Does anyone want to Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie with me again? It’s a wonderful movie. [If you DO want to see the film with me, mail me or talk to me on aim... What follows are my reactions to the film, which admitedly give away a lot few details, so I recommend not reading. Skip down to the next post, if you don’t want to keep reading].

Yes, it's a fairy tale. I would apologize for it, but I don't need to because it's so well executed. It's an honest story, despite tous les reve... It can be un-true, and yet still have really happend, it's the whole "happening-reality vs. story-reality" outlined in my paper and Tim O'Brien's war novel The Things They Carried. I know a few of these people.

All the humor played directly to my tastes. The introduction, the likes and the dislikes. If I was writing a cinema script, that’s exactly how I’d introduce my characters. The all-knowing, feel-good narrator. The man in the cellar, yelling lines to help Audrey Tautou, the lead (who is, admittedly, one of the reasons I enjoyed the movie so much...

now there's a pretty girl... She's done a few other films (francophones click here ) and really struck me as the first person EVER I've seen in a film and thought "I'd like to meet that actress in real life." She had a personality (They all did; the casting was one of the film's strongest traits).

Anyway, back to the humor. I keep coming back to All the annoying things that you can do to a person’s routine to really play with them, and to the suicidal goldfish( !named Blubber ), and even the heart condition, that tragic, ironic heart condition… Half those things had me rolling on the floor. It’s one of the first movies I’ve actually thought about a day after I’d seen it, and it’s definitely one of the first movies I’ve ever wanted to see again.

I was horrible. The movie was in French, so I automatically assumed it took place in Paris. (It actually did, but that’s beside the point.) That Paris was incredibly idealistic (definitely not identical to the real thing…) All the crazy people really were created for each other… there was almost NO way for the story to progress except for the way it did, but I liked that story so it was ok.

Someone finally captured the best essence of Glass. Fragile, but so accurate. The guy hadn’t ventured out of his apartment in twenty years, but he still knew how to live, wanted to live, more than Amielie. He was brittle, but still oh so vital.

The casting was wonderful. Mademoiselle Tautou, and every one, exuded personality.

I don’t understand why we kept seeing Amielie in the grocer’s apartment through Dufayel's [the Glassman's] binoculars. I suppose just to show how curious and desperate to live, vicariously through her, he really was. I actually liked the art he was painting at the very end, as a piece on it’s own.

I would’ve liked seeing more of the father more at the end; it would’ve been nice to see where he finally broke down and made the decision to follow his garden gnome.



So I finally admitted it was the holiday season today. The lights are up; I feel a little festive even. It made me feel like working from 1 in the afternoon till midnight was manageable, even fun. Sasha’s Christmas garden globs looked so cool, as they were the only decoration on her entire block. This time of year reminds me of late late nights and Christmas break. Even the autumn reminds me of the way, last year, they had that barbeque, and two years ago when we were up on the hill, where the cold gave people a chance to touch, to share warmth. Really. What a horrible idea; needing an excuse!

Those two at math today… He says they’re not going out. That she’s got someone in Iowa at school right now. They acted so… close. I want to say like an old married couple, but that’s not quite right. Just… a knowing. More power to them. I couldn’t tell what emotion was in the boy’s voice when he told me after she left “we’re just friends.” Contentment? Jealousy? He’s always been the most complex one of that particular group… (although ted might have it for most unique) They don’t’ need me, and I realize I’m not particularly important, but it’s ok because I got my quiz finished. It’s kinda the same thing as with Sasha… I don’t think she really minds that I’m there and that she has to explain the chemistry to me every week… I don’t really make her go out of her way and in fact actually keep her on track sometimes. The easiest way to get what you want is to give people what they want, on some level or another.


Oldschool; I was just reminded of some old song lyrics:
[I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend]

np:
Our Lady Peace [an ordinary girl, an ordinary waist / but ordinary’s just not good enough today]
Smashing Pumpkins [last chance to make believe in always and all it seems]
Cake [ I don’t wanna go to sunset strip / I don’t wanna feel the emptiness]
Cake [ as soon as you’re born you start dying, so you might as weel have a good time]
Radiohead [ of course I’d love to stay and chat / of course I’d love to stay and chew the fat / but there’s someone listening in]