Weeky Round-Up, July 25-30th

- I saw This Must Be the Place. I really really loved it, despite my (perhaps former) hatred of Sean Penn.
- Pak 'n' Save have a special on chickpeas. I bought eight cans.
- I guess Hamilton isn't so bad if you go to the right places.
- Tax refunds are a fucking lifesaver.
- I forgot how much I love On Avery Island by Neutral Milk Hotel. Better than In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, in my opinion.
- This Ain't California is a very good film. I just got home from seeing it, I really do enjoy seeing films about eras and places I previously knew nothing about. And it made skateboarding look fucking cool.
- I really enjoyed Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain but I think I actually like the movie ending better. Also I am having a hard time deciding whether there was a sexist subtext there or not. On the one hand, it was an interesting study of mother-daughter relationships and the plight of a solo mother during the Depression/post-Depression era, none of which had really been done before, but on the other hand Veda constantly says things like, "I learned it all from you, like mother like daughter" whenever she does something heartless and cruel. And indeed, at the end Veda turns EVERYTHING around on Mildred and Mildred ends up with nothing but what she started with. All her hard work is deemed almost meaningless because of her "weakness" - her daughter. So I have a hard time figuring out whether Cain is sympathising with Mildred or is actually on Veda's side. Or perhaps he is just a man calling women weak. I guess I'll have to do some more research on it. It's just that in the film, Mildred was definitely a sympathetic character. In the book, she's kind of a puppet that all the other characters' ideas filter through. And in effect, they all screw her over. Anyway, regardless of all this, I am looking forward to reading Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice. Although it may be a while till I've finished Possession by A.S Byatt, which is also very good so far.