ahhhhhhh

I watched this film at the weekend...




Delightful, as one would say back then. It really made me laugh, except for the screams. There is always a lot of screams in old films. Women are always hysterical and Men are always composed and strong. ha.

On other notes:
I'm living without any HOT WATER! The boiler needs replacing. The house is a mess. Help!

Love you, Tony

On why I love the Sopranos and Tony in particular...

I watched the last episode of the Sopranos last night. I was expecting something big, as there had been a lot of speculation about how it would end. I had avoided any peek into the ending before it was my time to stare at the TV. I won't get into details, in case you haven't seen it and plan to, but let's just say it didn't disappoint.

I'm a serial series addict. I don't watch everything but I've watched many, many shows in my lifetime. I have to say that the Sopranos is, by far, the greatest drama show ever made. Nothing compares to it. And the last episode provided an explanation to why it is so fantastic. It stays with you long after the show has ended. There are so many meanings behind everything that goes on in the show, there is so much to ponder about, so much that is said in silences and little actions, objects even...everything is deeply meaningful and sometimes deeply silly because those characters are human, they fail, they can be silly, immature, weak, pathetic.

The show wasn't always pleasant to watch, at times it was truly uncomfortable. You could either be enchanted by the normality of the family life, or completely disgusted and shocked at the characters' behaviour. It was like that with the main character, Tony Soprano. He did some very very bad things in the final season. Throughout the show, you could never count on him to behave in a particular way, you just never knew, because he was so human...but he was also a sociopath...And yet he could be so endearing. It'll be hard for me to forget about Tony Soprano, I'll still believe that he's out there, that he exists, he just doesn't come to my house every Monday anymore...

Classical vs. modern

I finished reading The Great Gatsby the other day and I thought I'd tell you how it went. I didn't hate it. There are interesting moments there, of intensity, of devotion, of sweetness. It was sweet that Gatsby was besotted with Daisy. But I didn't understand the role of the narrator there. The main character (if we can say that about someone that barely speaks their mind) was lifeless, he simply went behind those people that he found enchanting or interesting or curious...he didn't seem to have a mind of his own, especially not in the beginning. The tragical plot is a little forced too, but it wasn't a waste of my time.

I prefered Tender is the Night, it's a more profound, meaningful book.

At the same time, I watched a brilliant episode of the Sopranos and it made me compare the two experiences. In this episode, Tony Soprano is worried about his son's depression after her girlfriend let him. There are moments of absolutely brilliance in this episode, silent moments, and no words could ever portray everything in the characters' eyes, every word that is said or unsaid. It gave me so much more to think about than that book (even though the book doesn't seem dated, it feels rather modern). Maybe I didn't get the (probable) depth of the Great Gatsby, but this tv-show seemed a lot more meaningful and elaborate than the book.

Obviously I'm talking about two different art-forms here, but even though it isn't literature, the Sopranos is a modern classic now. Plus I have a hard time believing Tony Soprano doesn't exist in real life. ;)

Good stuff

Last week my eyes were glued to the screen watching The Tudors - you know how I love a good historical story, even if the facts have been changed to make a better adaptation to television.

At first I thought this was a mini-series, as there have been a few about Kings and Queens in the past, but at that point I had watched 5 episodes and King Henry VIII still hadn't divorced his FIRST wife. lol Then I realized it was a series, with seasons; season two is coming up but Henry has not been able to marry Anne Boleyn yet.

Portuguese television was kind to present us with all eleven episodes in four days, sometimes up to the three hours watching this...I was beginning to talk like anyone in the Court, your Grace, my Lady, my Lord ;)

Even though the plot is a little slow to develop, I enjoyed it very much. If I had to choose a word to describe the show, it would be: sexy haha.

weird is beautiful

I don't know exactly what I've been doing, apart from writing, but I have been busy somehow. Just don't ask me why because I can't be objective about time and tasks. Time seems to spin by my life without me being conscious of it.

The other day I watched a film called Music From Another Room and I'm happy when I can take at least one good idea from a film. Some are just so plain and predictable it's a complete waste of time. I understand that the point of watching something may be to pass the time, to relax, think about other things, but it really gets better when they give you something to think about.

This film is a typical romantic comedy, predictable and not very funny, but it has a great cast with Jennifer Tily, Jude Law and Jeremy Piven, etc...But what I enjoyed the most was the metaphor of love that was given.

Somebody asked what was being in love like and it was explained that it was similar to hearing a song play in another room and you know it well so you sing along to yourself. But then a noise comes in the middle and you stop listening to the song for some time, but you keep humming it to yourself, so when the noise ends, you can listen to the song again and you realize that you're humming it with the exact timing it is being played. I've been trying to understand how this is similar to love but it's not very clear. What do you think?

Other than that it annoyed me that I knew what twists and turns the film would take. We all know the stories we tell are always the same, it's only the characters and the details that change, the process is the same. Why? Because in order to mean anything to all of us, the story has to portray an archetype, symbols that are in our collective unconscious and that we all relate to. But sometimes that is so DULL. I want more films that are completely insane, where people are sad in the end, nobody grows wiser, nobody gets rich or sucessful or finds love. Maybe I want films that I simply cannot understand. And maybe I'm insane ;)

I think I've started many posts and they all ended up being deleted. Nothing was significant enough to be posted. I never wanted this blog to turn into something trivial and boring.

Then I realized that I was in such a demanding mode I might never blog again. I think this might be one of those crisis writers go through. I still don't want it to be fickle and common, but I'll have to take a chance.

I'm watching Before Sunrise on TV. I'm not one to watch films lots of times, but I've seen this one about 3 times. I'm sure I'll watch it again in the future because every time I do I cling on to something different that they said, I have a different feeling about what they went through. I hope to have a different feeling when I watch it in three or four years time.

I have to confess there is a part in my script that is similar to this film, but I really didn't notice it until I had all my ideas planned out - I guess it's one of those things that sticks to your unconscious because they ring so true and so perfect. But the ideas are there: two strangers meet in a big city - a brief encounter that becomes so meaningful. Unlikely, I know, but not impossible.

But my script isn't all just one night, so I could never put the amount of themes and feelings they managed to include in this night in Vienna. Some dialogues (and monologues) are simply magical. That is what I call a good script.

CELINE
So often in my life I've been with people and shared beautiful moments like traveling or staying up all night and watching the sunrise, and I knew it was a special moment, but something was always wrong. I wished I'd been with someone else. I knew that what I was feeling - exactly what was so important to me - they didn't understand. But I'm happy to be with you. You couldn't possibly know why a night like this is so important to my life right now, but it is. I think this is a great morning.
...
JESSE
I've never been anywhere I haven't been. I've never had a kiss when I wasn't one of the kissers. I've never been to the movies when I wasn't in the audience or gone out bowling when I wasn't around making some stupid joke. I think that's why so many people hate themselves. Seriously. It's just they are sick to death of being around themselves. (...) But being with you it's made me feel like I was somebody else. I mean the only other way to lose yourself like that is, you know, dancing or alcohol or drugs, or stuff like that.

Action!

OK, not so much action, but "action" as they say in the movies.
I had a weekend full of films. And good ones. On Saturday I watched Monster and was mesmerized by Charlize Theron's performance. How much more realistic could she be?
I couldn't really understand the director's position on the matter though - he could've made it into a drama, a sad thing with lots of tears, but he didn't. Despite the film having a very personal perspective with the narration of the character along with the scenes, in the end she is a little ridiculed. Despite focusing on the love story between the prostitute and the girl, there's not much exploration of how it felt for both of them when the girl handed the other to the police.
I wondered where the money for the rights of the story went. You can't just take somebody's story and not give someone credit for it - but she was already dead by then.
On Sunday I watched the Motorcycle Diaries. What can I say? It's beautiful. It's inspiring. The portrait they do of Che Guevara is of a sweet, compassionate man. Somehow that's not the kind of man you associate with revolutions. And that makes him even more special.
And then I stayed up until 5:20 am to watch the Oscars. Obviously I didn't have to get up in the morning, so I decided to take advantage of that. It was probably the first time I watched it until the end. But it was so boring and predictable. Nevertheless, it was a good night for GREEN, Al Gore and the environment. Not too bad, after all.