Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Dreams, Da Vinci, and Classic Films

I've been having these epic dreams lately. Really strange stuff: American Idol, spies, the beach, secret codes. I'm not sure what exactly it all means, but I think it might have something to do with me knowing secrets about Christianity that I've hidden from the world.

Oh wait, that's not me. That's the Da Vinci Code. I think Amelia and I are going to see that tonight, so I'll give you my report later.

I did just read a Da Vinci knockoff called The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry. It was basically exactly what you'd expect from a Da Vinci knockoff--not quite worthy of a book review, but I'll put one up soon for a Dean Koontz book. The good news about the Berry book is that he lives in the county just south of where I'm moving. Maybe I'll send him an email and try and get him to come speak to a class one day. Or maybe I'll just become friends to steal his literary agent. That could work too.

Yesterday I went on a shopping spree. It was pretty fun, and something that I haven't done in years, I think. Amelia's coworkers were so nice and gave me a $50 Target gift certificate for graduation. I went and looked around at some nice stuff, but of course ended up spending the money on movies and other multimedia. I got Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (third installment in the franchise and loads of fun), a new CD (Gnarls Barkley, $8.98), and the first two X-Men movies (on sale for $16 total) in order to gear up for the third X-Men movie coming out this summer (Friday, even). Then I went on over to BestBuy and bought like three more movies that Amelia and I have been wanting.

Amelia and I have started this new thing where Sunday nights are Classic Movie night. I like Classic Movies if I'm in the right mood, and I tend to be much more in that mood on Sunday nights (I'm not sure why that is. Maybe because watching Simpsons and Family guy on Sunday night seems wrong somehow.) So this past Sunday, for example, we watched Judgment at Nuremburg from 1961. If you haven't seen this show, go rent it this weekend. It's a fascinating look at the Nuremburg trials against the backdrop of the developing Cold War. The performances by Spencer Tracy, Maxmillian Schell, and Burt Lancaster are all fabulous, but I think the real star is the complex script. This is an unflinching look at just who is to blame regarding Hitler's actions, and in some ways the film asserts that the whole world is responsible. One section of the film includes actual footage of the death camps after liberation, disturbing stuff, but it doesn't just point the finger of blame, either. It also goes into legitimate reasons why some people might have worked with the Nazi party or why some might continue to justify evil actions. It's a great movie--definitely in my top ten--and I'd highly recommend it.

That's about it for now. Plans continue to move forward for our move to Georgia, but slowly. I'll post details as they arise.

No comments: