What I did this weekend

[randy_byers]

I wrote a review of Anonymous that might be interesting to a couple of you. I've been meaning to mention (and apologies if I already have) that for those of you who don't share my interest in older movies, I use the tag "2011" for movies I've seen in the theater this year. You can just click on that (or "2010") if you want to see my take on recent films.

I also watched a lot of football, including the awesome USC-Stanford game.

I planted a rosemary, transplanted some other things, and spread compost. I still need to plant the seeds that holyoutlaw gave me, but that's about it for fall gardening, other than raking leaves when they fall.

I watched the new Criterion DVD of Island of Lost Souls (1932). Have I mentioned that 1932 was the one of the greatest years in Hollywood?

I posted a couple of photos to Facebook. They were each worth at least a half thousand words.

Still feeling pretty stressed out by work, and I think it's making it harder to concentrate on other things. My film blog is probably the greatest casualty, but I feel like I'm not getting much done in general. This state of affairs will pass eventually. It's just a period of transition. During which I'm feeling pretty dull. On the other hand, my sister liked Alternative Pants, so past work when I wasn't feeling dull continues to bear fruit.

Comments

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

Stephen Fry just posted this in relation to Anonymous: "The film Anonymous encourages debate on Shakespeare. Two great responses to Oxfordians http://t.co/efqN4n6V + free ebook http://t.co/Ba9OqOB2"

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I consider the Oxfordian Theory complete lunacy, so the debate over it doesn't actually interest me much. I was just hoping it would be the basis for an entertaining movie -- along the lines of what The X-Files did with Fortean phenomena and UFOs. Although it does actually add an even more lunatic twist to the Oxfordian Theory that I did enjoy, even if it could have been used more effectively in terms of the dramatic structure.

BTW, the Wikipedia article on the Oxfordian Theory does a pretty good job of debunking it too.

And I have to say that when I saw that you had responded to this post, I was certain it was going to be about the Stanford-USC game!

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

It was definitely exciting! After the UF/Georgia debacle, I still had the ESPN college football scoreboard up in my browser so when I saw the first overtime for the USC/Stanford game, I found an online TV feed and got to watch the next two overtimes. Hard to decide who to root for, though: I'm a Cal fan so I didn't really want Stanford but I have a long-standing dislike of USC's overall program. In the end, I think I was sort of glad that a Bay Area team won.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I had mixed feelings about the game too. I found myself rooting for SC, probably because it would even Stanford's record with Oregon's, but yeah, that went against decades of aversion, so I was also okay with Stanford proving they are the team to beat this year. And it was just such a spectacular game, it was fun to watch no matter who won.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

Did you see that Kiffin has been fined? http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-t25-usc-pac-12discipline I see he hasn't changed his ways since we had to deal with him in the SEC when he was at Tennessee

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Good times!

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I find debunking lunacies to be rather interesting, actually. Fortunately for me, as I find I spend a lot of my time doing it.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Whereas I think the best way to engage with a film like Anonymous is to demand that they make a better story of their revisionist history. Honestly, have these people never watched They Died With Their Boots On?! It can be done! Then again, I probably don't properly appreciate their attempt to merge the Oxfordian Theory with the Essex Rebellion, which may be a stroke of genius for all I know.

[wrdnrd]

Had been thinking of leaving a comment on your post asking about possible comparisons to "Shakespeare In Love", but then you got there at the end. Tho' the impulse did leave me wondering: Do you require commenters to create a login at your blog? Because it says i need to log in to comment.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do require a log in, but maybe with Akismet I don't really need to? My memory was that the log in requirement was to prevent spam.