Today is turning into a very pleasant day, the sort of afternoon that makes me regret writing such dolorous prose all the time. A couple pieces of good news, neither of which I can discuss, and a double shot of Maker's Mark have me all bubbly. I'm even feeling a bit better about Garden State, a movie I have given mixed reviews in the Pulse (the link's to the right), but would happily see two or three more times. Narcissistic, sure, but very beautiful. And Peter Sarsgaard would be fantastic in anything.
In honor of this almost certainly fleeting good mood, I offer White Hassle's "Life is Still Sweet" as this week's Thursday MPThree. I don't know anything about the band. I'm not even sure the song is all that great. But it's happy, and darned if that's not worth something.
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Now, to the serious stuff: Please pray again for my parents and sister, who are preparing to ride out the second Florida hurricane in less than a month. We go 44 years without a direct hit in Polk County, and now we're looking at two. Oy.
Posted by mesh at September 2, 2004 04:47 PM | TrackBackYou're just a bitch. That's the problem.
Posted by: bill colrus at September 2, 2004 05:07 PMThat's it!
Posted by: mesh at September 2, 2004 05:15 PMI dunno. I hate it that I disagreed with your review because I, for the most part, wholeheartedly enjoyed Garden State, but at the same time, I love your review because I really dig your writing. Oh well.
Posted by: heidi at September 2, 2004 05:23 PMIt's OK to disagree. That's the fun of discussing movies. I'm already starting to disagree with myself, which is the fun of being moody.
Posted by: mesh at September 2, 2004 05:26 PMI thought Garden State was a fairly realistic view of hard times. I mean, give the guy a break...his mother just died, his father pretty much ruined half his life with the amount of medication he was on, he's having to come to grips with being rejected by his parents who sent him off to boarding school, etc. We only see a few days of his life where he's trying to sort through feelings that he's just now starting to feel. Yes, during times of pain, grief, or turmoil we all simply try to keep our heads above water and can't help but focus on ourselves. Whether or not its narcissisic or sinful, its naturally what we do. And I absolutely loved the journey off his medication. Have you ever gone through a time where you feel so numb to life and then start to come out of it? Something as silly as screaming into a hole all of a sudden gives you a rush. Its one of the most beautiful parts of living. Walking out into the sunshine after 20 years of rain. And I think he redeems himself in the end. He realizes that "finding himself" is a bunch of crap and that what he already has is most important. I think that if we would've seen the months following, we would've seen Andrew Largeman give back what his friends had given him in those few days. Is it still playing at the Bijou?
Posted by: nutmeg at September 3, 2004 03:04 PM