Back in Time for the Films, Books & Turkey

Usually when I go silent on the page it's for one of two reasons: either life is so unbearable I'm afraid of what will spill out; or life is so good I don't want to jinx it by writing about it. This past month it was neither reason -- I had to let my hand heal after injuring it from moving into our new home.

Weenie, you say? You try it. I dare you. I tried. I kept writing after aggravating my old editing injury, once known as carpal tunnel syndrome, now repetitive strain injury. Repeating the strain of writing on surfaces that were not the right height, along with a hand that was repeatedly swollen, just kept aggravating it. So I stopped.

Now my hand seems completely healed, and I'm ba-a-a-ack, as Jack Nicholson in The Shining would say. For the past month, lots of ideas have been percolating. Sometimes it's good to just think about things, read a lot of books and let the ideas simmer.

Also, I wanted to do NaNoWriMo -- write a novel in a month. The month of November, to be precise. I started out really well, then got the flu last week and was out of commission. Will I make the 75,000 word mark now? Doubtful. Nothing like the flu to kill momentum. I am starting up again today, but I only have 10,000 words, so unless I pull a Jack Kerouac and speed for the rest of the month, it's not likely. I guess I will have to just go at my own pace.

So enough about writing. Here's what I have to say, in brief, about the mostly forgettable films I've seen lately -- two of which have NO GOD whatsoever in their universe, one that barely acknowledges his existence and one of which is full of evil and God is incidental. Books are for another day.

First up is one Andy forced me to see, Law Abiding Citizen. OK, he didn't hold a gun to my head, but it's the kind of movie that you know is going to be bad before you step into the theater. I went along with it because he's seen my chick flicks without complaint. Essentially, this movie is about emotional manipulation of the worst kind. It's a revenge flick dressed up as a moral outrage movie. The only thing outrageous about it, however, is how thin the characters are, how flimsy the plot is and how ridiculous the scenarios are. It's like a video game in which I picture the writers saying, what crazy way to kill people can we think up next? If there is any redeeming quality to the film, it's the explosions. That's it. Jamie Foxx took the money and ran with this one. Stink-o.

On the God subject, the only mention of anything about Him is the appearance of a Bible to swear in Foxx as the new prosecutor. I guess it's supposed to give the scene gravitas. Certainly he's no avenging angel in his new role. His behavior at the end of the movie negates any idea of real justice in the system. Frankly, I hated this movie in just about every way. Next!

Pirate Radio. The depiction of hippie radio broadcasters on a boat after rock is banned in Great Britain is essentially what it's advertised to be, and less. You think you're going to have a rollicking good time, but there's no real center to the film. The writers either didn't want to create real characters in all of their emotional reality, or they wanted to string together a series of vignettes. Either way, it's OK, but only for the music and a couple of laughs. There is no character you can really love or hate. As far as God goes, it's the '60s and the characters are only interested in sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.

Surprisingly, Paranormal Activity is one of the best films I've seen lately, and I don't usually go for scary films anymore because I don't need those kinds of thrills (or the gore). Its cinema verite style makes is both believable and extremely personal. The characters are natural, funny and identifiable. If anything, they are too human in that they make all of the mistakes young people make in not reaching out for help. The guy has a macho attitude about the nature of evil, and thinks crosses are silly symbols. If you haven't seen the film, I won't spoil it, but it's like a ghost story on film. If you don't pray now, you may after watching it. (Cue scary music.) It will haunt you for life!

We watched it in a theater full of teenagers on Halloween Eve and the screams were so loud people outside of the theater called the police, who came in the theater to make sure no one had been injured. It was that good.

I had to wrack my brain to remember the fourth film, since it was that lame. The Invention of Lying had a good premise, but the film broke down as soon as Ricky Gervais's character began telling about heaven as though it were a fairy tale. This was a world in which God did not exist at all! Not only is this improbable, science tells us it is impossible. We are all wired to believe. So you have to suspend your disbelief on multiple levels to enjoy this film. I found it tiresome, Gervais's character to be a selfish boor and Jennifer Garner's character to be a ninny by the time it was all over. I guess a world without lying, deceit or any shades of gray, for that matter, is a very boring world.

If Andy wants to see The Box, I will refuse. Really. It's like Law Abiding Citizen squared. Put a lid on that Box.