Zathras' Great Machine

Typical weekend routine, slightly modified

Well, as is my wont on Saturdays, I went out to have some lunch and see a movie. I went to see Freddy versus Jason, which has received mostly lukewarm reviews -- to which I add my own lukewarm review. I'd give the film **1/2 out of **** (two-and-a-half stars out of four). The fighting between Freddy and Jason is far and away the best part of the film, and it's definitely a lot of fun; the problem is, there just isn't enough of it. The film is half over before the two of them even start to fight. Anyway, if you're into the campy humor of self-parodying slasher flicks, this one is worth a look.

I went to the 2 PM matinee at Union Station, thinking I'd avoid crowds; much to my surprise, though, the theater was full. Much to my further surprise, about half the audience (literally) was probably under thirteen years old. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not fatherhood material, but even I know better than to take a young child to a film that features profanity, nudity, vulgar language, drug use, and (of course) a great deal of highly pronounced violence.

Anyway. Yes, the film's not great, but it's worth a look if you're into that kind of thing. And who wins the big Freddy versus Jason battle? I'm not about to reveal that in the blog. :-) But if you really want to know how it ends, drop me an email.

The other thing I finally got around to trying yesterday was wearing earplugs in public -- I'd had several sets in my backpack for a while but never gotten around to using them until yesterday, when I was trying to read my newspaper and two "little darlings" were running around screaming in that high-pitched scream that children can generate... so I finally put in my earplugs, and I liked them so much I actually spent the rest of the day with them in, except when I was at the movies. Those things are great -- I think I'm going to make it a habit to wear them from now on.