Mostly movies

"God may not play dice but he enjoys a good round of Trivial Pursuit every now and again"

Federico Fellini
(courtesy of Wikiquote, still in its beginning stages but already showing great promise)

I saw 8 1/2 at the beginning of the summer. My first Fellini, I guess that counts as a momentous experience. And I must say, I was mesmerized, didn't take my eyes off the screen for a second...but my thoughts sometimes wandered. I don't know, maybe Fellini wouldn't have minded that in my head my associations and his got terribly confused and entangled.

I feel totally inequipped to really review 8 1/2 here. I don't even want to describe it, because I went in knowing next to nothing about the plot (well, about what it was about... the notion of plot is largely absent) and I think that's the best way to come into this film. Unprepared. Free of preconceptions.

I need to see if Ican get my hands on La dolce vita now. That's the dilemma with classics, or even often with indie movies. They don't rent them out at your local blockbuster, and buying them, well, is risky. If you end up not liking the movie, that's 20 euro down the drain.

I did buy a classic yesterday, but it was a safe bet: I saw it about a year ago on TV. I missed the first twenty minutes, it was cropped, grainy, and I didn't understand about half the words, but I loved in anyhow. The film was Jules et Jim by Truffaut, and I now own it. I watched the first half hour and fell in love all over again.

I also saw Masculin Feminin by Godard at the DVD store, a movie I've wanted to see for ages, but didn't dare take the risk. Wimp that I am. Or just plain cheap, depending on how you look at it.

One last DVD newsbit, my mom bought me one of my favorite films, by one of the most interesting, possibly brilliant young directors out there today, Wes Anderson. I like all his films, but my favorite remains The Royal Tenenbaums. Unfortunately, the European version of the DVD does not have the Anderson commentary, but still, I'm happy I'll be able to watch it whenever now.

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Recommended reading: Short short stories by Dave Eggers. Teasing, leaving you hungry for more, but how can you resist an author who writes 2 page stories with opening sentences like:

"Yes, it is finally the time to tell the story about the sheep from that one island whose name is forgotten but which rhymes with Godiva."

I certainly can't, but then, I get transported with joy by the most unlikely things.

Recommended listening:

Architecture in Helsinki - The Owls Go
Iron and Wine - Cinder and Smoke
The Notwist - Consequence

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Link Selection:

Looking at the stars...
Hip to be square (courtesy of Geek Philosophy)
Brokeback Mountain

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One last thing, to get it out of the way: I am definitely planning on updating this blog more often, but every single creative thought in the past week has been kidnapped by the boomerang. For the UCU'ers among you, you'll see it soon, for others, I will probably post some of the articles here after the boomy's been published, so in about a month.

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Any reactions welcome!

Hedwig