Yesterday Brian and I went to see “The Last Samurai.” We liked it a lot, particularly the Japanese actors/characters. In fact, it would have been just as good of a film (if not better), had they removed Tom Cruise’s entire plot. The story would have stood very well on its own as a tale of a village of samurai making a final stand against the Westernized forces of modernization. Ken Watanabe, who played the title role, owned every scene he was in, and easily overshadowed Cruise in terms of screen presence. Also he was hot.

But I can see why Cruise’s character was in the story. Clearly he was there because movie studios are extremely conservative, and bank on the fact that an A-list white actor is the only way to bring American audiences into the theatres to see the film. Also it’s the only way to even get the picture financed in the first place. Never forget that the bottom line in Hollywood movie-making is not story, it’s money. I think anyone who sees this movie would agree that the American guy didn’t really need to be there at all. I’m not saying that his plotline was detrimental to the story, it was merely… superfluous.

Anyway. It rained a lot yesterday. We left the movie theatre and went downtown to get some running shoes for Brian. We took the train back to my apartment, thinking we would then go to the park to get some exercise, but then the rain really started pouring down, so we stayed inside and did some yoga in the living room. For dinner we ordered greasy Chinese food. Probably the biggest reason I don’t like Chinese food: it is invariably greasy. Bleah.

We also didn’t eat any sugar all day. That was pretty awesome.

So today I am working through a list of errands and chores. The sun finally came out today, after over a week of clouds and rain.