The Burning Plain

My computer has really been giving me headaches lately. It kept locking up at various times without warning. I lost a lot of work. But since its happening consistently I’ve leaned to save my work every minute or so, just in case. So that really interrupts the flow. I tried various things, I updated the operating system, quit certain programs, nothing seemed to work. I took my battery out, since it was a new battery, maybe it had a short in it. It helped a little but it still locked up. Finally I figured out the problem. The laptop was getting too hot, thus shutting down. I guess that’s a problem with the mac, especially when I’m running multiple programs. I give the hard drive a run for the money. So I went to the mall and bought a laptop cooling stand. It’s basically a piece of plastic with a tiny fan that the computer sits on top of. I think that did the trick finally. While I was at the mall, The Dubai Mall, the biggest in the world, I thought I’d catch a movie. By the way, I don’t have a car and am relying upon public transportation. I grew up rather privileged and the thought of using public transport just didn’t happen all that often. Although I took a bus and BART home from school, while my sisters got chauffeured. Maybe that taught me resiliency. No matter, I like the public transport as Im walking everywhere, it’s a really great workout. Plus it only cost $2.50 round trip (about 10 miles) to ride. BART would have cost triple that, I think.

While I was at the mall I figured I should see a movie. I should tell you, I’ve seen A LOT of movies in my day, since its kind of my field. I estimate around 15,000 or just under the number of women Wilt Chamberlain slept with. So when I see movies, I am absolutely scientific about it. I research movies pretty thoroughly before I see them. Rarely do I see a bad film unless its by choice. Sometimes its fun to watch bad movies. I never go to movie based on the storyline, which is kind of odd since Im a writer. Rather, I will see movies primarily based on the 1. Director, 2. Writer, 3. Cast. I figure out what the director or writer produced before and if I like it, then I’ll see it. So there is one particular theater in the Dubai Mall that shows Arthouse type of films. I think it’s the only theater of its type in the Middle East since this isn’t a region for highbrow artsy fartsy stuff. They like Stallone’s Expendables movie for instance. If there are fart jokes and explosions, consider it prime material for the Middle East. So this particular movie at the arthouse was written by the guy wrote Babel and 21 grams, two movies I loved. He was a writer-director on this one, called The Burning Plain. That’s all I needed so I bought my ticket. It’s a double edge sword when you see movies out here. They are censored so there is NO sex or nudity at all, but loads of violence. So you don’t have to be concerned about polluting your mind. But the censors aren’t artists and they chop a film up sometimes that impacts the story. So I sit down at Burning Plain not knowing what is was about, but excited to see it nonetheless. I wasn’t there 5 minutes before I realized the entire movie was about a married woman (played by Kim Basinger) having an affair with a married man and how it devastated the family. I was so worked up, I wanted to throw my nachos at the screen and scream “You Bit**” But I refrained. But boy did that movie stir up some emotions. I thought the wound was healed but this sure was picking at the scab. (Ill go into more detail of how it made me felt and why on my private blog. If you want access send me an email). I eventually settled down and liked the movie from a professional and technical standpoint. Even though the subject matter made me uncomfortable, the artist Guillermo Arriaga was simply brilliant. It was one of the best films I had seen this past year. I guess what helped me through this movie, knowing I have a beautiful wife waiting for me. That is the best thing in the world to heal the old wounds God knew that, that is why he sent Jennifer my way.