Week Ending 8/31

 Hey, it's me...

Well, that was another very busy week. I need to remember to avoid doing two of those in a row if at all possible.

I had an appointment with my new doctor. I think I mentioned that my doctor, who I love, is retiring. Well, she recommended a fellow to be her replacement. I saw him this week... but first I had to go to my doctors office and sign paperwork to get my records transferred to his office (which they weren't). I also got a copy of my records for myself, which I'm glad of. (Important note readers - you have an absolute right to copies of your medical records. Never let a doctors office say they won't give them to you. There are only eight legal reasons they can refuse and they are very limited circumstances.)

See the new doctor was... OK. I'm not sure about him, but he wasn't horrible. He just didn't seem interested. We'll see how it goes.

The down side of course is, between a trip to the old doctors for paperwork and a new patient appointment with the new doctor the next day, I was pretty wrecked for the rest of the week. I'm still pretty much wrecked honestly. 

In other news, I finally showed D Casablanca. He said afterward that he hadn't been sure about it until the end... and now he wants a copy for himself so he can watch it several more times to catch all the little details he's sure he missed. Also, he laughed at all the funny parts. We'll make a classic movie fan out of him yet. :) 

So, good week but a busy and exhausting week.

I really need a week to just rest. (touch wood)

Onward

Week Ending 8/24

 Hey, it's me...

Kind of a busy week.

I'm still working on getting back into the habit of doing the chair yoga, but it feels good even with only doing it every couple of days. So, that's good.

I had an appointment with a new counselor. I made it because I really felt that I needed to talk to someone. Later, as I was thinking about what I wanted to work on I realized that, no... I just want someone to talk to. I don't need a counselor. I need a friend. Also, the appointment did not go well. It was one of the few times I left a counseling session more stressed out than I was when I started. So, not doing that again. I just need to find some old friends I can reach out to when I need to chat. 

In other news, I've made a personal commitment to introduce D to some classic cinema and he's agreed. This week we watched 12 Angry Men (1957) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). D really enjoyed 12 Angry Men. I had forgotten how powerful that movie really is, while being really very simple.

That's about it, really. 

A busy week, but a good one.

Onward 

Week Ending 8/17

 Hey, it's me...

Well, no new movies this week but some other stuff. Actually, it's been a kind of intense week. I've been doing more of the chair yoga, which feels good. I decided to get proactive and reached out to a potential new doctor (my current doctor is retiring, which I am very unhappy about because I like me doctor). All in all, I got a real rush of energy one day this week (I think it was Thursday) and did a whole lot.

Unfortunately, the downside of getting a rush of energy is spending the next two days almost completely incapacitated. I have clearly lost the habit of a) stopping before I hit the wall and b) accepting the days when I need to rest. I need to get back into that habit. On the plus side, now that I recognize that hopefully it should be easier to do. 

Well, that's it for me this week.

Onward

Week Ending 8/10

Hey, it's me.

Another week goes by. Is a pulse oxygen meter reading of 91-93 bad? Yeah, I think it probably is. Might explain why I've been feeling so crappy anyway. I'd like to say the yoga is helping, but I'm working my way back up to it after been sick. I'll get there.

In other news, your roving movie reviewer has two movies to talk about this week.

First, we have Twisters (2024). I actually really like Twister (1996) with Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. It's one of my guilty pleasure. So I had been curious about what I assumed to be a modern remake. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it wasn't. Neither is it a sequel, per say, but rather a movie set in the same universe as Twister. A spiritual successor... and a rather successful one, I think. Yeah, it lacks the humor of Twister ("Cow" ... "Another cow"... "Actually, I think it's the same one") but it has a very similar energy. Definitely worth watching. Mom would have liked it.

Second, we have Jurassic World Rebirth. I was interested in seeing this one because I wanted to see Scarlet Johannsson continue her action-hero career.  On the whole, I would rate this movie somewhere around Jurassic Park 2. Not as bad as the mess that is Jurassic Park 3 but not as good as Jurassic Park or Jurassic World. Really, Rebirth is two different movies which come together around the start of act 2, separate and come back together again at the end. It's as if they didn't have enough ideas for the Scarlet movie to fill out the time. Also, sadly, I found the not-Scarlet movie to be the more interesting. Still, I don't regret "renting" it. It was a fun watch, even if it wasn't a great movie. I think Mom would have liked it too.

That's pretty much my week really... resting and watching movies. Did some writing too. All in all, not bad.

Onward

Week Ending 8/3 and KPop Demon Hunters

Hey, it's me.

Another week of ups and downs. 

I've decided to start doing chair yoga again. (For those who don't know, that's yoga for folks like me who need to sit down while still doing something.) Feels great. I'm glad to getting back into it.

But the big thing I want to talk about today is a movie... Yes, it's your roving movie reviewer and this week we're talking about KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix.

I know... what a title right. I admit, when I saw the little icon for this weird looking animated movie on Netflix I just chuckled and moved on. It wasn't until a YouTuber I watch, GinnyD, talked about it, in the context of "how to create a great sympathetic villain" that I got interested. Honestly, I think was her obvious enthusiasm about the movie that got me to go watch it... and I need to thank her for that. 

KPop Demon Hunters is one of those movies that is so much better than it seems like it ought to be. On the surface, it is an animated musical about a KPop (Korean Pop music) "Girl Group" trio who... you guessed it... are also demon hunters. Sort of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Korean Pop" ... or so you'd think. 

On the surface, sure... the basic premise being that long ago demons tormented the world, and a trio of young woman rose to fight them, but not just physically. They discovered that, through music and their audiences emotional connection to their music, they could ward off the demons. So into each generation... blah blah blah... Bringing us to our present day heroes... the KPop band Huntrix who, with the help of their legions of fans, are about to seal off the demon world forever. Enter our villains, the demonic boy boy (a concept I personally think wins the Department of Redundancy Department prize) who are trying to steal away their fans, tear down the ward and unleash the demon hordes.

In this simple premise, we manage to have great characters, great music, great energy, comedy, drama and the inevitable forbidden romance between the lead singers. That enough would make this a good movie. 

But KPop Demon Hunters is a Great movie... because in addition to all of that, it also manages to sprinkle in Korean folklore and culture and a level of rich, deep social commentary that I think is being overlooked in a lot of reactions to the movie that I've seen.

Here be serious Spoilers. You've been warned.

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Our main character, the lead singer of Huntrix, is a young woman named Rumi. Rumi has a Secret. Her father was a demon. Rumi is half demon. Her parents are gone (context unknown) and she was raised by a family friend - Celene. Celene has always taught Rumi to hide her demonic heritage (physically evident in "patterns" on her skin) and that, by completing the ward and cutting off the demon world she will be made pure again. This drives Rumi's actions, both in her over-reaching to complete the ward too soon and in her attraction to, and attempt to save, Jinu, the leader of the demon boy band. 

I remember, vividly, an old episode of MASH which addressed the issue of the children of American soldiers and Korean women. These half-Korean children where hated, considered impure, abused and outcast if not outright killed. This movie addresses this head on in the way that often only fantasy and sci fi can... While it isn't said openly, it is clear to me that Celene's treatment of... abuse of... Rumi isn't because she is half-demon. It's because she's not pure Korean. 

It is ultimately Rumi's rejection of this cultural racism, and acceptance of herself, that allows her to defeat the demons and save the world. 

KPop Demon Hunters isn't just a fun animated musical with great characters and catchy songs. It is a beautiful rejection of racism and hate. 

In fact, the only thing in my mind that keeps this movie from perfection is it's failure to address the toxic culture of KPop itself, but everything else is so wonderful, I give it a pass on that.

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End Spoilers

Would mom have like this movie? I'm not sure, but I definitely would have recommended it to her.

Onward