Movies: "Julie and Julia," "Sunshine Cleaning," and "Elephant."

Yesterday was a good day! Cody and I met Belkis and Zorn for ice cream and went to see "Julie and Julia," which was actually completely adorable. If you haven't seen it yet, check out the trailer here. It made me want to pick up one of my favourite cookbooks, like "Moosewood" or "Enchanted Broccoli Forest" and try a new recipe!

Seeing "Julie and Julia" reminded me of another movie I've seen with Amy Adams recently, "Sunshine Cleaning." They were showing it on the flight from Houston to Portland, and although I could barely hear it, I enjoyed it quite a bit--especially more than the movie my mom chose next, "New In Town," where every Minnesota accent was faked so poorly it was embarrassing. Has Renée Zellweger been in anything moderately good lately? The answer is resoundingly no. No, she has not.

Well, anyway, here is the trailer for "Sunshine Cleaning."

Two nights ago, Cody and I also watched "Elephant," a film by Gus Van Sant. I'd always been curious because I'd heard such good reviews. Overall, Cody and I agreed that it was a very refreshing film. It was based on the Columbine shootings, but instead of passing judgements and trying to make the victims seem like perfect, angelic human beings while demonizing the killers, it simply was. It showed what was likely an average day at Columbine High School, full of the single-minded pursuit of the photographer, the bingeing of several of the girls, the embarrassment faced by one of the girls that didn't quite fit in, the alcoholism of one boy's father, and the strangely beautiful mind of one of the killers, among others.

At points, though, the movie seemed as if it was dragging on. As Cody put it simply and accurately, "There was a lot of walking in that movie." For some reason, probably 75% consisted of students walking from place to place and the other 25% had some other action to it. In fact, only in the last twenty minutes or so do the two killers begin their assault on the school. I'm not sure if Gus Van Sant did that intentionally, because you are aware that the shooting is going to occur, but you just don't know when. When the pair enter the building, you are almost relieved, but of course, when you see the cruelty and the devastation wrought, that sentiment is immediately regretted.

I think that Cody and I both appreciated the movie a lot once we were able to slow down and let it unfold. There were no heroes; there were victims, but not all ones that you particularly liked; there were no villains. You could point the finger of blame on several people, if you really wanted to, but it wasn't ever encouraged. "Elephant" was quite poetically told and moving. On a less serious note, it also made me incredibly happy that I am no longer in high school. Yikes.

Today, Cody and I are setting out to do some dress shirt and pants shopping for him. He finished his bartending certification and has gotten a job! The restaurant manager raised her offer to $7.75 an hour plus tips, which of course, he just couldn't turn down. I'm very excited for him! I'm moving about two hours from here for more college, so now I must find a job too, but I have a lot of food service/catering experience, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

I hope you are having a fantastic day!

2010: The Year of Lewis Carroll

Oh my goodness. I don't think that any movie except for Sophia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" has much influenced fashion and design lately. But, in 2010, this is very likely to change. You see, 2010 is the release year for Tim Burton's mostly-live-actor remake of "Alice in Wonderland" and Marilyn Manson's "Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll." No, read that again. Yes, Marilyn Manson.

It may surprise you that Marilyn Manson is venturing into film, but he has long expressed a desire to explore film and art forms other than just music. "Art?!" you scoff, "Marilyn Manson doesn't make art!" Well, call it what you will, but whatever it is, he has done it unabashedly (but if he ever tries to cover Gary Numan's "Down in the Park" again...).

And, I have incredibly high hopes for his upcoming film, which is a deeper look into the man behind Alice in Wonderland, a man which Manson describes as being of "a split personality--a person who was deaf in his right ear and left-handed. He was a mathematician and an artist, a deacon in a church who believed in evolution."

The story that Manson is choosing to tell in his film follows Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Dodgson, as he unfolds his novel and is haunted by his creations. Manson relates to Carroll in a way, which is why he has chosen him as the center of his movie. Explains Manson, both he and Carroll are "odd," creating mostly at night, and have changed their names in an attempt to reinvent themselves--or hide from past demons.

Manson's film is an attempt to bring back Alfred Hitchcock-style horror, something I am incredibly grateful for. I cannot stand blood, gore, and the meaninglessness of current horror films. Says Manson, "Sometimes what you don’t see is scarier." He also mentions that he would like to skip the computer-animated effects altogether, instead opting for a magician alone.



The premise of the movie, then, is Lewis Carroll, played by Marilyn Manson himself, haunted by his creations. It also includes someone whom I'm very excited about (and is basically the reason I needed to write this post)--Lily Cole as Alice! I'm not sure why, but ever since I saw her in a Vogue-produced magazine called Fashion Rocks about three years ago, alongside Marilyn Manson, I have been intrigued. In the spread with Marilyn Manson, she rocks a kind of goth/punk vibe, which I enjoy immensely. She has a lovely, doll-like face, but something darker there too. I find it to be kind of a welcome departure from the almost too light and cheerful trend recently. Don't get me wrong--I love ditsy flower prints as much as you, but I enjoy diversity and dark mystery, cozy comfort, too. Oh! It also has another light-and-dark girl, this one a past girlfriend of Manson, Evan Rachel Wood. She plays Alice's alter ego. I'm beginning to think Manson should just go the whole nine yards and stick another of his past muses in his movie--Fiona Apple.



The soundtrack will likely be original music by Manson that was "too theatrical" to be placed on any of his albums, and also probably the song "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" by Roxy Music. Umm. Should be interesting.

Will Manson go completely over-the-top with this? Of course. It may be altogether unpleasant to watch. But at least it will be an attempt at innovation, and hey, it will have Lily Cole in it. It doesn't particularly get better than that.

The other Lewis Carroll movie, for which my excitement pales in comparison to "Phantasmagoria," is Tim Burton's remake of "Alice in Wonderland." Burton has once again cast his crew of regulars, including Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Burton's wife Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen. Also a return from Alan Rickman (as the Caterpillar, how great!), who is just generally an enjoyable actor. Nothing impressive of his casting of Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. I don't think I've ever seen her in an enjoyable movie. But, I am excited about Stephen Fry as the Chesire Cat! Oh my goodness! He was so great in "V for Vendetta." There are several other noteable actors and actresses, but that is what the IMDB page is for.



So who is Alice? It is Mia Wasikowska, whom I've never heard of, but that just makes her all the more interesting. She beat out Lyndsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried, both of "Mean Girls" fame, for the role. I would kind of have liked to see Lindsay Lohan, but it's just because of my potentially unhealthy love of redheads.

This film is Burton's remake of sorts of Disney's 1951 film. However, this is essentially a new story, more focused on Alice's return to Wonderland several years later. She finds it rather overgrown and perhaps a bit haunted, but very colourful still. She escapes from Victorian society, where she finds she doesn't exactly fit in, to visit Wonderland. It perhaps will be an interesting take.

Really, it's likely that neither movie will be exactly what we want as far as plot goes (much like "Marie Antoinette")...but, they will likely be a lovely montage of decorating ideas, if nothing else. And, I am still unabashedly excited for "Phantasmagoria." For sure.

What are your preliminary thoughts on these films? And who are your favourite light-and-dark girls (and, for goodness sake, suggest a different name for such girls, haha!)?

(Images of Lily Cole and Marilyn Manson from Fashion Rocks magazine; other two are Google images, hooray!)

The Spiral Jetty.

I am having such a good time in Utah! Lots of wonderful people, beautiful scenery, and adventures. Mostly adventures of the rock climbing/bouldering kind, but yesterday, Matt and I had a crazy journey to see the Spiral Jetty.

Ever since my ephemeral media class a few years ago, I have been interested in some of the earlier artworks that kind of revived the Earth works movement. One of them is definitely the Spiral Jetty, made by Robert Smithson in April 1970. The spiral is probably the oldest, most wide-spread symbol on Earth. The image of the spiral has been found in most ancient cultures around the world. It can represent an inward journey to find oneself, an outward journey to find a greater power, the daily birth and death of the sun, the change of the seasons, and the continual flow of life in general.

How Robert Smithson ever decided on this incredibly out-of-the-way stretch of the Great Salt Lake for his art, though, is beyond me. It was at least two hours from Salt Lake City, on one of the farthest-north stretches of the Lake. It was about 16 miles down a dirt road past the Golden Spike, where the last railroad nail connecting the First Transcontinental Railroad across the U.S. was driven. We drove through the swamps surrounding the Great Salt Lake, which I didn't even know existed, and they were eerily like the scenery of Resident Evil 5, which Cody has been playing religiously. We passed by unfenced cows and drove over whole families of tumbleweed. We were at least an hour's drive from any form of civilization.

Finally, we encountered about three other cars as we approached the final mile stretch before the Spiral Jetty.

Unfortunately, our trip did not end with us jumping out of the car and having a care-free afternoon. You see, Matt was going to back up instead of continue along this especially bumpy part of the dirt road. We decided to walk the rest of the way. However, when he backed up, he swung the car a little too wide and it ended up off the road, high-centered--stuck in the middle on a rock with the tires virtually useless. If we had been in a car with 4WD instead of the hybrid, I'm sure it wouldn't have been a big deal. However, as it was, the bumper snapped partially off and there was nothing we could do but find someone to pull us out.

We walked out onto the Spiral Jetty to find an SUV which had passed us earlier, and the guys were very nice and helpful. They pulled us out and the bumper popped right back into place. Once the car was back on even ground, the gas gauges stopped reading empty (which was freaking us out, as the nearest gas station was at least an hour away, and we had no cellphone signal to call for help) and all was well.

Anyway, the Spiral Jetty was very cool. Sometimes it is covered by the Lake, but the waters had receded far into the distance today, where they were pink from the bacteria and algae that are able to survive in the very high salt content of the lake. The rocks were black and porous, and the sand was hard from being packed with salt.

Matt said, "I've never seen so much salt in my life!"

After the cold, raining walk on the Spiral Jetty (of which I will post personal photos when I return home) and harrowing experience of being out in the middle of nowhere, we were very ready to get warm and eat some dinner. We went to the Citris Grill in Salt Lake City, where we had yummy sweet potato fries and warm brownies, and then we went to REI, only to have them close five minutes after we walked in.

We came back to Matt's house to watch "To Catch a Thief." Alfred Hitchcock movies always make me laugh.