the fat bitch day

Anne and I had what we call a "fat bitch day" on Saturday: we spent the entire day on the couch, watching movies in our pajamas.

It's weird to do that, because we are both crazy freaks about constantly working to either clean up the house, or take care of bills, or handle whatever domestic task is staring us in the face, but it rained all day, and we're having drywall hung in our house, so everything is in chaos already, making the investment:return ratio overwhelmingly in favor of "move some movies through the Netflix queue and shower if it's convenient."

We started with Fargo, which is just as good as I remember it, though I'm surprised that Steve Buscemi never really got the same level of accolade that Frances McDormand and William H. Macy got for their performances. I can't think of another actor -- John Turturo, maybe -- who could have played that role as pitch-perfect as he did. The movie reaffirmed my love for all things Coen Brothers.

Next up was Network, which has been on my list of "really need to see it" for years, and represented a serious and embarrassing gap in Great 70s Films Wil Has Seen¹ . I'd caught bits of it on cable, but never saw it from beginning to end.

Wow. It's supposed to be a satire, but it's more like a scary prediction of the future. It's almost like a group of people watched it, and instead of heeding its warnings about the future of television news, used it as a handbook to create the cable news channels.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but there's a monologue in there which blew my fucking mind, especially considering that it was written in 1976; and no, it's not one of the insanely-brilliant Howard Beale rants, either.

I'd never thought of Faye Dunaway as particularly sexy before this (my only real exposure being Chinatown and Mommie Dearest) but she's really got something working in this picture, and William Holden, who I already admired from Sunset Boulevard, is just outstanding. In fact, I don't think there's a single performance that isn't absolutely perfect in the entire movie.

I enthusiastically recommend them all, but if you have to pick one, pick Network; it's just fantastic.

So after the movies, we took a nap (yeah. awesome) then picked up bachelor chow, and spent the rest of the evening playing Sorry.

I don't know what it is about Sorry, but we play that damn game at least twice a week, and though the whole point is that it's very simple and leaves more up to chance than just about any other game we play, we take it very seriously. We play best two out of three, and the winner gets to claim the title of Undisputed Master of Sorry until the next time we play. Anne's held the title all but twice since I gave her the game for Christmas, but it is currently in my possession, after I drew a miracle 3 when we both needed it to win the tie breaking game.

When the day finally came to an end (falling asleep to Futurama in our bed with the electric blanket cranked up) she said, "You know, I feel like I should feel guilty that we totally blew off the day today, but I don't."

"That's good," I said, "because if we can't take a fat bitch day once or twice a year, why do we even get out of bed at all?"

Yes, this is what we have come to: measuring the quality of our lives by the number of fat bitch days we can have in a year.

So far, 2007 is looking pretty good.


¹This list is so long, it's on the Big List of Things Wil Is So Embarrassed About, He Will Die to Prevent its Revelation

Comments

[lornadoone]

Personally, I think life is all about earning those fat bitch days and then enjoying/appreciating them when they happen.

[rmd]

fat bitch days are awesome. nice term for them, too. i generally call them DAYS OF SLOTH.

"network" is a truly remarkable movie. and, yeah, that's a hell of a monologue. way to win an BSA oscar for a day's work, too.

it is simultaneously of its time and very prophetic of our own. I make a point of watching it every few years.

Paddy Chayefsky was pretty damned brilliant.

If you haven't seen "Marty", go rent that, too. (There was a failed attempt to make it into a musical that I saw when it previewed here in Boston a few years ago.) In some strange way, "Marty" reminds me of something Theodore Sturgeon would write.

[becky]

Saturday must have been a cosmic fat bitch day, because despite my best intentions and efforts all I could do was sit on the couch, sip wine and watch Dr. Zhivago...a movie that is on MY long list of classic movies I'd be embarassed if anyone knew I hadn't seen.

oops.

Well, now I've seen it.

[Athol_Wolverine]

Everyone deserves some down time, and it's certainly nothing to feel guilty about at all. Sometimes it's necessary for re-engergizing the body, mind and spirit. Don't you think?

[r.a.d.]

I see your fat bitch day (oddly enough known as a bum-ass day in my family) and raise you a solid fat bitch week!
Yar, I took off an entire week to go to the Sundance Film Festival. Somehow this manages to sound somewhat erudite when you tell people, but really all I did for seven solid days was get up, shower (mainly because it was convenient), go see three or four movies in a row, eat a lot of food, and go to bed. And yet it's an officially excused absence... hehehe - power to the no-guilt laziness!

[Darth Paradox]

It's a nice theory, becky, but I spent it helping my friends move, and I've still got the sore shoulders to prove it. Ow.

If only.

[joshua m. neff]

Fat Bitch Days are Teh Awesome. My wife and I had one truly brilliant one a few years ago when our daughter was off with a grandparent for the summer. We watched loads of Buffy episodes while snarfing down Chinese food, just generally enjoying each other's company.

I only saw Network for the first time a few months ago, and I agree, it's sheer brilliance, and it's teethclenchingly scary how much of that movie has actually come true. I'm with you on Faye Dunaway, too. She's smokin' in that movie. (She is in Little Big Man, too, as I recall. But it's been ages since I last saw that.)

[busymomma]

I'm not the only one!! I did a fat bitch day (a totally self serving sloth day) on Thursday. I sent the kids to school, called in sick (cough, cough), watched bad tv, ate raw cookie dough, and just hung out. I would have rented a movie, but I was just too lazy. We also had McDonald's for dinner and just watched tv all night til we went to bed one by one. To show just how slothful I was I picked up my daughter from school in my flannel pj pants.

I did feel a little guilty for not doing anything--so I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who does this. I do have to say it was definitely worth it--no housecleaning, no kids, no work, no responsibility. And, I got the remote control all to myself.

[MJBUtah]

I will second the Steve Buscemi thing as well, Wil. When we were doing the Sundance thing last week the must-see was anything with him in it. There were two showing here, including Interview which he wrote and directed. It was pretty good, as was Delirious which he starred in. Thank bob for locals tickets!

[morgan]

Everyone should at least do that at least a couple times a year. If you don't you just set yourself to exhaust yourself. I'm gonna probably have one soon. It's probably going to either be a christian bale-a-thon or a sliders-a-thon. Since I have alot of christian bale movies and I have the first, second and third season of sliders on dvd. I was going to have one today to celebrate christian bale's birthday/wedding anniversary, but I ended up screencapping a movie instead and someone is dvring some shows tonight. So I'm on the computer listening to 103.9 (oldies station)LOL

[dansroka]

Back in college (way back, oh, in the late 80s), I took a class where we spent about a month examining 'Network'. It is such an amazingly complex film. That monologue scene has some amazing lighting and staging, which all reinforces the characters and their relationships ot each other. I also remember us watching the final sequence, and stepping through it frame by frame and just counting the cuts. Amazing stuff.

[dansroka]

I just said 'amazing' three times. Oy.

[happicat]

That's a Fat Bitch Day? Hmm. Well, since I am actually fat and actually a bitch, I think I ought to get to do that every day. So why was I was at work while you were goofing off? *seeths with resentment* Plus, now everyone will start to call them Fat Bitch days and I'll be constantly turning around to see who's talking to or about me. Just one more thing to bitch about...

[Stephen Collins]

Hey, Wil! We have these about as often as you, except we call them "Lazy Fat Slag Day".

I'm guessing slag is probably a very Australian/British colloquialism - more than bitch, it also assigns a projects/trailer park/hard-up-ness to the one so named.

[extra88]

but there's a monologue in there which blew my fucking mind

Are you talking about Ned Beatty's? I love that scene so very much, it's awesome! Sometimes I get tired of William Holden's weary old-school scolds of Faye Dunaway but his ineffectualness just makes the rest of Network all the better!

[Quiet Lion]

I love this post. Lotta love coming through.

QL

[Marsha M]

Wil, I am disappointed in you. I do realize that you're using the term fat to evoke a mood, but please think more about terms you use here. As a fat women, the media tells me I am lazy and stupid. I do not deserve attractive clothes. I am a pariah. While I do not think that you intended to be derogatory, any time someone with a high profile uses the word fat negatively (think The Donald vs Rosie), it reinforces the negatives. As a woman I am paid less than a man with an identical resume. As a fat woman I am paid rather less than other equally qualified women. Because I'm clearly lazy and have no control.
I adore reading your blog and am not offended, just a bit sad and hoping that I can raise awareness a bit.
When I have those days, I follow a Victorain model and declare myself to be "taking to my bed with the vapours".

[Kristin]

Our most recent movie day involved a lot of zombies. And a podcast. Best not to ask.

[Samurai Avon Lady]

I ended up having one of those, on Sunday. I went over to my friend's house for brunch, and we'd planned to have a nice chat, adn then get back to our respective research papers and proposal nonsense.

But then, after three rounds of toast and corn muffins and potatoes... four pots of tea... a movie and at least one disc of Firefly, we came to the conclusion that this was necessary, in order to boost production later in the week...

(It did let me get about six more inches knitted onto that binary scarf I've been working on, though!)

[redheadwriter]

We did the exact same thing this past Saturday. Different movies but the same general concept of being a lazy couch potato in our pajamas all day long.

Enjoy those days; they are some of our best memories. Our kids love them too and ask when we get to "stay in our jammies all day again."

And we go to sleep every night after watching an episode of "Futurama." Oh, snap.

[justme]

It must have been in the air. I played WoW all day.

And Wil ... add the original Thomas Crowne Affair to your queue. Faye Dunaway + Steve McQueen = very entertaining. Of course, Steve McQueen + [insert any name from the phone book] = very entertaining.

[Paradox]

Interesting synchronicity: UofWaterloo Daily Bulletin for Tuesday Jan 30th.

(I only just read 'the fat bitch day' Tuesday morning)

[ExGeekDogTrainer]

I'm going to take a completely different tack and comment on the most recent movie I've seen: Book of Days. First the bad news. NetFlix had to send it way out west from New York; what, no copies anywhere west of the Mississippi!!!1! And then it was the most unscratched DVD I've ever received from them :-( Worst of all, this represents a serious and embarrassing viewing gap in the Films Wil Has Been In. On the bright side, I enjoyed the movie and Wil's performance. One of my hallmarks of a good actor is causing me to forget who's in the role and to get me into the character; Wil did that. I gave it 4/5, and I look forward to the next Wil Film that pops up in my queue. - g^2

P.S. I Demand you in Reno, NV! Someday, maybe. . .

[mal]

Somewhat related: Have you ever seen Charlie Chaplin's speech in The Great Dictator? It's another one of those "wow, I can't believe how old this is and yet it still rings very very true" types of scenes. You can see on most video sites, including YouTube. Just type in "great dictator speech." Enjoy.

[joshua m. neff]

Thanks for mentioning that monologue, mal. I just went to YouTube and watched it (it's been a long time since the last time I saw The Great Dictator). Holy Cow, what an amazing speech! It brought a tear to my eye.