Good news

Some good news and a good movie.



Midnight in Paris


I went to this movie alone, actually I had a whole day in town alone to give BH some home alone time and for me to do girly stuff (chick flick, picnic, dead Egyptians, shopping). Midnight in Paris is a new movie starring Owen Wilson. When I read the blurb I thought Owen Wilson was all wrong, but he surprised me and was quite suitable for the part.

Some Americans go to Paris - delightful depictions of the "ugly American abroad", a cheap shot but relevant to the story. Gil (Wilson) is a writer, Rachel McAdams, his fiancee, is just horrible and wears a selection of really unflattering clothes. Odd. Rachel's mother is Dharma's mother from Dharma and Greg, but in this she is so much more like Greg's mother in Dharma and Greg. They meet up with a couple from home, he is a pedantic know-it-all (I'm sure I know him) and she provides some tiny but excellent background comic moments as she second-guesses her own French pronunciation. I really like that detail.

Gil gets a bit tired of the lack of appreciation for Paris and goes out walking at night, gets lost, gets in a car with strangers (NEVER do that) and ends up in the 1920s with the Fitzgeralds and the magnificent Hemingway. The retro celebs that he meets are wonderful. Kathy Bates is a great Gertrude Stein, and Salvador Dali provides light relief with his talk of rhinoceros - not sure what the plural of that animal is. The First Lady of France, Carla Bruni has a cameo role and she is very good. An inter-era love story that all ends fairly happily.

Paris is, of course, beautiful. The lighting is superb and atmospheric, the music delightful, the makeup and costumes gorgeous. Woody Allen directs and does a good job, as far as it goes. There is the potential for a much deeper, more complex story, but I suppose it would have been a different story then. I refer you to my most favourite tv series, Goodnight Sweetheart, for more of the time travel love story genre. I liked Midnight and I am still thinking about it, mostly as escapism. It may be time to go back to Paris with BH and hope he finds it as romantic as I do.

When I left the movie theatre, I found myself at the riverside (it was the Riverside Theatre) with the Truckee in flood, dozens of beautiful pink and mauve hanging baskets of flowers and a young man playing the flute. It could have been Paris. It was a beautiful day. I'll be buying the DVD.




Now the good news: Lotto came back! He was away 10 days and returned this morning looking well and not starved. He does have a big chunk out of his nose so I guess a fight scared him away. I am so happy to have him back and so is his brother. This morning Lotto was asleep in Tui's arms. I had given poor Lotto up but he proved me wrong. I am so glad he came back.