Excerpted from Mindy Kaling in the New Yorker
Describing archetypal characters from romantic comedies:
The Ethereal Weirdo
The smart and funny writer Nathan Rabin coined the term Manic Pixie Dream Girl to describe this archetype after seeing Kirsten Dunst in the movie “Elizabethtown.” This girl can’t be pinned down and may or may not show up when you make concrete plans with her. She wears gauzy blouses and braids. She likes to dance in the rain and she weeps uncontrollably if she sees a sign for a missing dog or cat. She might spin a globe, place her finger on a random spot, and decide to move there. The Ethereal Weirdo appears a lot in movies, but nowhere else. If she were from real life, people would think she was a homeless woman and would cross the street to avoid her. But she is essential to the male fantasy that even if a guy is boring he deserves a woman who will find him fascinating and perk up his dreary life by forcing him to go skinny-dipping in a stranger’s pool.
Read the article here.
I have never loved a dragon so much in my life.
Rebecca and I watched How to Train Your Dragon tonight. We didn’t see it in 3D (see Roger Ebert’s opinion on 3D) but we both really liked it! Dreamworks generally sucks when it comes to animated movies, but they really hit the mark with this one. They did a great job with Toothless’s personality.
Try to ignore the terrible Shrek trailer.
I saw Nina, David and Elsie tonight, also. PLUS JD was in town. Quality night, quality friends.
I leave for Colorado tomorrow, and I’ll be there for a week, so this blog is going to be pretty dead; I don’t care enough to schedule posts to show up mid-week. Maybe I’ll update when I’m at the coffee shop e-mailing assignments to my professors.
Miyazaki is the Japanese creator of “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Spirited Away,” “Howl’s Moving Castle” and many other beloved films. Already I have heard from a few people who don’t want to see it “because it’s Japanese.” This is solid-gold ignorance. “Is it only dubbed?” I was asked. You dummy! All animated films are dubbed! Little Nemo can’t really speak!
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Roger Ebert in his review of “Ponyo”
Sincerely, if you haven’t seen “Ponyo”, rent it. Or just buy it. Animation at its finest.
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pedrosanchez:
can’t handle myself. marlon brando’s wardrobe in on the waterfront, and the way he carries himself in that movie, and how he interacts with eva marie saint….nope, can’t handle it. i mean, if some guy came up to me the way he came up to her, and talked the way he did, i’d be sold, enough is enough! i’m yours.
I watched this movie in Film Appreciation on Friday!
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
28 plays
Dario Marianelli - Elegy for Dunkirk (from Atonement)
There are few film scores that actually inspire me to listen to them over and over. I find myself returning—often—to Marianelli’s work from Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. It’s really beautiful music. (I had to convert a m4a file to mp3 to use Tumblr’s audio upload system. Sorry!)
Also, the scene during which this song plays is incredible.
favorite films i saw at the movies in 2009
pedrosanchez:
1. Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki)
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson)
3. Up (Pete Docter, Bob Peterson)
yes, i know i’m pathetic, f off
In all honesty, this pretty much sums it up for me as well. I don’t feel like any non-animated films came out that I could justify investing in emotionally.
I have to go see “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” tonight as a class field trip. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
pedrosanchez:
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, 2009 (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
This movie is my version of the happy pill.
Oh, it’s so good. I want to own this.
a-eliz:
goops:
A still I took while watching Ponyo. I am not sure if this is illegal or not. :o
I loved this movie! Very adorable. :)
Rebecca, Sara and I saw this movie. We liked it a lot!
I think that compared to the last Miyazaki film I saw—“Howl’s Moving Castle”—this one was more accessible and not as “weird.”
