Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Movie(s)Rave; 'Amelie'/'Breakfast With Scot'/'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'

Movie wise, I had a busy weekend; my favourite film I saw?
Amelie.


I knew about this movie since it's a famous French movie, and the big HMV on Robson has this poster on it's wall, so I see it every time I go in, but my friend recommending it to me finally made me see it.

I adored it.
It was the best movie I'd seen in awhile. Well, since I'd seen 'Once'.
The plot's a bit tricky; Amelie, a waitress in a café in Paris, finds the childhood belongings of her apartment's previous tenant. She decides to find him so she can see the look on his face when he sees his old childhood toys. once she does this, she's so moves that she decides to dedicate her life to helping others, but she beings to forget that she herself deserves to be happy herself.


The movie's art direction is perfect; I guarantee that you'll never see another film like it.
I also loved the narration of the characters; when each is introduced, their likes and dislikes are included with their life story.
Overall, it's a a charming and quirky film; it made me want to chop my hair into a short bob, and take photos in picture booths.


The true test to any movie, especially one with a female heroine, as they can be whiny and dependant on the leading man, is whether or not we can sympathize with the protagonist. I loved Amelie; she's stuck in her head. She fantasized about happiness, but never takes the steps herself to seizing her dream. Anyone can relate to that.

Plus it's in French, so everything sounds more sophisticated and romantic.


The second film I've been trying to PVR forever, and it was finally on last Sunday morning.


'Breakfast With Scot' is a Canadian dramaedy about a gay couple, Eric and Sam, who have to temporarily adopt an eleven year old boy (Sam's nephew) when his mother dies and his father flees (It's similar to the plot of the Swedish movie 'Patrik 1,5', if that helps). The boy, Scot, is extremely flamboyant, which makes Erik, an ex Toronto Maple Leaf and current sports show host uncomfortable, because he is not publicly out.

What I loved about this film was that the protagonist, Eric, was not portrayed as the stereotypical gay man, as he's pretty much the typical guy's guy. He hates shopping, eats pretzels while watching hockey, and was known in the rink as a fighter.


My two gripes with this film are that Scot character may have been made a bit too flamboyant (No eleven year old can figure skate like that), though you could argue that that is what would happen if a child was left to completely be himself, and that Sam, Eric's partner, wasn't featured enough, though I get that the director wanted to focus on the relationship between Eric and Scot.

The movie's predictable, but it's heartwarming, and it dashes the views of what an 'ordinary', 'conventional' family is.


I know, I know. I'd never seen 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'.
I'm a horrible person.


Anyway, you probably all know what goes down in this movie, but I'll explain for those who don't:
Joel and Clementine meet, fall in love, then break up and hate each other. Clementine goes to a doctor to have her memories of Joel erased in a surgical procedure. Finding this out, Joel goes and has the same procedure, only to realize during that he doesn't want to forget Clementine.

It's a film about love, plain and simple.
It's bleak, yet hopeful at the same time.
I can't describe it any better than that.

Just go see it, it's a classic.
And 'Montauk' by Bayside will make more sense to you.



Love.

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