Having the 4th of July fall right smack in the middle of the week was a challenge. Just as I got into the swing of things at work, the whirl of activity was abruptly halted by a splash of fireworks and an urge to grill something…again. You see, we had just gone to a Canada Day’s celebration on the Saturday before.
We ran around for most of the day but like many other days, Clint and I ended our 4th of July celebrations by watching a movie. Tonight it was “House of Flying Daggers”. A beautiful movie with a shallow plot. I think some of the poetics got lost in the translation from Chinese to English. Before I share my thoughts on the movie (warning, there will be spoilers), I thought it would be interesting to enlighten you on how movies are chosen these days at the Stark’s abode. Because “House of Flying Daggers” would not have been a movie I would have picked if I had used the same criteria described in a previous post to find a book to read.
Drum roll please….movies at the Stark’s house gets chosen based on its availability in Blu-Ray format.
Yes, you see…it all goes back to the fateful event where Clint and I were competing on which home project we were going to fund this fiscal year. I was championing solar panels, my opponent, a home theatre system. If you are a reader of the male persuasion, I already know you are giving Clint a virtual pat on the back. Well, Clint won out. Mainly because I could not get the payback period to work and could not get any of vendors I solicited to get their price to where I thought was a fair markup from prices of just the solar panels I found online.
With the battle lost for this year, there was a domino effect. After Clint got a big screen (um…120″) and projector put in, we just couldn’t watch a normal picture, no had to go with high-definition. Here is where the Sony Playstation comes in. Clint HAD to get it because it was the most cost-effective way to get a high-definition DVD player. I swear there is a conspiracy going on here. He also tells me he donates hours to the Stanford cancer project so the purchase of the PS3 also goes to a good cause.
We then worked our way through the choice pics of Blue-Ray dvd’s off of Netflix (about 300 DVDs selection)…we watched Casino Royale, The Fountain, Devil Wears Prada….The Holiday. Finally pickings got scarce and we picked “House of Flying Daggers”.
So that is how we ended up where we were on the evening of July 4th. “House of Flying Daggers” was beautifully made, the special effects were gracefully melded with the real elements so the special effects did not become the show. However, the ending of the movie was just too comical. There was a sword battle between two friends over a beautiful female member of the House of Flying Daggers, May. May had already been stabbed with a dagger and is bleeding to death in the fields. The movie really jumps the shark as the battle carried on until it starts snowing. Then after what seems like ages, May stumbles out from the snow. Everyone eventually dies, but the ending is so unbelievable.
As the credit rolled and our 4th of July came to an end. Clint and I noted that it was the aniversary of our engagment. Yes, we got hitched on Independance Day, quite the juxtaposition. The movie was mediocre, but if I had to watch such a movie, the person on my right that day would be the person I would want to endure it with. I’ll even admit I quite enjoy our home theatre system.
