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Apparently it's OHGOD HOT down in California? Here in NY State it's all rainy and cool and dark. I am hibernating in my house. It's nice.
As part of my hibernation today, I watched I Love You Phillip Morris, and I kind of . . . I think I loved it, actually. At first I was kind of put off by the quirky/oddball style of it, but it did this weird thing to me where it painted what seemed to be a completely ridiculous and over-the-top world, and then sneakily sneakily infested it with an almost-equally-ridiculous and over-the-top love story that tiptoed into my soul and set up house. That metaphor got a) mixed and b) away from me, but what I'm saying is: I really appreciate the way that movie combined extremely light-hearted humour and bright colours and wacky antics with characters who, for all their silliness, are completely relateable and falliable and lovable. I thought Jim Carrey was kind of amazing, a bit sleazy and a bit weird but oh so charming, and Ewan MacGregor was brilliant because he is incapable of being otherwise, and I totally cried at the end. The way they did the whole fakeout with the AIDS plot, my god - it's like watching the filmmakers cheerily and toothily subvert every queers-die-tragically movie I've ever seen, and it's exactly why the film has had so much trouble getting released in America. You can bet that if Steven Russell had actually died of AIDS, the film would be released all over the place over here. Luckily, real life is more wonderful and strange than movie tropes.
The final scene of the film, my god - I was crying at the reunion scene, and then there's that shot of Jim Carrey running across the prison yard pursued by guards and laughing, and I started laughing too, just completely out of control laughing and crying at the same time, because the movie is just like Steven Russell: a slippery bastard that squirms right out from under institutional control, laughing the whole damn time because it's so much fun to give 'em the finger and change the story to suit yourself. I don't know, it wasn't what I was expecting at all, but it was so bizarre and powerful and anti-genre that it surprised me and touched me. It's a kind of queer film you don't see enough of, a film about queer people that has absolutely nothing to prove and absolutely no anxiety about its zaniness or its seriousness or its boys-kissing-ness. Anyway, I recommend it highly. And as a result I sort of want some Jim Carrey/Ewan McGregor RPF for Yuletide this year (sentences I never thought I'd type). Here is an adorable picture of them kissing to inspire you to write it for me.
Lastly, I have a cool link for you: via Racialicious, AVATAR: Anglos Valiantly Aiding Tragic Awe-Inspiring Races, a mashup-style vid that puts together a bunch of Dances With The Primitive Other-style movies. It's pretty great, check it out.
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comments right now)
As part of my hibernation today, I watched I Love You Phillip Morris, and I kind of . . . I think I loved it, actually. At first I was kind of put off by the quirky/oddball style of it, but it did this weird thing to me where it painted what seemed to be a completely ridiculous and over-the-top world, and then sneakily sneakily infested it with an almost-equally-ridiculous and over-the-top love story that tiptoed into my soul and set up house. That metaphor got a) mixed and b) away from me, but what I'm saying is: I really appreciate the way that movie combined extremely light-hearted humour and bright colours and wacky antics with characters who, for all their silliness, are completely relateable and falliable and lovable. I thought Jim Carrey was kind of amazing, a bit sleazy and a bit weird but oh so charming, and Ewan MacGregor was brilliant because he is incapable of being otherwise, and I totally cried at the end. The way they did the whole fakeout with the AIDS plot, my god - it's like watching the filmmakers cheerily and toothily subvert every queers-die-tragically movie I've ever seen, and it's exactly why the film has had so much trouble getting released in America. You can bet that if Steven Russell had actually died of AIDS, the film would be released all over the place over here. Luckily, real life is more wonderful and strange than movie tropes.
The final scene of the film, my god - I was crying at the reunion scene, and then there's that shot of Jim Carrey running across the prison yard pursued by guards and laughing, and I started laughing too, just completely out of control laughing and crying at the same time, because the movie is just like Steven Russell: a slippery bastard that squirms right out from under institutional control, laughing the whole damn time because it's so much fun to give 'em the finger and change the story to suit yourself. I don't know, it wasn't what I was expecting at all, but it was so bizarre and powerful and anti-genre that it surprised me and touched me. It's a kind of queer film you don't see enough of, a film about queer people that has absolutely nothing to prove and absolutely no anxiety about its zaniness or its seriousness or its boys-kissing-ness. Anyway, I recommend it highly. And as a result I sort of want some Jim Carrey/Ewan McGregor RPF for Yuletide this year (sentences I never thought I'd type). Here is an adorable picture of them kissing to inspire you to write it for me.
Lastly, I have a cool link for you: via Racialicious, AVATAR: Anglos Valiantly Aiding Tragic Awe-Inspiring Races, a mashup-style vid that puts together a bunch of Dances With The Primitive Other-style movies. It's pretty great, check it out.
(click to comment at dw || there are
comments right now)