The Skinny on Cold Mountain.

i'm not going to elaborate much on cold mountain except for that fact that i do like it. it's a good story but nothing very extraordinary considering my year jumped off with the likes of dogville and irreversible. what really got on my good side are the acting performances by the ensemble cast. i do wish they'd stop plugging the movie with just the 3 actors who portray the main protagonists namely nicole kidman, jude law and renee zellweger who did great. of course, zellweger's ruby shone the brightest. i knew natalie portman was going to be in it and eventhough she had a relatively brief onscreen time, i was surprised there had been little media-mention about her part in it- like how other awesome actors in it haven't been spotlighted much- philip seymour hoffman (one of my fave actors), donald sutherland, giovanni ribisi, jenna malone, cillian murphy (whom i developed a penchant for after watching 28 days later), charlie hunnam (who last portrayed nicholas nickleby with a weird, watery english accent, and who sounds weird and watery still with a southern accent), etc. perhaps it was purposely done on minghella's part- it did give me a pleasant surprise. it was like regular guests making appearances on the late show with johnny carson!!! in character of course... hehehe.

i totally loved that scene... all that sexual tension was killing me!! ahaha.

Do I Have the Pleasure of your Acquaintance?

there're pockets of time when i get especially fixated on movies of a particular genre, or by a particular director or acted in by a particular performer. and over the weekend, i suddenly developed a more keen taste for musicals. for those not in the know, the header in bold is one of the more popular lines of the character fagin from oliver! after lunch in town, i came home and raided my dad's extensive collection of dvds, lds and vcds and pulled out an american in paris. i found myself missing gene kelly all of a sudden and reminiscing the last performance i'd seen him in- big with tom hanks. when they danced on that giant keyboard, i betcha hanks must've felt like the luckiest bastard on earth.

i found myself pondering about a couple of things... how an american in paris was unceremoniously thrown into pseudo obscurity due to the ridiculously huge success of singin' in the rain. how, despite a couple of conventional sensibilities peppering the film, the movie did portray a number of views that are rather unconventional in the 1950s- the peak period when the US of A are heavily plugging the idea of the American Dream. that post-war era when the men return to home shores and must re-assume the role of leader and tough, macho head of the house. but this film has a sugar mummy, milo roberts (nina foch) an upper class woman who has superior financial powers over the protagonist, a broke and unknown american artist jerry mulligan (gene kelly). she buys his paintings and offered to help jump start his career. and the fact was pointed out when in a funny moment jerry's friend, oscar, asked him "after u two are married, do u intend to keep your maiden name?" and jerry's love interest lise two times between him and another suitor. pretty interesting watch after i thought about the common perspectives post-war america practically shoves down the throats of its citizens.

then there was grease on 5. one of my fave movies of all time!!! =) i remember the days when my elder sister and i would put the video (it was video then ok!!!) on and just watch it day after day after day. we pretty much memorised the songs, the lyrics and even bits of the script which we sometimes re-enact for fun. grease 2 has nothing on this!!! although i admit we watch that one sometimes too. grease is the word!!! =p


i ended my day with the oliver! 30th anniversary dvd... which was gorgeously remastered. i didn't get to catch the performance on stage last year cuz i was already in perth. awesome movie as ever! it brings back the good ol' days when certain long films and musicals had overtures, intermission and exit music. even to this day, when my dad and i were to attend relatively long films, the return of the king for one, he'd always ask me (with a tinge of hope), if there'd be an intermission... and my reply would always be the same, "what year do u think this is???"

picture courtesy of a fansite.

then lars von trier's dancer in the dark invaded my riverie. as much as i enjoy musicals from the 50s and 60s, and even some of those from our contemporary generation, they are the epitome of hollywood kitsch- a false dream which is manufactured, packaged and sold to the ever-hungry public for saccharine happy endings. these forces can be destructive when the rug is pulled from under all of us to reveal the true, harsh nature of reality.

ok, i climb down from my soapbox now... =p happy belated valentine's day, pple... a hugely commercialised event where prices for flowers, candies and what-not sky rocket to ridiculous proportions...ok, ok, i promise to keep my soapbox now.. really! enjoy your weekend... moulin rouge later on, on 5!! hehe.