When Life Gives You Lemons... Go to the Movies
In an act resembling that hands-thrown up gesture familiar to all frustrated 20-somethings, let's just say that I've hit one of those imaginary, impassive brick walls. In an attempt to ignore the unsolvable realities for another day, I finally made my way to the movies, to sit in the dark and be alone with my conundrums.
In Connecticut, I hardly feel like I am stealing when I theater hop because for a "bargain matinee" those buggers have the nerve to charge $6.25. I am sorry, if you go to the movies before noon, you clearly can't afford $6.25 for a single screening. I tried to get my money's worth, but at the end of the day, I am not sure if I did. I opted for the triple crown hop. I started the day with the new Ben Kingsley / Jennifer Connelly movie,
The House of Sand and Fog. This movie bored me. I didn't make it to the end of the film, but at the end of the day, it was a stupid movie about a legal snafu, an ugly old house barely worth $175,000, and characters that had no arc. When I realized that I didn't care who ended up with the contested property, I walked myself next door to give the third installment of
LOTR a try. Now, while I openly admit some of my nerdish tendencies, I just can't wrap my mind around the LOTR craze. The books never interested me and I have yet to see either of the other films in this fantasy trilogy. I sat through an hour of this movie and had no idea what was happening. The first hour is actually pretty slow - none of the grandiose fight scenes or anything else to lure me in. At this screening, I had the entire theater to myself (which is such a luxury in the day and age of loud snacking and cell phones), but I couldn't stomach more than an hour of hobbits and wizards. I just don't know the backstory and I just don't care, if it wins the Oscar, I'll be shocked. Not having made it past the halfway point in either of these films, I didn't have high expectations for the last movie on the docket,
Cold Mountain. At the very least, I watched every minute of this one and, in my opinion, it was by far the best of the three. The only thing that slightly bothered me about this one was that it was very predictable (although the end introduces some originality). The basic premise is that Jude Law is a Confederate soldier who deserts his comrades to return to his sweetheart Nicole Kidman on her farm on Cold Mountain, North Carolina. Along the way, Law has many mishaps and almost gets caught a half-dozen times but always escapes danger due to the kindness of strangers or his own resilient ingenuity. All the while, the gentile and European-educated Kidman, in voice-over, reads from her mushy-poetic letters to her lime-eyed beau. Think
O Brother, but drama. Maybe I was just feeling cynical today and it isn't right to bash these movies, but I didn't think any of them deserved much praise, although the acting in Cold Mountain wasn't
that bad (it seems a stretch to say Oscar-worthy for a film that never really moved me, never mind triggered a tear).
Since I made today a dedicated movie day, I put my foot down against the telly tonight. Instead, I watched the first half of Altman's three-hour
Nashville. This is one of those ensemble cast-driven movies, light on plot, but noteworthy for its 24 main characters. It's a little heavy on the sequined-jump suits, feathered bangs, and bad country-western performances, but this after all, a film about Nashville, TN. 90 mins in, I am still not sure what the movie is
about, per se, so I might be motivated to finish it tomorrow, or like
The House of Sand and Fog, I may remain content with my ignorance. Who knew there were so many minutes in a day, but I finished things off with the crown jewel, De Sica's
The Bicycle Thief. There remains a slight chance that I saw this film in my Italian class at Middlebury, but if I did, it was a very long time ago and it was well worth the second viewing. For all the bad plots out there these days (meanwhile, I saw a terrible trailer today for an Ashely Judd film where she plays a profiler, but an interesting trailer for a Jim Carrey movie about erasing memories), you really can't go wrong with the time-weathered classic:
man wants to provide for his family and looks for stolen bicycle. I was feeling especially anti-Hollywood by the end of the day, so this was a nice nightcap, almost like a little decaf Italian espresso with a touch of Sambuca. Now that I've watched half of my library movies, I might exchange some titles tomorrow, in case anything better came in and repeat today's viewing regiment.
I can't exactly say what brought on my lousy attitude - it was probably a combination of factors, because I am usually not this listless or cynical. For the last few weeks, I've been plagued by the feeling that I am circling a hamster's wheel, always ending up at the same point, and because of my own inertia, unable to shake things up. I have a couple of emails I really need to write, but I've been dragging my heels because I don't know how to be fair to myself and kind to the other people involved. Maybe this whole mood is partly tied into my New Year's reflections, a little something I'd like to call:
lessons I've learned as I pass distinguishedly into maturity.
In the past year, which for me has included (two) college graduations, some time spent at home living the quiet and simple life (no, not in the Paris Hilton way, pervert), and a fairly monumental move half-way across the country to start graduate school, I think I've learned to be more accepting about things as they come or just able to take things as they are. At the same time, getting older (on the calendar) seems to be of less consequence than ever before. Partly because I am now surrounded by people who are older than I am and also because I am doing the same thing now that I'll be doing a few years from now (this isn't the transitional two-year job that everyone does following graduation), I am less afraid or apprehensive about adding to my age. At the same time, I think I am becoming more comfortable in my own skin. While I definitely left Middlebury with a confirmed sense of self, these days, I relish the fact that I am still in school and allowed the extra slack to really probe my interests and figure out who I am (I've realized that this is definitely a life project and probably won't be sewn up any time soon). I am also really glad to be young, free of major responsibilities, not having to answer to anyone, and able to do as I please. That being said, I really like living alone, having a routine, getting enough sleep, and not being as on the go as I was during college. I use to think I would be at my best and happiest living out of a suitcase with my passport at the ever ready, but now I have learned the benefits of sleeping in one's own bed every night - it might not make for the juiciest gossip, but it is just plain and purely nice, and don't knock it until you've tried it. If you are my junior and think I've become old and boring, just wait until the college haze and adrenaline and hormones wear off, and trust me, you'll come to see the benefits of a self-imposed bedtime. I also think that I've learned something about compromise this year and picking my battles - and about not compromising on the things that are most important to me and not always worrying about what other people think or what they want. There just comes a time when you have to do what you want, stand on your own two feet, and (be okay with the fact that) others have the option to stand beside you or go their own way. Maybe because I feel confident in these lessons and I am at home where I can't really stretch my arms far enough, this explains some of my angst, maybe that is only part of the problem.
Okay... this is going off in a strangely self-possessed direction and I am going to cut myself off already...
posted by lmjasinski at 1:02 AM
