And if we make up just to break up, I'll carry on

So far a nice weekend. My mouth hurts, though, from the fillings I got earlier in the week. Turned out, there was more decay in each of the three teeth being worked on than my dentist anticipated. So he packed 'em deep and told me, when he finished, that ideally I would have crowns instead of fillings. Now you tell me. Maybe I'm growing more mistrustful as I get older, but sometimes with him I feel like I'm talking to a mechanic. "Turns out, not only do you need new spark plugs, but you need a new engine, as well." Charlatans abound.

Just finished watching Don't Look Now, a dark film starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. I've seen it billed as a horror movie, but I think it's more just a dark, vaguely supernatural thriller. Plot: The daughter of a couple drowns in a pond. Said Couple moves to Venice, ostensibly so the husband can work (he designs cathedrals), but you know it's more about getting away from the past. The wife meets two sisters, one of which is blind and psychic. She tells the wife that her little girl is happy and was just sitting between her and her husband at the restaurant they were at. The wife buys in to it, tells her husband, but he thinks it's mumbo jumbo. The blind sister, during a subsequent meeting with the wife, tells her the husband is psychic but is in denial. Oh, and also that his life is in grave danger if he remains in Venice. The wife relates this to the husband, but he still thinks it's a bunch of mumbo jumbo. There are murders in the city and the husband keeps seeing a small figure running around in a red raincoat with the hood up, the same color of the coat his daughter was wearing when she died. He eventually catches up with this elusive figure and ****spoiler alert*** the figure reveals itself to be a dwarfish old woman who pulls out a knife and slits his throat as she smiles. That's the plot.

I enjoyed the film as much as I figured I would, which is to say not a lot. The cinematography was pretty cool and the acting was serviceable, but I had a pretty lukewarm reaction to the whole experience. To me, a scary movie is The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, or The Shining. Not this, this was tame.

Not so tame was Come And See, an incredible film I watched a couple of nights ago. It follows a boy through Nazi plagued Russia and does not treat war lightly. Most films about war celebrate it to a certain degree. This was brutal and unflinching. And poetic. There wasn't a ton of dialog - it wasn't needed. Most of the horror and shock was conveyed through visuals and the score. Very dreamlike.

I think I should join a film club. I see a lot of movies that I can't share with anyone. I don't know many people who'd be interested in a movie like Come and See, but I wish I did. I'm sure I can find like minded individuals hereabouts.

Saw Inception again with Spira. I'm glad I saw it a second time. I picked up on a few things I missed the first time around.
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I haven't seen Mara in over a month. I've talked to her here and there, though. We had plans last weekend, but she broke them at the last minute so she could hang out with the guy she just started seeing. I let her know how inconsiderate it was of her to tell me that we couldn't hang out because something better came along. She'd done that to me a couple of months ago when she broke off our plans so she could go to a cocktail party with Jessica. We have plans to meet up tomorrow. I've been fairly nonplussed about hanging out with her these days, getting blown off notwithstanding. Maybe we're near the end of our relationship. Who knows. To her credit, she did surprise me by making an effort to make amends. I figured that now that she's seeing someone, she'd be more inclined to let me drift away.
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Getting late. Off to Union Square to see my friend's art exhibit and then catch Pat's band. That's part of the plan, anyway. I'm sure more will be going on.