Some Flowers and a Day at the Movies

First of all, I want to share a bouquet from my garden with all of you: Isn't it pretty? That's one thing I love about peonies - they're so lush that 5 flowers make a sumptuous bouquet. They smell great too! On to movies... A couple of days ago I went to see "The Da Vinci Code." I figured I'd take in a mid-week matinee. My reasoning was that by waiting until after opening weekend, but going before the holiday weekend, the movie theater wouldn't be too crowded. Well, I was right about that. I was the ONLY person who bought a ticket to that showing. Yep...had the entire theater to myself as I sat there with my bad popcorn, watching the story unfold on a big screen with not one other soul in the room, chewing or whispering or hopping up and down to go to the bathroom. It was rather surreal. I resisted reading that book for soooo long because of all the hype, but when I finally got around to it, I actually enjoyed it quite a lot more than I expected to. So I hoped they'd do a good job with the movie. My verdict? I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it. I thought it was a bit heavy on exposition, which tended to make it somewhat draggy in spots, but I'm honestly not sure how they could have fixed that, as all the explanations of the historical back-story were necessary to make the modern part make sense. Tom Hanks' strange thinning-on-top, but overlong-slicked-back hair didn't bother me as much as I thought it would from the commercials. Audrey Tautou made a good Sophie, although every time they showed a full-length shot of her I had the urge to ask her to sit down and have a sandwich and maybe a cookie or two. It was cool to see some of the scenery and artwork in Paris. My main quarrel was with something they changed about the story. I can't be specific without writing a spoiler, which I don't want to do, but let's just say that they changed something toward the end that I didn't think should have been changed. The story still worked the way they did it, but it worked better the way it was done in the book. And I couldn't see the logic of the change - it wasn't anything that would have made the movie shorter, or cheaper to produce. Very odd! So there you go....the movie was ok, but the book was better. First time I've ever said that - NOT! I was trying to remember after the show if there's ever been a time when I liked a movie based on a book better than the book itself and I kind of think it may have happened once or twice, but at the moment I can't bring to mind a single example. 99% of the time I prefer the book and this wasn't one of the exceptions. Today's Daily Art Thang is a nature photo. I was too busy to mess with much! "Sage Blossoms" (clickable if you want to see it larger)