hammock time begins

This was one of the best weekends in recent memory. Hammock time
figured in. The Lathe of Heaven was so much fun to read, to imagine
along these lines, of someone who changes reality with his dreams...

Two of the movies I watched were exceptional. The Korean monster
movie, The Host, had just about everything a person could want in a
movie -- it's funny, sad, heartwearming, startling, unpredictable, and
political. Old Joy, a portrait of Oregonian granola types taking a
quiet walk in the woods, is the kind of TRUE independent movie that
always flies under the radar (although it was a Sundance discovery)
and that people say, "Nothing happened." But rarely does one see a
movie that captures people so unvarnished, thoughtful, philosophical,
and true, how old friends reunite and find they, and the world, has
changed. I mention both movies because both movies -- The Host and
Old Joy -- conclude with news programs playing in the background, the
media blaring the bad news of the war, the pundits, the endless
chatter of catastrophe, and both movies make the point of saying that
such news is quite beside the point of living. As the Korean movie
ends, the young boy says to his new-found guardian, let's just turn
off the news and eat, as they chow down in rice and noodles in their
isolated noodle stand, snow falling over Seoul. It's beautiful.

Old Joy and Mutual Appreciation are the two movies from last year that I found most surprising and amazing, one quiet and the other talky.
They're not like other movies.