Friday my folks came into Austin. They were supposed to be going to the design center for the hourse they're going to build in Steiner Ranch (a planned commnity/ suburban enclave off 620, sort of out by The Oasis). Apparently that didn't happen. I'm not really clear on the whole story.
I was wrapping up another week at the office, but managed to wrap up before 6:00, so I could join the family, plus Heather, plus the Neely family at Fado's, down off 4th. The area is much changed in the past few years. What was once a fine but not terribly upscale area has become a somewhat silly and cost-prohibitive area. For God's sake, there's
a bar which may or may not have sharks living under the dance floor.
Austin is a changing town. Unfortunately, sometimes it seems like its changing to favor those with more money than brains. Yes, I am passing judgment.
Saturday we took the dogs to the park with Mom and Dad. Cousin Susan showed up with her dog, Pierre. Pierre is a tiny corgi, who most recently was saluted for his alerting Susan to an unwanted visitor of the rodent variety.
Saturday night we met up at Fonda San Miguel. I think we were all pretty impressed. I know I enjoyed my dinner and cocktails.
Today we went to church, then to lunch. In the afternoon, Jamie and I went to see "The Bank Job". The "Bank Job" is not a great movie. It is a better movie than i was expecting. The first quarter is pretty much what you'd expect:
The Asphalt Jungle by way of Guy Ritchie. It's supposedly a true story, and if it is, its kind of exciting. If its not... well, it still makes for an interesting crime drama. Especially as the story is very wrapped up in concerns Americans might not have dreamt up (or handled differently) the movie is a bit off-kilter from what I expected.
Also, aside from the fact that it was identified as 1971 or so, the movie apparently didn't really have the budget to actually appear as if it took place in 1971. Especially with star Jason Stratham looking as if he walked off another cars & kung-fu epic.
I also don't understand why, when I got to the Westgate theater, all of the trailers are for post-J-Horror low budget slasher or horror flicks. There's nothing particularly horrific about The Bank Job, but it seemed that before the movie, that was all they advertised. including the almost ubiquitous trailer for The Ruins. Which people say is a good book, but... this looks like a typical horror movie, most likely fetauring gruesome deaths and the virginal heroine being the only one to escape at the end. Am I close? Who knows... I will most likely never see the movie.
The winner for best movie title of 2008 will have to go to "
Midnight Meat Train". I don't know what its about. A guy killing people on the subway, I think, but the trailer was dark, loud and intended to scare me. But it sort of made me feel, instead, like I was sitting there with the sort of anticipation one feels when you're 8 and you and your friend agree to hit one another in the face, just to know what it feels like. And you already hit your friend, and it looked, just, really awful. So now you're sitting there with your eyes shut, waiting for him to pop you one... It's not a real sense of dread. It's a sense of the antiicpation of meaningless violence. And if I ever thought that was okay, old age and weariness with the torture-porn genre has made me numb to the whole thing. Even if they did stunt-cast Brooke Shields.
But, really, I am not sure you can beat that title.
