All better now, mostly

I spent the weekend dealing with a rather nasty cold. I think I must have single-handedly gone through 2-3 boxes of tissues between Friday and Sunday. I spent most of my weekend drinking fluids and sleeping. My only excursion out of the house was a miserable trip to Whole Foods for chicken soup and more fluids. And of course, I got better just in time to go back to work today. Well, I'm not 100% better. I'm still a little stuffy and tired, but well enough for work. I'm a little resentful that this cold decided to strike on the last weekend before a month of working Saturdays. To top it all off, I've received lots of e-mail this weekend from competitions and calls for scores I applied to, all of them informing me that other people had been selected. Phooey.

Genghis Khan

Okay, so my weekend did have one bright spot in it. Other Kenjari chose to watch Mongol instead of the Superbowl last night. It was a terrific movie. Mongol covers the early years of Genghis Khan/Temujin's life, from the age of nine up until the point in his early adulthood when he unites the Mongols and begins conquering neighboring lands. It's a wonderful film, and, even better, it's the first in a projected trilogy about Genghis Khan.
The cinematography is gorgeous, and the Mongolian landscape is beautiful, so it's quite a delight for the eye. The movie's real strength however, is its nuance and depth. Mongol could have taken the easy road and just been another exciting historical action epic, focusing on Temujin as a warrior. While there are plenty of battles, and they are exciting and well-filmed, the movie focuses equally on Temujin's relationship with his allies, his enemies, and, most importantly, his wife Borte.
Assuming that Mongol's version of events is reasonably accurate, Temujin did not have an easy life. His father was poisoned by a rival clan when Temukin was nine, setting off a chain of incredible hardships. It's really no surprise that he became such a formidable man.