Today is a sad day, dear readers. It seems as though my bid for Queensland Tourism’s “best job in the world” was dramatically shut down and given instead to pretty boy Ben Southall from England. Ben will receive $150,000 to spend six months on an island resort and blog about his weekly exploits. I will not be congratulating Sir Southall for winning the best job in the world, for I’ve realized today that I currently already have the best job in the world, and there can’t be two, so it looks like I’m the real winner for being The Glass City’s only active blogger. Congratulations to me!
“The Sorrow and the Pity”, as predicted, was 4 and half hours of crazy-good, and naturally I’m recommending it to has any interest whatsoever in WWII. In brief, it is a two part recap on France’s occupation by the Nazis from 1940 to 1944, told from the perspectives of 20 or so individuals who had differing opinions about the cause and effect of being the only occupied country during the war to openly collaborate with the Nazis. Without ruining it for you (just in case), it packs tons of information and opinion into it, covering topics ranging from resistance mentality, to the communist threat, to anglophobia, to anti-semitism. The director takes a very personal approach, often appearing on camera catalyzing responses from his interviewees in hopes of making them fully aware that their interviews are to answer for the entire French population of the time. Equally fascinating is the method in which the narrative is presented, often leaving subjects open-ended, and hardly ever addressing the exact chronology of the war itself. And what I mean by that is that at one point you can be watching an interview regarding the early days of the war and its effect on refugees, and suddenly an hour later you’ll realize everyone is now talking about Petain’s involvement in the persecution during the war. Discussion topics flow seamlessly into each other, making the entire film a pleasure to watch. It is absolutely engrossing, and easily earned an “A” in my meager rating system.
I am rather good
Also, I’d like to take a moment here to welcome all of my new west coast (left coast? gold coast?) readers to the city, and assure you that I will try my best to curb my fantastic insults about everything you people value out there (In-and-Out Burger, doggie day spas, sand poisoning, Lindsay Lohan, etc.) I can only hope you will return the favor by eventually moving out to the midwest and holding one of your world renowned award ceremonies specifically for me. I’ve already begun writing my acceptance speech, and in it I’m making a point to reference as many past Academy Awards acceptance speeches as possible. I’m king of the world!
Oh, also, a quick head’s up: Oprah’s free KFC coupon campaign might sound good (unless you still have your senses), but you might want to be aware that downloading the free meal coupon off of KFC’s website gives you the bonus gift of malware free of charge. This doesn’t really surprise me, as you may remember that all of the cars she gave away to her studio audience a few years ago came with tracking devices and tiny bombs strapped under their hoods. I think she just likes keeping it real.
All right, I’ll talk to you guys Friday, probably about Star Trek and/or X-Men Origins: Deadpool and/or X-Men Origins: Spider-man.
The Glass City 