I just realized this is the first year in at least ten that I haven't seen all the Best Picture nominees. Not only that, I haven't seen any of 'em! I have seen several of the best cinematic trainwrecks of the year though, at a theatre where it seems most people (myself included) talk to the screen. That talkin' was more entertaining than the movies being shown.

Hughes apparently was something of a ringer for Tyrone Power.

Okay, I can't link directly to the photo. Click on Photos on that page, and theb click on the third one down, on the left.

So, I finally saw Sideways. I definitely liked it, but I'm not deeply in love with it or anything. It escaped the Lost in Translation effect, though, thankfully. I understand the love for it, but I don't have it myself yet. It's just so...simple? It's a story about two guys in the wine country, and they have experiences, and it doesn't try to be more than a good story, and so it works. It's also quite funny, which helps the entertainment value.

Vonnie, this will not surprise you in the least, but I searched the thread and found a comment of yours that I agree with it. Look shocked. That moment when Miles hears about Victoria's baby? You can see the pain etched in his face. That's the only way I can describe it. That's when I really understood all the Paul Giamatti accolades. And Teppy, the image of Miles drinking the mythical 1961 wine in a styrofoam cup, with a burger and onion rings, sitting alone in a diner is one of the most deeply sad things I've seen in a while.

There was one thing I had an issue with, and maybe it's just me. Are we supposed to feel sympathy for Jack? As soon as I discovered he was deliberately going to cheat on his fiancée, having no qualms at all about it, I stopped liking him. I don't mind adulterous characters if they're actually struggling with it or have some sort of reason for it, but Jack's few shreds of doubt weren't enough, for me, to justify that sort of behavior. He deserved that pummeling. And then when he got all red in the face with "You don't understand my plight" and "I can't lose Christine," I just thought, "Well fuck you, you ass." And then he got away with it! Right there in the Armenian Catholic church. I know he was supposed to be a foil to Miles, but I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about him.

I also didn't think Maya's big monologue, the one all the critics talk about when discussing her Oscar nomination, was such hot shit. It felt a little forced and obvious and "hey, here's the big metaphor of the movie!" I mean she was practically looking right at the camera, and the music had stopped just to showcase it. I liked Miles' I-am-a-pinot-grape monologue just before better.

(Oh! That's where I've seen Sandra Oh before. Last Night. Okay. I knew the name was familiar.)

It's no Eternal Sunshine, but it's a good movie, for sure. Since I haven't seen any of the other Best Picture nominees, I'll be rooting for it next week.

And Teppy, the image of Miles drinking the mythical 1961 wine in a styrofoam cup, with a burger and onion rings, sitting alone in a diner, is one of the most deeply sad things I've seen in a while.

I'm torn on it. On one level it's paralyzingly sad, because you realize that he was saving it in the hopes that he would get back together with his ex-wife. And so if he couldn't drink it with her, then he was going to, in a sense, degrade the experience as much as he could.

But on another level, it's also a relief, and a release, because it had become this Huge Important Thing to him, and when you start thinking that, then there's *nothing* that becomes important enough of a reason to open that bottle. And so it hangs over your head, taunting you that your life will *never* produce a moment worthy of celebrating with a kickass vintage. Maya was absolutely right when she said that just opening that bottle ought to have been an important enough reason -- and I mean that on both the metaphor level and the "Wine! Yay!" level.

Drinking it was a sad moment, because of the loss Miles felt, but it was also a letting-go, of both (1) his hopes of getting back together with his ex (2) and the idea that he has to save up his best [anything; insert your metaphor here] for the Big Amazing Moments.

I can see that, Teppy. I never really thought of him saving it for his ex, though. I was wanting him to save it for Maya.

See, I saw that as a huge turning point for him. It meant that he had reached a polint where he could think of the present moment as something worth savoring. He had realized that simnple daily life had value. In a sense, I think he had to realize that before he could be with Maya, as he couldn't truly appreciate her without that

Aw, Teppy. You made me get all misted up. I found the whole film to be like that--bittersweet and wistful.

As for Jack, I don't think we were supposed to love the character despite his infidelities. He's a big child, lovable at times, and deeply, deeply flawed. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he couldn't stop himself from philandering even after the wedding. But that's Jack. The picture wasn't about Jack learning life lessons.

I did let out of big whoop and clapped when Stephanie beat the crap out of him with a motorcycle helmet. That was a fucking priceless moment, and so well-deserved.

Oh! That's where I've seen Sandra Oh before. Last Night. Okay. I knew the name was familiar.

P-C, you gotta check out Sandra Oh in Double Happiness. I think it'll resonate with you.

P-C, you gotta check out Sandra Oh in Double Happiness.

The IMDb synopsis:

Jade Li is a fiesty, 20something Chinese Canadian, trying to achieve that happy medium between giving in to her parent's wishes and fulfilling her own needs and desires - double happiness. Naturally, something's got to give and when love beckons in the shape of Mark, a white university student, the facade of perfect Chinese daughter begins to slip.

I think it'll resonate with you.

Jesus. Ya think?

The scary rumor I heard is that they're setting it in '87-'88.

Any previous nightmares have been cancelled. A new one is born.

That would break me- I've always considered Rent to be such a snapshot of its time, about finding humanity in a digital age and all. And lots of the lyrics are late 90's specific- it's set in the tech boom, and the line "Living in America at the end of the millenium..". I guess all this could be tweaked or interpreted to work in the 80s, but if it did, I'd pout.

Also, Mimi's line "AZT break!" is pretty pivotal, I think. In the 80's, wasn't AZT still sort of difficult to come by, especially for penniless Bohemians?

t /Old school Rent worship.

I've always considered Rent to be such a snapshot of its time, about finding humanity in a digital age and all.

Which is moderately amusing since it's a remake of La Boheme, about 19th century Parisians.