Moonshine, Tattoos and Bad Endings

Felt pretty crummy this past Saturday, not really flu or virus, but generally yucky in tummy, so I didn't accomplish much. I mostly read until afternoon and then felt a bit better so went and tried to mend my friend's computer, which, sadly, seemed to be a worthless endeavor. I think it's time for a new one - it's 6 years old and it's running Vista... 'nuff said! I got to play with their new kitten, Tessa who is an absolute doll! She has rather larger ears than normal and they are very hairy with long wisps of hair at the ends as well as at the openings. These aren't very good photos - rather blurry, as my phone's camera was set on night portrait for some reason. I'm not positive that's the reason, but it's since I've never used that setting, it's a logical conclusion - works for me.

Tessa is a sweetie and seemed to like me as she stuck her nose in my face and bumped her little nose all over my mouth and eyes and then placed her little paws on the sides of my face and stared intently at me as if searching me for something. Looking for signs of intelligence, maybe? Ha!

Saturday night I watched Lawless starring Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain and others. The cinematography was absolutely stunning and the acting was superb. It was violent, yes, but then that time in U.S. history was. The story is set in depression and prohibition era Virginia and is based on the Bondurant family, a real family who made and sold moonshine. Matt Bondurant wrote the novel that the movie is based on and I don't think it is intended to be a strictly historical work, but rather a re-telling of the family and local stories of some rather notorious ancestors. This isn't really a "movie review" so I'm not going to go into the story line, etc. and potentially ruin it for you. I'm a big fan of Shia's as well as Tom Hardy's work, and to have them in a movie together was really fantastic all on its own, but as it is, the movie itself was really well-done and the story was gripping and engaging, so it was a huge thumbs up for me. It's rated R, so be warned it is bloody and violent, and has some language, however it is not gratuitous, and there is some female nudity, one very brief, which is in context also. So, it is not for children or the faint-hearted ;).

I also watched most of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, having missed the first twenty minutes or so. It was a quite gripping story, but I was thankful that I had paused it to let the dogs out so that I was able to fast-forward through two (to my mind) less-than-tasteful sex scenes, although the tattoo work was quite impressive. Still, the story was interesting and suspenseful, but I hated the ending. I haven't read the books, but I know a little of the female lead character's backstory, and it is disturbing to say the least. Because I haven't read the book, I don't know if the ending in the movie is the same as in the book, but I thought it was a big letdown. A crappy ending really ruins a movie for me, and the same goes for books. I am compelled to finish a book once started, even if it's horrible. I may rush through it and I may do a lot of skimming, but I do finish it, so if a terrible book has a satisfying ending it sort of redeems  the book and makes my time less of a waste. But the worst is a wonderful book with a horrible ending - there is just no coming back from that one. It forces me to write my own ending that is more satisfying. Having said all of that begs the question why bother with a bad book? Well, there is the hope that at any moment it could get better and then I would have missed it. I must finish the book! Totally OCD, I know.

While I'm on the subject of bad endings, I recently watched the movie Seeking a Friend for the End of the World starring Keira Knightley and Steve Carrell. The premise is that a huge asteroid is heading for the earth and no matter where it hits, everything will be destroyed. Yeah, I should have had a clue, but I kept thinking that at the last minute it would divert course or something. The movie was great - sad moments, funny moments, lovely moments - I loved it! Right up until the end...I'm sure there were many people who thought "Awww...*sniff* How sweet that they died together! *sniff*" Not this girl, no. This girl thought it was totally depressing and it was a hope-sucker - sucked the hope for happy endings right out of me. The acting was fantastic and all, but wow! What a downer! I couldn't even cry because I was flat shocked. I looked over at hubby and he pretty much had the same expression on his face. He said, "What the heck was that?" and I responded with "Awful, is what that was!" So, as you can see, hubby and I are well over 90% compatible in the movie category  :)