Lion in Winter

I've been alone in the house since Saturday afternoon. I've basically grounded myself until I get my papers graded and the grades turned in, but how could I miss the opportunity to run amok when I had the house to myself?!

So yesterday, I had a small dinner party where I cooked a roast. The roast needed to cook all day. It just wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but everyone was very nice about it. (Liars!!)

After everyone left I sat down and finally got around to watching The Lion in Winter. Among my favorite lines was this gem: "Of course he's got a knife! It's 1183 and we are barbarians!" The movie was hilarious and touching. As an actor I was overwhelmed by the brilliant tit for tat that Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close were enjoying in playing off of one another. There's something amazing that happens when an actor is less concerned about their own singular performance and more concerned with what they can create as an ensemble of giving artists.

I highly recommend this to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

I watched another movie with Glenn Close this weekend entitled Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her. I didn't plan for this to be a Glenn Close weekend, but Netflix had other plans I guess. I wasn't crazy about this movie. I loved the acting, loved the writing, but the whole piece just didn't quite do it for me. I enjoyed that the man who made the movie was able to capture exactly how subtle and complicated women can be, but I left the movie feeling--well, feeling like a man who understands that women are complicated and knows that understanding that women are complicated is the only real anchor I will ever grasp.

I appreciate the respect that Rodrigo Garcia has for women, and I appreciate the understanding that I now have of the confusion that men feel about women--because at the end of the movie I was left with a lot of images and storylines and no real consensus as to how to assemble this jumble of impressions.

So to put it concisely, this movie about women helped me to more fully grasp how confused men are by complicated women.

I have graded countless assignments this weekend--but I'm on the home stretch. I will have my students' grades posted before Santa gets here! Merry Christmas Virginia! You're getting a D!