Having to go to work in the morning sucks.
Just thought I'd let you know that. After months of just kind of rolling out of bed in the morning, I find myself HAVING to like... get READY and stuff.
And I have to dress well for my job, which means that I have to like... PLAN and dry my hair instead of letting it just dry on the way to work.
Very not me.
But.
I like my job so far. I have had some good laughs with the people I'm working with. They're all really nice. I impressed them by being able to lift up the Poland Springs water bottle and place it in the base without sloshing water all over or throwing my back out.
So getting up and planning may suck, but having a job and it being okay and close to home is extra super special so I'm liking that a lot. Life is balance -- the yin and yang of what I need to be happening at this point in time all is coming into even balance. So it's nice.
I had today off (and my usual gig for tomorrow) so I could watch Baby Ben. He's got a cold, which means Geoff and I will get it... for certain. And he was a crankpot on wheels for most of the afternoon. Which wore me out. I forgot how tiring a screaming 6 month old can be. Drains the life's blood from your marrow.
The ride home was long and tiring. The sun was in my eyes. I need a nap.
So the other night after we had our Fancy Fondue Party™, we watched The Royal Tenebaums.
I don't know what to say about it. But you know me. I'm going to talk on and on about it even if I don't quite have my head wrapped around it. Writing this may help me sort some things out. And, of course, I know that loyal readers who love this movie (Amy... you especially) will write me back and tell me what you think of it.
I'm not sure if the movie is a simple tale about family and attempts at self-redemption, or if there is some way huge deeper meaning.
Each of the characters were intriguing on their own, and the premise of the movie really hooked me in... but for some reason when they all got put together I felt there was just too much standing around not saying anything because ... well, they were too fucked up as a family unit to be able to say anything. Especially between Margot and Ritchie (what can you say when you're madly in love with your sibling -- well, adopted sibling).
There was a lot of standing there and looking around. Perhaps that is the Texan in Anderson. They should have just held a beer and said "Yup." and left it at that.
I felt I missed something here.
But, that being said -- I love Wes Anderson's movies. I love the camera angles, the colors, the quality of film with which each scene is shot. The use of comedy in scenes that just should not be funny has become a Wes Anderson trademark.
I liked watching this movie, even if I didn't GET it. Rotten Tomatoes has a huge listing of reviews, perhaps I'll read them all. Some are glowing with praise, some seem to say "Meh" more strongly than I.
I loved Ben Stiller's performance. I loved how his son Ari was "Oliver Beene," that cracked my shit up. I loved the young Margot, her dark eyes and blonde hair, her haunted sullen look. I think that summed up how I felt when I was 15, but I didn't look the role. And my father didn't walk around making sure to introduce me as his "adopted" daughter all the damn time.
Gene Hackman pulled off the supreme asshole father role in Royal perfectly, his best line to his grandsons was "Let's shag ass" when it was time to split from someplace. I love that and plan to use it often in dialogue with friends.
And I loved Pagoda (mind you, he also was in "Bottle Rocket," as the supremely awesome failed safecracker who loses his touch, and "Rushmore" as Mr. Littlejeans).
The one thing I did get was Ritchie's attempted suicide. I thought how it was filmed, the music used, the shaving of the hair, the beard -- the saying "I'm going to kill myself tomorrow" but he does it right that second anyway -- all this was so incredible, so scary and so touching to watch. The use of the music over the other people's reactions (Dudley coming into the bathroom and screaming -- only you hear no sound)... these were all my absolute favorite things about this movie. And how scary is it that it's the nadir of his life, the pit, the end (almost) that I find so moving and so beautiful. I thought that was so well done, and I was sucked in and engrossed.
(By the way, Tess, seeing as we've been on this ongoing musician swapping thing, if you don't already know who Elliott Smith is, you need to look into him. His song "Needle in the Hay" was the background music for this part of the movie, and he had a minor radio hit in this area with his "Waltz #2" about 5 years ago. He's got a very interesting lyric quality, and very stripped down production... piano, drums, guitar... pretty much it with his voice and that's all you need).
If you have a big dissertation about the meaning of the movie, oh do feel free to send it to me. I'd love to read it.
I am afraid of what the future holds for Wes Anderson though. His first movie, Bottle Rocket, is my favorite of the three he's done. Rushmore is next. Then ... this one. He's got another movie which is in preproduction, and is set to film in the fall of this year, so I'm hoping it will not fall short of even this latest. I would hate to say "Gee, his movies just get ... less good as he gets more and more famous." That's usually what happens though. Hmmm.
In other news, Doug suggested to Jessica that I take her to see the movie "Holes" this evening. And because she's been good and is SO damn gung-ho for it, we're going to go. I hope I don't fall asleep in the middle of it.
She read the book, right before the movie came out. So she has been stoked like a bonfire to go see this. I got the book from her and read it in one sitting (thus impressing her beyond belief).
It is an interesting story, but like Ty Burr of the Boston Globe, I'm worried going into it how they're going to pull off the 3 concurrent story lines that take place in three different decades. I'd better go have a cup of coffee. I will, of course, tell you what I think of it.
Anyway -- I should get to hanging with my family until we leave for le cinema. And my pinkie hurts. I think I'm getting arthritis in it, or I've been at a keyboard too long and need some physical therapy!
More baby Ben adventures tomorrow. Hopefully it will be nice and we can get the backpack out and go for a nice walk.
No comments:
Post a Comment