For my moviegoing public: Fast Food Nation and Tideland

With our beloved Heroes on a month-long hiatus, we haven't had any reason to hang out with Ryan. This past week the situation became intolerable and we agreed to rent some movies.

I poked around on the Hollywood Video new releases page and thought Fast Food Nation sounded like something we could all enjoy. This was based on my first impression that it was a documentary (Tery's favorite), but she agreed to watch even after I realized my mistake. It was either this or Tenacious D: Pick of Destiny, and being unable to decide, we got both.

( ::cut on the off chance any of you would like to eat meat again:: )

As the credits rolled, we all just sat there, stunned. It did reinforce my belief that illegal immigrants serve a purpose that most conservatives would prefer to overlook: They aren't stealing CEO jobs, and they certainly aren't making $33 an hour as one drunk tried to argue with Tery at the bar. They're taking shitty, filthy, sometimes hazardous jobs that most Americans would rather beg on the street than perform.

I felt somewhat responsible for traumatizing my friends until I went back to the Hollywood site which described the film as "Smart, funny and provocative." Even the front of the DVD case proclaimed it to be "unusually funny." Sure, if struggling immigrants forced to do dangerous, ethically questionable work and the inner workings of slaughterhouses is your thing, this is a spirited romp. For the rest of us, the words "gut-wrenching, appalling and wholly depressing" might be more fitting...though granted not as helpful in selling DVDs.

Now our hopes hang on Tenacious D to cheer us up, but there's the distinct danger that Jack Black will leave an even worse taste in our mouths.


~*~

While searching for new releases, I noticed that somehow a new Terry Gilliam movie snuck onto DVD that I'd never heard of. I've become a bad, bad fan. Tideland is the story of a little girl who escapes into her imagination to deal with her parents' drug habits.

( ::cut on the off chance any of you would like to eat meat again:: )

I feel like a terrible fair weather fan. I didn't hate this movie as much as Fear and Loathing, nor did I especially love it either. It felt like they were rubbing it in on the extras when everyone praises it as "a masterpiece," "quintessential Gilliam," and "the fans will love it!" *skulking guiltily*

Over at IMDb there are a bunch of film school snobs complaining that the DVD was released with the wrong aspect ratio. To them, it's the end of the freaking world and a huge slap in the face to Gilliam purists everywhere. I really should stop wasting my time on those boards.

There was one funny moment in the extras when Gilliam is commenting on the unforgiving conditions of the remote area in Canada where they shot most of the exteriors. He said, "I can't imagine working out in these fields all day, coming home and NOT stabbing at least one of my children to death." Now THERE'S the Gilliam I fell in love with.

~*~

Finally, for no other reason than to spice this entry up a bit, I give you a picture I found of a younger, sexier me that I found in my closet:

Tery thinks my gray hair is all that stands in the way of me looking like this again, but I refuse to cave.