The contents of Zaelia's third desk drawer, a movie review, and whatever else I happen to think of..
This is super-random...but anyway, I was just wondering what to post and decided to inspire myself by opening up my favorite desk drawer (the third one down, it's the biggest), and decided to post up a list of exactly what was in there. Why? I'm bored and I want something to do, and I feel like the tone of this journal has been far too down and depressed ...
So. Time for a list.
The Contents of Zaelia's Third Desk Drawer (cue dramatic music)
Only half of my total number of DVDs are here because I lent the rest (even the extended enditions of LOTR, which I am afraid I will never see again) to a friend of the family. I kept the ones I thought were absolutely essential to college survival.
And I have just realized that I haven't reviewed Constant Gardener yet. And because I love talking about acting/movies and because I don't have anything better to do (it's dead around here on the weekends!), that's what I'll do now.
After returning from New York City, I was so blown away by Faith Healer that I decided I just HAD to watch something with Ralph Fiennes in it. So Constant Gardener topped my list (it was the first one I could think of, other than Schindler's List which is way too depressing/disturbing to watch twice, and Harry Potter, which just doesn't count).
It was a good choice. It's a political thriller (not something I'd normally pick to watch), and fairly confusing, but the simple idea behind the plot is this: Justin Quayle is a diplomat whose wife dies in Africa under mysterious/ominous circumstances, and he's launched on a quest for the truth. It's quite a complex movie, one that I had to watch twice in order to fully comprehend. It requires very close attention--this is not a movie to watch with your brain shut off.
Judging by comments on IMDB's board for the movie, The Constant Gardener is either a movie you love or hate, with not much free space in between. Just within the first five minutes, I knew that I had fallen in love with it, and it would be a movie I had to own, not just to rent. If you want to see great acting, watch this one. Every single actor and actress in this movie does a superb job, disappears completely into their characters, and the result is a completely believeable story. Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz in particular are brilliant (which is good, since they basically carry the movie by themselves). Both of their performances are particularly nuanced. Saying lines and adding some kind of feeling to them is fairly easy. But not many actors can convey emotion so easily with no words as they do. They have incredible chemistry onscreen, too, awesome to watch.
It is an intense, unconventional movie (it's justifiably rated R for violence and some sexuality, though neither of those detract from the quality of the movie as they sometimes do in more mainstream films), and it earned its place on the list of movies that make Zaelia cry, which is actually always a good thing--not many movies dare to be moving anymore, which is unfortunate. Cinema is becoming fluffy and inconsequential (which is great sometimes, but not all the time!). The cover gives the misleading impression of a typical action flick, but it's anything but that. It's beautifully, unconventionally shot, and is definitely a different, artsy movie, something that is also rare these days. So I'd suggest going widescreen--you'd get more out of it. The ending is one of the most beautfiully tragic I have ever seen, and I won't say anything more than that. Yeah. full 10 out of 10. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for an intelligent movie, off the beaten track.
It's also the source of my userpic today *points up*.
Edit: Oh, hey, isn't it nifty that it looks like Mr. Fiennes in my icon is looking straight at my subject line (or at the link to my account if you're on the comment page)?? Wow, I'm easily amused tonight. LOL.
So. Time for a list.
The Contents of Zaelia's Third Desk Drawer (cue dramatic music)
- A bunch of required reading books that were displaced from my second desk drawer by the arrival of my scrapbook. They aren't my favorite anything, so I am just going to ignore them.
- My theater notebook--it's red and spiral-bound and it contains my notes on the theater. Hip-hip-hooray for acting!!
- Blank Paper!! Five empty notebooks (of varying colors, all spiraly and fun), and a big thing of printer paper. I love paper. Next time I go home, I'm going to bring back every notebook I own. Because even if I haven't written in them, I feel lonely without them.
- My poetry journal--black with green edged-paper inside. Fun, angsty, and not-so-wonderfully written poems reside within. *sigh* I am so not a poet.
- My tired, faithful headphones. They came with my CD player and thus are quite old. And sad. One side of them slides off, but I love them anyway. They don't work with my laptop (they wind up way too loud), so they're just waiting there for now. I'll find a use for them eventually.
- Cellphone charger. Ever a necessity in the modern world, which I'm not sure is a good thing.
- My music--A few CDs of very diverse kinds, just the ones I haven't managed to save to my computer yet
- Three of my favorite books: My single-volume LOTR paperback, The Book Thief (an object of a Quest a while back), and the third Harry Potter (comfort reading--it reminds me of when I was twelve and reading it for the first time)
- My two favorite plays in the whole wide world: Dancing at Lughnasa and Faith Healer ( Brian Friel is simply awesome, and he writes stage direction like no one else I've ever encountered)!
- My DVD of the slideshow someone made of photos from my High School Drama club's performance of Dancing at Lughnasa which may have been one of the five best things ever to happen to me. It makes me all nostalgic and sad, but it's a good kind of sad, if that makes sense.
- Four DVDS (half of my full collection): The Constant Gardener, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Return of the King (theatrical release), and The Princess Bride. Yay. And no, this is NOT a which-one-doesn't-belong question, hahaha.
Only half of my total number of DVDs are here because I lent the rest (even the extended enditions of LOTR, which I am afraid I will never see again) to a friend of the family. I kept the ones I thought were absolutely essential to college survival.
And I have just realized that I haven't reviewed Constant Gardener yet. And because I love talking about acting/movies and because I don't have anything better to do (it's dead around here on the weekends!), that's what I'll do now.
After returning from New York City, I was so blown away by Faith Healer that I decided I just HAD to watch something with Ralph Fiennes in it. So Constant Gardener topped my list (it was the first one I could think of, other than Schindler's List which is way too depressing/disturbing to watch twice, and Harry Potter, which just doesn't count).
It was a good choice. It's a political thriller (not something I'd normally pick to watch), and fairly confusing, but the simple idea behind the plot is this: Justin Quayle is a diplomat whose wife dies in Africa under mysterious/ominous circumstances, and he's launched on a quest for the truth. It's quite a complex movie, one that I had to watch twice in order to fully comprehend. It requires very close attention--this is not a movie to watch with your brain shut off.
Judging by comments on IMDB's board for the movie, The Constant Gardener is either a movie you love or hate, with not much free space in between. Just within the first five minutes, I knew that I had fallen in love with it, and it would be a movie I had to own, not just to rent. If you want to see great acting, watch this one. Every single actor and actress in this movie does a superb job, disappears completely into their characters, and the result is a completely believeable story. Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz in particular are brilliant (which is good, since they basically carry the movie by themselves). Both of their performances are particularly nuanced. Saying lines and adding some kind of feeling to them is fairly easy. But not many actors can convey emotion so easily with no words as they do. They have incredible chemistry onscreen, too, awesome to watch.
It is an intense, unconventional movie (it's justifiably rated R for violence and some sexuality, though neither of those detract from the quality of the movie as they sometimes do in more mainstream films), and it earned its place on the list of movies that make Zaelia cry, which is actually always a good thing--not many movies dare to be moving anymore, which is unfortunate. Cinema is becoming fluffy and inconsequential (which is great sometimes, but not all the time!). The cover gives the misleading impression of a typical action flick, but it's anything but that. It's beautifully, unconventionally shot, and is definitely a different, artsy movie, something that is also rare these days. So I'd suggest going widescreen--you'd get more out of it. The ending is one of the most beautfiully tragic I have ever seen, and I won't say anything more than that. Yeah. full 10 out of 10. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for an intelligent movie, off the beaten track.
It's also the source of my userpic today *points up*.
Edit: Oh, hey, isn't it nifty that it looks like Mr. Fiennes in my icon is looking straight at my subject line (or at the link to my account if you're on the comment page)?? Wow, I'm easily amused tonight. LOL.