(no subject)

Many thanks to everyone for their messages of condolence last night (the baby bobcat adopted by the housecat? Adorable.) They helped, they definitely did. Dad is doing well; Boogie's a little upset, but dealing. Also, I went to see WALL*E, which is- well, if you have any affection at all for the sort of movies Pixar makes, you really should see this. WALL*E himself is a delightfully Chaplinesque figure; the budding romance is deliniated with humor and attention to nuance; the social satire is witty and pointed; the last few minutes actually made me wibble. Suffice to say, it was the sort of movie that takes one's mind off of bad news; I'll definitely be seeing it again. It's the best movie I've seen in a theater in the last year.

(Also, I'm rather curious as to how David Fincher earned a "special thanks" credit here.)

The Wiz

I saw part of The Wiz this afternoon, with my apartment mate. Sidney Lumet was an interesting choice for directing a musical; the musical numbers (all twenty-five of them) tend to drag, but Lumet does a good job blending the urban and the fantastical, aided by a witty design job by Tony Walton. As Dorothy, Diana Ross seems to veer between being boring and noncommittal, and intense almost to the point of neurosis (as well as simply being too old for the role), but the supporting cast do well enough; Michael Jackson's Scarecrow is touchingly well done, and I like the bluster of Ted Ross's Cowardly Lion. However, by far my strongest memory of the movie from when I was a kid involves these things, which scared the willies out of me when I was younger. (I'd love to have Harry & the gang run into them.)