Film festival

I had something of a film festival over the weekend. I went to Blockbuster Saturday morning to pick up a couple of movies--the aforementioned "Down With Love" and "Love Actually," but they were having a special where you could get three movies for a slightly reduced price, so I looked around to see if there was anything else I wanted to see, and I found "Matchstick Men," which I had wanted to see in the theater, but never did.

When I got up to the counter to pay, I found out that I had a credit on my account from the last time I'd rented anything--the last time Bob was out of town, I guess--so the three movies were actually what I would have paid for two, anyway. I had tried to see "Down With Love" before, but I couldn't get the DVD to play, and ended up taking it back. It wouldn't play on my computer, and for some reason (maybe it was during the period of time when Dinah was peeing on the couch) I didn't want to watch it on the television. I tried twice -- took it back twice -- but didn't realize they'd given me a credit for it.

So anyway, I ran around all day Saturday; I took a little road trip out to Lawrence and went to the yarn store and a couple of used bookstores, and took myself out to lunch at Panera Bread.

I watched "Down With Love" and "Matchstick Men" Saturday night while knitting on my tarot bag. "Down With Love" was okay. Not as good as it might have been, I guess because I remember the films that they were emulating. Renee Zellweger wasn't bad. She was probably the best one in the film. Ewan McGregor, though, just isn't Rock Hudson, even with the cheesy fake Texas accent.

And "Matchstick Men" I liked, but hated the ending. I read the book first, though, and hated that ending worse, so I was expecting it. In fact, I bet they showed it to focus groups and got such a bad reaction to the ending that they added the last bit on to soften it a little. I do love Nicolas Cage, though, and am thinking about having a Nicolas Cage film festival. "City of Angels," maybe. I own that one--Bob bought it for me. "Leaving Las Vegas" -- that's another good one, although depressing. "Guarding Tess" -- I love that one, probably one of my favorites.

Then on Sunday I got up late, just kind of messed around the house, did some laundry, watered the plants in the backyard, etc., then watched Love Actually. Oh my god. I can't remember the last movie that made me cry so much. So silly. But a wonderful film, I thought. I loved every minute of it, even the ones that made me sob.

I loved Liam Neeson, and I loved Alan Rickman, and even though he's never been a particular favorite of mine, I loved Hugh Grant. I just loved them all! I get to keep the movie for a whole week, so I'll probably watch it again, although hopefully it won't make me cry every time . . .

Since "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" opened on Friday, I had been thinking about seeing it while Bob was gone, even though I'm sure he'll want to see it, too. I vacillated, thinking, well, I'll wait until he gets back and we'll go see it together, or, oh, just go see it, it'll be fun. I finally decided to go ahead and see it last night, and it was fun, and free, because I used gift certificates that Dennis and Pam gave me for Christmas.

I enjoyed it, but all three of the movies have, for me, been ultimately disappointing. I just love the books so much, but they don't seem to translate to film very well. I mean, they could, and I don't think it's anyone's fault, but there's just too much material to try to get in, I think. To me, they seem less of a cohesive movie and more of a collection of unrelated items. I thought the dementors were pretty scary (although I'm not sure why they had to fly), and I thought Buckbeak the Hippogriff was great. And Gary Oldman did a good job as Sirius Black--I hadn't been sure he was a good choice, but I think he was.

I'm not crazy about any of the kids that play the three main characters, although Harry isn't bad. But that's the problem with translating books into movies, isn't it? When you read a book, you're free to imagine the characters any way you like, within the framework that the author sets up for you. It's kind of a collaboration between the author and the reader; it would be almost impossible for a film to get it "right" for everyone.

Speaking of which, after I got back home from the theater, I watched part of "The Return of the King," which I bought last weekend. I read the books, of course, but although I loved them, I wasn't quite as invested in them as a lot of fans. I thought they did a wonderful job with the movies, particularly with the Strider/Aragorn character. I think Viggo Mortensen was perfect in the role. And of course, then there's the elf . . .