Stoked!

Well, this is what I learned from the doctor's visit:

- Must get my BP down
- Must put on a few pounds
- Must get my ears cleaned out 

And now it's Julia's turn to go to the doctor's today. 

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Here are the new movies opening up this weekend:

Jack the Giant Slayer    Yep, it's Jack and the Beanstalk.  Good director (Bryan Singer), good cast (Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, Bill Nighy, Ewan McGregor), but I have no earthly desire to ever see this film. 

Phantom    It's been a while since we've had a submarine thriller.  We're on a Cold War Soviet submarine, with Ed Harris as the plagued captain of a crew faced with a deadly mission... Sound good?  Not really.  Good cast, though: David Duchovny, William Fichtner, Jonathan Schaech. 

Stoker    Now this one sounds intriguing: Acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Chan-wook Park makes his American debut with this loopy thriller, which sounds a lot like a remake of the great Hitchcock film Shadow of a Doubt.  Young India (Mia Wasikowska), emotionally unstable, loses her father, an event that leads to her smiling, handsome uncle (Matthew Goode) coming to live with India and her nervous, distant mother (Nicole Kidman).  India becomes infatuated with him, but he has ulterior motives.  Critics say it's wild and weird, overheated and fascinating.  Jacki Weaver and Dermot Mulroney co-star.  (Yes)

21 & Over    A wild, go-for-broke comedy about the 21st birthday of a young, straight-laced kid.  A night of epic debauchery ensues.  "From the producer of The Hangover."

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Not a history lesson - nor much reading - but here's an interesting article about art, birds, and the Edo Period in Japan:

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2013/02/birds-and-bards-the-arts-of-edo-japan/

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I finally saw The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson's love it-or-hate it, thinly-veiled look at the early years of Scientology.  In my opinion, it was less about the cult religion than it was about the relationship between an aimless ex-soldier composed of too much id (Joaquin Phoenix) and the hearty, seductive man of all trades (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who mentors him.  Strikingly shot by Mihai Malaimare and acted to perfection by the two leads (granted, Phoenix's divisive work is an unsettling, Method-y form of perfection), the film ambles along without ever really being about anything other than post-war dissatisfaction and restlessness and a rubbing, insistent search for truth and meaning.  There are some lulls but a few truly captivating scenes too.  Plenty of dreaminess (lots of shots of churning water) and an evocative score by Jonny Greenwood.  I wish Laura Dern's part was bigger, though.  (The film inspired me to listen to more Jo Stafford, however.)

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Some time during the next nine days, we will get the news that Julia has a new job.  Fingers crossed!