Two weeks left….oy. It still doesn’t feel real, and it probably won’t until I’m on the plane…and even then…

Yesterday I went to see a matinee of the American version of The Grudge. Overall impression…it was unnecessary. It was basically a combination of Ju-on: The Curse and Ju-on: The Grudge (pieces were lifted from both to form a more cohesive story.) The lesser characters were played by the same actors from the Japanese release, it was created by the same director, and it was set in Japan. Many of the camera angles and special effects were similar if not the same (though some special effects were improved upon) and a huge chunk of the movie was in Japanese with English subtitles. The only real difference to the film was that the main characters were now white Americans studying/working abroad. The acting was still well-done (they’d chosen solid, well-known actors like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Bill Pullman) but…it was essentially the same movie. As far as I know, Ju-on was only released a year ago, so really, what was the point? Could American audiences really not enjoy a film that starred only Japanese people? Are we that shallow that we need a white character in the lead role in order to relate to it? That is the only reason I can think of that they wouldn’t just release the original Ju-on over here. Meh. So yeah, it was good, but unnecessary. And only slightly scarier than the original. But maybe it was all the obnoxious teenage girls in the theatre screaming and trying to scare each other.

I also saw The Cell for the first time this weekend. It was playing on the Sci Fi channel so it was full screen, and edited for time and content. Bleh. I knew I was missing a bunch of stuff, but I was intrigued enough by what I saw that I went and bought the DVD (for $11). Hopefully I’ll watch that tonight. Oh, and I must finish watching Brazil as well. I’m about halfway through that, and it’s interesting to say the least. I didn’t quite know what to expect and I’m still a little puzzled by the mood of the film. In any case, I didn’t realize that Terry Gilliam was originally from Minnesota! o.o I need to watch 12 Monkeys again soon too.

Heh, I helped Jon put parts of his car back together. He was pretty upset that he couldn’t get this vent back in the dash and after trying all sorts of different things I simply suggested the brute force method, and it worked! :o He seemed rather pleased after that. XD

Well, it’s my last week of work and I have a bunch of stuff to do before I go. Then I have a week off and then I’m on the plane!