Movies:  Quite a pair

This past week I spent a little more time reveling in escapism.  I popped in some movies and away I went, leaving the world of an incompetent faux president and a dismal economy.  At least for a few minutes.

Frida was fantastic; I couldn’t take a break from watching this flick.  I really hadn’t known much about the politics of Mexico during the period in which she lived, hadn’t known much about her personal life at all.  I’d only seen her as a shadow of Diego Rivera.  Boy, was I wrong about that! There is no way this woman was a shadow, ever.  I’m motivated to explore her work more thoroughly; I’ve missed a lot not knowing more about this artist.

Of particular interest to me was the manner in which Kahlo’s inspiration was depicted by the director, Julie Taymor and actress/producer Selma Hayek.  It felt as if they had truly entered the mind of the artist and her creative process.

As some of the critics commented, this movie does feel a bit like the viewer is slammed around.  But then it does look as if Kahlo’s life was dramatic for the entirety of its short span; she crammed more into her forty-seven years than most people do in twice that time.

Hubby Movie Meter:  He watched it, stayed with it without comment.  I think the relationships were of interest to him; he’s not much of an art buff.

* * * * *

Mostly Martha made me cry – it got to me, even though the movie is subtitled.  I don’t think anything was lost in translation.  The actors feel real and engaging, are subtle and not overplayed.  There’s a delicacy to the filming, not unlike that of Trois hommes et un coffin.  Great chick flick, worth watching again.

Hubby Movie Meter:  He fell asleep.  Yep, that clinches it.  This is definitely a classic foreign chick flick.

Go ahead, try ‘em out this weekend.  You could probably use an escape, too.

4:26:18 PM    comment []

DharmaSurfing:  Good news, bad news…

Good news first: I have an interview next week for a project administration position.  This job would make use of my project management background and experience in hardware in large enterprise environments.

Bad news: The job is located an hour away.  It pays little more than a secretarial position and is only a hair more challenging. 

Unemployment locally is still at over 11%; I have little chance of finding anything for quite awhile if economic indicators around here don't change in a double-digit direction in a hurry.  It’s already been 14 months that I’ve been unemployed.  Net-net, my spouse and I will assuredly pay more income tax combined than I will make if I take this job. 

What to do, what to do…

9:05:11 AM    comment []