QotD: Weekend Wrap-Up

What did you do this weekend?

This was one of my famous lazy weekends--mostly because I'm still getting used to getting paid twice a week instead of once a month, and so with the way my bills go, I'm broke for the first two weeks of the month and I'm rich the last two weeks. I suppose I ought to do something about that, but that is for another entry, right?

Aside from the regular weekend house chores and errands, a few walks around the neighborhood with the dogs, and some well deserved naps, I also watched a couple of movies that I thought were particularly good.

Seven was on one of the cable network channels and so I decided to watch it since I always enjoy Brad Pitt's choices of movie scripts and I was actually kind of puzzled that I'd never seen this one before. Basically, it is a murder mystery movie where two detectives (Pitt and Freeman) are on the trail of a killer who is committing murders that demonstrate the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, vanity, envy, and wrath.  I loved the philosophical commentary throughout the movie and also the references to various works of classic literature (hey, an English major's dream, right?). Anyway, the ending of the movie where the last two murders for envy and greed were so wonderfully masterminded and Kevin Spacey as a crazy serial killer was just too perfect to watch. I'd definately recommend you watch this movie if you haven't seen it, or if it has been a while since you've seen it.

The other movie I watched over the weekend was much older. I was over at my parents' house on Sunday and my dad is always watching old black and white films from the 50s and most of the time they are old westerns that don't interest me much, but this one was a sci-fi flick called The Day the Earth Stood Still made in 1950 that, despite it not having anything happen at all in the film, it really pulled me in. Basically, a flying saucer lands in Washington, D.C. and a spaceman named Klatuu and his robot Gort have come to deliver an important message to the people of earth, but it is something that all the nations must hear because it concerns everyone. Well, with the setting as Cold War era America, obviously such a meeting could not take place (nor could it take place today, for that matter) so Klatuu escapes from the mental hospital where they were keeping him to live among the people of earth to find out a way to get his message out to everyone. The movie went on and on for quite a while, but the dialogue was so well written and the acting was actually quite good. It was obvious that this film was speaking of the paranoia in the U.S. about atomic warfare and also the possibility of life on other planets, but I really liked it and I'd have to say its a good cult classic for sci-fi fans.

Next weekend should be more eventful since I'm going up to Donner Lake for my company picnic. I'm also trying to decide if I want to see the new Superman Returns movie next weekend as well, but I keep getting mixed reviews from everyone I talk to and I'm wondering if I should just wait for the DVD. Eh well, hope everyone is having a happy Monday!