a Cheap Holiday

Cheap Holiday

Welcome to a cheap holiday in my life. At least you get to go home at the end of the day!

Thursday, July 15, 2004

As usual, contentment begets apathy. As a result of being about as happy as a satiated tick, I've neglected updating the blog. Princess actually got a bit tiffed about it. "Don't make me wait to read new news!" she recently whined. Lord knows one should not keep Princess waiting! *wink*

Fortunately, my lack of communication is a direct result of a) being in a joyously happy relationship and b) busily participating in numerous community activities. And since I'm not one to comment in great detail on my personal relationships on this blog, I don't have too much left over of relevancy to discuss. So for now, here's a little filler...

THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW

Fahrenheit 9/11: I will certainly not be able to comment with as much authority as the more learned columnists of, say, Slate, so I will just say this..."good filmmaking + lousy scholarship = ambivalent viewer reaction." I'm not sure I would rely on Michael Moore for my news any more than say, Fox News.

The Professional (aka Leon): Yes, this Luc Besson offering is 10 years old, I know, but I've never seen it in its entirety until I rented the DVD this week. Word on the street is that a sequel is being made, where Natalie Portman reprises her character "Mathilda" having become a "cleaner" herself in adulthood. I have to say, the movie is far more kitschy and endearing than I had anticipated. Jean Reno is fabulous, as always, and while Portman was not the most brilliant child actress (and Gary Oldman certainly chews the scenery with more vigor here than in most of his vehicles), she and Reno have a lot of chemistry on-screen. If a sequel is indeed released, it will be interesting to see how they write and play it.

Girl with a Pearl Earring: I used to go to theatrical releases more often, but I just haven't had the energy to deal with rabble in the last couple of years, so now I typically wait for them to come out on DVD. (I still need to rent Amelie, for example.) Girl with a Pearl Earring is a speculation on the relationship between the painter Johannes Vermeer and the subject of his painting of the same name. Scarlett Johansson does an amazing job in the title role of Griet, a scullery maid helping out her financially-strapped family by gaining employment at the Vermeer household. A great deal of ink has been spent extolling her startling resemblance to the actual painting, which is true, but her greatest triumph is in holding our interest in her character with barely more than 20 lines of dialogue. She delivers a wonderfully nuanced physical performance that manages to rise above the cliches of Vermeer as an obsessed artiste and his wife as a gold-digging harpie.

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