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Boooo Civil Procedure

As I rolled law school around in my mind before actually going, I figured I'd most enjoy those classes which dealt most with policy, Constitutional Law especially. I was worried, however, about the "trade school" aspect of things--I wasn't sure how much each class would contain those practical bureaucratic elements I tend not to enjoy so much. The age old battle between substance and procedure, the fascinating side of things and its necessary evil twin. As it turns out, I've quite enjoyed classes like Contracts, which mixes a healthy dose of both, but there is one class which has justified my nervousness. Civil Procedure. My worst grade in the fall, my one remaining final. I think of it as "how to get a case thrown out on a technicality." So each of us has to learn all the technicalities in case opposing counsel someday tries to throw our client's case out on a technicality (and, of course, so we can attempt the same against opposing counsel where the opportunity arises). To this I say, "boooo." There are lots of substantive reasons for these rules, of course, but...argh, I'll just get on with this post and then back to the book.

I've had three finals now and I've horribly mismanaged my time on all three, but nevertheless feel alright. We'll see when the grades come back whether my furious last-minute scribbling successfully squeezed out those last few points I needed to take my grades up a bit this semester. And whether my study strategy of interspersing reading, outlining, and movie-watching has worked. The list, in order of how well I liked them, each film supplemented by a few notes:

Match Point
Brilliant Woody Allen flick, though the opposite of my usual favorite type of movie; here Allen sacrifices character (using basically predictable stock types) for plot (a fantastic, unpredictable look at money and love and luck, especially luck). It works.

Happiness (tie)
Err, where to begin...three sisters: one a pretentious, successful, but hollow author, one the doting housewife of a child molester husband, the third just extremely unlucky. They...interact with one another, and with others. Their parents separate, but don't divorce. As you might expect based just on those bits of information, the movie is slightly shocking, hilarious at times, but somewhat uneven. I think it was uneven on purpose, because there's no way that the situations it entails could be comfortable for anyone.

The Omen (tie)
Would've been a bit higher but for some incredibly cheesy moments. Think the stereotypical horror movie victim waiting staring at his impending death, unmoving, for a good 30 seconds before the impending death actually hits. Dude, just take a step to the right and you'll be fine. The score was great--I listened intently after noting that it was composed by Jerry Goldsmith (who also wrote the score to Rudy, which has great emotional significance to me. Don't make fun.), and perhaps the film's greatest success was in creating an atmosphere that perfectly captures the transition from domestic bliss to terror. I love Gregory Peck.

American Dreamz
I think most reviewers were put off by this movie's reluctance to really "stick it to the man" as a satire without committing to its more farcical elements either. I chose just to appreciate each as it came--now a dash of satire, now farce, now slapstick--hey, if it's funny, it's funny. I didn't realize going in that it was based so closely on the current administration, and the Bush jokes were pretty much the tired standards. The plot was predictable, the characters stock, but there were some laugh-out-loud moments, and it was well worth the $2/person at Patriot Cinemas.

Dune (David Lynch extended version)
Here's another one about which I'm kind of at a loss for words. Watch me prove myself wrong. Some folks praised the set and costume design. I thought they screamed "1980s" more than "10190s." (Retrospect: not entirely fair. I'd say the design aspects were mixed; some were pretty much spot-on, like the Bene Gesserit costumes; others, like the imperial hall, were cheesy sci-fi set.) The acting was generally very good, probably better than in most of the movies listed above, although of course I would have enjoyed more of Sian Phillips's ice cold matriarch (which she did so well in "I, Claudius" as well). I've also read that the special effects are somewhat dated; they were actually much better than I expected. So far, then, my thoughts are basically that you should discard any review you find online. But here's where I betray my perspective: I love the original novel, and I thought the movie basically butchered the story, which became extremely disjointed as Lynch tried to include myriad details which simply overwhelmed the poor three-hour movie. Some moments that could have been dedicated to smoothing out these details were instead given to surreal montages of video and sound clips from other points in the movie, which had the dual goal of representing Paul Atreides/Muad-dib's visions and of reinforcing details which those unfamiliar with the book are unlikely to have retained. Except that, by the fifth repetition of, "worms and spice; there must be some connection!" pretty much everyone should have the idea. Then the connection is never really elucidated. Awesome. I hear Lynch hated the end result; I don't think it deserves to be hated, but I do think the end result is basically a monument to Lynch's overambition and the movie that might have been had he had a gazillion dollar budget and 85 years to film and edit and whatnot. The sandworms are pretty cool, though. How's that for disjointed?

Silent Hill
SEA and I agreed: it was better than expected (but, of course, worse than I had hoped). I don't think it deserves too many words here, but don't see it if you don't like the idea of people being torn apart by an evil severe burn victim with barbed-wire appendages and revenge on her mind. Which is to say, don't see it.

Tonight we're going to watch the much-derided film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions; should be interesting! But only after hitting up the grocery store. And, *SIGH*, studying.