high on my list of favorite movies.  The evening is quiet.  The evening is reflective and introspective.  The evening is a meditation on complexity.  The evening is a meditation on the nature of our demons.

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A Murder of Crows II

A quiet hour or so at home and a good conversation with someone special managed to reset the day for me. I swung back our and ran my forgotten errands. I stopped at Target and picked up some odds and ends (lemon honey cough drops, hair conditioner, hand sanitizer and John Cusack's "War, Inc."). I walked those back out to the car.

I walked over to a sushi restaurant and had a light late lunch - California Roll, Rainbow Roll, Saki Salmon sashimi, a bowl of Miso soup, and a cup of green tea. I walked over to the shoe store (time to replace my running shoes), but they did not have the particular model I was looking for in my size. Then, I spent the next hour wandering around in Barne's & Noble - and incredibly, I walked out without buying anything - only because the lines were very long and I figure I can always go back there in the evening one of these weeks.

I wandered the shopping center a bit just to stretch my legs and people watch and then walked back to the car. I considered driving over to Macy's (I have a gift card that I got for Christmas), but ultimately decided that is Westgate, a rather small mall, was crowded - then Valley Fair, a very large mall, was going to be a zoo. I am sure the sunshine had a lot of people out and about doing exactly what I was doing - wandering.

So, I wandered home. I watched the John Cusack movie I mentioned above - pretty good - typical Cusack fair, witty, clever, sarcastic and truthful. I have been contemplating dinner, but haven't really decided if I am inclined toward anything. I had a bowl of French Vanilla ice cream while watching the movie, which took the edge off of any hunger pangs. I considered ordering pizza, but decided against it.

I took a long hot bath, with lavendar bath salts, lit by candle light. It was very relaxing and centering. It is still relatively early in the evening, so I am going to see if there is anything worth watching on TV later in the night, if not, I may toss in another movie. I am looking forward to a quiet night at home, nice and relaxed. I might make a phone call or two later into the evening, but I haven't decided on that - I will make that decision when the time comes.