Oh, fer....

Under federal law, "[t]he flag shall be flown at half-staff for 30 days from the death of the President or a former President." Due to the death of former President Reagan, flags should be flown at half-staff at all buildings and facilities through Monday, July, 5, 2004.

About movies

I finally got to see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in its entirety this week. I rented it a couple of years ago to watch while dh was out of town, and for some reason only saw the first hour before it had to be returned. I told TiVo recently to record it if it came up, and a few days ago it did and I finally got to see the whole thing.

It's always a little shocking to watch an older film, especially one that has stood the test of time. A few months ago we watched The African Queen, which served to let us know that overrated celluloid drivel has been with us for a long, long time, but watching a film like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof reminds me how incredibly rare, if not darn near impossible, it is to find good writing in a film these days. Contrast that with the preview for Garfield, the Movie, which I had the misfortune to see yesteday. Cat is a simple story of complex family relations. The entire thing is a psychodrama, without any of the language of psychodrama. None of that great '80s naming of syndromes -- narcissist, codependent, puerile, Peter-Pan Syndrome, blah blah blah. The main character is an alcoholic, which is demonstrated for us right there on the screen as he drinks a highball or two in every scene. Everyone around him tells him to his face he's a drinker, and he admits it. Conflict swirls between him and everyone in his family due to his drinking. Eventually, the conflict is de-fused, but whether or not it is resolved is a question for another day; we get the sense that things will be better after the events of this story, but not necessarily perfect.

What strikes me the most is the tremendous respect in this production. Nobody -- not the characters, nor the audience -- is treated like they're too stupid or fragile to understand what's going on. Whenever scheming is done behind another's back, it's completely and honestly out of selfishness and/or self-interest, not out of any misguided attempt to, for example, save the alcoholic from himself.

Garfield, on the other hand, appears to be yet another fart-joke movie for little kids, without much in it for the adults forced to accompany said kids to the theater. I know it's not really fair to compare the two, but they were neatly juxtaposed in my life, so I'll go ahead and sit them right next to each other in my journal.

What's the last movie you saw with really great writing? A movie that made you feel smart, and involved with the characters, rather than stupid because you either could have left your brain at home or you need another 6 years of education to understand what the heck anyone is talking about.