Meet Matthew Cooke, a Stranger reader who has vowed to do everything The Stranger suggests for the entire month of February. Look for his reports daily on Slog. —Eds.

I admit I’m starting to feel a little unsteady here on day five of the “Yesterday” gauntlet, which scares me, given how many more days there are yet.

Luckily, last night’s movie was at the Grand Illusion—one of my favorites, and I hadn’t been in forever. Susan and I went out to dinner beforehand, since the Grand is on Seattle’s most delicious corner for ethnic food. Dosas at Chili’s, two other Indian joints, Filipino, Greek, Hawaiian, delicious schwarmas, sushi… you name it.

But how was the flick? There were problems, starting with the chunks of missing back story from the Kesey book, which I could tell were missing even though I haven’t actually read it; character motivations were hard to pin down sometimes.

There were good things too. Newman and Henry Fonda, two of the most likable actors in the history of cinema, play a couple of miserable sons of bitches. The character/casting dichotomy made it hard to know where one’s loyalties should lie, and I appreciate films that respect my intelligence enough to handle ambiguity.

The obstinacy of the Stamper family in the movie reminded me of the clearcut wars in the early ‘90s. I remember the stubbornness of those loggers. It went beyond jobs. It was about a way of life. Tradition had so much more psychic value for them than the idea of change, a worldview that baffles me to this day.

So it made me think. Hence, I’ll give this recommendation a pass, and you should consider seeing it… but not on a Friday. Hey Stranger writers: Why are you making me use my brain? Friday night should be for goofy fun stuff, not making me think about goddamn clearcuts!

Kiley’s definitely right about one thing (even though it was a major spoiler): The severed arm on the mainmast totally rules.