The Art of Watching a Movie

Today was mostly spent doing my yearly Oscar marathon. It has been going on for three years now and I must admit that I have been remissed this year. In 2005, I was able to watch 12 Oscar-nominated films, in 2006 it was 11. This year 6.

I blame it on the one and only cinema here in Letterkenny. On the offchance that it will actually show something really worth watching, you still have to struggle with how expensive the tickets are and the schedule. One of these days, I'm going to follow Meryl Streep's advice in her Golden Globes acceptance speech: "And finally I just wanna say, the reason you could see "The Devil Wears Prada" is because it was playing on every theatre screen across America - and that was because they were playing it. And, if you can't see "Little Children" or "Pan's Labyrinth" or "The Queen" or... eh, all these great movies that I've just seen, "Volver", "Notes on a Scandal", "Sherrybaby" then you have to go down to your theater manager and ask him "why". 'Cause its amazing how much you can get if you quietly, clearly and authoritatively demand it! That's all."

Anyways, I watched 3 movies this afternoon -- 2 of which are Oscar-nominated. First in line is Happy Feet. True that I enjoyed the soundtrack (it's important to me that a movie has a great soundtrack) and I loved Gloria's rendition of Somebody to Love (I actually don't think that a good singer can mess up this Queen classic, the song is that good), but I was disappointed with this one. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I was probably too hyped up with all the reviews and the-making-of shows that watching the movie didn't quite live up to my expectation. I thought the movie lacked cohesiveness. It showed every aspect they can about the love and life of penguins but the scenes were not "flowing" as seamlessly. At one point I actually thought that it would have been better for me if I just watched a feature in the Discovery Channel. I did like the scenes where Ramon and Lovelace are in it -- they have the voice of Robin Williams. I don't think you can't go wrong with Robin Williams. He's really funny, that guy.

Second movie is Music and Lyrics. Now this isn't an Oscar-nominated film. I watched this for Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. Who doesn't love them? It's a feel-good romantic comedy about an '80s popstar has been (Alex) who is trying to rekindle his former glory days. He bides his time by fronting local shows and '80s-themed parties and finally gets his break when a current pop princess (who incidentally is a fan of his) commissioned him to do a duet for her. The love story comes in when Alex asked Sophie's help to write the lyrics with him. However, like Happy Feet, I didn't enjoy this one as much. And like Happy Feet, I enjoyed the soundtrack. Must be something in the air --'80s sounds are sounding good again. Hugh isn't a believable singer/composer. He doesn't have the talent and he couldn't muster passion for music. I loved Drew though. There's a reason why she's a darling of romantic comedies. Her portrayals are always likeable and relatable. And I loved her wardrobe! I loved her dresses! I'm gonna get me one of those dresses! I smell a wardrobe change this spring! All in all, this movie was a total bust -- thank God, it only cost me 5 euros. Still love Drew and Hugh though.

Last in the list is Notes on a Scandal. Now this one is a winner. Winner winner winner. The plot is exquisite, it's controversial it'll make you cringe and the dialogue is delicious. Judi Dench's portrayal of Barbara, a closeted lesbian falling in love with (while secretly sabotaging) Cate Blanchett's Sheba was Amazing. You'd really hate her in this film. I really like when she writes her thoughts in a journal, how calculating her words are, how she truly believes that she has Sheba in her hands. You just got to love a film with sick, sick characters. Cate's performance was also noteworthy. She's this married woman and Art Teacher who has an amorous relationship with her 15-yr old student. You get how confused she is, how she knows she's in really deep shit but somehow is powerless to deny this temptation. You see the struggle in her face when choosing between her family, being emotionally imprisoned by Barbara, and succumbing to clandestine meetings with her lover. Bill Nighy's performance albeit short as the cuckolded husband was also good. Which was actually surprising if you've seen him in Love Actually. I thought I'd experience cognitive dissonance but I didn't. After this move, I have to say, "You just gotta love the Brits."

I really enjoyed my day today. I really like watching movies be it in cable reruns, DVDs, laptops but most especially in the theater. I have come to love cinema food although I'm more of a nacho girl than popcorn (I like it when the chips are soaked in cheese and you'd get this squeshy feeling in your mouth when you chew them). There is something calming and comforting when after buying your something sweet, something salty, and something to flush 'em down, you take a 'calculated' good spot and watch your heart out from previews until the credits roll down.