Movie Week

The hubby and I are quite accomplished legitimate scam artists; we're very good at getting lots of things for free without breaking the rules, or only bending them slightly. Our current success is quite a number of free movie tickets, and we're making good use of them. And I have to say, it's a great time of year to be able to hit the movies frequently, because there are a some pretty fantastic ones out right now.

Last night, we saw Juno, which I absolutely adored. It has so many things going for it: it's a simple story brilliantly told, the dialogue is phenomenally witty and colourful, the acting is spot-on, and it's Canadian up the wazoo (directed by a Canadian, Jason Reitman, acted mainly by Canadians, including Ellen Page and Michael Cera, who hails from Brampton of all places, and filmed in Vancouver). The hubby and I left the theatre in fantastic moods, and it's not many movies that can influence you emotionally like that. We've both been humming the song from the end all day long, and we can't get the film out of our heads. It was that good. I really hope that Ellen Page gets nominated for an Oscar, because she completely deserves it.

Tonight, we saw Atonement, which took me quite a while to recover from. I read the novel three months ago or so, and really liked it, although I found it difficult to deal with emotionally, as I'm a big sap who loves happy endings. The film was just as moving, if not more so. Actually, definitely more so. The acting was really very good; Keira Knightley did much better than I thought she would, and James McAvoy was great. So was Romola Garai, surprisingly; I had only seen her in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, which wasn't exactly a cinematic tour de force. Atonement also has one of the best sex scenes I've ever seen, and I think everyone in the audience was happy that it was as dark as it was, because I could sense that they were all equally flustered. Ian McEwan, who wrote the novel on which the film is based, gave it his full approval, which says a lot. This is another movie that is going to be up for some serious Oscar nods in the new year. I have to say, though, I did like Juno better. I'm going to need to watch Atonement again, though. I spent most of the movie anticipating what I knew happened in the novel, but now that I've seen it once through, I think I can watch it more objectively. It was still a really beautiful and powerful film, though.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to see Sweeney Todd while the hubby and a friend see I Am Legend. Neither of us is particularly interested in seeing what the other wants to see, so we're just going to go our separate ways and meet up for drinks afterwards. I think Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, and Helena Bonham Carter in combination are dynamite, and with a great script and singing involved, I'm sure it's going to be good.

The last movie that I need to see before the break is over is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I read the book back when it came out, and the story is so fascinating: the French editor of Elle magazine suffers a stroke and from then on has what is called "Locked-in syndrome". His mind functions perfectly but his entire body except for his left eye is paralysed. His therapist devises a way for him to communicate by blinking his left eye, and he uses that method to write a book. Apparently much of the movie is shown from his perspective, which is going to be both interesting and disturbing, I think. I can't wait!

I'm quite glad that the writers' strike is happening. Most mainstream television is awful, and I'd much rather just go see a good movie or read a book. Now, I'm not tempted to give in and just watch t.v. for the sake of watching, and I feel better for it. Vive le cinema!