Peter in two + one (originally posted May, 2020)

A favourite 

My favourite movie is The Godfather. I was trying to think of different sorts of topics to write about, and having already talked about duck, philosophy and travel, a favourite movie seemed like a useful subject this time. I don't remember when I first watched The Godfather, but it was probably when I was at university. In fact, I can't remember when it came out, but it was definitely released before I started university, so probably in the late 1960s or early 70s. (I could quickly Google, but research for this writing exercise would seem like cheating.)

Vito Corleone being reasonable as he
makes offers that can't be refused.
I Googled for the image,
but that wasn't checking a detail. 

There are very few films that I want to watch more than once of twice, but over the decades, I've watched The Godfather many times, and always with pleasure even though I know the story very well. In fact, I know it so well, I know exactly what the characters are going to say most of the time, but it still excites me as the art unfolds perfectly to tell the story of how his fate led Michael Corleone, who at the start of the film had promised his girlfriend that he would never touch the family business, to replace his father Vito as head of the mafia family that had become rich and powerful because bad US law in the 1920s, made up to ban prostitution, gambling and drugs, especially alcohol, had also encouraged corruption and crime. By modern standards, the action and special effects are poor, but the photography, the words, the acting, the music and every other element fits together perfectly into a unified, coherent masterpiece. When I watched it again on NetFlix a couple of weeks ago, it was as enjoyable as ever. The follow-up film, The Godfather II, is also excellent, and takes the story of the Corleone family further back in time and forward to the 1960s. Sadly, the third film in the series, while OK, is not nearly as perfect as the first two films.

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A second favourite

Google's collage from our last visit

I love having lunch with my friend Yo and his son Ea at Le Meridien. I like Thai food, which I normally eat most days from the selection in my soi. But I also like Western food, Japanese, and especially seafood, and Latest Recipe at Le Meridien has it all in their lunch buffet. When life is normal, I go there once or twice a week, sometimes by myself for a more modest meal, but usually with friends for a pig out. My friend Yo and his son Ea are always keen to visit, so that's what we normally do on Sundays. I think Ea enjoys good food as much as I do. For someone so little, he eats an amazing amount. He reminds me of myself when I was his age and loved it when my parents bought us a special meal, but I think Ea might be a bit more spoiled than I was by my indulgent parents: Italians love eating, and my family shared that passion for lots of good food. Oh, and Le Meridien also offers a small Thai selection, although I'm happy to pass on that in favour of oysters, duck, lamb, sashimi and all the other delights. It's been almost two months since we could visit. I hope we can get back to that routine soon! 
 

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Not a favourite

The best a galactic civilization can do?

I can't understand why the Star Wars films are so popular. The first one came out when I was in my last year of high school, and that was a long time ago. I thought it was OK, but a bit silly. What really annoys me is that with so much high tech. for killing people, heroes still fight with swords. That works perfectly in Homer, but his story is almost 3,000 years old, when bronze swords really were high technology. That inconsistency and similar things in Star Wars seem super-silly to me. Would George Bush have sent the US army into Iraq with bows and arrows? The death star can easily destroy an entire planet, but enemies draw swords! And yet many of my friends loved everything about it, even those unbelievably silly robots and Yoda who can't get his verbs in the right place in a simple sentence. I didn't dislike the first one, but the stories got even sillier in later films and I haven't watched any since number two or three. I suspect if I watched any of them again today, they would seem even worse than the first time round. They are certainly not in masterpiece category of films like The Godfather, or even some of the James Bond films, where people at least have the good sense to shoot at each other, or throw bombs. I'm happy that they bring so much pleasure to so many people, but I'm not one of their fans. 

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Conclusion

Again, trying to think of one main idea that my ideas about the three topics say about me is not easy. Perhaps it's that I have strong opinions about what is good and bad, and don't worry to much whether others share my judgements or not. I hope I haven't upset any Star Wars fans.