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lion in winter, master and commander
Nov. 30th, 2003 03:29 amSaw two great movies today – the first, The Lion in Winter, was one I've been meaning to see for ages and ages. It was just as great as I'd expected and hoped it would be, the dialogue often so funny and sharp that I had to rewind several scenes to get the full effect. As with nearly all films about the monarchy, past or present (Roman Holiday included), it reminded me how fortunate I am not to be a princess. For instance, through most of The Lion in Winter, the character I identified most with was the hunched-over young son with poor hygiene – not for those oh-so-attractive physical characteristics (though, come to think of it, I do have poor posture – but I do bathe regularly) – but because he had about as much finesse with and understanding of the complex royal dealings within the movie as I do or would. Half the time I had to pause the movie to go over things with my mother ("So, okay, this whole Acquitaine thing? What's the deal there?"), and ended up going up to our mass of outdated Encyclopedias after the movie to get a better background of the events it described.
That said – Katharine Hepburn? So awesome. To be expected, of course, since I knew she won an Oscar for the role and I've always loved her stuff anyway, but oh, must state the obvious, she was so fantastic in this. One of the things I love most about Katharine Hepburn is how she never – in her life or in her roles – seemed to ask for pity. Which is not to say that she was cold, or remote; in fact, it's the opposite to me. She always came across as a person to be respected, as someone who knew who she was and was willing to bear the burden of it, but still human enough to occasionally have moments where she let the weight of loneliness or sadness or pain show, often in spite of herself. Even in her sillier movies, like Bringing Up Baby or Holiday, where she played ridiculous characters (especially in the first), she was always so self-assured about her silliness, so confident and brave about it, that you couldn't help but love her and want to be like her and ache for her when she suffered.
I know, it's all stuff hundreds of people have said before and better about Kate, but there's my contribution.
The second movie I saw just came out in the theaters, so it gets a cut tag – ( Master and Commander )
And holy crap, it's almost 3:30 in the morning. My whole plan was to go to bed early so I would get up early tomorrow and Get Stuff Done because I have a presentation in class Monday night and work is going to be hellacious this week, I just know it. But I have to remember that my new thing is not caring. Wait, that sounds bad. What I mean is: My new thing in life is not stressing, and enjoying things more. How often have I said this? But this time I really mean it!
Bedtime now.
That said – Katharine Hepburn? So awesome. To be expected, of course, since I knew she won an Oscar for the role and I've always loved her stuff anyway, but oh, must state the obvious, she was so fantastic in this. One of the things I love most about Katharine Hepburn is how she never – in her life or in her roles – seemed to ask for pity. Which is not to say that she was cold, or remote; in fact, it's the opposite to me. She always came across as a person to be respected, as someone who knew who she was and was willing to bear the burden of it, but still human enough to occasionally have moments where she let the weight of loneliness or sadness or pain show, often in spite of herself. Even in her sillier movies, like Bringing Up Baby or Holiday, where she played ridiculous characters (especially in the first), she was always so self-assured about her silliness, so confident and brave about it, that you couldn't help but love her and want to be like her and ache for her when she suffered.
I know, it's all stuff hundreds of people have said before and better about Kate, but there's my contribution.
The second movie I saw just came out in the theaters, so it gets a cut tag – ( Master and Commander )
And holy crap, it's almost 3:30 in the morning. My whole plan was to go to bed early so I would get up early tomorrow and Get Stuff Done because I have a presentation in class Monday night and work is going to be hellacious this week, I just know it. But I have to remember that my new thing is not caring. Wait, that sounds bad. What I mean is: My new thing in life is not stressing, and enjoying things more. How often have I said this? But this time I really mean it!
Bedtime now.
