Now the odd thing here is that when I had this dream the night before last, I had not yet seen the (nicely done, if not horrendously overhyped) movie “300″, based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel of the same name (and almost identical artistic style).

You see, I had ordered that and a few other testosterone-laden movies (Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima) from Netflix and perhaps I was cherishing the thoughts of watching some heavily CGI’ed funky looking Persian bad guys get pummeled by the (noble?) Spartans. Of course, I have to wonder if the real Spartans were all as gym-toned as these actors were - not a one of them (aside from the females and the old fogeys who were the city elders) lacked an eight-pack stomach or arms like boa constrictors.

I mean, they were so busy kicking everyone else’s butts and training for war, you’d think the gym would be a bit of an after thought…? But then again, I guess hefting spears and shields about all day and slaughtering foes in combat could be good exercise in itself. I just wouldn’t think it would get a person “weightlifter big”, much less “fitness model big” (and toned).

It must be good genetics, then, because the tribal Germans depicted in the opening sequences of Gladiator (the Russell Crow vehicle from around 2000) did a lot of the same sort of butt-kicking that the Spartans did, with not entirely dissimilar weaponry — and they were generally depicted as kind of gristle-having tubby (but still presumably with enough muscle under the fat to lay a decent smackdown on some Romans and one another) guys with gnarly hair.

Although the graphics and general cinephotography rocked, I think that the movie itself was a tad sub par. Granted, the movie and the graphic novel it is based upon appeal to a 12-year old boy’s sense of “underdog smashes big bully with lots of blood and cool one-liners”, e.g. “Tonight, we dine in HELL!1!11!!” mixed up with thinly veiled homoeroticism (big greasy men wearing only leather jockstraps and red capes in close quarters) and a lot of physics-defying stop-motion action shots. I mean, you’ve got two audiences - three if you count the womenfolk who also fantasize about the greasy men, sold at the first trailer!

Lots of interesting contrasts as well: the big greasy men fought largely against heavily clothed (not counting “Big Ol’ Queen” Xerxes) Persians, the most of which you saw was the smallest bit of facial detail (commander types) and in many cases, nothing at all (the Immortals / ninja type guys). Also, there is the relatively similarities of the Spartans’ appearance vs. the variety of Persians (given their numbers, not altogether unexpected) — but the Persians had an edge in sheer freakiness - such as the giant that fights Leonidas toward the end, the freaky fat guys with axes either mounted to their arms, or formed out of some carbon-based living tissue (hard to tell there) or the use of War Elephants and Battle Rhinos.

Artwork aside, I find that the plot line involving the intrigue behind the lines back at Sparta could have been developed a little further (I mean, as long as you are going deeper than the canon of the graphic novel, ye might as well go whole hog) - particularly the background of the “senator” Theron. I mean, this guy was appeared to be about the same age as Leonidas (mid 40s) if not somewhat younger, which also mapped out to the rough ages of the other captains in the Army.

Given that the ages of service for the typical Spartan was from 7 to 65… how is it that this dude gets out of the Army? I guess even the Spartans had to put up with their share of privileged jerks who could use their family influence to avoid or shorten military service.

And then there is Xerxes… how many gold piercings can a guy get away with, and not look completely stupid? I mean, the portable throne platform was quite cool, as well as the flunkies - but the threaded gold jockstrap and harness was borderline gay camp. But hey, if you are an emperor of a world superpower who thinks he’s a god… I guess you can wear whatever you feel like wearing, and be able to not have people laugh you off your throne.

At least not, in public.

Ah, the movies… where one pays upwards of $10 per head for the privilege of seeing cinema and the sport of contesting other people for meagre parking… oh, and the joy of paying $3 USD for a small coke, and $5 for a gigantic tub of popcorn laden with artery-clogging amounts of oily butter-flavoured substance? Yummy!

This weekend, the wife and I, and Baby (known around here as HRH or “His Royal Highness”) packed off to see Letters from Iwo Jima, which was playing in a cute little theatre in Brooklyn. Figuring I’d do my part to help reduce my carbon footprint (without necessarily making al-Gore the richer for it) … we decided to give Metro-North a big wad of our cash instead, and took the train into the big city (NYC).

As has become the case lately with even the simplest outings - we ran a few snags…

Now, keep in mind that since HRH the Baby has joined our happy family, any sort of outing has come to seemingly involve a level of logistical planning rivaling a NASA moon shot:

Binkies? Check.
Spare change of clothes for HRH the Baby? Check.
Stroller? Check.
Sippy cup and/or bottle with fresh nipple? Check.
Diaper Bag (with daipers and A&D ointment and emergency formula mix, and chewing toys, ad inifitum…?) Check…

Indeed, no more simply hopping in the ol’ beater and chugging off to the station. Yet, it is enjoyable to know that HRH the Baby is safe and snugly in his car seat, slumbering away.

When I get behind on a scheduled event, I tend to make up for it in ways that are not always frought with benefit. Such as speeding, or getting sufficiently scatterbrained in trying to get caught up, that I start ignoring common-sense stuff I ordinarily can keep on top of:

Things like just barely missing our scheduled train… Fortunately, we built in a fudge factor for this, since Metro North trains run roughly hourly on the weekends. The extra hour of waiting allowed us a walk in a nearby park where we spotted what I believe was a peregrine falcon:

At least, I thought it looked like a Peregrine. Mrs. Seeker noted that the bird’s plumage was quite dirty, and she thought it might be a “homeless” bird. I’m really not sure what the distribution of Peregrine Falcons are in our area, but I speculate that she might be right in that the bird definitely appeared out of her element.

Aside from missing the train, my scatterbrainedness really didn’t hit full stride until we reached Manhattan proper, where I nearly got myself and HRH run over by a cab as I attempted a crossing of a city street whilest the traffic had right-of-way. (Note to self: I am not as fleet as I used to be in dodging traffic in a NYC crosswalk, and much less so when pushing a stroller!)

And there was the getting lost in the underground caverns of the subway station at Times Square looking for my connection to the #2 Train (something I ordinarily can do blindfolded)

And when heading back home, getting on the bus going the wrong way.

And ultimately losing a $20 Metrocard (subway pass)… somebody is getting a free ride somewhere at my expense, should they find my card.

Needless to say, Mrs. Seeker was plenty cranky at my carelessness and was not at all hesitant to point it out, especially toward the end of the evening.

Lesson learned:

“The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.”
— Proverbs 21:5, KJV

I reckon next time I’ll go out with prayer instead of complaining about my poor timing and ill-keeping of schedule… God is reminding me that for even for something mundane like an outing to see a movie, “apart from Christ, I can do nothing” (John 15:5)

As for the movie itself, it was well worth the hassle and the travel (it apparently was a limited release in the US, which surprised me considering that it was the companion film to Flags of Our Fathers).

Whereas Flags… depicted the story of the Iwo Jima flag-raisers (or their photo-opped replacements) from the US point of view, Letters from Iwo Jima (released in Japan as 硫黄島からの手紙 Iwo Jima kara no Tegami) depicted the Japanese point of view.

It covered the memes of “War is Hell” and the overall futility of it quite well, whilest showing the Japanese combatants to mirror many if not all of the same emotions that all soldiers feel when under arms, and when under fire — down to Private Saigo (played by J-Pop “Johnnies” star Ninomiya Kazunari) complaining about digging out trenches, to the squabblings of the general staff (in particular, it touched on the government’s cover up of the loss of most of the IJN Combined Fleet at Leyte Gulf and elsewhere in the Marianas, as well as the intra-service rivalry which in practice, was quite a hindrance to any coordination between the IJN and the IJA).

I’ve always been a fan of Watanabe Ken, who was notable in his role as the titular Dokuganryu Masamune, or “The One-Eyed Dragon” - a NHK Taiga Drama from 1987 about the Sengoku Period warlord, Date Masamune (1567–1636). His performances in American productions really have not brought out his full acting ability, largely due to his lack of native English fluency (although he has a very keen memory for learning lines in English, he does not currently speak fluently) until his role in Iwo Jima. I won’t touch Last Samurai, which while a cool “samurai flick”, makes for a poor representation of the event it is based on (Satsuma Rebellion of 1877) or the Batman movie he did (ugh).

Memoirs of a Geisha was also good, although his screen time was a tad limited, and his script left a little to be desired IMHO. But, he really shines in Iwo Jima, where we see him as a truly empathetic leader, especially where he butts against the “party line” thinking of a few of his staff, including Lt. Ito (played by Kabuki performer Nakamura Shidō, who played admirably as a gunnery chief in Otokotachi no Yamato, and the bumbling town fool Takimoto Sutesuke in the 2004 NHK drama Shinsengumi! ) and Admiral Ōsugi, who is a real-life IJN personality of some import (I think he survived the war and served some time as a war criminal).

Lest I give away too many details… I HIGHLY recommend seeing this movie. Well worth the $10, or if you are willing to wait another month or two, worth slating it for your NetFlix/Blockbuster delivery.