A Cockeyed View

I did something tonight that I haven't done . . . well, the last time I remember doing it, I was sixteen. I sat in the very first row at the movies. Boy, those are not good seats. Mrs. Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk and I went to a preview of Burn After Reading, and we were among the last people let into the theater. We were also essentially in the corner, too, not the center of the row, so everything on screen was considerably distorted. John Malkovich's head in particular was misshapen in all kinds of ways.

As for the film itself, it was fun but slight. Mrs. Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk compared it to a magic act--entertaining and diverting when it's right in front of you, but you don't carry much away with you after it's over. They set up quite a bit and seem to pay it all off (in sometimes surprising ways), and there's certainly something to be said for that. Despite the marquee names onscreen, though, don't hold your breath for many Oscar noms. There was definitely a feeling of the Coen brothers needing to unwind after the intensity of No Country for Old Men. I'm willing to go see it again, though, to see what it looks like in normal proportions and to catch a bit of business that changes everything (don't worry, I've got no spoilers). An unexpected development was edited together in very quick cuts, and at our angle we couldn't see precisely how it happened. In many ways it's the crux of the story, so I'm taking it on faith that it's not somehow a cheat, but it would be nice to see it again to know for sure.

When we got home, I did something else I haven't done in years: I listened to Alice Cooper's "Elected." Although I actually bought the single back in day (and still have it, as far as I know), I haven't particularly felt a need to hear it lately, but he was singing it on Craig Ferguson and I didn't change the channel, so there we are. As I was noticing the irony present in the line, "You and me together, young and strong," I realized that I'd misheard it all those years ago and never processed the actual lyric until tonight. I thought Alice was singing, "You and me together, yelling destroy!" I think I like my version better.