Thanks everyone for the great birthday wishes and gifts. My friends and family are the best friends and family a girl could have. As you can see from the photos on the right, the ratties benefited richly from the birthday gift-giving. Ryan bought me (them) in addition to the Octo Play pictured, a tunnel and hammock. I really enjoyed giving them their very own toy to destroy. My shams and blankets are starting to suffer.
The other night I watched Unleashed on my newly discovered On Demand channel. Ever since its stint in theaters, I’ve meant to watch the film. It’s just that I’m not a HUGE fan of martial arts hoopla. When I finally got around to viewing it, I was pleasantly surprised.
Shockingly, the story is almost believable. When you first start watching the movie, knowing what will later develop, you find yourself thinking who would ever take the kid in? He’s ragged, he’s got sort of a crazed look in his eyes, he’s bruised and bloodied. Then the answer presents itself: a blind man and a teenage girl desperate for love. Too bad it’s hopelessly comic in its pea-brained simplicity. I imagine the writers in a round table argument that goes something like this:
Writer 1: “Guys. Guys. This isn’t going to work. He’s bleeding, he’s a little insane, he’s more or less non-verbal and he’s wearing a collar for god’s sake. No family is just going to take him into their home and put him in cowboy jammies.”
Writer 2: “Oh, this is easy! Pa -leeze! (gestures wildly) We’ll just throw in two or three plot facts in the mix and clear it all up.”
Writer 3: “Right (sarcasm). Like we make the piano teacher blind and the girl desperate for love after loosing both parents.”
Writers 1 &2: “Perfect!”
And so it is. Another thing that surprised me: the fighting was captivating. Combat is very foreign and very male to me. It is like watching E.T. Anyway, this movie reminds me how similar choreographed fighting is to dance. The movements are literally beautiful to watch and the bodies are so graceful. It’s just all corrupted by the blood. Even the very big guy they throw in at one point is as graceful as a ballerina. I am Jet Li’s newest fan.
