Well, dear readers, why is it that certain people stay far away from certain movies just because they don’t think they’ll like them, and then end up by finally watching what they never thought they’d watch and end up really liking them? What a long sentence that is, most unwieldy. Now, by “certain people” I am, of course, referring to my very own self and I seem to do this a lot. For example, I’m not a fan of all those Merchant/Ivory period films, and I’ve transferred that to all period films of that nature. Hence, I have never seen one of the Jane Austen film adaptations that were so popular with the populace back in the 1990s, save for Clueless, which, of course, was modernized, and which I didn’t really take to. So, I’ve had the Twilight Time Blu and Ray of Sense and Sensibility sitting on the shelf, unwrapped, since it was given to me. I have never once had the desire to unwrap it and subject myself to a slow-moving snoozefest, but since I’m watching a lot of motion pictures these days, I pulled it from the garage and brought it into the home environment where it has sat on my couch like so much unwrapped fish for the past two weeks. Until last night. Last night, I popped that sucker open and put the disc into the player and began watching it.
At first, I was taken aback by the transfer, which seemed really soft, like a DVD transfer used for this, and I’m thinking that that was the case here. Then the first scene came on – I watched and was actually ready to turn it off, but I kept watching and then a funny thing happened on the way to the Austen – I was not only enjoying it, I was very involved in its storytelling, I was involved and cared about the characters, I was entranced by Patrick Doyle’s musical score, the performances of all the actors, and the nicely written script. It wasn’t like watching paint dry – this had heart and life and surprises, and I ended up almost loving it. I might have even loved it were it a better transfer. I’ve never seen an Ang Lee movie that I actually liked so this was a surprise. His direction here is simple and direct. And my only real caveat was some of the whispery acting, which I put on Mr. Lee because it’s really your job to tell your actors to speak up a bit so that the listener can actually hear and understand them. And at 136 minutes it’s a bit long and would be even better with five to ten minutes out of it. I’ve never really cared for Kate Winslet, but she’s wonderful in this, as is Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, and especially Alan Rickman. So, I had both sense and sensibility in finally watching something I thought I’d hate and was so happy to be proven wrong.
Yesterday wasn’t much of a day. I didn’t get up until after two – got to bed VERY late and then simply didn’t wake up for the next ten and a half hours. I guess I needed it. Once up, I answered a lot of e-mails, then moseyed on over to the mail place and got a couple of packages but not the errant and truant ones. I wrote the people involved with those and got one quick response asking me to wait just a few more days and no response from the other – hopefully, that response or the package will arrive today. Then I came home and ordered food from Island’s. My usual Big Wave with cheese and fries. I knew what the story was going to be when I saw how long the estimated delivery time was from a restaurant that’s a mere four blocks from here. And I even texted the driver to tell him I knew he was late and that even the really long delivery estimate time had already passed, and to make sure the food was still hot as I figured it had probably been sitting there for a good ten minutes. Most Dashers are really good about being there when the food comes out, but as I feared, this Dasher never responded to the text and delivered the food ten minutes later and it was indeed completely cold, both burger and fries. I ate it, but it was gross. I then contacted Door Dash and told them what was what and they ended up crediting me the entire cost of the meal.
After that, I did some work on the computer and some Kritzerland show stuff, got the one reshot video for the trio, which was MUCH better, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish and had the sense and sensibility to watch Sense and Sensibility. Since you know about that, I can skip to the quick trip to Ralph’s for a sweet. I think there were only four or five people in the entire store. They weren’t having a sale on drinks or I would have gotten some, and they were out of every kind of ice cream that I like. Why ice cream has become the toilet paper of now is anyone’s guess. That and frozen pizza – those shelves were wiped out. Anyway, I got some pound cake slices for four bucks and came home and ate two – they’re very thin and quite small and pretty okay. Then I went to the garage and after ten minutes of looking found the soundtrack to Sense and Sensibility and have been enjoying that.
Today, I’ll arise when I arise, I’m being given some free books because of the late arrival and so I need to see how many and I need to order a couple of older books that people have been asking for, I’ll eat, I’ll hopefully pick up errant and truant packages, and then I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is more of the same and Kritzerland show stuff, various and sundried meals, and some drives.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, arise when I arise, order some books, eat, hopefully pick up packages, listen, watch, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What movies have you avoided for a long time only to finally see them and end up enjoying them? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had the sense and sensibility to watch Sense and Sensibility.