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October 19, 2004
Food for the Soul
I've been all busy and so didn't have the time to blog about the movies I've seen. But the wonderful thing about life is that it's an exponential effect. Activities and thought build up in a flurry before you can even notice it.
So, busy as I've been, I've had the chance to read and catch some very splendid movies. So let's do this hurriedly.
Movies caught were:
1) Evil - It's Dead Poet's Society with the oomph and without the mush and sentimentally. But it's all very inspiring. Build-up to climax was very well-done and character development and tension was handled masterfully. The lead was intense and perfect for his role. It shows how one can triumph evil, and not by turning to evil but to strength.
2) Distant Lights - Depressing movie about lives of various people from Germany/Poland and how the 1 mile river that separates the two nations separates more them more than just geographically. It shows teh disparities in life and how desperation can bring out the worst in people and how good intentions are not always well-appreciated. The movie was marred by direction with a hand-held camera. Gave me motion sickness.
3) Pandamonium - Perfect. This movie made me ecstatic! Based LOOSELY on the friendship of Coleridge and Wordsworth, it shows how their friendship deteriorated as Coleridge's brilliance and addiction to opium escalated. What enthralled me about the movie was how the characters were so stoked by their passions and by beautifully crafted words. Also, Coleridge's poetry seared the screen with the movie's intense visualisation of it. Splendid. A must-see.
Books:
One Man in Havana - Graham Greene
Totally hilarious!Graham Greene is at his satirical best! This is one book that gripped me at my comedic nerves so well I was laughing non-stop while being so touched by his beautiful words at the same time. I didn't want to put down the book. But when I did, I felt satisfied by the appropriate climax which was so wonderfully portrayed. This is a MUST-READ for all espionage fans. As well as all the romantics out there. The British Secret Service has never looked more ridiculous.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Gripping good ole storytelling as usual. This gothic story wasn't quite what I expected after all the mass-culture permutations of the title characters. I must say I'm pleasantly surprised by how the story turned out and it was a great read in the wake of Stoker and Shelley. For unlike Stoker and Shelley, Stevenson's Other is not so foreign after all, it is all within ourselves and o, how true is that?
Posted by lainey at October 19, 2004 09:03 PM