Video Review Plus Movie Review. But What Do I Know?

 For the first time since Jimmy Buffett died, I woke up this morning and my brain radio was not playing one of his songs. Instead, it was tuned into "Angry" which is the song off the Stones' new album that they've released and for which there was a video. 

I was not sure about the song at first. Or the video. I think that the voluptuous blonde (Sydney Sweeny) writhing on the back of a red Mercedes convertible sort of made me question intent but come on. 
Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I mean- that IS the Stones. And Ms. Sweeny is a lovely woman and she certainly does not appear to be in any sort of situation in which she is not in charge of or enjoying, and when Jimmy Fallon interviewed HER on that livestream on Wednesday, she seemed to view the opportunity to be on a Stones video as the highest honor. Also, her mom was right there with her and she approved so there you go. I do imagine she received a decent amount of coin for it too. 
Plus, it's a good song and has some terrific riffs and lovely guitar weaving (as Keith likes to call it) between Wood and Richards. Also- and this cracks me up- there is the line that Mick sneers to a lover who is not treating him right, "I'm still taking the pills and I'm off to Brazil" and okay, the man is eighty but this does not seem like an empty threat to me. At the same time, it IS funny and Mick knows it.
And I do love the Stones-on-the-billboards on Hollywood Boulevard.  So now I'm going to post it and you can get it stuck in your head. 
If you want. 

So guess what I did today? 
Yes. I did wash my sheets. 

Guess what else? 
I got dressed and went to see "Barbie" all by myself. I like going to the movies by myself but in this case, I think I might have enjoyed it more if I'd had someone there to laugh at the jokes with me. 

Everyone loves this movie and I mean EVERYONE! I have not read or heard a bad word about it and many of you have gone to see it more than once. 

And I liked it okay but it didn't make my head explode with the truth and beauty of it. For one thing, too much goddam pink. I know, I know! It's Barbie. Pink is her color! But that's just me. Despite that, the sets were gorgeous and spot-on. I also think that the actors all pulled their weight beautifully, from Margot Robbie, whom I completely fell in love with, and Ryan Gosling, who were THE Barbie and Ken, to Kate McKinnon who played Weird Barbie, a woman I'd choose to have as a best friend any day. Rhea Perlman blew me away. She was perfect. Will Ferrell was absolutely terrific as the clueless white male CEO of Mattel. 

Truthfully, I think the entire cast was genius. 

The Barbie jokes were very funny. Watching Robbie drink her morning beverage from a cup that never came close to her lips and which held no actual beverage triggered a million memories of playing with dolls and "feeding" them. It was truly funny to see so many of the Barbies brought to life that have been produced, including the ones that were discontinued quickly such as the young Skipper doll whose bosoms grew when you raised her arm. Or maternity Midge. I wish I'd had that one. The doctor Barbies, the gardening Barbies, the astronaut Barbies, the mermaid Barbies- they were all represented as were so many more. 
But after awhile, the jokes got a little stale through repetition to me. The sight of Barbie driving her car was so funny at first but by the end of the movie, not so much. The story line about how Barbie and Ken traveled from Barbie Land to the real world of the country of California was a bit contorted but hey! We're talking Barbie here. 
I think the part that I really was not thrilled with was the way they tried to wrap everything up at the end. Yes. Ken needs to be Ken as an individual person without Barbie and Barbie needs to be herself without a Ken. But are little girls watching this movie going to get that message? 
It enrages me to some degree that this is supposed to be a ground-breaking movie with a strong message about the patriarchy and how women view themselves and other women and how we need to value ourselves more for who we are and not compare ourselves to some unattainable image modeled on a Barbie doll. Why haven't we broken this ground already? And must we do it in this cartoony way in order to make it all more palatable to those who are completely unaware of what the patriarchy represents in our culture and has represented for eons? 
I don't know. I guess we probably do.
I was heartened to hear men laughing in the audience. There were not many people in the 1:30 showing and almost all of us were over the age of sixty. At least. And when the last line of the movie was delivered, which I considered to be the very best part of the whole dang thing, I loved hearing all of us old women cackling like the crones we are. 
I will not give it away because I do recommend people go see it. If, that is, there is anyone who hasn't at this point. 

And I'm glad I went. I got too large a container of popcorn. I could only eat about half of it but I did get "butter" on it. As I told the guy at the concession stand, "I only go to the movies about once every three years so let's do it up right."

And it was fun to sit in one of those seats that turns into a recliner. I felt incredibly decadent. 
But I will tell you one thing- if there had been one more damn preview before the movie, I would have walked out. It was ridiculous. There was probably at least twenty-five minutes of those fuckers and I will not be going to see any of them. 

Oh god. I'm a mean old bitch, aren't I? 
Yes. Yes I am. 

And tomorrow I am going to get some work done outside or know the reason why. 
Having said this, I can think of many reasons why I would not get any work done outside and none of them are pleasant to think about. 

Well. 

Oh! What do you see in this picture?

Yes, dropped magnolia leaves and iron plant and that one green stalk. 
Here's a close-up.

The hurricane lilies are making their short, precious, annual appearance once again. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon