Abracadabra

I've spent the evening updating my resume and poring over the job posting, trying to find new points, subtly hidden within the job description, to worry me. I've decided to work up a really nice electronic portfolio, with darling Bill's assistance, of course (so it will truly be really nice) over the weekend. How I wish I had known about this job posting a bit earlier, but then I've been too busy to work on it anyway.

Prior to that task, I watched a movie I had intended to avoid: The Prestige. I had no interest in seeing it, because it was one of those unfortunate movies that came out around the same time as another movie that seemed, on the surface, indiscernible from it. Some examples are Dante's Peak and that other volcano movie, and Tombstone and that other Wyatt Earp movie, and so on. Something about these pairings always offends me in a way that I cannot quite express. And it annoys me, too. I usually prefer to avoid seeing either of the doppelganger films.

Oddly enough, the film I watched tonight, I felt, was a really effective exploration of the doppelganger concept, in a way. And I enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed a movie in a while, partly because I didn't have high expectations. Bill had picked it out, as he had its cinematic double, The Illusionist, a few weeks earlier. I watched out of compromise, as wifies (not wifis) and hubbies must resign themselves to do from time to time. I didn't realize that it was a Christopher Nolan film, or maybe I would have made more of an effort to see it earlier; I loved Memento and Batman Begins. I think perhaps his scriptwriting may surpass his directing skills. I thought this script was sublime. I recommend the movie, but maybe I praise it too much, and you won't get the same awe-fueled surprise I experienced watching it with lower expectations.

And Christian Bale is just fantastic in it. His talent and range, although not really his style, remind me of Robert Deniro. He's in the Robert Deniro/Marlon Brando/Chow Yun Fat league as far as I'm concerned, which is high praise coming from me. I review his roles, American Psycho; Empire of the Sun (especially Empire of the Sun); The Machinist; and Rescue Dawn, most recently, and I have to admit he's reliably excellent.