Tattooed

"All of them were conscious of their limitations; they knew that they never once had turned out an absolutely perfect newspaper, because the newspaper was put out by human beings. But in their separate ways, they tried very hard never to write anything that would bring the newspaper shame. They would be appalled at the slovenly way the word 'tabloid' is now used. They didn't pay whores for stories. They didn't sniff around the private lives of politicians like agents from the vice squad. Even in large groups, on major stories, the photographers didn't behave like a writing, snarling, mindless centipede, all legs and Leicas, falling upon some poor witness like an instrument of punishment. Somehow, they found ways to get the story without behaving like thugs or louts."

-- Pete Hamill, News is a Verb


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Interesting time at the movies:

Caught The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last night at the Esquire. Very good thriller from Sweden, a sort of modern film noir that makes good use of hacking and databases without forsaking good old window-breaking and archives. A disgraced journalist hired to solve a forgotten murder on a private island, an abused (psychopathic?) young woman who gets obsessed also, and so on.

After the climax and about 20 minutes from the end, during the most revealing and emotional part of the film, there was a loud popping sound and then silence. "...and the sound goes out?" asked an exasperated old man in front. "Need some sound," a woman behind me said. "Seriously?" came another voice. Someone chuckled.

A few minutes passed, and it became clear that the cinema staff could not fix the problem, so we resolved ourselves to watch the rest of the movie anyway. Luckily, we had the subtitles to guide us, and before we knew it, we were back in the movie, as engrossed as those early movie audiences must have been in the era of silent films. We laughed at ironic dialog as we read it. And the visual story was well told, too. In a way, the silence had greater impact on us than anything else--people stopped chomping popcorn and sipping the last of their sodas, couples stopped muttering to each other, everyone sat perfectly still so as not to creak a seat.

At some point, the speakers sounded again, but the music was all wrong. It was the pre-feature soundtrack, the joyful elevator music that played under realty ads and pictures of people eating popcorn. Everyone groaned and laughed, and when it went silent again, we sighed with relief.

--

Before the movie started, I had a low, measly feeling that I only get in movie theaters--it's a sense that I really don't want to see any movie with these people. I overhear stupid conversations and roll my eyes, judging the people around me. I prepare myself: These people are going to laugh at every corny joke, those folks will not eat their food quietly, and that guy with the hearing aid is going to keep asking his wife what was just said.


But when the sound went out, so did that attitude. The lack of sound was now an obstacle, and--I'm trying to say this without sounding corny--we sort of pulled together to make it through the rest of the film. Everyone shut up. We were in this. It was on.

I think it's a testament to the movie, which admittedly is not the best movie ever made. But it's good--fresh and strong, something that could withstand a silent goodbye and still leave an impact. For fans of foreign thrillers, see it if you can.

I'm also interested in reading the book, too.

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Attended my first baby shower party today: a co-worker had her birthday and we had ourselves an outdoor picnic and baby shower. We were told to wear pink.

Two lunch potlucks in two days straight. Spring is here.

And Party in the Park starts tonight. Maybe I'll see a real girl with a dragon tattoo there.