Monday, December 16, 2019
Wuthering Type: “they” is the Word of the Year, so they say
Wuthering Type: “they” is the Word of the Year, so they say: The proponents of they/ them never fully answer how we clear up the non- gender significance of the word: plurality. They argue that they wa...
“they” is the Word of the Year, so they say
The proponents of they/ them never fully answer how we clear up the non- gender significance of the word: plurality. They argue that they was used in the singular centuries ago. I argue that there was a reason for its falling out of favor which may be the confusion when you are trying to distinguish between one non binary person and a group of people - binary or not. I am Ok with the non- binary thing. Just wish they had picked pronouns that didn’t currently already mean something else. In this podcast a supporter essentially dismisses the confusion with “I guess.” But the avoidance of confusion is the primary reason for language. I know.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
TV Review - Holiday Heist
You could be forgiven if you forget that Lifetime’s excellent film Holiday Heist (produced by Mar Vista Entertainment) is a Christmas movie. There is sibling love, parental love, friends in love, “cute meet” love, middle age love, black love. If there were not already a film called “Love, Actually” this would be it.
Oh, and then there’s the heist. Most films of this scope get it wrong by having an overly big crime plot. This one is well set up and goes down like a perfectly sized and spiced gingerbread cookie.
While the cast is up to the task of this film, the writing and cinematography are the stars. There is a pleasingly tempered tension in the story. Rather than the being set in the usual Anyplace, USA, this film feels situated with generous references to Chicago - which it gets right. ( While hot dogs may be picnic fare everywhere else, they are year round there. ) It hits all of the Christmas romance notes - woman falls into man’s arms, current lover is a red herring and the second lover is maddeningly irresistible and the main character has suffered a personal loss.)
But, this is not the typical pretty snow globe of a movie where a slight upset raises flurries that settle as softly and quickly as they arose. In this movie, Christmas is what happens while you’re living in December. Decorations are put up, parties are danced and sh*t happens. Which is how most of us experience it.
Well worth the watch.
(Lifetime December 14)
Oh, and then there’s the heist. Most films of this scope get it wrong by having an overly big crime plot. This one is well set up and goes down like a perfectly sized and spiced gingerbread cookie.
While the cast is up to the task of this film, the writing and cinematography are the stars. There is a pleasingly tempered tension in the story. Rather than the being set in the usual Anyplace, USA, this film feels situated with generous references to Chicago - which it gets right. ( While hot dogs may be picnic fare everywhere else, they are year round there. ) It hits all of the Christmas romance notes - woman falls into man’s arms, current lover is a red herring and the second lover is maddeningly irresistible and the main character has suffered a personal loss.)
But, this is not the typical pretty snow globe of a movie where a slight upset raises flurries that settle as softly and quickly as they arose. In this movie, Christmas is what happens while you’re living in December. Decorations are put up, parties are danced and sh*t happens. Which is how most of us experience it.
Well worth the watch.
(Lifetime December 14)
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