Friday: Today was a holiday.

So I went to a movie:

I did a combo here, with the ticket picture and the sushi picture smooshed together.

More sushi.

Anyway, the movie.  It's

First, I guess, here's the wikipedia quick description of the book it's based on: "The prophet, Almustafa, has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years and is about to board a ship which will carry him home. He is stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses topics such as life and the human condition. The book is divided into chapters dealing with" a lot of things.  The movie covers eight of those if I'm counting correctly, each done in the unique style of a particular animator/animation group.  Those segments are wonderfully done, and Liam Neeson uses his calm Star Wars voice and not his angry every-other-movie-I've-seen-him-in voice to read the associated bit from the book.

However, the wrap around story of Mustafa (as named in the movie) is kind of a bland cell-shaded 3-D CG thing.  It's well done, but not as unique as the individual segments.  The thing that was kind of annoying was the "single mom and daughter, and the daughter doesn't talk until she's sufficiently moved by the main character" in the wrap around.  It felt tacked on, like they needed a kid to justify animation.  And just now, reading the text of the book (because it's public domain somewhere in the world, so it's public domain on the internet), I see in the eleventh paragraph: "And there came out of the sanctuary a woman whose name was Almitra. And she was a seeress."  Ok.  So Almitra (the kid) isn't a kid.  Is she mute?  "And she hailed him, saying:  Prophet of God, in quest of the uttermost, long have you searched the distances for your ship. And now your ship has come, and you must needs go."  I see.

The wrap around also mentions that Mustafa has been in the laxest jail ever (a cottage guarded by alternate love interest for the mom) for the past seven years, and before he can leave, the government wants him to recant everything he's said in the past.  Or they'll kill him.  Which

"Gibran followed The Prophet with The Garden of The Prophet, which was published posthumously in 1933."

So you're saying Mustafa doesn't die at the end of the book?

"“O Mist, my sister, my sister Mist, 
I am one with you now. 
No longer am I a self. 
The walls have fallen, 
And the chains have broken; 
I rise to you, a mist, 
And together we shall float upon the sea until life’s second day, 
When dawn shall lay you, dewdrops in a garden, 
And me a babe upon the breast of a woman.”"

So I think that's my issue with it.  The direct parts from the book are well done, and the unique animation parts are well done, but there's something jarring in the added material.  As if just making something artistic with a light story wasn't sufficient, and so conflict had to be added in to satisfy someone.

• I think this means that Ellen Page is pretty awesome, and Ted Cruz is a hate-filled wad of clay who can't recognize famous people when they ask him questions.
• Fundamentally, yes, this is pretty much all there is to it.
• Immune System-kun.
• Because the TV has to sleep.
• Birds.  With important bird facts.
• Specifically this holiday.