Movies!

I've actually seen a couple of movies recently that I'd been meaning to see for a long time, but hadn't gotten around to it. I thought I'd review them here briefly just for the heck of it.

Moulin Rouge
I loved this film. I was pretty unsure about it going into it, but I was prepared to have an open mind. I had not watched it ten minutes before I was utterly hooked. Ewan McGregor's voice was utterly amazing... not that he was technically stunning, but his voice just rang like a bell. Kidman's performance was superb as well, and the two of them together were magic. I was awestruck, and I'm putting this on the list of DVDs to purchase. It won't be for everyone, but it was definitely for me. I give it five stars.

Dark Victory
For those who are not old movie aficianados, Dark Victory was a 1939 feature starring Bette Davis as a young socialite who is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. The movie deals with how she and those around her cope with that news and her eventual death. It's an all-star cast, from Davis in the lead to Humphrey Bogart as her Irish-brogued horse trainer to Ronald Reagan as a general friend and sloppy drunk (it's so amusing to see him in that role, too, hindsight being the moveable feast that it is). At this point Davis was well established as a star, and this is definitely for her. It was nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress in a Leading Role. Upon viewing it, you can tell it was set in a different age of filmmaking altogether. She's diagnosed with "lyoma" and after her initial surgery, they discover that the tumor will surely kill her, although she'll suffer no further symptoms until she loses her eyesight right at the end. If I ever have to have cancer and die from it, this is how I want to go. The "movie medicine" was a jarring, if amusing, note for me, which kept me from really connecting with the film until the end. The script was a bit over the top for me in places, but then again it was written for the sensibilities of the 1939 movie audience. The performances were very good, though, and have largely held up over time. Bette does shine in the film and I was glad I'd seen it. It should be on your list to see if you're trying to round out your "history of film" repetoire. I give it 3 stars in general, 4 for having the good sense to cast Bogie and Davis together, no matter how odd the accents involved.

Okay, here's a meme I can't resist.

Taken from gmskarka.

"A few other writers on my friends list have done this; the idea is to post the
opening lines of works in progress. The allure of rich, creamy narcissism is too
much to resist!"

---

Waters of Lethe
Soaring heavens eyes touch glowing silk heat moist breath—
No.
Sun warm blue breeze tingle soft laughter—
No.
Goddamit, no. Blank. Just…
I have one chance at this. One instant in which to be solely myself. The instant
comes and goes, but it is never the same twice. One time to record something
that I know is just… just me. Oh God not again

---

Darkening of the Light, Prologue
The fire was dying. Bright orange coals glowed deep within its heart, but the pale flames above spat and sputtered in the wind, casting a dim, flickering light. The cave was shallow, the sky and dark scrub brush visible through the opening. Shadows grew in the cave as the light dimmed, but the darkness stayed back as though held at bay, waiting for the fire to die altogether.

The woman sat with her back to the wall, cross-legged and hunched over, her face obscured by a curtain of tangled dark hair. She looked like a feature of the landscape; the only thing that marked her as human was her hands, loosely clasped around a worn leather pouch.

Just a moment longer... the sun has fled back to its hole. It can’t touch us now. It’s time for witchery.

---

An Honorable Woman
“By the way, you’ve got a two o’clock appointment.”

The man sitting at the desk glanced down at his watch. The numbers “13:40” glowed up at him. “Nice timing. Anything else you’d like to tell me about? Was I due with the head of Ares at 1:30?”

A deep, rasping laugh crackled from the telecom speakers. The unit had come with the office, and was probably about as old as he was. The screen for the unit had long since given up trid capability, but he couldn’t see the point of spending money on something he didn’t own. “Gee, all the nuyen you’re paying me and a comedy routine, too. What more could a girl want?”

He smiled at that. Rosie wasn’t the best secretary ever to complete a Barrens Self-Improvement School career course, but she was quick enough when he needed it. Street smarts were worth more to his line of work than a great telephone voice, anyway.

“So, who’s this appointment with? You haven’t pencilled in my ex-wife, have you?”

“It’d serve you right if I had. It’s a prospect. She looks loaded.”

---

My other current project is actually in comic script form, so it doesn't have good opening lines to use, per se. That should serve for a smattering of my stuff, though.