The Happy And The Sad

The happy and the sad... it's all part of the thing. Happy that they are here, will be sad when they have gone away. And they always go away.

This is the dialogue that goes with the clip: " Do you want to see the most beautiful thing I've ever filmed? It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing, and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was just, dancing with me, like a little kid beggin' me to play with it - for fifteen minutes. And that's the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know that there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember - I need to remember. Sometimes, there's so much beauty in the world - I feel like I can't take it, like my heart is just going to cave in."

Just Loved American Beauty All Over Again

Lester Burnham: [narrating] I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined our street... Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird... And Janie... And Janie... And... Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Movie Versus Story

I saw The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button for the first time last night. I'm a sucker for these kinds of stories, ones looking back over lives already lived. Throw in some poignant love stuff and I'm in there. I was pretty blown away by how well this movie was done. It took its time to tell this strange story and let the consequences of the situation manifest at an unrushed pace, drawing the viewer into this strange life. Brad Pitt was - as he so often is - brilliant. It was possibly one of his best performances. Good to see him using the restraint this roll called for. Cate Blanchet and Tilda Swinton were equally superb.

Not knowing where the story came from, I Googled during an ad break and was surprised that it was based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story from the 1920s. Another yawning gap in my knowledge. It just seemed like such a weird story for Fitzgerald to have written.

In further reading it turns out to have been inspired by a quote by Mark Twain, observing that it's such a waste that life is not lived backwards, that the best parts happen at the beginning of life and the worst at the end.

Reading on I found that the plot for the movie is very tenuously based on the book. Effectively the main character's name and the fact that as he grows in years he gets younger and younger are really the only things they have in common.

I really enjoyed the movie, in spite of it reminding me too often of Forest Gump. I had to read the story.

What a difference. The beginning feels overly dramatic and really not very well written. I find most of the story quite clunky. It feels forced and doesn't have the poetry of the movie, and I had expected the story to be saturated in that very unhurried poetry that made the movie so memorable and affecting. The story just feels like bad writing.

Until the end as Benjamin Button nears his strange demise, and here is simple language capturing the innocence of the way Button views the world in his final years, days, minutes. So sad and beautiful.

I'll read the story again, but I think this is one of those rare cases wher the movie version is better than the written version. The movie nailed it.

On a side note, I posted how much I enjoyed the movie on Facebook. A psytrance producer friend who is playing at a festival in Malta alongside Infected Mushroom said that he loved it too and that it had made him cry. I jokingly called him a softcock before admitting that, ahem, it had made me cry too.

Hank And Mike

Just watched Hank And Mike, an indie Canadian movie from a couple of years ago. It's about a couple of blue collar Easter Bunnies who lose their jobs due to down-sizing. Lovely concept. It's quietly very funny with one or two laugh-out-loud moments... although if you're more prone to laughing out loud than I am, which you probably are, you will enjoy a lot more than one or two laugh-out-loud moments. Not sure this trailer does it justice but it gives you an idea of what you're in for.

I liked it a lot.

Wristcutters, A Love Story

Hmm. Should have used a still from the film maybe.

Saw this movie last night. It was released a couple of years ago but I don't recall hearing about it at cinemas here. It only just came out on DVD here.

Weird how stuff works. I was looking through the DVD store and I think it was the image that first got my attention. Then the title. I think, given the nature of my most recent story Leaving Ruben Jane, I've got a bit of a thing about dark love stories. Maybe it's my repressed goth streak or something. Whatever it is, this one caught me eye.

Seeing Tom Waits' name in a movie, you know there's a certain standard involved. He's one of those artists you can pretty well rely on to only appear in quirky shit.

Happy to say that I really enjoyed this film. I enjoyed it more than I'd hoped I would. It got wildly (and predictably) varied reviews over at Rotten Tomatoes, but to hell with the negative reviews, no matter how well written. I loved this film.

It's set in an afterlife populated by people who have committed suicide. The colouring is unnatural, there are no flowers and no one in this place smiles. It's a strange netherworld that's just a little bit worse than life, but no one's game to top themselves again because it hurt to much the first time. Besides, if this place is worse than the last place, what's the next place going to be like.

Zia (Patrick Fugit from Almost Famous) still misses his girlfriend. He lives with a Russian punk rock star and works in a pizza joint. When he hears that his girlfriend has killed herself and arrived somewhere in this afterlife, he jumps in a car with the old rocker and they head off on a road trip, picking up a gorgeous girl determined to meet The People In Charge because she is here by accident, and Tom Waits.

There are some very funny jokes, some really touching scenes and... look, if you like quality romantic comedies with an indie feel, check it out. I'm going to check it out again. May even buy a copy.

It's based on a short story by Israeli writer Etgar Keret, who I'd never heard of but who I like the sound of. Might have to try to track down some of his stuff. Makes me want to write another deathy love story.

Oh yeah - there are a couple more shots from the Rainbow part of the trip here. Forgot to post them a few days ago.