More Movies

I had my second lunch cancellation this morning.  Yesterday I was scheduled to dine with Pete at Yuraku in Germantown.  Today it was Flavian at a location to be determined.  What I did with this unanticipated free time yesterday I also did today:  I watched movies, though this time I did so at a theater.  First (and this doesn't count), I watched the commentary track to "Pandora's Box," which really enriched the film since I knew virtually nothing about it or its director, G.W. Pabst.  Then I made myself brunch and walked to the Silver Spring library where I dropped off two DVDs and picked up another, "Mama Mia," continuing my ABBA-inspired film mini-series.  After that, I made a brief stop at Panera Bread for coffee and a cinnamon scone, after which I finally reached my ultimate destination, AFI.  There I watched a double feature or, to be more precise, I stayed for two films.  The first was "Even the Rain (Tambien la lluvia)," starring Gael Garcia Bernal as a director making a film in Bolivia recounting Columbus' early interactions with native Americans.  Things begin to take a bad turn when one of the actors in the film, a modern native, spearheads an altercation with the regional government over water rights.  Ultimately, the 15th/16th century world depicted on celluloid inextricably intertwines with the world of today, and the cultural clash that occurs in both realms awakens the filmmakers (and, presumably, the audience) to the sad fact that not much has changed in 500 years.  Gael García Bernal as the director, Luis Tosar as his hard-nosed producer, and Juan Carlos Aduviri, as the local advocate turned actor turned revolutionary all give very good performances.  I give it a B+ (my new academic rating system).

The second was quite different and I'm not exactly sure what to say about it. "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," was filmed in Thailand by director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who is best known for his 2004 film, "Tropical Malady" (which I haven't seen).  Jim Jarmusch has nothing on this guy in terms of minimalist editing.  The film cuts (when it cuts) from slices of what looks like real life in the Thai tropics to fantastic fairy tale worlds that feature lethargic ape men and a disfigured princess who winds up making love to a fish.  Although the film focuses largely on Boonmee, who is slowly dying of kidney failure, it's not so much a narrative than a series of loosely related images, each of which invite the audience to savor the scenery in lieu of the story (since there really isn't one).  I'm sure there's more there than met my eye, so I give it a C (pun intended).  That said, I don't plan on watching it again--at least not any time soon.

I read email on my iPhone after the second film waiting for Evelyn to arrive for a dinner date.  She called at around 5:30 to let me know she was two metro stops away, so I slowly made my way to tonight's restaurant of choice, which was (of course) "The Thai at Silver Spring."  Chewing on all that lush scenery courtesy of "Uncle Boonmee" made me hungry for something more substantial than simply food for thought.  I had a large bowl of duck soup (can't get enough movie references) and Thai iced tea.  Evelyn had her usual, chicken curry, half of which she brought home with her--on the bus, as it turned out.  I had planned to walk home, but she had more stuff than she wanted to tote that far and it was also a bit chilly.  It cost $1.35 for the mile and half ride from Fenton Street to Sligo Creek Parkway.  I include that tidbit for posterity.

Friday, March 25, 2011