I was going to make a post early last week but haven't til now because I've just been feeling so apathetic. Last Tuesday night I went and saw "The Painted Veil" at the movies. It stars Naomi Watts and Edward Norton (both of whom I really respect as actors) and it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I wanted to write up a whole post in my feelings about it but I just didn't think I could do them justice. The next day I visited the film's website and was even more blown away by the artistry, intelligence, respect, hard work and dedication that went into the film. I haven't seen a film like that for ages and it still, a week later, has me feeling such a deep sense of respect and gratitude that there are people out there with such a regard for literature, art, culture and the human story that they could create such a masterpiece. Wow. Anyway, I'd HIGHLY recommend seeing it, even if just for the beautifully sensitive acting or the breathtaking cinematography which captures a rural China that Westerners have not yet been able to see. I believe it's one of the first Western films that actually combines Western film production with the Chinese film industry and with Chinese crews and cast...the result is a wonderful meeting between two cultures in the modern day to tell the story of the meeting of the same cultures in the early twentieth century. BEAUTIFUL. One more thing...the love story between the two main characters is one of the most romantic, un-sappy, beautifully handled and poignant that I have seen in a long, long time. It is by no means the traditional love story and was so refreshingly REAL. I could definitely relate to it on such a real, personal level and I found it absolutely amazing. The entire film, every single tiny part that went into its production seems to have been done with such a deep and sincere respect. And that in turn is what I have for this film and the people who brought it about.

So after having said all that...the next morning I was driving Ash to work, which is not far from his house in the rural area in which I live, when all of a sudden after turning a corner we found two trucks coming toward us on our side of the road carrying demountable classrooms and not going slowly! They veered back onto their side of the road quickly and we barely sighed our relief when a massive piece of guttering, a few metres long came hurtling off the back of one of them and straight into my windscreen. If it had've been a few inches higher it might have come right through into my face and I don't like to think where Ash and I might be if it had (certainly not on this earth, that's for sure!). As it was, it was low enough to be near the stronger part of the window near the seam so that it didn't come all the way through and just smashed up the window instead. So anyway, I'm waiting now for the repair people to come and fix it (I haven't been able to drive my car all week). As it is I had to spend this morning walking home from Ash's house (he does NOT live within comfortable walking distance!) in the hot sun along the dusty main road with rattling trucks rumbling past, suffering the odd beeping of dumb-ass cars, all while I'm wearing clothes I wouldn't normally do exercise in (jeans, volleys and carrying my handbag stuffed with abnormally heavy and unnecessary items). There was no vehicle there to use and Ash had to get to work. :D So hot and tired with sore feet, I arrived home rather later than I should have (I wanted to make an early start, but being car-less kind of threw a spanner into the works there). I'm supposed to be writing a thesis abstract for my PhD as well, but after the ordeals I've been facing this hectic week, my head just doesn't want to get into gear. How do I summarise my massive, interconnecting orb of ideas into a 500 word, neat and concise statement? It's OK though, I can feel the cogs turning subconsciously and the words will appear as if out of thin air when they're ready. That's how it happens. I just hope they come before I'm supposed to hand this in to my supervisor! :D

Following a prompt from susanrodio to say what I thought about 'The Golden Compass' (which I saw last night), I thought I'd share my opinion.....I LOVED IT! Totally worth seeing! I love those kinds of movies anyway but it was so well cast and Lyra was played so beautifully and the daemons are sooooo soooooooo cute! Especially Pan in his kitty form! So my advice: go and see it! (Better be quick because I'm sure it won't screen for much longer!) One thing I did think however was how graphic movies are getting..for a movie marketed to young kids it had some moments which would have had me bawling my eyes out as a younger kid (I used to cry when things got hurt because I felt so sorry for them). I won't say which parts because it would ruin the movie, but there was a tiny boy sitting next to us in the theatre with his mother and his eyes looked like saucers at one stage before he was hiding them in his mother's arms! Poor little thing! AND, not having read the books before, I didn't realise it continues into sequels, which meant it ended WAY before I wanted it to! :( I could watch those movies for days if they went that long! :)

In other news, my cat has taken to leaping at me out of nowhere and biting my legs. This morning I was still wearing my pyjamas (boxer shorts since its Summer here) and I noticed him looking at me funny from across the room. Next second I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye and he's soaring through the air with claws spread and a maniacal expression on his face, before he latched onto my leg and sunk his teeth right in. It bloody hurt and after getting him off he chased me around the room! I had to watch him carefully after that. What the hell is he playing at? I'm about 20 times the size of him and he wants to take me on! Silly cat...

Yesterday was an awesome day (as one's birthday ought to be!)! In the morning Ash cooked me a beautiful 6 course breakfast that we lazily took about 2 hours to eat! He made a beautiful table setting with candles and everything and it was so atmospheric being there, snug inside while the grey morning dripped quietly outside the windows. Then after a while of relaxing we raced into the city to the IMAX theatre to see Beowulf 3D...and it was sooooo awesome! I was really apprehensive about seeing it (I'm passionate about my Beowulf seeing as I did a whole thesis on it last year)...I was so scared they would change the story or ruin the interpretation or make it cheesy or miss completely the finer, more delicate and deeply insightful parts of an otherwise gory monster story. I had seen a movie actually shot in parts of Northern Europe recently which I thought would be amazing but I actually hated it. It was cheesy, it changed the story to a point that totally ruined even the original themes and they had a ridiculous woman who kept her Canadian accent and didn't even bother to make it seem more authentic. We're talking about the Danish areas of  over a thousand years ago. That really pissed me off. Anyway, so I was really worried about how they would do this movie...the previews had made me a bit unsure...but then I got there and even beyond the MASSIVE screen and 3D awesomeness, the movie was really, really, and I mean really well done! It was so true to the original beautiful poem  and in the parts it needed to change in order to make a coherent, modern, movie storyline, they kept it so respectful to the original and so relevant to the themes and points the original was making in the bits they changed that it worked perfectly! It was such an awesome representation...and it worked so well with the way I studied the original poem (in psychological terms of ego and shadow and their relationship with literary and cultural perceptions of Good and Evil). After the first movie I saw I was so upset that people in a modern world would watch it and think Beowulf was crap...but now this one, with its big name cast and its wide distribution, can show everyone what a magnificent story it is!!! After watching it I came out buzzing...I was so happy that today, hundreds of years after the original poem, and as they say in the movie, Beowulf's song is still being sung! Yay!!!!