Found out an old university classmate who used to hang around in an ex-boyfriend's circle, passed away from brain cancer. She was a year older than me & very popular at university (unlike me). Sad and a weird feeling. I was thinking how it's been 20 years since we graduated and I bet she never thought that she would only have 20 years left to live.
Have continued to work on decluttering my one scary room & purge. It has brought up a lot of emotions, finding mementos & the memories associated with them, but it feels good to let go & throw things out. I really don't want stuff anymore. It clutters up my mind. Sometimes I wish I could just live like a nomad.
Have seen some good movies, both new & old.
Repulsion (Compton Films 1965) is a Roman Polanski film starring Catherine Deneuve and was very strange but horrific in its own way. Catherine was terrific as Carol, a young Belgian woman living in London with her sister, Helen, who is having an affair with a married man. Carol finds this disgusting. Actually, she seems to find all men disgusting but is also attracted to them, causing much turmoil inside of her. The film makes you wonder why she has this repulsion. Is she crazy? Was she sexually abused? Once her sister goes away with her married beau and leaves Carol alone, her descent into true madness begins. I liked this film, though I kept asking myself how it was possible Carol's hair looked so fabulous while she was going crazy, never left her apartment & was using razors in a not-so-nice manner.
Twentieth Century (Columbia 1934) was probably one of the first classic screwball comedies, starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard. Of course it was adapted from a Broadway play, as most movies were back then. John Barrymore is Oscar Jaffe (or OJ for short, guess this was the 1st famous OJ?) who discovers, and makes Carole Lombard's Lily Garland a star. And his lover. But his controlling manner pushes her away and she flees to Hollywood where she becomes an even bigger star, while OJ produces failure after failure on Broadway stages. Inadvertently they end up on the same cross-country train and OJ decides to try & win Lily back and have her star in one of his vehicles again. But it's not that easy...I have to say the film had its funny moments and John Barrymore is brilliant, but it wasn't the best screwball comedy I have ever seen. I understand its importance though, in film history. I think I prefer the later Claudette Colbert films and of course, the Jean Arthur ones.
The current movie I saw was Moonrise Kingdom (Indian Paintbrush 2012) courtesy of free passes from J. I LOVED THIS MOVIE. It was perfect. It captured the feeling of that time in your life, just before becoming a teenager, where you are still fairly innocent but still wise to the world, if that makes sense? It captured first love, the butterfly feelings but the straightforward honesty that can only happen as a child/tween, which we seem to forget once we become grown-ups. It captured the feel exactly of the 1960s (though it is set in 1965, before I was born). The clothes, the toys, the look. I wanted to BE on their island, IN their house, with Sam (above in the middle) caring about me and asking me to run away with him. It's just magic.
Finally got a chance to watch one of the last Jean Arthur movies I've never seen that is actually in existence (so many of her silents are no longer around, though she wasn't a major star until the talkies).
Whirlpool (Columbia 1934) is just soapy goodness. Jean Arthur plays newsreporter, Sandy Rankin, who grew up knowing her father committed suicide in jail serving a 20 year sentence. Her Mom, Helen, remarried (a Judge, no less!) and that was that, you would think. But covering the news story about a club owner named Duke Sheldon (played by Jack Holt), she discovers a secret. Okay, I'm thinking you probably KNOW what that secret is but suffice to say, it was weird to see Jean play Jack's daughter given there was only a 12 year difference between the two. Evidently the Director Frank Capra saw a daily rush from this film and decided Jean was the person to play Babe Bennett, two years later. I did get the future star sense from Jean in this movie. The way she walks into the club, pretending to be sexy was hilarious. And there is one scene where she is looking at a picture of her Dad and her eyes say everything. She was such a great actress.
I am currently a little obsessed with her Carmel house. There was an Architectural Digest feature on it back in the 70s and it was so cool! Very unique and different. She lived right on Carmel Point, where properties are now going for a cool $11 to $20 million dollars. I'm not sure if her home is still around. Some reports say it was gutted while others say it is still there. I wish I had known about it when I visited Carmel back in 2003 & 2006...I would have looked for it! Jean never had kids and was divorced twice. She seemed like a very independent woman who did her own thing and liked her solitude. Kind of like me!
I renewed my TIFF membership with G and bought my TIFF package, though I am not really impressed at the price increases, the doubling of the service fee (last year $5, this year $10!) and the fact they are going to do the movie picks online this year. Good luck with that. Seriously, the site is crappy when one is just buying online so I totally predict it will crash when people get on to make their movie choices. Mark my words. But I do love my Midnight Madness and watching some movies during the Fest. I only do the 10 pack.
I had a Conference this month and was in Florida for a few days. Not that thrilling for me because I was stuck in one hotel/conference centre in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, and I've already been to Disney World twice and felt no need to return. But it was good to see old colleagues and I learned some new things. It has made me think about looking into another specialty and doing that part-time while working on my new business. Have to do more research. I did have a great meal one night though. LOTS of seafood - oysters, calamari, CRAB (yum!) - and this:
It's a Baked Alaska with strawberry ice cream inside. I loved the presentation. Usually when I make Baked Alaska at home I put it in the oven for the meringue to brown but here, they lit it on fire after dousing the meringue with some liquor. Delicious! This was a portion for 4 people.
My Dad wanted a Mickey Mouse watch (which is strange to me because of his age and never ever expressing interest in Mickey Mouse before) where Mickey's arms move, so I bought him one at the airport. I was going to go to Disney World and buy one but then I found out I would have to actually pay the entrance fee to go to a store. Even if I wasn't going to do anything else inside. Yeah, no.
G & I checked out the latest taco place in the city. La Carnita was pretty good, but I still like Grand Electric better. I feel the Grand Electric tacos have more complex flavour, though it may not be like that any longer because we know how restaurants change once they become popular. My favourite taco at La Carnita was the Pollo which is weird because it was my least favourite at Grand Electric. Their Churros were quite yummy, though I wanted BIGGER. And we (all right, I) ended up drinking a lot of bourbon. G & I are thinking it would be fun to do a bourbon trip in Kentucky.
So now it's the Canada Day long weekend and I am just chilling. Trying to work out regularly and just meeting some friends for Dinner and the Euro Cup Final on Sunday. I want to do some more decluttering too.
HAPPY CANADA DAY!
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