Go and Do and See

Do you remember the other day when I asked?

The More I Know...

Is it worth and extra $6.50 a month to pick up T-Faux through my Direct TV? Let me know.

I got some advice, note to world at large: comments validate my existence, thanks. Anyway. The advice I received was go and become one with the T-Faux that Direct TV offers.

I had called Direct TV the day before and whoever it was I spoke to said the service was like $5 a month and covered all the TVs that were hooked to Direct TV, which in my case is two. I thought: Groovy! Bring on the T-Faux, but wait, what if this is a bad idea? It’s not as though I am immune to bad ideas. This could be a bad idea. I decided to get some advice.

Advice was sought and received. I called Direct TV back and told them what I wanted.

They then told me what they wanted - Direct TV wanted $120 plus $5 a month.

Hmmmm.

I don’t have $120 to give to Direct TV. I had been thinking I would budget for the extra charge on the cable bill by cutting down on my Netflix. I mean who needs two titles a week if I a week of Match Game saved up? It was a good trade. I can’t budget for a $120 surcharge.

So. At least for the time being, Netflix is safe from perdition.

Speaking of Netflix.

My little friend introduced me to Brick, at IMDB or Brick, offical site. Good movie. Very noir. It’s a leetle bit stylized, in the the way Kabuki theatre is a leetle bit structured. It stars the kid from Third Rock, you remember Tommy? and Lucas Haas, the kid from Witness. They play high school (yeah, right) kids who exchange a lot of dialogue like:

Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)- Your muscle seemed plenty cool putting his fist in my head. I want him out.

The Pin (Lucus Haas) - Looky, soldier...

Brendan - The ape blows or I clam.

Exposition was given in turns by Exposition Boy AKA "The Brain" and Exposition Girl/Theatre Jock. EG kept me interested through her expos-dialogue by changing costumes. It was fun to figure out what character from what show she was and how she was actually wearing her subtext. The Exposition twins got a little Des Ex Machina after a while, but this is a 1940s noir movie set in 2005 in Southern California High School. Shit happens.

A conversation between “The Brain" AKA: Exposition Boy and our antihero:

The Brain- Pin. The Pin?

Brendan Frye- The Pin, yeah?

The Brain- The Pin is kinda a local spook story, yeah know the King Pin.

Brendan Frye- Yeah, I've heard it.

The Brain- Same thing, he's supposed to be old, like 26. Lives in town.

Brendan Frye- Dope runner, right?

The Brain- Big time. See the Pin pipes it from the lowest scraper for Brad Bramish to sell, maybe. Ask any dope rat where their junk sprang and they'll say they scraped it from that, who scored it from this, who bought it off so, and after four or five connections the list always ends with The Pin. But I bet you, if you got every rat in town together and said "Show your hands" if any of them've actually seen The Pin, you'd get a crowd of full pockets.

Brendan Frye- You think The Pin's just a tale to take whatever heat?

The Brain- Hmm... So what's first?

Brendan Frye- Show of hands.

I love this kind of stuff. The script totally worked for me, It’s so over the top and there wasn’t anything in the script or on the set that wasn’t dripping with meaning and subtext. I think it would have made for great readers theatre .The movie took it self maybe a bit too seriously, okay, way too seriously. I mean do you remember the full on gangster movie made with children? it was made years ago? It had Chachi and Jody Foster? They drove little cars with peddles and fired pie guns at each other?

The guns in Brick don't fire pies, the only shells they fire are .45s. but it is cool as all get out and I would say if you see it, rent it, if you have Netflix, add it to your Quay. I would buy this movie.