Filed under: Food, Movies, People | Tags: darjeeling limited, india, restaurant, slumdog millionaire
Last night I went to a restaurant in Providence called India, which was beautiful and luxurious, and didn’t really remind me a lot of the country. That’s only because I don’t really know what to think of the actual place, India, because of what I’ve seen from movies. In the past year I’ve seen 2 movies that give completely contradictory impressions of India, and I hope that I can someday go there and find out for myself what it’s like. But in the meantime I’ll try to reconcile the two views by way of finding a median.
Jason Schwartzmann, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody in The Darjeeling Limited.
The first movie is Darjeeling Limited, which I loved. As a die-hard Wes Anderson (the director) fan, I knew going into the theater that I was going to have a great time. Anderson’s movies are fantastical and he seems to view everything through the lens of a story-teller. His scenes are like drawings from a children’s book, with bright colors and patterns dominating the sets. Everything is filmed very simply, with straight-on shots and continuous scenes contributing to the sense that one may be reading a picture book instead of watching a movie. Darjeeling was beautiful because of the use of colors within scenes, but didn’t really give me an accurate idea of the place it explored. In the movie, India is a magical place where all the women wear jewel tones, all the children are friendly and innocent, and the country can be explored from the safety of a train car without actual exposure to the people. But Darjeeling, although it’s meant to do so, overly-romanticizes the place. I feel a connection for the characters, but not for the land.
The children from Slumdog Millionaire.
Conversely, Slumdog Millionaire, the famed Oscar winner, paints a much darker picture. The majority of Indian people live in the slums, with shacks for homes and dirt floors. Most of the characters are devastatingly poor or disadvantaged, and the only people who have risen above the poverty level are drug dealers. Children in this movie are drug mules, prostitutes, and their lives are nothing like a children’s book. Slumdog is beautiful but sad, and although the movie managed to garner a little bit of attention to the slums of India, the people living within them are still existing in a realm of squalor and oppression.
So the restaurant India didn’t really help me in my hopes to discern what the real India is like. The restaurant is very pretty inside, with silk archways and long cotton curtains separating the tables; Bollywood movies play on a large television next to the bar and belly dancers float around the aisles. It’s an India that doesn’t really exist except in the minds of Americans. There were two girls giving free henna tattoos, and I got one on my palm of a peacock. But even they didn’t really know anything about India. “Before Indian women get married, they get henna drawn on their hands, right?” They shook their heads and said they didn’t know.
The henna drawing I got last night.
I’m not sure how realistic the idea of taking a train across India is (as in Darjeeling), but maybe I’ll be able to experience it for myself someday. For now, I guess I can only appreciate what I know of India from movies, television, and of course, delicious Indian food.
Robin
I will admit that I first started watching Lost because of Lord of the Rings. That might not make sense to most people out there, but it did to me: Domanic Monaghan, who played Merry in the famous trilogy, was a prominent cast member in a pilot that, as far as I knew when it began, was about a plane crash.
I’ve stuck with Lost through thick and thin, hungrily watching each episode, waiting for clues and researching online message boards. I followed all the viral videos and websites, the subliminal hints hidden in each frame, things that most people might not pick up on but the online Lost fan community did in a second. There’s the essential Lostpedia, a wiki-site containing most of the knowledge about the show that exists. There’s lost-tv, which contains an always useful message board. I’ve followed them all, faithfully taking mental notes and remembering tiny details.
Blacklight picture from the hatch.
I was dumbfounded and unbelievably intrigued by the Dharma Initiative and the Others; they were such a mystery to me I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around their mere existence or presence on the island. Walt’s supernatural powers drove me crazy with questions of why and how. Desmond and the machine he controlled filled my thoughts all the time, constantly questioning what he was doing. What did the stations mean? What was that crazy blacklight writing all over the wall in the hatch? Why were the animals stamped with the Dharma logo? Who was Charles Widmore? Who was Marvin Candle? What the hell was going on?
I might not have known what was happening, but I was hooked. I breathed and slept Lost and spent my free time online searching for answers. I went through every single aspect of the “Lost Experience,” and immersed myself in the mystery. I dove deep into the oddities of the Hanso Foundation Website, part of the “experience” (which has now been officially dubbed a “game”), and tried to decode its meaning. I watched all of the “Rachel Blake” videos and followed along.
There was even a fake book with a fake author, all a metaphor for the show. There are mysteries Lost has never even bothered to explain to us, things they’ll probably never explain to us, but that’s been okay with me. What isn’t okay is that the show has completely lost its shit now. I get it, the whole time-travel thing. It’s exciting, it’s weird, whatever. But it explains too much. It’s a catch-all, just as if they had shown Desmond waking up at the beginning of this season saying, “thank god it was all just a dream.” I don’t want the answer to everything to be, “oh, they could time travel. Duh.”
Never forget!
I do feel to some degree that the show “jumped the shark” after they left the island. They were never supposed to leave; I say “supposed” not in the sense they mean on the show, I mean to maintain any mystique they weren’t supposed to leave the island. They were supposed to deal with being on the island and the mysteries it held. I don’t care about Juliet and Sawyer, I don’t care about Miles and his ability, I just want answers and more mysteries and answers and more mysteries. I never want to stop being confused and enthralled by the show, and I don’t want to feel pissed off at the end of every episode, saying, “but they can’t do that!”
At least we know who Marvin Candle is. And at least we know who Charles Widmore is. But who is Alvar Hanso? What is the Hanso Foundation? What was that giant foot of the statue? What’s up with all the different stations around the world? I never wanted to know what the smoke monster was. I just wanted it to keep working its magic. Just the same, I never wanted to know about a lot of things on the show that they decided to reveal; by doing so, they chose to ignore the more important questions I still had. Lost, I’ll never forgive you if you blame every single thing that’s ever happened on the show on time travel. You don’t get a free pass on everything that you made up and wanted people so desperately to become invested in. Now that we are, those of us who stuck around through the hard times deserve better from you.
Robin
Last semester I could probably be forgiven for sitting around watching movies during all of my free time. I had bronchitis for the first month or so of school, had just learned how to download files off of the school network, and my boyfriend had an awesome sound system set up, perfect for all-day movie marathons. Alas, that time passed; my boyfriend took the semester off, and with it, his speakers; my beloved computer died without warning, and along with it all of my movies and my downloading program; and my bronchitis passed, leaving me with no excuse to sit around all the time.
Turns out, though, I don’t really care whether or not I have an excuse. I’m just lazy, and I don’t care who knows it. When I have to work and actually get somewhere or get something done, I do it quickly, and well; but when I have free time, or nothing to do, I’m so, so lazy.
And today, with the combination of bad weather and being at my apartment alone, I was inclined to sit around and do nothing. After chatting on the phone until I had nothing left to talk about, showering, making lunch, and taking care of most other time-wasters I could think of, I gave in. I started watching movies.
Although I don’t really realize it in my daily life, I love movies, especially bad ones. I feel I have fairly good taste when it comes to my favorite movies, but when it comes to wasting time watching bootlegs online, I don’t care whether a movie might turn out to be a favorite or not. Most of the time I go into a movie-watching situation knowing full well that what I’m about to watch is going to suck. But I watch anyway! Because I just love the experience of watching a new movie, whether it’s cheesy or serious, just getting to see something new is fun for me. Especially if I don’t really have to move off of my bed to do so.
So, today was somewhat of a movie marathon for me. And I feel enriched for the experience. Out of the 4 movies I watched, one was really, very good. Here’s the list of movies I watched today.
What?
This movie is about a bunch of Scottish women who go spelunking in an uncharted cave. Guess what? That’s almost never a cool idea. You can probably see where this is going. They end up encountering and fighting native bat-people that live in the cave and eat humans and other animals. While the movie offered cheap jumps and thrills, it had little substance other than a lame subplot involving one of the women’s tragically killed husband and daughter. 4/10! Also, though, I definitely had a nightmare earlier during a nap as a direct result of this movie.
Grey Gardens
Little Edie and Edith
Now THIS was a good movie. I’m talking about the original version, because I don’t have HBO and can’t find the new one online anywhere. This is a documentary from 1975 about Edith Bouvier and her daughter, “Little” Edie Bouvier Beale. They were relatives of Jackie Onassis, former aristocrats who lost all their money when Edith’s (Little Edie’s mother) husband abandoned his family and moved to Mexico, taking his fortune with him. Edith and Edie lived off of their Tiffany jewelry, selling the pieces off one by one so they could keep buying food. The women lived alone together in the estate where the family had been raised, in East Hampton. The house was called Grey Gardens as it at one time had a world-famous garden, which had become wildly overgrown by the time the filmmakers came to make the documentary.
The movie shows Edith and Edie’s life of squalor; they live in the rotting mansion with 8 cats and raccoons running around everywhere. The house and yard are littered with trash and cat food cans, and there is animal feces everywhere. In the early 1970’s, the Bouvier family (Jackie Onassis’ kin) stepped in to help the two women as the legislature of East Hampton was going to evict them due to their failure to comply to any of the health code regulations for the house.
This movie was a sad portrait of two lives wasted. Edith spends most of her time on the porch or sitting in bed, screaming for Edie to help her with little tasks and scolding her daughter. Meanwhile, Edie laments the life she could have had, talking constantly about her missed opportunities to go into show business and her desire to move back to New York. She reveals that at a younger age she was courted by and proposed to by some of the richest men in America, including Howard Hughes. When the documentary was made, though, Edie had been living with her mother again for almost 20 years, helping her with absolutely everything. She can’t leave her side, and is trapped in the relationship with her mother, and they are both so utterly codependent upon one another it’s hard to believe they function at all with other people.
Edie was so charming and likable that it truly saddened me to see her stuck forever in the decrepit house in which she grew up, taking care of an old woman who is neither kind nor sympathetic towards her. The movie is beautiful, though, and I hope to see the remake soon. 9/10!
Knowing
Here you go.
This movie was awful, just as I knew it would be. Are you surprised? Nicholas Cage has been making the same movie with a slightly different premise every year for the past 10 years. I SWEAR his character in this movie was the exact same one as in The Wicker Man, a movie so bad that if it were a comedy, it would be the funniest movie I’ve ever seen. Evidence: just watch this montage of Wicker Man clips. Keep in mind that this is meant to be a serious movie.
So in this movie, he plays the same obnoxious, nameless, bland, generic “single dad whose wife is tragically missing/dead/remarried” and, just like most of his other movies, this has a weird sci-fi twist to it. Pretty much from the first 10 minutes you can tell this is going to have something to do with aliens. Totally not worth the 2 hour running time and horrible bootleg copy with people walking in front of the camera. If you want to waste your time watching a slightly disappointing sci-fi thriller single-dad movie, just watch Signs. At least it’s entertaining. 3/10!
17 Again
So wrong, but so right.
Ok, listen. I didn’t hate this movie. In fact, parts of it were very funny. DON’T JUDGE ME! Who knew Zac Efron had it in him to do comedy? Although this also just proves he can’t not play a High Schooler on the basketball team. Pretty much, Chandler from Friends magically becomes his high school self and falls back in love with his wife, crazy lady from Knocked Up. But the true stars of this movie are Thomas Lennon of Reno 911 fame, and Jan from The Office. I don’t feel like looking up her actual name. But it’s a good fun movie if you have nothing else to do! Except I’d wait until it comes out on dvd. The bootleg copy was pretty bad. 7/10!
I’m just going to turn my computer off before I watch anything else!
Robin
It would be an understatement to say my siblings and I had a liberal upbringing; almost nothing was taboo in our family, which I consider a great thing. It also meant that my parents allowed us to watch pretty much whatever movie we wanted to (or didn’t want to) from a very young age. Here are a few of the most inappropriate ones that my sisters and I watched often as kids.
The Shining
My sister and I in Vermont, circa 1996.
This was a family favorite. We went up to Vermont every Winter break for most of my childhood, so I think this one got repeated viewings more for its irony factor than anything else. My parents thought, correctly, that it would be funny for us all to watch it while we were on vacation in a cabin in Vermont, snowed in, together. Turns out this is actually probably my favorite movie of all time. Now you know why!
Arachnophobia
The only man who can save us!
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I have a crippling fear of spiders. This movie is most likely accountable for that fear, despite its ridiculousness. I watched it again recently and was laughing most of the time, partially because Jeff Daniels is just funny to watch but mostly because of the fake tarantulas. Still, though, I get the creeps just thinking about reaching over to turn off my lamp and getting a fateful bite, just like the old lady in this movie. I inherited my personal arachnophobia from my mom, who, I’m guessing, made us watch the movie in an attempt to conquer her own fear.
Ed Wood
L to R: Johnny Depp, my Dad when he still drank
There’s actually a good story behind this one. Way, way back when my dad still drank (he’s been sober about 13 years) he somehow, I have no idea how or why, befriended a carnival worker in our town while my mom brought my sisters and I on rides. I’m 90% sure he was drunk off his ass. Anyway, we go home after the carnival and my parents invite two or three friends over to watch this movie with them. Rachel (my sister) and I are sitting with them, watching, getting confused by the movie and just whining like little kids and stuff. Around midnight (staying up late was another part of our upbringing) the phone starts ringing. The answering machine comes on. It’s the carnie. He leaves my dad a message in his creepy carnie voice, asking to hang out, and signs off. Five minutes later: he calls again. My mom is yelling not to answer it, so we all just listen. He sounds angrier this time. This continues every few minutes for maybe a half an hour, when the enraged carnival worker finally yells into the answering machine, “I looked up your address, I’m coming to your house!” My dad frantically jumps up and runs outside with a can of spraypaint, and sprays over the numbers on our mailbox, hoping this will throw off the determined freak if he indeed shows up. He never made it to our house. Good memories.
Beetlejuice
This still haunts me.
This was one of our absolute favorites! Rachel idolized Winona Ryder, and we’d all loved her in Little Women and Edward Scissorhands, so it was only natural we’d appreciate this movie. Although it’s meant to be a comedy, and it is very funny (I love Alec Baldwin especially), it’s fairly terrifying. The one scene I remember having nightmares about is when Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin are trying to scare the new residents of their house by pulling on their faces and stretching them into scary, unnatural shapes. I hate that. But also, love it. Fun fact: this movie is also how I learned the word “plummeted.”
Scream
That's how I feel, too.
Oh, scream. The first ten minutes of this movie are SO unsettling, I can’t believe my parents would have watched this with us and after the shot of Drew Barrymore hanging in her yard, said, “let’s just watch for a little longer. Or for the rest of the movie.” We watched this one all the time. So much so that Rachel was the killer from the movie one halloween, and a different year I made my own costume with guts falling out of my shirt. One gem of a scene that I remember: Neve Campbell and her boyfriend having sex to “Don’t Fear the Reaper.” COME ON parents.
Mermaids
It wasn't Danny DeVito, it was the guy from Who Framed Roger Rabbit!
I haven’t met many people who have actually seen this movie outside of my family. In fact, I don’t even really remember what it’s about, other than Cher, Winona Ryder, and Christina Ricci, the latter two happen to have been Rachel’s two favorite actresses ever. Their union in a movie made it impossible for us not to watch it, and we definitely taped this onto a VHS and still have a copy of it in our house. From what I remember, Danny DeVito is in this also, Christina Ricci falls into a river and almost drowns and Cher yells at Winona Ryder because she was off having sex in a church (maybe?) while she was supposed to be watching Christina. Kids love this kind of thing, obviously.
And finally…
I WAS JUST A BABY.
This movie came out in 1999, and I saw it in theatres with my mom and little sister Zoë. Which means I was 12, and Zoë was 7. 7 YEARS OLD. We all sat together in the theater, dominated by 20 and 30-year-olds, listening to the most disgusting songs ever, watching animated Saddam Hussein making out with Satan, and culminating in Cartman’s mega-swear-magic ending to defeat evil. I have such a clear image in my head of us sitting in the movies, Zoë staring at the screen blank-faced, and even then I thought, oh my god. What are we doing here.
I love my parents for allowing us to watch these movies. I know for a fact my sisters and I wouldn’t be who we are today if we hadn’t been exposed to this kind of thing, and I’m not sure if I’ll go out of my way to show them to kids someday, but they’ve got to learn about this stuff eventually. Better you watch this stuff with them than have them find out about it on their own! Now, go out and rent The Shining.
Robin
Many people are already familiar with the show Flight of the Conchords, an HBO program set around two musicians, Bret and Jemaine, who moved from New Zealand to New York to make it big. The half-hour long shows have a subtle brand of humor mixed with really funny but actually well-written songs- normally two or three per episode. Bret and Jemaine are the central characters, played by themselves (although the show is in no way a reality series) and inviting us along while they experience life in New York.
Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie
The show started out with a bit of a cult following; I first heard of it a few summers ago when a few friends were watching and, having joined in during the middle of an episode, I was very confused. I didn’t know going into it that the show was a comedy and I took their dry humor seriously- needless to say, once I watched a full episode I had caught on. And then I kept catching on, and then I became addicted. Bret and Jemaine balance each other out perfectly, and the addition of their manager/New Zealand tourism worker Murray, only adds to the culture-shock they seem to experience at least once an episode.
Bret and Jemaine are funny guys to begin with, but they’re so popular because of their songs. Before I’d even seen the show I heard their song “business time,” which is one of their better known numbers. Even without the backing of the show, their songs are funny without being campy and have actual good melodies.
The best part of the show may be how innocent Bret and Jemaine seem. I’m sure in real life they’re not too much like their characters, but in the show they are generally just best friends, one of whom wears shirts with animals on them every day, the other who can’t seem to get a girlfriend (unless it happens to be an enemy Australian), trying to function in a city that may be too hip for them.
While Bret and Jemaine profess their hatred for Australia (they claim Australians “subtly mock” New Zealanders), they have some new competition from their neighbor country. Summer Heights High is written by and stars Chris Lilley, and takes place in his native Australia. Lilley plays three different characters in the show, including new girl Ja’mie, teacher Mr. G, and bully Jonah. Unline FOTC, Summer Heights High is filmed as a mockumentary and is meant to seem like a reality show, not unlike The Office.
Not surprisingly, there seems to be a lot of rivalry among fans of the two kiwi shows. There are several Facebook groups dedicated to “Flight of the Conchords vs. Summer Heights High,” although I know plenty of people, myself included, who like both. High debuted while Flight of the Conchords was between seasons, so there’s no direct competition over who’s watching either show at the same time. The shows have certainly been compared plenty of times, being two of the funniest shows to come out of that area of the world. Perhaps FOCT fans are just declaring their loyalty to New Zealand in a show of solidarity and love for Bret and Jemaine; I’ve never heard of a NZ-Australia rivalry before their anti-Aussie episode. I think the two shows can coexist peacefully, much like their home countries. Except much funnier.
There can only be one winner.
Robin
11:52-YES! Victory over Benjamin Button! And victory for the people of Mumbai. I would’ve liked The Reader to win, but I think everyone knew Slumdog was going to get it. Overall a satisfying end to the night. It was a good show, aesthetically-speaking, and I’m glad Kate Winslet and everyone won what they deserved.
11:49- Was Revolutionary Road not nominated for anything?!? That’s just insane!!
11:46- So they just do best picture now and then it’s over, right?
11:42- SEAN PENN! Thank god. I hope we see some tears during his speech. There haven’t been enough tonight.
11:35- Here comes best actor. I’m scared. But I love all the actors up there (with the exception of Michael Douglas) so it’s ok… for now. Unless Brad Pitt wins. Then it’s definitely not ok.
11:33- I’m so happy for her. The movie was so sad and she played the part perfectly. I’m just really proud! She deserves it!
11:31- YES! Go Kate Winslet! Sorry, Anne Hathaway. Maybe next year…
11:29- OH MY GOD. Sofia Loren looks like beef jerky.
11:27- I just love Kate Winslet, but The Reader was SO depressing. I felt so awful after seeing it, although she was wonderful in it. She was cold and heartless, something I feel it’s very hard for her to play. She’s truly very gifted. Did Marion Cotillard just cry?
11:26- These women are all so SPARKLY. It looks like junior prom.
11:22- I hope Angelina isn’t getting her hopes up. It’s not that I didn’t like Changeling, it’s just that I don’t like her; sort of like how I like all of Tom Cruise’s movies, but am afraid of him in real life.
11:20- I’m pretty much a professional psychic.
11:18- Best Director’s up. My prediction is Danny Boyle. For the rest of the night, my guesses are as follows: Best Actor- Sean Penn, Best Actress- Anne Hathaway, Best Picture- Slumdog Millionaire.
11:14- Tribute to people who died this year is still going on. I wasn’t looking at the screen and must have missed the Heath Ledger part. But I caught the end of Paul Newman. Queen Latifah sounded terrifyingly robotic.
11:11- Queen Latifah is singing “I’ll Be Seeing You.” There’s something weird-sounding about her voice, like it’s on auto-tune or something. Same with Beyoncé. I wish they just let them sing naturally!
11:01- I was hoping M.I.A. would win an Oscar. Oh well.
10:55- Also, I didn’t know that the stars of Slumdog Millionaire were actually dating. OOH something’s happening that reminds me of the Olympics. I think it’s a song from Slumdog. But it really just looks like a mini-opening ceremonies in Beijing.
10:53- WHY is Zac Efron even there?! Whatever. GO SLUMDOG.
10:49- The music award. I believe this is the first year they’re doing a montage of all the songs instead of having them perform individually.
10:42- Fact: Eddie Murphy has an illegitimate child with one of the Spice Girls.
10:34- ANOTHER Slumdog! I don’t even know what this one was for. Does it really matter?
10:31- Another for Slumdog!! I’m so proud. It’s my anti-Benjamin Button.
10:26- UGH! It makes me so mad to think that Benjamin Button is even nominated for anything. It was just awful and I’ll throw my t.v. out the window if it gets best picture. Because it just got best special effects and I’m already almost changing the channel.
10:23- This is the part of the show where I usually take a shower or do something else until the bigger awards. I’m gonna stick with it, though. This is my year.
10:16- Guy from Man on Wire just did a magic trick. I got way too excited.
10:13- Bill Maher makes me feel awkward, even though I agree with his ideas. Does that make sense?
10:07- Heath Ledger won for The Dark Knight. His family is accepting for him. He definitely deserved this and it must be an extremely emotional moment for all those who knew him. It’s just a shame he isn’t around to accept the award he earned.
9:55- This montage is making me wonder, did Moulin Rouge win an oscar? That seems a little crazy. Also, what is Beyoncé thinking singing At Last again? Etta James already says she was gonna beat her up. Also also, Zack Efron and Vanessa whatever? Really?
9:53- Beyoncé just made this at least 15% more worth watching.
9:52- This reminds me of the Tony Awards, which I’ve never actually watched.
9:50- There are SO MANY commercials.
9:42- Judd Apatow “short film”. So good. I forgot how many comedies came out this year! Tropic Thunder and Step Brothers deserve their own category.
9:39- I’m already bored.
9:38- Jessica Biel is not only irrelevant and not funny, but her dress is pretty terrible.
9:34- Slumdog wins another!
9:31- Natalie Portman and Ben Stiller, who is dressed as Joaquin Phoenix. I’d be afraid if I were him. He’s dead on though! “You look like you work at a Hassidic meth lab.” -Natalie Portman
9:25- Robert Pattinson… so attractive, but he seems so awkward. I don’t think I’d like him in real life, he seems very down on himself all the time, like he’s about to cry but doesn’t trust you enough. Or maybe he just needs to smile more.
9:23- I lost track of what was going on because Sarah Jessica Parker is so boring. I got excited when they briefly showed a picture of Heath Ledger, but they were just announcing the nominees for best makeup. I might as well be napping.
9:17- Even though I just said I don’t care about this category, I’m kinda mad that Benjamin Button won anything because now they just have the satisfaction of saying they won an Oscar.
9:15- Didn’t Sarah Jessica Parker’s husband cheat on her, or did I just imagine that? She seems pretty happy, and he’s there with her… I guess things are fine. Is it bad that I’m more excited about her home life than I am about whatever category she’s announcing? Oh. It’s art direction, which I guess is cool, but I’m not gonna cry at their speeches or anything.
9:06- IT DID! Wait, did Jack Black just cheer for Wall-E? Wasn’t his movie up against it?
9:04- I hope Wall-E wins best animated picture!
9:02- JENNIFER ANISTON vs. ANGELINA JOLIE! My money’s on Jen. Angelina seems like she’s too busy adopting babies to work on her weight-training. They just cut to Angelina in the audience. My roommates and I all screamed.
9:01- Slumdog Millionaire’s first award!
8:58- Best adapted screenplay- I hope Benjamin Button doesn’t win. Not just this category, but anything. Meryl Streep’s character in Doubt is so realistic that she frightens me. Conversely, I hope Slumdog Millionaire wins as much as it can, although The Reader was heartbreaking as well.
8:56- Milk won best screenplay. I was hoping Wall-E would get it, but then again, I didn’t see Milk so I guess I can’t really judge.
8:53- Tina Fey and Steve Martin both look beautiful, and I wish Tina was nominated for something. I know she’s a television actress/writer, but she deserves recognition!
8:47- Penelope Cruz won best supporting actress and said something in Spanish that I didn’t understand, but it sounded adorable.
8:40- “Steve, open it,” we heard someone yell when they were trying to show a montage but the curtain was still in front of it. Priceless.
8:38- “I’m wolverine.” My favorite thing of the night so far.
8:34- He picked up Anne Hathaway to sing a Frost/Nixon song together. They’re dancing and I think she’s wearing a different dress than she was on the red carpet.
8:32- He’s singing and just walked up to Kate Winslet to serenade her, she must be less than 5 feet from the stage. I must have forgotten Hugh Jackman is a showman. This is so very Broadway, and I don’t know how I feel about it.
8:31- Hugh Jackman walks out. The stage is lit up blue and there’s a curtain of crystals hanging in he air. His jokes seem to be going over well.
Last night I saw the movie Coraline in 3D. Having seen The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D a few years ago, I basically expected a similar experience. To my surprise, the movie and the 3D experience were far better than I had imagined they would be.
The trailer for Coraline helps to summarize the basic plot; a young girl (Coraline) moves into an old house and is ignored by her workaholic parents. She discovers a tiny door in a room in her house that leads to a long tunnel, on the other side of which is a mirror of her house and life- if everything were better. Her room is lushly decorated and her toys come to life, the garden outside is in full bloom, and her parents love and pay utmost attention to her.
Looking into the other world
The only difference she can discern at first is the buttons for eyes all the inhabitants of the other world seem to have. Her “other mother,” voiced by Teri Hatcher, is saccharine-sweet at first, but soon she, as well as the rest of the “other world,” turns on Coraline and she has to find a way to escape.
Like The Nightmare Before Christmas, the movie was done in claymation and directed by Henry Selick. The difference this time was that Tim Burton wasn’t involved, and while I do like his movies I didn’t mind his absence from the film. Coraline was beautifully orchestrated, with vibrant art that would have popped off the screen even without 3D glasses. The story was original and never got boring, even wandering into horror movie territory at times.
I’m always amazed at the visual effect claymation can produce- it can look so realistic and really create its own little world. Below is one of the sets used on the movie, the size of which surprised me. I had always pictured the sets and characters in these movies as tiny dollhouses and dolls, but as you can see from the picture they’re actually pretty big.
Coraline's house
Selick took author Neil Gaiman’s book and turned it into a beautiful visual journey. His use of lighting in the film was so masterful and really brought out the light vs. dark theme. I definitely recommend the movie to anyone looking for something to do who has an extra $10 lying around.
Robin
internet interest 