Finally, a day off; finally I finish AND A SHIP SAILS ON (50), and GREAT EXPECTATIONS (31)

There's been a weird shift in my life over the last ten months or so. Where before, I was really one of the most happily lazy people I think many people knew, over the last sort of short amount of time, I've ended up (for financial and responsibility reasons) working pretty much, seven days a week. Sure, there's been a handful of days off for vacation, a few "rest" days, but in general, for the last eight months I've spent at least five hours of my day working to some capacity. It wasn't bad mind you, it just seems to go against the very beloved streak of laziness that cuts through me. Recently in a late night worn down moment I decided that even though it would make a sizable ding on my financial status (alright 50 bucks before taxes, but when you're poor that's a lot more than you realize) I needed to drop a shift at my coffee shop job.

Thus, from this point forward, I will have Sundays off. Glory be it. Thank the lord. Hail Jebus. And for this first Sunday off, I had big plans, all the reading I would do, all the movies I would watch, all the shit that was sitting around that I would just finally finish. What lofty plans they were. Sure, I ventured out in to the world, got some brunch, spent some money I didn't have, thought about doing a lot of very productive things ... but in the end, I just sort settled myself in front of various screens and attempted to sleep. Honestly, I think I'm going to have to get used to this whole day off business, as I felt a little guilty for not getting more done. Seriously, have I become an adult or something? Guilt for lack of productivity? I used to revel in irresponsibility, now I have grey hairs and a guilt complex.

Finally, FINALLY, I finished And The Ship Sails On (50) and I've said a ton about it, but just to sort of tie it all up, I'll give my final thoughts. Not my favorite Fellini movie (that's Nights of Cabiria (49)), but certainly well worth a watch. It's a long, deep, surreal film and I can't profess that I understood the whole thing, but Fellini is great at building a bigger idea out of small, almost vignette style scenes. I loved this films musical qualities and the way Fellini seemed to be hinting that music is the common denominator no matter who we are and how much money we have. There's a great dancing scene involving Serbian refugees and a bunch of hoity-toity rich people that had me smiling right along with them. Finally, any movie that ends with a fake rhinoceros sitting in a life boat has to at least have some merit.


I've been arguing with a friend all weekend about my dislike for 19th century period pieces. I can't stand books like Pride and Prejudice or An Ideal Husband, nor the slew of movies made of them. I was worried about David Lean's Great Expectations (31) as I thought it would bear the similarly dull aspects of so many of these beloved snoozers. Though it wasn't my favorite film so far, the combination of Lean's, well, genius and Dicken's sort of snarky, at times satirical story lines really got me. Lean uses these awesome, sort of darkly gothic sets in this film (especially the dusty drawing room of Miss Havisham) that really play up Dicken's obsession with the grime and grit of industrial England. If you aren't keen on period pieces (and I'm right there with you) this might be a little difficult to stomach, but it certainly has merit.

Tuesday: Oliver Twist (32) and a terrible version of Brazil (51)