(no subject)
Seeing as I seem to be doing nothing else with my summer, I have decided that I am going to devote it to staying up all night to watch weird, obscure, and/or generally unheard of movies. I began my quest tonight, with two fine specimens-Venus and Swing Kids. Venus was... well, weird. Watching an aged (and impotent) Peter O'Toole trying to seduce a twenty-year old girl was strange, rather creepy, and almost too much for me to handle. (I say 'almost' from the perspective of someone who has had a life-long crush on/borderline obsession with Christopher Plummer that she shares with her grandmother, even after watching Nicholas Nickelby. Seriously, the two of us spent an entire afternoon drinking tea and acting giddy over a Christopher Plummer documentary a couple of summers ago, so I have no problem with wrinkles. I can appreciate them when it is required.) I had the feeling that they were trying to place too heavy an emphasis on the 'dirty old man' aspect and, while it was bloody hilarious, I had to ask myself, "Was the toenail clipping really necessary?"
Needless to say, I adored it. My love of something increases in proportion to the weird factor. (It also helped that the way it was filmed was absolutely beautiful.)
Swing Kids was less weird, but not comfortable by any means. It was a nice twist on the traditional pre-Second World War Nazi Germany extravaganza, which became old in the literary and film world by the time I was six. Not a movie of large, sweeping gestures but, rather, the small internal struggles, which happen to be the ones that interest me. I mostly only grabbed it because I was curious about some of the other things that Robert Sean Leonard has done and, for once, picking a movie on the basis of the actor was worth it.
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On a completely unrelated topic, it struck me today that my sister only has one year of high school left. My tiny, fragile, sweet baby sister is growing up and I am both relieved and confused... Relieved because maybe one of these days I'll stop mothering her; confused because I still look at her and see the toddler that I spent a great deal of time simultaneously tormenting and protecting. That girl makes my head hurt.
Needless to say, I adored it. My love of something increases in proportion to the weird factor. (It also helped that the way it was filmed was absolutely beautiful.)
Swing Kids was less weird, but not comfortable by any means. It was a nice twist on the traditional pre-Second World War Nazi Germany extravaganza, which became old in the literary and film world by the time I was six. Not a movie of large, sweeping gestures but, rather, the small internal struggles, which happen to be the ones that interest me. I mostly only grabbed it because I was curious about some of the other things that Robert Sean Leonard has done and, for once, picking a movie on the basis of the actor was worth it.
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On a completely unrelated topic, it struck me today that my sister only has one year of high school left. My tiny, fragile, sweet baby sister is growing up and I am both relieved and confused... Relieved because maybe one of these days I'll stop mothering her; confused because I still look at her and see the toddler that I spent a great deal of time simultaneously tormenting and protecting. That girl makes my head hurt.