I'm writing this while I'm watching Once. I can't stop watching movies. It's like the film gods I've been avoiding for years have caught up to me so after years of devoting my brain-dead-watching-a-box time to tv I'm being dragged into celluloid overload.
John is here from New York and since Momo is in China I get to spend plenty of time with my baby bro. It's nice. But all he wants to do is watch movies. So here I am. I've watched more movies in the past two weeks than I have in the past two years, and I'm thoroughly humbled by the creativity that's out there (granted John is a strict adherent to the Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic guides to life) so National Treasure has not yet made it on the list. Nowhere near it. I'm even having to sneak Once in while he's off making Monastary Mushroom Beer soup. He doesn't like the British. Nor their films. (I also sneaked We are Marshall in last night- I won't even tell you what John thinks about football movies that have garnered a mere 53% approval rating)
but anyway.... this vacation has become two weeks of near equal parts of scrawling on 15 year-old commentaries on Crime and Punishment and movie watching. I have to wonder how many layers back from life I am existing right now. Plato wasn't much of a fan of the arts. He thought making an inaccurate copy of an imperfect life was sort of pathetic. In You've Got Mail (another movie I watched this break on the sly..gotta do something to lift the heavy weights of Eastern Promises, No Country for Old Men, etc.) I was struck by the line she says that was something to the effect of that she keeps thinking that life reminds her of something in a book instead of something in a book reminding her of life. She vaguely supposes that it should be the other way around.
I don't see myself in the movies. I don't see myself in books. Not even TV (although I can find a scene from a Friends episode that will match just about any moment in life.) I think that they're nice pictures and all. I do spend my life in fiction (many may argue in more ways than one) but no matter how high the metacritic rating. It isn't life. Life's so much more. So much harder, and so much better.
Tomorrow's goal: Spend at least four hours totally disconnected from fiction. Find a mini-adventure. Maybe I'll even post the results.
Tonight's goal: Get at least five more essays graded before I go see Sweeney Todd.
About Me
- Lauren
- Lauren Monahan. In the past year I have: lived in NYC; attended a fancy foods convention (free gourmet cheese and chocolate galore); been an associate producer on a documentary; attended the opening of the first Chinese opera to perform at the Met; fallen in love; learned to use a mac and wi-fi; flown to Italy on the same flight as the large guy from Lost; Lost my keys more than once; written four chapters and an outline for a young adult novel; been rejected by the New Yorker's poetry editor; placed in the RCL karaoke competition on my 30, flirty, and thriving cruise; become an aunt; turned 30; overlooked Barcelona from both a cable car and Park Guell, completed yet another week-long AP training conference, attended a party with Placido Domingo, a couple of famous directors, and other fancy people; trained my first student teacher; dated men way out of my league; joined the character counts committee at work; fallen in love with 170 more amazing teenagers; discovered a love for Chuao's 73; re-discovered a love for Faulkner; got a new sweet beach cruiser with a wicker basket; been happy for at least a few hours on all 365 days.
6 comments:
How fun to have your brother in town! :) Mark came in from PA with his wife for a week and I hadn't seen him in almost 2 years...it was great! I like John do reffer to Rotten Tomatoes quite a bit, however, I do like to adventure out and see whatever it is that catches my eye...so how was Sweeney Todd? Just as bloody as the original? I want to see National Treasure too...too bad we don't live closer, Dan isn't much of a movie fan and I love movies! :) Anyways, hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have a great New Year!
Didn't end up making it to S.T. last night. I wrote a couple o pages on my never ending book. It's so frustrating; I am so far from where I want to be. I did see National Treasure tonight, though. It wasn't a classic, but it was a ton of fun.
How was Once? Looked interesting.
Once was fantastic. It has one of the most simple plotlines I've ever seen. The acting is understated, and could've worked as a short film, but the great music draws it out. It's not the typical musical; characters don't just burst out into song- they are working on a recording so the music should be there plot-wise. It makes it less corny. I recommend being in the right mood for it, though. It's not a popcorn and milk duds blockbuster- more like a perfect apple on a rainy day kind of movie. How's Hawaii?
Hawaii is a bit cold and rainy lately...but still Hawaii, so who could complain right?! Come for a visit!
Your like the 4th person who has raved about once in the past 2 days- so now it's going in the netflix que.
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