mel gibson likes blood, has questionable taste in mayan face art.

for reasons still somewhat unclear to me, aaron & just saw apocalypto. for the second time in as many weeks, pan's labyrinth was sold out, so we were forced to make a game time decision at the theater or go home figuratively empty-handed. last week pursuit of happyness became a last minute choice, this week, um, apocalypto won that honor.

so, mel gibson. he likes blood and he likes gratuitous violence. aaron and i will debate the "gratuitous" claim, but i'm going to say it was gratuitous and i'm going to stick to it. i don't want to say i'm a "puss" and that i almost walked out a few times, but ... i will say that i had "to go to the bathroom" at one point during the movie. i will also say that we polished off a bottle of wine before viewing said movie, so you can do the math on that one.

i might wish to revise my golden globes prediction for best foreign language film, but in the spirit of sticking to my gut reaction, i won't.

**caution.... possibly spoiler-ish**
do i recommend this film ? i can't say i do. but i can't say i don't. i'm still not sure how i feel about it, really. there's a message in it, sure. there's some really strong and "stunning" images, definitely. but... i have residual apprehension for all things gibson while simultaneously appreciating the f*ck out of what he accomplished with this film. i can honestly say i was on the edge of my seat the entire film. i can also honestly say i fell in love with certain characters. i deeply hated others. the theater erupted in applause at the end of the film, which was both unexpected and completely appropriate. so i guess in true pisces fashion, i'm all over the god damn place. net net? i don't regret seeing it. but i don't recommend that YOU see it. and especially not YOU. but maybe you...
**

i'm going to wash the bad taste in my mouth out now with a single glass of chardonnay and some "lewis black: red, white & screwed."

peace out, homeys.