The most painful words anyone who truly loves their partner can hear is that their partner’s love has died. That their partner may have a deep and lasting affection for them, but the love is gone.
And that is exactly what I heard in the French movie ‘Blue is the Warmest Color’.
Over the duration of three hours I was drawn into the world of Adele and Emma. I witnessed the sexual awakening of Adele, where she realizes her attraction to *all things girl*, and In particular to blue-haired gap-toothed charismatic artist Emma. The love that develops between these two lovelies (and they really are!) pulled me in, and provided a front row seat to the agony and pleasure of same-sex relationships. (Perhaps too front row what with an extended seven-minute erotic scene which for this convent girl was slightly too out there, but okay. That’s just me). Where everything is simple, but also is not. And that love between two people is simply love. Irrespective of gender, there is a connection of souls, a meeting of mind and spirit.
My heart strings were pulled when sensing the pulling away of Emma from Adele (stoopid Lisa 😡). And how Adele self-sabotages in order to protect herself. A painful confrontation ensues, with the rejection of Adele in the harshest manner. And why did she have to take all the blame?
The script is a showing of vulnerability, of love, of spirit, of commitment, and of heartbreak. It is life. In all it’s raw beauty and cruelty.
Leaving me with a strong desire to jump into the ending scene and make everything better. To kiss all the pain away. To bandaid the heart and wave a magic wand.
Yup , there you have it, another love story that is not (looking at you LaLa Land and The Way We Were).
And so it ends quite sadly with an Adele-in-warm-comforting-blue walking into the distance and away from me – the lowly viewer, at a time when I felt the need for comfort too.
I’ve always thought dogs have been created to teach us love. Dogs are love. They only know unconditional love. They will always greet you with a wagging tail, will always forgive, are loyal, will keep you company. Dogs are wonderful.
So it was really heartwarming to see a movie dedicated to this specific topic. It turned out to be a few dog movies rolled into one, courtesy of a reincarnation thread running through the script. The reincarnation thread was a bit random, but I guess it was to fill a purpose. My thinking is to not overthink anything, and just enjoy it at face value.
I enjoyed it. My eleven-year old did too. Her first comment when we left the cinema was, ‘Please can I get a dog, please?’. Perhaps that is the best review there can be!
Life really is beautiful, when there are glorious imaginations that make such films possible.
I feasted my Friday evening on this Italian production not really knowing what to expect. From the beginning I was swept up by the romantic Jewish-Italian waiter Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni), and his Italian princess-forever Dora (Nicoletta Braschi).
The script is presented in two parts; the first being the romance and union of the couple, and the second part taking place five years and one son Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini) later.
Set in 1939, the young family enjoy a short-lived peace before being taken away to a concentration camp. It is here that the loving father shields his son from the horrors of the camp by turning each day and event into a game.
The son Giosue is entrancing in his role, and the end result is a movie so touching and poignant that it is sure to stay with you after the last song has played.
I’m so glad to have stumbled on this one, definitely worth the time!
We open with Emily (Amy Schumer) doing some serious shopping for a romantic excursion planned and paid for. She wants to know from the junior if the t-shirt with the cute bird speaks to her. It’s a t-shirt. It does not speak.
No. It doesn’t. But Emily’s boss does because hey! Emily is actually the sales assistant, and the junior is well, only a junior and not an assistant at all. At least not in the store.
She gets fired, and I can empathize because like, who hasn’t ever had a bad day? Her boyfriend obviously, because he’s an up-and-coming rocker ‘going places’. And she is going nowhere, but down to kiss the ground.
And that’s why ladies, we have mothers! To stalk us on fb and actually give a damn about our relationship status. Enter Goldie Hawn, and is that really her? An older version, clearly, but yes. I have always been a fan of Goldie Hawn, ever since she made her private Benjamin kick ass. Emily needed a mother. And Goldie Hawn was a good fit.
Emily has vacation tickets. To Ecuador! And no boyfriend. Or any friends that care. So she grabs her mama and off they go.
It was fun and funny. Cut to the exposed nipple, full one breast frontal, and omigosh. That’s exactly what mine looks like! Really, I’m not even joking.
And then they get snatched. And locked in the trunk of a car. But fortunately for them (and us!) they channel their inner MacGuyver and manage to escape.
So we have adventures through jungles and killing locals and pre-cocktail vagina washing and pulling tapeworms out mouths, and rofl. The tapeworm scene is really, really funny. And so is Emily’s brother speaking Klingon. Please, please speak some more. Let me hear me a little foreign!
Emily’s brother is every sister’s nightmare. And every comedy’s hero.
And all’s well that ends well.
It was hilarious, it was fun. It was comedy. It was chick flicks all the way.
I’m a bit late to the 1970’s party, but I eventually watched ‘The Way We Were’. Needless to say Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford in their prime, were, well in their prime, Robert Redford eye candy of note, and I have always been a Barbra Streisand fan. That’s the good part.
Back to the storyline! There are things that are bothering me so much I just have to write about it. It truly bothers me how outspoken and strong Streisand’s character is, but when it comes to her personal life, she becomes a whimpering adolescent teenager. Right after he slept with her, and then forgot about it as soon as he woke up. Yessiree. They had S.E.X, but no roses for her, he thanked her for the use of her bed and he was out of there. A goner. No kisses goodbye or anything.
And then he proceeded to use her. And her apartment. Because convenience. It was sweet. But as much as they romantice it, not once did he say he loved her. Nope. She was convenient. Until she spoke out of place.
And then he broke up with her. Because she hadn’t ‘behaved’ when he told her to behave. Yes ladies, you read correctly, he instructed her to ‘behave’. It was clear when he broke up with her that he meant what he said. The movie could have ended right there. But no. We had to endure her whimpering attempts at trying to change, pleading with him that she would laugh more, swear more, be everything that she was not. Just so that he would love her.
And then she did the unforgivable, and lady, I know this feeling well. Only too well, I’m afraid. She called him. In tears. And begged him to comfort her. Yes, you heard right. The motherf*er who told her quite bluntly that she just wasn’t the one for him, and it was clear that he was never going to change for her, was begged and cajoled to go and comfort her. So he went, taking two sleeping pills along with him, what a catch! And allowed himself to be coerced into staying.
She should have known from then. He was not committed. He felt pity not love. She even tried to convince him. ‘I’m the one that believes in you the most, the best one to love you’, yadda yadda yadda, save your breath lady, that’s what you should be hearing from him, not you trying to convince him yourself.
And then the clincher, she took it upon herself to fall pregnant, after which he took up the first offer for an exta-marital and off he went. Pregnant lady at home and who cares about her. After which more pleading on her part. Please stay with me, please, please, please, until our baby is born.
You can guess what happened. As soon as the baby had popped, he couldn’t even bring himself to tell her how beautiful their baby was. Insensitive sod. The best he could come up with was, she is tiny. She’s a f*king newborn what do you expect, dumbass? And then quite coldly, informed her that the crib was built. Okey doke, so the poor lady just pushed out his baby from her vajayjay, all while he was having fun on the side, and we supposed to applaud the fact that the crib was built. Yay for that. And what we can assume is a vanishing act after that.
Because as it turns out, she bumps into him years later, still with love in her eyes and tries to welcome him once again with open arms. He declines once again. Asks with a polite forced interest, how is ‘she’? Can’t even mention his own daughter by name, doesn’t even ask to see a photo, and then disappears.
Wtf???? Â Am I missing something in this romance?? Because this sure feels like my worst relationship gone even worse. What with all the begging, pleading, promising to change, tears, uncommitted half-arsed half-catch of a man, and a baby to boot.
The moral of the story?
When a man breaks up with you ladies, it’s because he wants to break up with you. Else he would be right there by your side loving you.
This is the best documentary ever. If you have not see Searching for Sugarman, take 90 minutes and watch it. You will walk away amazed, uplifted and incredulous. It is amazing.
As an aside, the documentary reflects the reality of the day. My dad had the Rodriguez albums and he would play it them on Sunday mornings when cooking breakfast. The music takes me back a few years. Crystal clear clarity and authenticity, and strength of voice.
I ventured out of the scorching heat last night to take my friend’s mother and myself to see La La Land. I noticed beforehand that it was from the same director of Whiplash. (Which I watched earlier this year as it is on the list of ‘1001 movies to watch before you die’, and I am working my way down the list, currently at about number 8). So I knew not to expect the boring, cliche, Hollywood ending. Which means I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t get it. Was I disappointed? Yes! I still want and expect a boring, cliche Hollywood ending.
With that said, I loved the movie, I loved the beginning, I loved the dresses, I love Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. It doesn’t hurt that I am tone deaf so have no idea on the quality of their singing, it all sounded just fine to me.
I loved one of the audition songs she sang:
She told me:
A bit of madness is key
to give us to color to see
Who knows where it will lead us?
And that’s why they need us,
So bring on the rebels
The ripples from pebbles
The painters, and poets, and plays
And here’s to the fools who dream
Crazy, as they may seem
Here’s to the hearts that break
Here’s to the mess we make
And I really, really love the green dress and matching pendant she wore in the cinema, breathtakingly beautiful!
Poems and Petals 