The Good, the Bad, and the Horrible

This weekend I volunteered at Registration for SxSW. My "touches with greatness":
- Eli Pariser from MoveOn.org asked me where to get a goodie bag.
- the New York Times Film Critics asked me where the Iron Cactus was. I told them to ask Information (I was working REGISTRATION) since I am unfamiliar with 6th Street. A. O. Scott got kinda pissy about that. Elvis Mitchell seemed ambivalent.
- and Erik Palladino, a.k.a. Dr. Dave Mellucci on ER, stood in front of us in line for Supersize Me. I think that was the most exciting moment of the day. If you are wondering, he is even cuter in real life!

As for the two movies I saw at the festival, here goes. I saw Supersize Me on Saturday night. It was awesome. It is a well-made film (although not great art), a very educational and somewhat disturbing documentary. When it opens nationwide, everyone should see it. You won't look at fast food the same way again! It made me very glad I don't ever eat at McDonalds, that's for sure.

I saw Young Adam on Sunday evening. This movie was TERRIBLE! It is like a soft-core porn flick, except the music is a little better. I watched an hour and fifteen minutes of it, and of that, I would estimate 50 minutes was sex. And it wasn't pretty Hollywood sex, it was way more than that. There was one scene that just disgusted me so much, I walked out of the theatre (I've never done that before). Ewan McGregor's character is a writer, attempting to work at home while his live-in girlfriend holds an office job. She comes home, angry at him for having such high ideals. He tells her he made custard today, and while she is in a state of undress, throws the custard at her. Then he pours other condiments on her, whips her, and ravages her. All through this, she makes a crying/laughing noise, but you don't know which it is. He leaves after having his way with her, then comes back and finds her in bed. He gets in bed with her and they cuddle. There is much more that happens in the film that I disliked, but this was just the last straw. I will admit, there were a few times I thought certain shots were well-done, but it wasn't enough to make me stay and watch.

Tonight I'm planning on seeing Crown Heights and I love your work. I'm hoping these are better. . .

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