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grrgoylLast night was to be special. Thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
anne_jumps's recent post about delivery pizza, I was craving some big time. I also had received Kinsey from Netflix, which Tery really wanted to see and I was mildly interested in seeing. In the middle of the day I called Tery at work to dangle my surprise in front of her.
"Guess what came from Netflix today?" I asked intriguingly.
"Ummmm....I have no idea."
"It's a movie that has Liam Neeson in it..." I hinted.
"Kinsey!" she answered happily.
Feeling devilish, I said, "Wrong! Star Wars Episode II!"
"Liam Neeson is in Star Wars Episode II?" she asked confusedly.
Realizing I had made a mistake but not wanting to abandon the joke, I turned it around instead, "No, dummy. He's in Star Wars Episode I. GOD. I can't BELIEVE you thought he was in Episode II. Everyone knows he DIES in Episode I. DUH!!" (Note: This of course is only amusing if you keep in mind that Tery would rather have red-hot pokers gouged into both eyes than watch any Star Wars movies at all. And yes, I can be amazingly childish at times.)
Ahem. So later in the evening I ordered Pizza Hut to satisfy my craving. I prefer using the website because I like to avoid actual human contact whenever possible, but it kept giving me so many error messages that I had to use the phone anyway. After sitting on hold for about 10 minutes I placed my order and was promised delivery in half an hour. An HOUR later the guy finally arrived. By this point I was so hungry I was practically feral, but I maintained my civility because the fate of my dinner still rested in his hands. As I filled out the credit card slip, he made friendly small talk by acknowledging my cat, cowering just behind the door. I joked that she's none too fond of the doorbell. He laughed, took the slip from me and turned to leave, wishing me a good night.
" Ummmmm....could I have my pizza?" I asked, eyeing his still-full carrying bag.
He stopped, slapped his forehead and guffawed, "Would you believe the other night I got all the way back to my car before either I or the customer noticed I still had the pizza??"
I thought, "No, that is pretty hard to believe. And even harder to believe you were just about to do it again. Perhaps pizza delivery is a bit too complicated for you?"
I said, "Well, I'm starving to death so it's not very likely that I wouldn't notice something like that."
Before settling down to the main attraction, Tery and I watched a little of the PBS special "The Education of Shelby Knox," about the unsuccessful attempts of a Lubbock, TX teen to convince her school board to abandon the proven useless "abstinence only" method of sex ed in favor of comprehensive sex ed. What was more interesting than her efforts was watching her transformation from staunchly conservative Republican (as her parents raised her) to open-minded, liberal Democrat. Especially touching was seeing her slowly becoming less concerned with general sex education in favor of championing the rights of her gay friends. She plans to run for president one day so I'm starting early on endorsing her. Vote for Shelby Knox!
From one era of sex education to another, it was a very natural flow indeed from this to Kinsey:
Let me start by saying I'm not a huge fan of Liam Neeson. I think he was charming in Love Actually and he is a good actor, but generally speaking I think he resembles a very gangly, unappealing scarecrow. And for reasons I can't explain, I just can't stand Laura Linney. At all. I love many movies she has been in, but she really, really gets on my nerves. However, the supporting cast was terrific: John Lithgow (who will always have a soft spot in my heart from his sensitive role in Terms of Endearment), Chris O'Donnell, Oliver Platt, Timothy Hutton and first and foremost, Peter Sarsgaard. Oh my. At first I thought he was simply yummy, then it is revealed that his character is a 3 on the Kinsey Scale, i.e. perfectly bisexual. It had never occurred to me to picture Peter with men, but now that I have I fervently wish it really happened. The scene where he seduces Kinsey (with HELLO, a thoroughly unexpected full frontal, thankfully Peter's and not Liam's) is worth the rental price alone, even as unsexy as Liam is. I've gotta stop reading slash fiction.
I was very proud to recognize the director, Bill Condon, as the man behind Gods and Monsters. This also explains the Lynn Redgrave connection. She appears near the end as a woman who tearfully thanks Kinsey for helping her realize that falling in love with her best female friend after her marriage falls apart wasn't as abnormal as she thought. Lynn's sister, Vanessa, has appeared a few times in lesbian roles (If These Walls Could Talk 2, Shades of Fear (also as a woman who suddenly realizes she loves her best friend)), making me wonder exactly what is up with that family ( I have a private theory about actors who continually take on gay roles that will remain private since I suspect there is no basis in reality for it whatsoever). Bill Condon also explains the Carter Burwell connection, whose work I loved in Fargo and Gods and Monsters but is sadly so understated here that I hardly remember any musical themes at all.
But the movie wasn't all good. I thought the reason given for Kinsey's intense interest in human sexuality (inability to answer a simple question posed by a couple of Biology students) was very flimsy indeed. An attempt was made to dramatize the controversy he stirred up with his work, but I didn't feel it was done very effectively. At the end the movie sort of fizzles and dies, without even an explanation of what he did with the rest of his life after that point (Tery filled in the blanks for me, having recently seen a documentary on the man).
Overall the movie seemed like it was only released as a reaction to the alarming steps backward in sex ed curricula of late. For a movie all about sex, it dragged in a lot of places and I lost interest easily. 2 out of 5
Update on Gay Pride: Today Tabby backed out, claiming she forgot Sunday is her last football game of the season. I said she didn't deserve a girlfriend if she was forsaking her heritage to hang out with a bunch of hets instead. I won't be going at all now since I lack any kind of motivation on my own.
Notably, when I mentioned the movie Tabby had no idea who Alfred Kinsey was, illustrating decisively the sorry state of public education in America today.
anne_jumps's recent post about delivery pizza, I was craving some big time. I also had received Kinsey from Netflix, which Tery really wanted to see and I was mildly interested in seeing. In the middle of the day I called Tery at work to dangle my surprise in front of her. "Guess what came from Netflix today?" I asked intriguingly.
"Ummmm....I have no idea."
"It's a movie that has Liam Neeson in it..." I hinted.
"Kinsey!" she answered happily.
Feeling devilish, I said, "Wrong! Star Wars Episode II!"
"Liam Neeson is in Star Wars Episode II?" she asked confusedly.
Realizing I had made a mistake but not wanting to abandon the joke, I turned it around instead, "No, dummy. He's in Star Wars Episode I. GOD. I can't BELIEVE you thought he was in Episode II. Everyone knows he DIES in Episode I. DUH!!" (Note: This of course is only amusing if you keep in mind that Tery would rather have red-hot pokers gouged into both eyes than watch any Star Wars movies at all. And yes, I can be amazingly childish at times.)
Ahem. So later in the evening I ordered Pizza Hut to satisfy my craving. I prefer using the website because I like to avoid actual human contact whenever possible, but it kept giving me so many error messages that I had to use the phone anyway. After sitting on hold for about 10 minutes I placed my order and was promised delivery in half an hour. An HOUR later the guy finally arrived. By this point I was so hungry I was practically feral, but I maintained my civility because the fate of my dinner still rested in his hands. As I filled out the credit card slip, he made friendly small talk by acknowledging my cat, cowering just behind the door. I joked that she's none too fond of the doorbell. He laughed, took the slip from me and turned to leave, wishing me a good night.
" Ummmmm....could I have my pizza?" I asked, eyeing his still-full carrying bag.
He stopped, slapped his forehead and guffawed, "Would you believe the other night I got all the way back to my car before either I or the customer noticed I still had the pizza??"
I thought, "No, that is pretty hard to believe. And even harder to believe you were just about to do it again. Perhaps pizza delivery is a bit too complicated for you?"
I said, "Well, I'm starving to death so it's not very likely that I wouldn't notice something like that."
Before settling down to the main attraction, Tery and I watched a little of the PBS special "The Education of Shelby Knox," about the unsuccessful attempts of a Lubbock, TX teen to convince her school board to abandon the proven useless "abstinence only" method of sex ed in favor of comprehensive sex ed. What was more interesting than her efforts was watching her transformation from staunchly conservative Republican (as her parents raised her) to open-minded, liberal Democrat. Especially touching was seeing her slowly becoming less concerned with general sex education in favor of championing the rights of her gay friends. She plans to run for president one day so I'm starting early on endorsing her. Vote for Shelby Knox!
From one era of sex education to another, it was a very natural flow indeed from this to Kinsey:
Let me start by saying I'm not a huge fan of Liam Neeson. I think he was charming in Love Actually and he is a good actor, but generally speaking I think he resembles a very gangly, unappealing scarecrow. And for reasons I can't explain, I just can't stand Laura Linney. At all. I love many movies she has been in, but she really, really gets on my nerves. However, the supporting cast was terrific: John Lithgow (who will always have a soft spot in my heart from his sensitive role in Terms of Endearment), Chris O'Donnell, Oliver Platt, Timothy Hutton and first and foremost, Peter Sarsgaard. Oh my. At first I thought he was simply yummy, then it is revealed that his character is a 3 on the Kinsey Scale, i.e. perfectly bisexual. It had never occurred to me to picture Peter with men, but now that I have I fervently wish it really happened. The scene where he seduces Kinsey (with HELLO, a thoroughly unexpected full frontal, thankfully Peter's and not Liam's) is worth the rental price alone, even as unsexy as Liam is. I've gotta stop reading slash fiction.
I was very proud to recognize the director, Bill Condon, as the man behind Gods and Monsters. This also explains the Lynn Redgrave connection. She appears near the end as a woman who tearfully thanks Kinsey for helping her realize that falling in love with her best female friend after her marriage falls apart wasn't as abnormal as she thought. Lynn's sister, Vanessa, has appeared a few times in lesbian roles (If These Walls Could Talk 2, Shades of Fear (also as a woman who suddenly realizes she loves her best friend)), making me wonder exactly what is up with that family ( I have a private theory about actors who continually take on gay roles that will remain private since I suspect there is no basis in reality for it whatsoever). Bill Condon also explains the Carter Burwell connection, whose work I loved in Fargo and Gods and Monsters but is sadly so understated here that I hardly remember any musical themes at all.
But the movie wasn't all good. I thought the reason given for Kinsey's intense interest in human sexuality (inability to answer a simple question posed by a couple of Biology students) was very flimsy indeed. An attempt was made to dramatize the controversy he stirred up with his work, but I didn't feel it was done very effectively. At the end the movie sort of fizzles and dies, without even an explanation of what he did with the rest of his life after that point (Tery filled in the blanks for me, having recently seen a documentary on the man).
Overall the movie seemed like it was only released as a reaction to the alarming steps backward in sex ed curricula of late. For a movie all about sex, it dragged in a lot of places and I lost interest easily. 2 out of 5
Update on Gay Pride: Today Tabby backed out, claiming she forgot Sunday is her last football game of the season. I said she didn't deserve a girlfriend if she was forsaking her heritage to hang out with a bunch of hets instead. I won't be going at all now since I lack any kind of motivation on my own.
Notably, when I mentioned the movie Tabby had no idea who Alfred Kinsey was, illustrating decisively the sorry state of public education in America today.