worry about growing up....

An elegy is a song or poem for the dead. In Isabel Coixet's film, Elegy, she ponders what makes life worth living. It is a story about love and mortality done beautifully and elegantly. The story hinges upon David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley), a college professor and cerebral celebrity, who, against his will, falls for his student, Consuela Castillo (Penelope Cruz). Now this isn't your typical hot-for-teacher relationship (although it may start off that way). These two people have a genuine connection that permeates through the screen. David has this paranoia of being tied down to anyone and left his wife and child years ago, which his now adult son has never forgiven him for. He is so adamant about having a life of independence that he doesn't realize he might be happy with someone. This is not helped by the fact his best friend, George (Dennis Hopper), is feeding him absurdities about the inevitable failures of his relationship. David seems to think he can keep his feelings at bay with the help of his other lover, Carolyn (Patricia Clarkson), who only pops over every once in a while for casual sex. The dialogue of the film is beautiful with lines such as "when you make love to a woman you get revenge for all the things that defeated you in life". I really recommend this film. Although it may be slow at times, I think the images are beautiful and the progression of the narrative from start to end really makes you wonder who would lament for you.

brick by brick....

Brick is a neo-noir tale where all the suspects aren't old enough to legally buy alcohol. The plot centers around Brendan, our outcast sleuth, who is looking for the murderer of his ex-lover. His journey for the truth leads him into the seedy underworld of his high school's social elite. He finds himself entangled in the lives of stock characters of film noir, including a femme fatale who has her eyes on him, played by Nora Zehetner. Even though the film is set on the football fields of today, the dialogue harkens back to Humphrey Bogart with a cigarette in his mouth. And although all the houses look the same in this generic subarbian town, there is violence that is worthy of a Robert Mitchum flick. I enjoyed the film a lot and it even won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. See if you can figure out the mystery before Brendan does, gumshoe.

with words of love....

On Mother's Day this year I took my mother to see Letters to Juliet. My mom's a tricky minx. She only watches romance movies and she's very specific about them. She desires sweeping epics and grand gestures that culminate into the romantic equivalent of a sonic boom. Her favorite movies are The Notebook (not surprising) and the Sissi L'Imperatrice anthology. She's read all of Nicholas Sparks' novels with a critical eye and when I took her to see Dear John, she was outraged at the mediocre ending. However she genuinely liked Letters to Juliet, which ultimately meant that while she was swooning, I was gagging in my seat. Now that doesn't mean it's a tragically bad movie. It has everything you expect from the genre. Amanda Seyfried, in her doe-eyed girly perfection, portrays the role of Sophie, an aspiring writer who finds inspiration for a story while on a pre-wedding vacation with her fiance. While in the city of Verona, she encounters a group of women who refer to themselves as the Secretaries of Juliet, because they respond to the thousands of letters women write in romantic desperation to Ms. Capulet in search of advice. Sophie answers one of these letters that causes Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) to return to a fifty-year old journey for love. Of course on the way Claire finds her lover and Sophie begins to fall for Claire's grandson. The plot is predictable and the dialogue is superficial. The saving grace of the film is the supporting cast. Regardless of the film's lack of real interest in Claire's character, Ms. Redgrave proves that she's a true actor and makes her simple moments on screen enjoyable and poignant. Gael Garcia Bernal, who plays Sophie's chef fiance, is so much fun to watch and I found myself actually rooting for him. Maybe I just hate other people's happiness. I don't think this film possess the same passion that The Notebook exudes but if you're looking for a simple film to make you simply remember love, than maybe writing to Juliet wouldn't be the worst thing.



The actor that play Claire's long lost love, Franco Nero, is Vanessa Redgrave's actual husband. Now that's romantic.

as we go on, we remember.....

The time has dawned on us when we must think of the future.  Your faithful Biddie is about to make the transition from undergrad to alum . For twenty-two years I have traveled on the yellow brick road, and at the doorstep of Oz, I've just realized that I have no idea how to get in and what to do while I'm there. Though I'm terrified of the upcoming adventure that lies beyond those emerald gates, I seek solace through films such as Reality Bites. While it may be specifically speaking to the post 80s hair band, nirvana loving, flannel and Gap clad stoners of the 90s, many of the issues of the film are applicable to us. Why does a college degree suddenly mean that I'm equipped to handle life without a color-coded map? Leilana Pierce (Winona Ryder) and friends travel the uncharted territories of their 20s without authoritative guidance. While they may not be conquering their dreams, they are making a valiant effort of trying to be the people they've aspired to be. I find myself on a parallel journey with Leilana. I am trying to fashion a career out of my film obsession and I haven't got the slightlest clue what the first step is. Yet Leilana seems to manage without completely losing her shit and that gives me hope that the impossible only exists in the mind. So instead of posting a collage of my finest college moments consisting of beer pong, jager bombs, and cramming for finals or posting the track for Vitamin C's Graduation song, I'll leave you with one of my favorite scenes. I wish you the finest luck and pray you find a way to pay your student loans and get medical insurance.



Our futures consist of buying groceries at the gas station and dancing to hits of the 1970s. How awesome?!

if you could make God bleed...

So last night I saw Iron Man 2 with my partner in crime (Imah). I must say that I was surprised. After reading some craptastic reviews, I went in with low expectations. Was it as good as the original? No. Was it the worst way to spend 13 bucks? No, I've done way worst (But let's not get into my extracurricular activities). I will say it's definitely the type of movie that needs to be seen at the theaters and, preferably, with a crowd that loves the comic book genre. There are a ton of laughs, as expected from the witty, crass Tony Stark (played perfectly by uuber hot Robert Downey Jr). There are intense fight scenes that take up at least three-quarters of the film. There's also a lot of unexpected dancing, by both RDJ and Sam Rockwell, who in my opinion stole the film. Mickey Rourke, who partied it up with me and Imah a few weeks ago, was the weirdest Russian I ever did meet. Word to all actors, if you can't perform an accent, just mumble your words. Apparently that's the method Rourke was going for. Every time he attempted to speak, I had to ask Imah, who obviously has relations to the Russian mafia, what the hell he was saying. In the film's opening scene, he's in Siberia, mourning his dead father, with the scariest hybrid of a cackle and a cry. Uh, frightening! However, even though I enjoyed myself, there were some flaws. The female characters were simply used to provide some estrogen to the screen and didn't really add much to storyline. The film also failed to develop Tony Stark past his Iron Man costume. Sure they delve into his dead dad a little but Stark has no real genuine connection with anyone and it makes his actions a little too self-indulgent. Maybe he's simply a man in an iron mask.

and the post's title is a reference to a line in the movie.

Postscript: make sure you stay till after the credits for a fun treat!