GODS AND MONSTERS

Sunday, May 31, 1998

This morning I got caught up on some email and journal reading, then took off to get in line for the Secret Festival. While I was waiting in line, I chatted with a guy who is often mistaken for my brother-in-law around town -- same first name, same stature, same hair color, same politics. I also was telling the woman next to us about things I do on the web, which means this journal and the Cacophony web page. This wasn't volunteered by me; she asked, after listening to some things that the first guy and I were talking about.

I can't say much about the secret movie (it's a secret, you know!), but I wasn't that thrilled with it. I give last Sunday's movie a B, and this week's a C-.

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I had some time before the next show, and it was a beautiful day, so I got some lunch at the new Burger King that is by the new QFC grocery store, a block away from the Egyptian Theater. I was amazed that the manager was having a bit of a tantrum behind the counter! "Sorry I'm in a bad mood," he said, not to me but to someone else he was waiting on, "But I had a no-show crew this morning and had to work three hours by myself!" I ordered a Whopper, and did not get it my way! I really wanted to turn the Whopper into a Quarterpounder. When I actually got the burger, it still had the lettuce and stuff on it. Someone else must have gotten the sandwich meant for me! But with the bad day the manager was having, and the time it would likely take to remake the sandwich, I just went with what I had. I walked up Pike to visit that Venus large-size consignment store. Closed on Sunday! Imagine!

So I went to the Broadway Performance Hall and waited in line with my festival buddies, saying hi to Dan Osborn as he passed by. My friend A---, the platinum passholder, was already inside.

The File of Anna Akhmatova
Oh. My. God. This movie was the worst! It was so boring, it's tough to describe! Akhmatova was a Russian poet who was in trouble with the Soviets for years. A filmmaker filmed her funeral in 1966, and the footage was confiscated, and only retrieved twenty years later. The rest of the film is still photographs of faces and houses and some archival footage. The text is some of her poems read aloud, and extracts from the journal of a friend. There is an expectation that you would already know who Akhmoatova is, as well as a variety of other poets and writers that she was involved with. The modern, plink-plunk music added to the torture. I've never known an hour to go so slowly!

A--- and I staggered out, stunned by what we had just experienced. We revisited the Chinese place we were at yesterday, but today we got our food to go and carried it to the grove next to the Broadway Performance Hall. I like this park; it's rectangular, with trees planted on a grid and different levels all around, which results in a pleasant formality. We feasted on chicken with broccoli (my choice) and sweet and sour chicken (A---'s choice), then went to our next show.

Gods and Monsters
This was by far the best movie of the day. It's a somewhat fictionalized tale about James Whale, director of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. Ian McKellen is Whale, and Brendan Fraser is a young man working for him as a yard man. Both are great! There is a lot of dark humor, tension, and tenderness in this story, based on a novel, Father of Frankenstein, by Christopher Bram.

I had thought about staying for the 9:15 show, but I wanted to do some web stuff tonight (done!), get caught up on email (done!) and finish the journal design and graphics for June (not done!) So I walked home through the twilight.