Thursday, May 25, 2006

E*Z*O ‘E*Z*O’



I have to make this entry short because I’m a little pressed for time today. It’s strange because two weeks ago, I was looking at a deep lull where work was concerned. But in this business, things change from day to day.

I just finished watching Transamerica that I got from Netflix. And I must say that I enjoyed it. I’m sure my mother would be horrified about that…

It’s a decent film about a guy named Stanley about to alter his penis for a vagina. It’s kind of like turning an “outie” bellybutton into an “innie”. And then the past jumps up and bites Stanley/Sabrina on her pre-op ass… She has a son that she never knew about. So she ventures to New York to pick him up and they drive cross-country. Sabrina has to make a stop at the “dead” parents house…. Blah, blah, blah… And everyone seems to be okay with it.

I wasn’t as “wowed” by the film as much as I hoped to be. I’m only giving it 3 out of 5 stars on the Netflix grading scale.

And I also watched The Ringer and I found it to be quite funny and compassionate. I’m glad to see the Special Olympics on board with that movie because a lot of “impassioned” assholes thought the film would make fun of retarded or “special” individuals. And please keep in mind they made those assumptions before they saw the movie.

I thought it was touching and sweet with a healthy dose of funny. The tables were turned on the “ringer” and he became the one needing a helping hand to find his way. There was no belittling of the retarded or special folks. If anything, it should make us non-retarded folks take a look at how we treat our brothers and sisters that are different than us.

I don’t like using “mentally challenged” because I’m not very politically correct. And personally, I think that the politically correct movement has hurt relations in our society. It keeps people from asking questions and exploring. In a sense, I feel that the PC movement has put a damper on our growth as human beings. You watch your P’s and Q’s and therefore everything seems “normal” and no one gets their feelings hurt.

I’m in the camp of bandage rippers that allow wounds to get a little air in order to heal. Call me crazy if you want, but I think society has gotten WAY too sensitive about every damn thing. You can’t throw an Easter Seal without offending someone.

I see political correctness as a crutch that I refuse to use. Sure, I may stumble from time to time, but I will see and experience things my way. I refuse to become a hand wringer that panics about what I say and what others around me say.

Right or wrong… I use my freedom to say and do what I want.

Well… I didn’t mean to get on a soapbox or anything, it just happened. So with that, I’ll close out this entry.

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:39 PM

    1. Rent Murderball. It will give you a new perspective on people -- not just disabled people. Plus, it's just a damn good movie, and I'm not really a documentary fan.

    2. I'm a traitor. I've joined Blockbuster's mail order movie club for the summer. They gave me a free month to try it, so I'm going to try it. The "two DVDs at a time" rate is $14.99/month, plus a free in-store rental each week, so I figure that it's a bit cheaper than Netflix, and if I find myself movieless, I can get one in the store with no hassle.

    3. Hmmmmmmmm, Transamerica and Brokeback Mountain recently? What? Are you trying to give your mother a heart attack?

    I need to rent Transamerica right away. I saw "Brokeback" at the theater alone, because my hubby was too big a wus to go and see it with me.

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  2. I have Murderball on my Netflix queue so eventually I will see it.

    Bebo, you will find out that Blockbuster sucks. Christine can back me up on that one. She switched sides and came back.

    As for my mother's heart... Just getting the pulse rate up there.

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  3. Anonymous5:14 PM

    Murderball is great.

    I have a free Blockbuster month, so I figured that it can't hurt. They give me a free in-store coupon each week, too, so I'll see how the month goes. I really just want to have a movie service for the summer, anyways.

    They don't have any Mitch Hedberg stand-up titles, which is already a strike against them, as I wanted to add those to my queue...

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  4. Anonymous7:41 PM

    Sorry I'm late responding (and I don't know if you'll even read this, Bebo), but yup, I can confirm - Blockbuster sucks.

    The main problem was mailing times. They don't have a local distribution center; their closest is Charlotte. So - even though it should have been 1 day mail service - the movies always spent 2 days in transit, whether coming or going. I experienced endless glitches on their website, not the least of which prevented it from "recognizing" me, so I had to log in every blessed time I went there. And my wait time for popular movies became ungodly long - longer than I ever experienced with Netflix, even with "throttling."

    I'd originally switched from Netflix to them because of a special - get a free copy of Shrek 2 when it came out, just in time for Christmas - and because they were about $3 cheaper (at the time) for the same 3-at-a-time plan. But when I did the math, I was actually paying more $$ per movie (even at the lower monthly fee) because I was getting fewer per month due to longer shipping times. So I switched back to Netflix and lived happily ever after.

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  5. Anonymous8:29 PM

    Hmmmmmmm, thanks for the info, Christine. I always check back a few entries to see if anyone has posted something funny or useful... I'll see how it goes. I adore my letter carrier (he puts my packages up on the back deck, which is covered), but our post office is SLOW. The Kernersville post office really needs another zip code and branch.

    I got my mother's day card from my stepdaughter on FRIDAY after Mother's Day, and my mom (in Greensboro) got her card from said stepdaughter on the Saturday before.

    I had my first three movies three ship today... I'll be eager to see when I actually get them. And I'm catching up on TV shows with one rental per batch of three, so I'll be able to keep something for a few days while waiting on other stuff to arrive. That and the in-store coupon (1 per week) should keep me happy for a month.

    They'll come this weekend when I'll be watching Dwight Yoakam... not watching movies!

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