movies i'd like to watch

Springtime in a Small Town

Swedish Love Story

Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus

time traveller's wife by audrey niffenegger

Time Traveller's Wife is a stunning love story but it was much more than just a love story. Niffenegger has a truly creative mind. She has crafted such convincing characters and set them in wonderfully fantastical, yet believable, situations. The love between the two main characters is flawless. Despite it being constantly tested, it withstands, pure, never undulating, yearning, and beautiful. It's never sappy and leaves a melancholy note hanging in the air. Even I, who can never stand love stories, found this an extraordinary read.


PS. I came across another love story when I was searching for an image for this post. It is a still from a Swedish Love Story.

image: here

PPS. I didn't realize there was a movie out too!

miyazaki's spirited away (2001)

Today I was home watching Spirited Away on DVD with my little sister. Its a movie that I could keep replaying for ages on end. What always strikes me is how on the spot Miyazaki is in his portrayal of a young girl in how she speaks, acts, and feels. There is a scene where the main character, Chihiro/Sen, has to go down some deadly steep stairs; she hesitates and then plunges in, feet first, and runs down the stairs screaming. Right then, I just felt like that is exactly the same thing I would have done, when I was younger. Miyakazi has lovingly constructed, in Chihiro, a display of childlike innocence, vulnerability, and sincerity. The spirits, the bathhouse, and the magic of Japanese folklore, tradition, and culture was elegantly preserved in the storyline. Spirited Away is a dazzling expression of its Japanese heritage.

Image: here

the body in the library, the moving finger by agatha christie

I started off watching the Miss Marple DVD series, that my mum so dearly loves, as a skeptic, but now I'm watching one every other slow Sunday afternoon. What can I say? They're delightful! So when I went to the public library and found Miss Marple Omnibus, I set myself up to late night reading in bed for the last couple of days. I've read two of the four and I think I'll stop there because I want to get as much as a variety of reading done (one of my goals this Summer). Agatha Christie's writing style is so easy to read and her books are definitely page turners. Her words paint in the ways of her time so well - I always feel like tea and biscuits after a session. The DVDs are done very well too (they were a TV series) and Joan Hickson is the perfect Miss Marple. All that insistence for propriety and luxury in Miss Marple's circles mixed with the jarring surprise of a gruesome murder(s) make Agatha Christie's stories addictive. I wonder what Christie was like in real life? I read somewhere that she was definitely an interesting person. I could imagine - a female author in that time writing about murders and suddenly disappearing one day forever! Definitely someone whose biography to look up.

romantist by thetabletopscribbler featuring Valentino shoes

ugly by constance briscoe

Ugly by Constance Briscoe was a heartbreaking and infuriating book. Constance Briscoe eloquently shares her story of childhood abandonment and abuse. However, Briscoe is not looking for sympathy. Her tone just tells her story as it is. The book is truly inspiring as Briscoe rises up and over obstacles, helplessness, and depression and attends university on her own. Briscoe also colors in her story with a vivid portrayal her Jamaican heritage, Catholic school education, and South London hometown. How she found her motivation, confidence, and hope despite everything against her is incredible. It is horrifying what she, as a young child, had to go through. If only we could live in a world where everyone played their roles right; parents as loving and caring, children as carefree and secure....

dangerous (1935)

Joyce Heath: [to Don] I should laugh at you, should I? But I can't help it. You were so awkward that I almost laughed in your face at first. And then it made me sick to think that anyone could be stupid enough to be taken in by old tricks. I thought you might at least be amusing, but you turned out to be dull, and stupid and so afraid. Well you needn't be? I won't hurt your Sunday school romance or your oh so nice career. Hurt me? Get out of here before you give me hysterics! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026261/

image: Victoria Secret ad

kafka on the shore by haruki murasaki

I just finished reading Haruki Murasaki's Kafka on the Shore. It was a long book but not once did the story's pace feel slow. Murasaki's stylistic prose blew me away. The piece is incredibly dense. The creativity and imagination portrayed is really way beyond anything I've ever read, however the fantastical element was never discouraging. There are so many allusions to so many different things, I feel like I've learned so much more from reading this fiction book than from any non fiction text. I've read English literature from Chinese and Korean authors, but this was my first taste of a Japanese author's work and I loved the cultural insights that I gained from this book. Apart from being a window to the contemporary and traditional culture as well as the history of Japan, the book is a magical journey through philosphical questions, oedipal/incestuous overtones, social conflicts, contemplations on art, love, and life, and so much more. The intimacies of friendship, erotic wet dreams of a teenage boy, the human condition of loneliness.... But you wouldn't know the complexities of the book because of Murasaki's effortless writing. Reading this was like waking up, still captivated by a vivid dream.

Image: here

a night at the museum: battle of the smithsonian

Tonight I dragged my family to watch the Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. My little sister was pretty enthusiastic until she fell into a deep and unbinding sleep that I had to unceremoniously wake her up from. My older brother wasn't that into it either, much rather wanting to see something like the new Hong Kong movie featuring Aaron Kwok in Murderer. At least my dad had been wanting to watch the movie ever since we visited the Smithsonian where we found out that the movie existed. My mother was pretty happy with just being able to go out and have a good time. Anyway, it turned out to be a quite a success with all of us dazzled with the extent of the cinematography and the scope of the imagination involved. At the end we were talking about how not-so-much earlier movie makers had to take into account what they were and were not able to do but now technology has caught up to the point where it can support pretty much any genius' dream. It was wonderful to see how free we are to just run with an idea without being hindered by all the logistics. Inspiring, isn't it?

rainwoman by thetabletopscribbler featuring Just Cavalli