Had to post this picture. Who would have thought that I’d get my name on the cover of a Stephen King novel? Along with Ramsey Campbell, no less.
A cool front came through this weekend and fall seems to be officially here. It dipped down into the 50s overnight and is barely in the 80s today, which is a big and welcome change.
We went to see Gravity in 3D on Saturday. Intense movie! My wife grabbed my arm about halfway through and never let go for the rest of the film. My daughter said it was the best movie she’s seen in a long time. The visuals are nothing short of stunning. We don’t have an IMAX theater very close to us, but I’d love to see it on the massive screen. Well worth the extra for 3D, too. Very little is “in your face,” but when it is, it works, and the added depth is so good in a setting where all three dimensions are constantly in play. If you’re of a scientific bent, you might have to overlook a few oversimplifications and mistakes, but they aren’t so glaring and the film doesn’t give you much time to think about them while things are happening. Much has been said about Bullock’s performance. Halfway through the film, she really does kick it into high. Oscar worthy? Hmm. Who knows? But definitely one of her best performances.
I decided to go back to the beginning and have been watching the first season of Breaking Bad. I remember most of it pretty well. I am especially impressed by the symmetry between that season and the final eight. There’s a lot more than I realized. When Walt first decides to not have chemo, Walt Jr. yells at him, “Why don’t you just die, then?” which will sound familiar to anyone who has seen the final phone conversation between the two. Jesse had so many chances to get away from Walt in those first episodes. How different his life might have been if he’d followed through.
The Mentalist raised a couple of possibilities in last night’s episode. One is that Red John is actually a cabal rather than an individual. I think that’s a stretch, though. I wondered when Elizabeth’s Rohm’s character was dispatched without her actually appearing in the episode if anyone bothers to let actors know when something like that happens. “Oh, by the way, your character’s head was found in an oven. So we probably won’t be asking you back any time soon.” However, to me the big mystery is: how did Red John know that Patrick was thinking about going to see her. The only person he told was van Pelt, when he asked for her address. Could it be Grace? Hardly seems likely, but still. Unless Red John was monitoring the therapist’s phone and trapped Patrick’s messages. That makes a little more sense. And I wonder what the payoff is going to be about the nurse who walked into Lisbon’s hospital room looking for someone else. That was weird.
Glad that Audrey is finally back in Haven, except she isn’t. She’s Lexie. So what does that mean? And does that mean Colin Ferguson is done? Shame if that’s true. I really liked this week’s Blue Bloods episode. Frank started dropping in on precincts and patrols without warning and he encountered something that made it look like a lieutenant was malingering, but he stuck with it long enough to discover the truth, which was quite different.
I also finished Top of the Lake, which had several surprises in the final episode. Because certain characters were lying and had reason to continue to lie, it’s not entirely true what was true and what was subterfuge. Holly Hunter’s character was a trip. She finally decided to up and “get away from these crazy bitches,” booking a trip to Iceland. It was a strange story, all in all. Dreamlike at times. Not mystical, but not as clear cut as crime shows often are.
