The "After Memorial Day Weekend" Couch Potato Report

Since the last few weekends have been spent preparing the house for guests, including painting the entire upstairs hallway, and removing ivy from the house, and other endless household chores in anticipation for our friends' visit and subsequent trip to Sideways wine country, this last weekend was a complete veg - fully supported by the four DVD, CD, videos or whatever you call them, that Deborah brought home Friday evening - complete with a box of Dots.

But we did adventure out into the sunlight and back into the darkness Saturday to see the much anticipated, hyped and talked about The Da Vinci Code. And as has been described here before I made sure I was able to cram in a quick read of the book (since the whole world has read it) before I saw the movie. That seemed to be a must for me.

Don't do it. After reading related books about the sites, and seeing Tom on Leno and reading all of the bad reviews, I was ready to leave after the first (of what would be five) half hour(s). Later Deborah told me she really enjoyed it - she who read the book over a year ago. Meanwhile I was bored beyond belief. And to add to that it was a "quiet movie" - and although we were in the third row and frankly at least 8 rows in front of anybody else I could hear the popcorn knashers clear as day through the first friggin' hour just as if Mary Magadalene was sitting next to me with a huge buttered-top tub herself! For the love of God please leave your grazing habits at home!

Frankly the movie was fine, with a number of good parts - in fact, the many "flashbacks" that critics assailed as a use to describe the history of the Templar Knights and Constantine, for example, were really well done in a grainy hazy way - I'm not sure what else Opie was supposed to do with that. I do think the sense of urgency and danger was not really evident at the outset of the movie such that - to me- it really never got its pace that you seem to feel in the book. Despite that it is pretty true to the novel except for the final scene between Langdon and Sophie - which is just plain goofy.

And I think Tom looks fine in long hair.

Other DVD's we wasted time with this weekend:

LA Story - If you have never seen this gem shot back in 1991 with Steve Martin and a coming-out Sara Jessica Parker, run don't walk. It's amazing to me how we have pretty much been to all of those sites in the movie since. But not on roller skates.

The Family Stone - Released last year it made a bit of a ripple. Decent family holiday get-together bit with alot of good current actors, but Sara Jessica's character is so uncomfortable with everything it sort of makes you uncomfortable (I'd like to think that may be good acting). It all ends with a flourish with a great feel good song from the mid-to-late 70's which can send some of us back. Music in films in the "00's can be very important.

Capote - As a fan of many of the sub-roles Phillip Seymour Hoffman has played (Boogie Nights, Twister) I fully supported his nod for best actor Oscar this year. Now I would like my vote back. Yeah I guess he plays Capote as the high pitched 'mamby pampy elitist feme fancy boy about town' he was, but man, is it annoying. Wait, did I just say that may be good acting. Nevermind. But I'd leave this DVD on the shelf.

Last Days - Speaking of Nevemind, this movie spends the last 54 hours following somebody who is supposed to be Nirvana's Kurt Cobain around his leafy Washington State mansion grounds and streams just before he blow his brains out. The box says it's famed director's Gus Van Zant's "masterpiece". My ass. It was almost like he just set a camera in a room a pointed it at a wall. I wanted to blow my head off at the end of this one myself.

Sideways - Caught a bit of it on cable for the first time since our trip. It still friggin' rules.