Le weekend update

With all the public holidays we’ve had in the last month, I started getting really disoriented this weekend. Thankfully (and I never thought I’d be saying that about long weekends) this weekend was the last and now I can get my bearings. I feel like I haven’t been posting meatier blogs recently, though in my defense my  mind’s been preoccupied with writing, reading and watching movies this last while, which tend to result in blogging. So an update of sorts.

• Went to watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine this weekend. As you may know I was a little skeptical about what Gavin Hood could have done with this much anticipated prequel, but I was actually a lot less disappointed than I thought I would be. The movie turned out to be really fun, action-packed and true to canon. Some critics say it was too close to the original stories in that only fanatics would be satisfied with the ’slow’ pace of the movie, but as someone who only watched the cartoons as a child and so falls somewhere in the middle, I think the movie did a good job of packing story-telling and entertainment together. Then again, it may not have felt that long only because I was drooling over Hugh Jackman.
• There were some of the most fantastic trailers before the movie, which has made me intensely excited for the rest of the year’s movie-watching. Of course there was the Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince trailer which had me literally quivering with excitement in my seat. I am going to be an utter mess if I don’t book to see that movie immediately when it comes out here. Other trailers which had me hanging off the edge of my seat were: Star Trek (I never thought I’d say this, but WOW), Terminator Salvation, Transformers 2 and for a little interest, Angels and Demons. For fans of the franchise, Ice Age 3 looks like a laugh. This very week sees Coraline in 3D released here in S.A. I think I just peed myself.
• Went to see The Reader with C yesterday. It’s at the Cinema Nouveau in Gateway, and I think C and I were the only ones in the cinema who weren’t of the undead. I have never been in such a quiet theatre, C was terrified of chewing her popcorn, and I slipped my unopened MnM’s back into my bag (do you know how much noise it makes opening one of those packs?!) especially after Crazy Lady’s minor tantrum a few rows back during the commercials (“I can’t take the talking! I can’t take it!”). The Reader is about a young German boy who has a summer affair with an older woman. She disappears and he comes into contact with her later on in life. The film itself was really moving, though there was a severe problem with ageing the characters properly, which made things confusing. Kate Winslet is a brave woman, an actress in her own league. The movie’s been criticised for encouraging Nazi sympathy, but the true essence of the story is the question of morality and pride. To say anymore would be to give the story away. Go watch it, it’s worth the time. Take tupperware snacks.
• This weekend was rather bleak. Friends were otherwise occupied. I had a strange I Am Legend moment standing in the yard with Xander (curiously paying me attention, could probably sense how pathetic I felt) curling around my legs. I literally haven’t seen any of my friends (except C this weekend) since last Monday or so. For me, at this point in life, it’s a bit weird, especially since there’ve been so many public holidays, but then again, that’s probably why.
• Worst weekend moment – slinking half-asleep to the movies Saturday morning only to come face to face with one of the craziest, most obnoxious characters I know. My heart plummeted as I realised where the conversation was heading, when they mentioned (there were two of them, one is nice) that they were also going to see the same show I was seeing, and wouldn’t it just be splendidly awesome if we all sat together? This followed a particularly sympathetic look when I said that no, I wasn’t meeting anyone, I was there to watch a movie on my own (cause you know, that’s a sign of clinical depression and wot not). I tried sneaking in my myself and hiding – don’tmovedon’tbreathedon’tmakeanysuddenmovements – which worked until I crossed my legs without thinking and they spotted me from the back row, and came blustering over. Luckily, if you could call it that, Obnoxious sat the furtherest away from me, although the volume of his obnoxiouness could not be contained and I was subjected to it in the form of impossibly extended laughing and comments for most of the movie. Yet another undeserving fool who Wolverine has saved.

Watched Fame on DVD with my mother. WTF. I know it’s supposed to be an amazing movie for it’s time and wotnot, and I enjoyed some of it very much considering I’m not a musicals fan, but where was the storyline? It was like watching a disjointed newsreel of a few teenagers traumatic life moments – interspersed with clips of dancing and singing – and then it was over. I get that it’s the concept of Fame which it looks at, and certainly no High School Musical (thank goodness) but it kind of sucked. There was one really interesting character, Ralph Garci. For some reason I really connected with that character, in the way that makes you feel like you’re catching glimpses of yourself in a mirror. There’s one particular scene where the kids have to take the stage and bring a really bad memory or feeling to the fore:

(Fame)

Ralph: We can’t have happy people walking on this planet.

Everybody’s gotta be so goddamn serious.

Everyone’s gotta stay in business

and suffer so the witch doctors

and the deodorant-spray people

and plastic surgeons could stay in business.

And we can all go fucking pray to the asshole God up there that fucked it up in the first place!

Teacher: Does all this make you realize anything about yourself?

Ralph: What?

Teacher: How does it affect you?

Ralph: How does it affect me? I’m here, and I’m in this fucking school.

I think what really hit home overall wasn’t so much his issues and passions, some of which I share, but more the portrayal of his character, a personality that brings so much laughter and lightness to the movie in many parts, only to end up having quite a dark and sobering backdrop for his comedy, a difficulty with his identity and a desperation to be an agent of change. I sometimes feel like that, the clown, trying to get people to laugh at stuff while actually feeling completely heartsore. I guess it’s the melancholy side of my nature, but I tend to see the humor in the ridiculously awful (which is quite possible why I love Tim Minchin’s stuff so much). It got me thinking about comedians in general, and why it is that the funniest people we know seem to have the most contrasting personal lives or life experiences.

Despite having some really shitty things in my life for a long time, I haven’t managed to ever lose my joy for very long. Sometimes I annoy myself when I joke about the important things, the things I feel I shouldn’t be joking about because it makes people think I’m not as affected by it as I am, but all in all I think it’s that sense of humor that’s actually pulled me through some rough situations, being able to see just how laughable and petty some of the biggest problems we have, are. I wonder if humor is the difference between people who manage better for longer and those who clock out on life, or just another way of dealing with stress.

Introspection over. And so’s this post. I’m hungry…