First thing's first, I'm writing this on Cocoa's Mac. But I'm at the Wired Cafe in Roehampton. With her. And Stella. But I'm not going to write about why I'm here, what essay I'm helping her with, or what film Stella is watching. Actually, I will talk about the film, just not yet.
I mentioned a while ago that I would beat Portal in under an hour. I did. I managed it in 56 minutes the next time and 54 the time after that. Seeing people do it in 15 was demoralising, but I haven't played for a while, so I can't improve. And that's my excuse. My computer is still broken, and I can't be bothered or rich enough to fix it.
What I do want to talk about is movies that I think are great. One of these is Star Trek: Generations. Goodbye Kirk, hello Picard. This movie, apparently, fell into the odd-bad-even-good pattern, and being number seven, people said it was bad. I couldn't disagree more. Admittedly, it wasn't as stunning as First Contact, and Data was quite silly throughout, but I watched it again recently, and I love it. It was exciting all the way through, it had wonderful arrogant Shatner back as a captain, and it had the analogous Nexus, which was treated in accordance to my ideologies. I loved seeing it again, and rank it probably as my second favourite Star Trek film.
The film Stella is currently watching I have seen twice in the last month or so. Little Miss Sunshine. I missed it when it came out, but always wanted to see it. This movie is good on a different level to Star Trek films. The reason is that every character is completely real, and that makes it that every moment is relatable and relevant to any family, or anyone who grew up in a family. I loved this film, and could watch it repeatedly if I had the time. The best part of it for me though, is that every character, save Olive, the little girl, is unlikable and nasty at some point, but they all manage to redeem themselves throughout the film, without being cheesy or unrealistic. The shot of Olive playing the sliding tile game (of a smiley face) in the car while her family sits grumpily around her is very revealing, showing that she's the only one willing to put the effort in to being happy, while the others have to wait for the opportunity to become happy people. This is a very real attitude, and Olive's attitude is one that should be more widely adopted.
I've seen most of Stranger Than Fiction, a film that slipped by me. I'm not a massive Will Farrel fan, but he raises some giggles here and there, while Anchorman was brilliant. This wasn't his usual kind of film (it seemed like his Truman Show), but what I saw it seemed pretty good. Critics described this as a Charlie Kaufman film for stupid people. It is quite an accurate description, as the themes aren't nearly as complex as a Kaufmn film, but manage to break some traditional rules without focusing on breaking them.
But this brings me to Adaptation, my favourite Kaufman film (and I like all of his films- a lot) and probably the best film I have ever seen. It's not one you can watch over and over again, but more like every so often. By his own admission, nothing happens. Like real life. I have seen it three or four times, but it still manages to confuse me and stretch reality every time. If you haven't seen this film, it should be right up on your list if you feel you're intellectually capable. Many professional film reviewers were not. Do not expect a standard Hollywood tale though.
Kaufman is writing and directing his own film, due out in March of next year. I can't wait.
Stella just finished watching Little Miss Sunshine. It can't help but make you feel happy. Even though I didn't have sound this time, I loved watching it.
I went to Balans Cafe last night, because Cafe Nero closed at 2AM. Stella, Cocoa and I stayed there until 6AM, which is the latest I have stayed out in London in my life. It was fun. They keep buying me food that goes against my diet plan, but I manage. Cocoa took me and her friends to Wagamama the other day, and tricked me into eating pork dumplings. Well, they didn't trick me, I just ate it without asking what was in them. But it still broke my heart.
The essay I wrote about Cocoa's face ended up about 1700 words. Not far off target.
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