Long time no see - I've been to the movies a lot

Whoops, it's been awhile since I was here. I hope you all missed me!

I've finally got my last assessments out of the way, and my trial exams, so the stress-induced freakout of my last post has abated. In order to pass the free time (heheh, what is the 'free time' you speak of?) and/or procrastinate from studying, I have seen not one, but three excellent films in the last couple of weeks: The Young Victoria, UP, and Mao's Last Dancer.

The Young Victoria is an absolutely beautiful film. The impeccable cast, led by the wonderful Emily Blunt, is only one aspect of the film's achievement. The cinematography (not that I pretend to know anything about cinematography) was beautiful. I'll admit that I'm a sucker for love stories, royalty and history, and this film excels in all three, so perhaps I am a little biased. I really did love this film though. Highly recommended.

UP was, as always, a wonderful Pixar achievement. I've decided that Pixar films are always perfect because they take so bloody long to make, that any tiny imperfection in plot, character, animation, etc is picked up. UP is very different from it's predecessor, WALL-E, and certainly had big shoes to fill, but the film manages to go above and beyond what we expect from a children's movie. Like the first Shrek movie, Finding Nemo and other giants of this genre, UP makes adults and children alike laugh and cry (including one memorable moment where my friend CC managed to do both at the same time). I loved the fleeting nods to the "Dogs Playing Poker" series of paintings and the Star Wars X-Wings. I can also assure you that I will be yelling "SQUIRREL!" randomly in the middle of sentences from now on. Anyway, if you haven't seen this movie yet, you really, really should. Don't wait for the DVD.

Finally, we have Mao's Last Dancer. I really wish I'd read the book before I went to see the film, but that's just because I'm a Reader with a capital R, not because the movie didn't make sense. It was a really lovely film; it didn't have the breathtaking beauty of The Young Victoria (although the scenes in China were stunning), or the hilarity of UP, but it was definitely one of the better Aussie films I've seen in awhile, and it very nearly made me cry (which is definitely an achievement!). The knowledge that every word of it was true made it even more poignant (Li Cunxin, whose autobiography the film is based on, has recently been named Australia's Father of the Year). Also, the dancing is spectacular. Again, I highly recommend this film.

So there you have it - my last couple of weeks summed up in three films, and three exams. That's seriously all I've been doing. My life is boring (or should I say average?). Props to M for seeing two of these with me :)


Quote of the day:
"Hey, I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, 'I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead.' Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead." - Dug the dog, Pixar's UP