Sunday, October 05, 2008

Finding love in 15 days...

Quick beautiful relationships happen only in the movies. The Holiday was depressing, in a really nice way.

Two women who are in a sad place in their respective lives swap places for a couple of weeks, and end up finding lurrve. I started watching the movie because it had Jude Law and Kate Winslet. If i were gay, Jude Law is someone i'd lust after. And you cannot not like Kate Winslet if you'd seen 'Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind'.

I liked the idea. Swapping homes with a random stranger from a random geography in an attempt to deal with misery. Loved the openness with which Cameron Diaz and Jude Law go about their relationship. Bizzarely enough, they start out by having sex. Diaz floats the idea with these lines to a drunk Jude - "You know Graham, I just broke up with someone and considering you just showed up and you're insanely good-looking and probably won't remember me anyway... I'm thinking we should have sex... If you want"...A friend once told me a theory she read somewhere. If two people start sleeping with each other, after a point an emotional connect is inevitable, though there might've been none to start with. Much like how things usually work the other way round, minus the anxiety and the awkward moments. Animals are probably much smarter than we think. When a Barking deer fancies another Barking deer, i guess it probably doesn't start with a 'Hey i know a beautiful slope there that has really good grass, do you want to come along and graze there?'. Humans have complicated things beyond repair.

Loved the sensitivity with which they dealt with the Kate Winslet - Jack Black segment. But my favourite was the 'Kate - 90 yr old screen writer' equation. Very nicely done. But i wish they didn't make Jude's daughters 5 spoonfulls of sugar sweet.

The movie ends on a happy note with everybody dancing to a happy song on New years' eve. All that is nice, but I can't seem to take happiness at face value. Don't we all manage to find unhappiness in our own unique way?. Now, that sounds terrible. I need to get out and shop for positive vibes. Mountains shall be climbed and seas shall be swum in. Literally, i mean, those were'nt corny metaphors. When you are a few hundred metres inside the sea, floating on your back, being tossed around by the waves, with a view of the evening sky and the Thiruvanmiyur skyline (which is a bunch of old yellow flats), the world does seem perfect. Until a plastic cover that has lost it's way brushes against you, and you think it is a great white shark, lose your balance, and take in a mouthful of sea water...

Also, i learnt a new word from the movie. Gumption - Fortitude and determination; Sound practical judgement. I like the sound the word makes. Gumption...

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems like a nice movie... will try n watch.

BTW, whats your travel plan?

Arth said...

Liked the movie, in spite of the fantastical and rather chick-flick plot. Kate Winslett plays depressing so well that even after her love find, you continue to feel sad for her!

And why not find love in 15 days - at the risk of sounding mawkish - I found mine in 10; happens all the time and happens when you least expect it.

When you are a few hundred metres inside the sea, floating on your back...blah... blah... and take in a mouthful of sea water... may be it won't be a plastic cover after all, may be it'll be a damsel in white bikini and love happens in less than 15 minutes... Now, now, now I'm all in tease mode ;) But you get the picture...

Parth said...

Did you catch the Dustin Hoffman special appearance in the movie? :-) That was neat.

Anonymous said...

>> When you are a few hundred metres inside the sea....

i loved that part. well-written.

havent seen the movie. will catch it soon though am not a sucker for romantic comedies. :)

frissko said...

mani - nothing finalized da...Would most likely hang around till end of the year...

arthi - In Thiruvanmiyur, it is more likely that i'd be brushed by a Great white shark (though they aren't expected to be in the indian seas) than by a damsel in white bikini :)...But yea, wishful thinking never killed anybody...

parth - yea i did...apparently that was an extempore shot...he was driving by and saw cameras near a Blockbuster, so got down to check out and they cooked up a scene :) (thanks to imdb)...

theanalogkid - when someone says he doesn't like romantic comedies i look at him with skepticism...(i know people who secretly love the 'Notting Hills' of the world, but would never admit it!)...

Anonymous said...

@frissko - well. ive grown out of it maybe. i have seen notting hill close to 5-6 times but that was about 8 yrs ago. right now, i cant seem to enjoy them though. and i dont enjoy action, thrillers either. i prefer sticking to drama and arthouse movies. :) the only comedies i laugh at are the woody allen, seinfeld variety. :-/ vok va? so no skeptical look towards me.

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Princess Fiona said...

chick flicks rule baby!!!! :)

and notting hill...sighhh....i swooooooooon each time i even think of the movie :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, why don't you write about the global financial crisis?

Btw, do you know why there's a word verification process in websites?

Mac

Anonymous said...

Oh, I almost forgot the real comment I wanted to post: Going just by the title of your post, what you are probably trying to say is there's scope for minimum two lovers in a month.

But then we are not talking of Avinash of the yore any more, so I'll read your posts with utmost seriousness. I promise I'll try..

Mac

frissko said...

theanalogkid - wokay...but what kindof chennai born are you? you don't laugh to even Vadivel brand of comedy?very peter you are...

pf - i don't exactly swoon (even if i do, i wouldn't admit it here)...but yeah they don't hurt...

Mac - There is a global financial crisis?!...(ok, i read that much news...and i am yet to sell my stocks...Kill me!)...And my weekend socialisations these days happen with the likes of Mahesh and Nutt (unless there is cricket)...So please do read the posts with utmost seriousness :)...

See Bee said...

u write well man - if i haven't said it already....

(good writing keeps reminding me of how i need to improve my own writing - that's the sole reason i even started the blog - tho no one blvs me when i say that!)

anyway, technicalities..

yeah the movie was ok. tp. i prefer 'pop goes my heart' type morantic comedy.

15 days eh? i dunno - im sure after 15 years i would still be scratching my head wondering what to do.

but ur very right about humans complicating everything. i mean seriously, we are all born alone, and we die alone...and in between this whole trauma of nirvana and independence (not existentialism or cynicism), comes this funda of life partnership, propertyship blah. i still stand by my funda that 'love is overrated' or maybe i can quote tina turner who sings "what's love got to do with it?"

back to the animal funda - if it is about sex and sustenance - really..."what's love but a second hand emotion?" the only form of love that makes sense to me is the bond between a mother and a child - it is universal and cannot be explained....

to each his own i suppose....

See Bee said...

btw - the deer funda is too much

and i thot only dogs bark - deers also wa? is it like a bow wow or a cough cough?

off to watch natgeo....

Kau said...

This movie is a personal favorite.
I especially love the part where the 90 year old tells Kate that she has to be the lead in the story of her own life. How easy to forget that our life's plot revolves around us.
Great writing
Kau

Anonymous said...

yeah, it is depressing in a nice kinda way. Whenever its on, there is a huge internal confict with myself, to watch it or not. And always, always...when I see them dancing on NYE, I wonder out loud, is it so simple? When does it cease to become so bloody difficult and start to get THAT simple? Probably its just me, and the tricks my mind plays..if that makes any sense at all! :P

Childwoman