A.I. (Absolute Idiocy), and Unrelated Euphorias

July 1

So Heather and I saw Artificial Intelligence yesterday afternoon. Thank the gods we went to a matinee-- at least I didn't spend much money on it. I hate this film with a special loathing, a loathing reserved for works that could have been good, that might have been art. Y'all, this movie is a 500 pound burlap sack full of suck. As Martin Luther might say (if he were alive today), this movie sucked Satan's aromatic black shit.

I'm tempted to go into all the things I hated about the movie, in great detail... but I think I'll refrain. I talked to Heather and Susan both about it yesterday, and I think I got my fury and disappointment and disgust pretty well out of my system. There were moments in the film when I was vibrating with rage. I'll speak in generalities, then: the plot was illogical and stupid in a number of ways (worse even than most science fiction movies, where plot holes are de rigeur), the characters were unsympathetic, unrealistic, and unbelievable, the truly important and interesting issues brought up by the subject matter were ignored in favor of stupid and less interesting issues, the whole last twenty minutes should have been summarily lopped off, and (after the first half hour or so) the film lacked all emotional truth. Spielberg couldn't resist schmaltzing it up; he couldn't let it be a tragedy, which might have redeemed it somewhat (though by no means completely). I hate Spielberg. I keep hoping he'll be cool again, like he used to be, and he keeps not doing it.

That said. Jude Law was pretty good. Halley Joel Osment wasn't bad. He's a good child actor, and I liked him in Sixth Sense, but then he was saddled with Pay it Forward, and now he plays the over-earnest whiny bratlet of A.I.. I hope he gets some decent roles again in the future. Some of the effects were nice. There were moments in the first fifth of the film that I enjoyed (many of them lifted directly from the Aldiss story, which I think isn't much of a story anyway, but which is far and away a better piece of work than the movie).

It says something (and not a good something) when your internet promotional campaign is more interesting, more vibrant, and more compelling than the film it's intended to promote. Gah. I've wasted enough words on this dreck.

And the worst thing is, I wanted to like it. At least I got to see Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter trailers. At least Spielberg isn't writing some horrible screenplay that makes no sense for those movies.

*******

Yesterday was social as all get-out. I woke up humming and singing and saying "Tra la." I turned over to Heather and said "I'm in a really good mood." And I was. I felt all was right with the world.

Heather said "What are we bringing to share at the picnic?" So then I started to stress out, because I had no idea what we were bringing to share at the picnic; indeed, I had no idea we were bringing anything. My pristine and pure good mood didn't last long, therefore, but that's okay; a good mood that breaks under the least strain of reality isn't a very sturdy thing, anyway. A sort of marzipan mood, is what it was. My mood improved later, so all's well.

I went downtown and got cookies to share, then came home. A bit later our friends arrived-- Mary Anne, Susan, and Jed. Later came Kam, whom I had never met before. We loaded up our goodies and went to Seabright beach, where we spread several blankets and towels and proceeded to feast. Curry buns, sandwiches, chips, cheese, fruit... all manner of good things, and I stuffed myself. Kites were flown. People swam (not me-- I hung out on the blanket and talked to Susan, being as I don't swim in the harsh waters of the Pacific). After a couple of hours of beachy fun, everyone except Heather and I headed for the Monterey Bay aquarium (Heather and I were too poor for that).

My ladylove and I went home. She showered, and I looked up showtimes. We went to see the accursed movie discussed above, and emerged in dire need of mental cleansing. We came home and spent a while behind closed doors, enjoying ourselves...

The intrepid Aquarium-visitors returned, and shortly afterward Sherman arrived. The whole bunch of us went to Rosa's (with some misadventures along the way), stood in line, and acquired food. As per my usual wont, I got fish tacos. Yum. We sat at a big long table. I was sorta far off on one end, and thus not immersed in the mainstream of conversation. That was okay. I plotted a horror story instead. It should be nice and short. If all goes well, I might even write it today-- that's assuming I can finish my Mr. Li story.

After Rosa's, we went to Pergolesi (everyone wanted to see the famous Pergolesi, of Tim's Journal Fame). We got drinks, sat outside, and talked. Oh, good talk. These are good smart people. Why the hell do they have to be so geographically diverse? Why can't they be around where I can hang out with them more often?

After a while, we said our farewells-- they all had drives of varying duration before them. Heather and I returned home and relaxed, socialed-out. I drank tea. I e-subbed a story. She read. We talked. We snuggled. Good.

*******

Oh, I finished American Gods by Gaiman.

It's one of my top ten favorite books ever. Quite possibly top five. It's brilliant. I tend to think Gaiman's prose is workaday at best, but this book is much more smoothly written than his other prose. The book is so rich, so beautifully constructed-- everything I thought was a problem turned out to be important to the plot, turned out to be relevant. There are mysteries and misdirections and tension and beauty... oh, y'all. I can't recommend it highly enough. Moreover, this is exactly the sort of book I want to write-- sprawling, fantastic, mythic, personal. It's an inspiration. Yum.

*******

I had a burst of joy yesterday, too. I can't explain it; it's as irrational in its way as a spontaneous depression. I just felt so soothed, and yet at the same time so full, I felt so good I almost wept. Even during this period of euphoria, I was a little sad, though, because I knew it couldn't last, I knew I wouldn't always feel this way, I knew there was no set of circumstances I could repeat to bring it back, to make it happen again. But that's okay. It's even more precious for it's fleetingness.