Pop Culture: April 2008 Archives

Because it was just one of those weekends, I watched four Audrey Hepburn movies with a napping dog, a blanket and several tubs of Haagen-Dazs by my side.  Tessa's always up (err...ready to nap) for a good movie and there's never a bad time for H-D's strawberry cheesecake Extras.  In chronological order, watched Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Sabrina and Breakfast at Tiffany's off the 360.  As is the case with all romance films, they were all fairly predictable.  And as is the case with old movies, they were rife with sexism, racism and other bigotry that wouldn't fly in films today - LitA and BaT just revolved around loose morals and prostitution as a generally-accepted means of income.  My mom did ask if I felt that older movies lacked the excitement and pacing of modern films but I can't say I noticed at all.  Audrey Hepburn is stunning no matter what the decade.

Why is it, though, that every movie ends up in Paris?

A book full of semi-biblical anecdotes.  What a frustrating read.

"...is my blindness to spirituality a huge defect in my personality?  What if I'm missing out on part of being human, like a guy who goes through life without ever hearing Beethoven or falling in love?  And most important, I now have a son - if my lack of religion is a flaw, I don't want to pass it on to him." (p.5)

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."  - 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NIV)

It always was a...strange adaptation of the novel, and it certainly hasn't aged particularly well what with the awkward pacing and uncomfortable Ethan Hawke peformance.  But if you only remember movies for individual scenes and short vignettes, then this movie was always as memorable for me as any other.

"But you love her. She'll only break your heart, it's a fact.  It's tragic.  You're already in love with her. And even though I warn you, even though I guarantee you that the girl will only hurt you terribly, you'll still pursue her.  Ain't love grand?"

I don't know if the book carried a bit long towards an inevitable conclusion, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and found the ending satisfying.  He has the uncanny ability to introduce and have you fully understand his characters within a page or two and the way he wove the women in and out of Florentino's life was beautiful.  I'm glad to be through the book though; it wasn't a particularly easy one to read casually.

He said that people who loved (animals) to excess were capable of the worst cruelties toward human beings.  He said that dogs were not loyal but servile, that cats were opportunists and traitors, that peacocks were heralds of death, that macaws were simply decorative annoyances, that rabbits fomented greed, that monkeys carried the fever of lust, and that roosters were damned because they had been complicit in the three denials of Christ.(p.21)

Her grief exploded into a blind range against the world, even against herself, and that is what filled her with the control and the courage to face her solitude alone.  From that time on she had no peace, but she was careful about any gesture that might seem to betray her grief. (p.47)

Were you expecting anything anything else?

Did I try to deny we would fall apart?

It's a wonderful surprise
To see your shoes and your spirits rise

all I see here is you
all it does is remind me

What will I do when you come near to me?

Ok, so Simon & Garfunkel's "Wednesday Morning 3.A.M." is undoubtedly better, but my Lisa Loeb crush will not be denied.