Considerations...: Another weekend

Word of the day : excoriate
   : to wear off the skin of ; abrade
                                             : to censure scathingly

The weekend comes creeping along... Let's see what's on tap:

- parent-teacher conferences w/Gabriel's teacher tomorrow
- LSU-South Carolina Saturday night
- a lot of playing outside w/Gabriel now that the weather is cooling off and the bugs are going bye-bye
- a trip to the library and bakery
- Some terrific NFL games (NE vs. Seattle, NYG vs SF, GB vs Houston)

Wish we could take a little road trip somewhere, but with Julia headed to Durham next weekend, we might not.

New Movies Opening This Weekend:

Argo    By all pundits' accounts, one of the two or three automatic Best Picture candidates of 2012. Ben Affleck, whom by now can be called a great director, makes his third trip behind the camera and stars too in this true-life story as a CIA exfiltration expert called upon to rescue six Americans caught behind the lines of the Iranian Revolution. The plan? You've probably seen the trailer or previews: They pose as a film crew. A big cast: Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Tate Donovan, Kyle Chandler, Clea DuVall. Great reviews.
Verdict: Very Interested

Sinister    This one looks really scary. Ethan Hawke plays a true-crime writer who moves his family into a new home... which just happens to be the scene of a horrible crime. Soon enough, Hawke finds a creepy box of super-8 home movies up in the attic. And naturally, creepy things start happening to the family. It's giving critics the chills - even if they claim that it's a patchwork of other films. Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) directs. Vincent D'Onofrio has a plum supporting role as a university professor specializing in the occult.
Verdict: Very Interested

Seven Psychopaths    What more do you need to know? It's Colin Farrell and the writer-director In Bruges back together again! Martin McDonagh's new film is about... well, I'm not really sure. It looks like a wacky, violent, hyper-articulate comedy about lowlifes and screenwriters and dog kidnappers all wandering around L.A. and the desert. But how about the cast: Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Gabourey Sidibe, Tom Waits, and Abbie Cornish. If that's not a selling point for you, then I don't want to know you.
Verdict: Very Interested

Here Comes the Boom    Kevin James plays a high school biology teacher who becomes a mixed martial arts fighter. That's really all you need to know. Surprisingly decent reviews.
Verdict: Not Interested

Smashed There's talk that Mary Elizabeth Winstead - hitherto an actress relegated to pics like Final Destination 3 and The Thing - might have a shot (a long one, no doubt) at an Oscar nod. Her and Breaking Bad's two-time Emmy winner Aaron Paul play an alcoholic married couple whose relationship is put to the test when the wife decides to get sober. Good reviews, though some critics are saying it's not truthful or bleak enough. Octavia Spencer and Megan Mullally co-star.
Verdict: Interested

*

A performance today for my 500 Greatest Performances of All Time list:

Robert Mitchum
as Jeff in Out of the Past (1947)

For my money, Mitchum was the greatest of all film-noir PIs. That heavy air of melancholy and acute, weary, seen-it-all indifference. That presence. He was an actor who was probably easy to typecast, yet he always seem to find variations and nuances within roles and characters that seemed similar from picture to picture. This film, directed majestically by the great Jacques Tourneur, has Mitchum in one of his best roles as a small-town gas pumper lured back into his old life by gangster Kirk Douglas (cheerfully malevolent) to find femme fatale Jane Greer in Mexico. Naturally, Mitch finds her and falls in love... but in this kind of movie, there's plenty of twists in store. Mitchum is just flat-out commanding here. His character has been put through the ringer and above any sort of tricks. But, of course, like all of us, he's a sap where love is concerned and is destined to be pulled into a world he can't get out of.

*

A score for tonight? Sure. This seems like something of a classic trap game for Pittsburgh. Tough, close win over in-state rivals Philadelphia, short week, on the road... But yet again they're playing Tennessee. Has there ever been a so-called "great" running back like Chris Johnson who has had so many disappointing, lethargic outings? I can't recall any. Tennessee can be tough to move the ball on, but even with Matt Hasslebeck running the show, I just hate Tennessee's offense. I think Big Ben & co. do just enough to win.
Pittsburgh 23, Tennessee 13

*

Finally, the next two artists in Professional Photographer's list of the 100 most influential photographers of all time:

David Loftus
(#65)