Monday, Monday...can't trust that day...
As another weekend is over and another workweek begins (what's scheduled to be my first full week in a month or so), I find myself reluctant to jump into my day's work with both feet. I figured a quick post here with some life updates would be a good way to kill some time and get my fingers and brain in sync before I start to do any real work.
Faced with being forced to see Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire this coming weekend, I decided this weekend that it was time for me to confront my motion picture demons - namely the first three Harry Potter films. Between Jessi, her sister Jolene and HBO we managed to watch all three films. I watched the first movie, Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone on Friday night. The second two films, Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban were watched Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening, respectively.
So what did I think about the films I have ridiculed relentlessly since they were released? Well shockingly enough, I didn't think they were half bad. I wasn't blown away by them, but I thought they were cute and (for the most part) amusing. They irritated me at certain points, but for the most part I found them enjoyable. I think I also discovered why some people have become so enthralled with the Harry Potter universe as well, even if I don't share their enthusiasm. If the films are any indication of the richness and depth of the books, Rowling has succeeded in creating a diverse, detailed world and hasn't left any stone unturned in her quest to paint all of the corners of that world with color and life. Such attention to detail and broadness of scope is the same thing which has given life and immense popularity to some other, slightly older, fantasy and sci-fi universes. The loyal fans that can become obsessed with The Lords of the Rings, Dune, Star Wars or Star Trek are falling in love with that very aspect of those worlds. The creators of those settings (Tolkien, Herbert, Lucas and Roddenberry, respectively) created worlds that people want to read about and see films about. Rowling has done the same thing. Even if it's not a universe that I can see myself falling in love with (at least not enough to bother reading the books, though I have no doubt I'll enjoy the future films), I can definitely understand how some people could fall in love with it.
So even if I'm not totally won over, I think I at least understand the Harry Potter phenomenon now. I think that counts for something.
We also saw Jarhead last Saturday. Based on the book of the same name, written by Anthony Swofford. Swofford is an ex-Marine and was deployed as a scout/sniper during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The book (and by proxy, the film) chronicles Swofford's experience during basic training and his deployment to the Persian Gulf. It played a bit like Apocalypse Now Lite. It had that chaotic edge that comes from trying to tell the story of a war from the individual perspective. From that perspective, war can be seen only as an evil, hectic, amoral morass of confusion and violence. That's precisely what this film portrays, but it has been criticized by civilians and veterans alike, both for being "anti-war" (who's "pro-war," really?) and for showing the U.S. Marines in an unflattering light.
I wasn't there, I didn't serve with Swofford and the other thousands of Coalition soldiers who fought during Desert Storm. I can't say whether Swofford's account is accurate or not and it doesn't matter whether I agree with his conclusions about war or not. The man was there, he's earned the right to tell his story. Just as I often disagree with many of Oliver Stone's political motivations, but I'll never argue with the legitimacy of his Vietnam-themed films because he was there. He's earned it. So did Swofford.
Besides, you can't tell me that most Marines aren't just a little crazy. I've known Marines.
Not a lot is going on at the moment. At work, our deployment of Windows XP to the desktop is into full swing. I'm not directly involved in the project, but from what I hear it's going fairly well. I tell you what, though. I can't wait to get XP on my laptop. The Win2K drivers for the NIC on that piece are atrocious.
I guess I'm about finished for the day. If you haven't checked it out lately, take a look at the gallery. There's some new stuff up, including pictures from our Halloween bash last month.
-Sam
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