finishing the apocalyptic march toward Christmas ~

finished the contract.
almost finished the term paper (just need to write a conclusion this morning).
finished writing my Christmas cards.
finished paying my bills (geh).
finished reading March

for the 50bookchallenge:

no. 43: March by geraldine brooks ~ oh what a sore disappointment 2/3rds into the book when brooks decided to switch to Marmee's pov. oh calamity! and for no reason at all, really. we didn't learn anything new. in fact, it was mostly retread as the Marmster learns this and that of her husband's doings. and then we leap inexplicably back into Mr. March's pov (so inexplicably i had to read the start of the chapter three times before i was sure that was what we had done). brooks should have never done it. it was a cheap easy-drama trick just to put grace clement and marms together. boooooo. not to mention marms's is just a big whiner anyway (and i don't like the stuff that so distinctly references the original book ~ and this is all of it). if you skip those chapters, the book is excellent. it's never as excellent as its first chapter or the confrontation scene between Ethan and March, but it's very well written anyway and i'm glad i read it.

(checks off one more Civil War pulitzer).

in other news, the book had a slight setback this weekend, jumping up a dollar! now it's settled back down to $40.26 (and once again still dropping).

i saw Apocalypto this weekend (my respite from the toils of work was to watch a man fleeing for his life from bloosthirsty slave hunters ~ that's always a cheering thought). my feelings about the film are mostly all positive. it is bloody, i guess (i wasn't all that shocked, but then the south american natives be my peeps, so i guess i come from bloody stock and stomach it well). there was only one really silly gratuitous moment of spurting blood that i laughed outloud at. very few people in the audience, but they were a vocal crowd and cheered quite a bit toward the end. i permitted myself a little celebratory "wooo!" as well.

the ending of the film is really interesting, especially if you bother to think about the man who made it. but i really liked the choice and the subtle dig at western colonization.

go for the costumes and make up if nothing else. the outfitting of these characters is astonishing. it's a sumptuous film on a lot of levels, and if you have no previous exposure to Mayan culture, you're definitely in for some surprises.

and i just love raoul trujillo who plays the bad guy in this. i've seen an interview with him when he did The New World and he's such a contrast to the scowling severe characters he tends to play: a dancer with a very boyish cheery american voice.

more about other movies, the state of LookingLand, and where i am at in the grander scheme of things later.

happy monday all!

: D