Rekindling my amor for Gael Garcia Bernal

A few nights ago I watched Mammoth (2009), a film I hadn't even heard of until Netflix recommended it to me. I've been way out of the indie loop!

It's about a wealthy young New York couple who live in a loft that looks straight out of Dwell. GGB plays the daddy, a green-eyed manchild who jets off to Thailand to sign off on some contracts relating to the social gaming empire he owns (This is the first time I've heard MySpace referenced in a film), and Michelle Williams plays stressed-out-surgeon while their spawn learns Tagalog from the nanny whose two flip-flop clad young sons mope around the Philippines without her.

It was pretty predictable, somewhat disappointing plot-wise, and left me scratching my huge head for some kind of proper resolution, but it was decent. (I'm prone to switching off intolerable cinema, Couples Retreat being the most recent case). It also made me appreciate my mother.

Anyway, I do recommend the film, despite all the negative reviews I've read. I like movies that hop from place to place geographically and deal with a lot of characters.

I ALSO LIKE MOVIES WITH GGB. Which is my point here. It's funny how I end up spending only about 10% of my posts being shallow while most of it is usually semi-substantial/non-superficial commentary. Besides his lovely mouth and his tendency to appear mildly clothed in many of his films, I love that he's so versatile, yet he always seems to play morally ambiguous characters.

Maybe it's those pensive eyes...

Is it bad that I want to see LETTERS TO JULIET?

"Madame Robinson, vous essayez de me séduire, n'est-ce pas?"

Over the weekend I dusted off my record player (which looks as if it's made by Fisher-Price) and put on Simon & Garkfunkel's Greatest Hits while I crammed for my design 101 midterm (which I probably did fine on, fingers crossed). Naturally I felt the urge to rewatch The Graduate* so I put it on as background noise.

I love this film so much. I'm sure everyone's felt a little bit like Benjamin Braddock in the last few months. I didn't think much of it after my first viewing since I had to watch it for my histoire du cinéma class and I could only get my hands on a VHS copy of Le Lauréat. Dubbed Dustin Hoffman = no fun. My professor prefaced his lecture on the film by pointing out that DH was not "très beau" (direct quote!), and I found myself outraged. Since my French comprehension at the time was considerably low compared to now, I didn't really understand all the dialogue in the film, but I sure wasn't blind! DH was so beautiful, a perfect embodiment of youthful apathy. I can't imagine any other actor pulling off that empty, glazed look that he has in 80% of the movie. And he sure did look fit in all those pool/bedroom scenes...

The cinematography, of course, is also stunning, but that's pretty obvious. Ha, every time I'm at the airport I find myself staring blankly off into space on the moving walkways (easiest way to set up a tracking shot, no?!) then I start to hum "The Sound of Silence" quietly to myself. (I have a similar ritual at train stations, I whistle "I Will Wait For You" from Les parapluies de Cherbourg as I sob on the platform!)

Here's my favorite S&G tune from the film, a somewhat lesser-known track called "April Come She Will." (I love songs with references to months. "June in January," anyone? John Mayer's "St. Patrick's Day"?)



April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain;
May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again

June, she'll change her tune,
In restless walks she'll prowl the night;
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;
September I'll remember.
A love once new has now grown old.

Sigh. Love it.

*I dedicate this post to Bernie because she insisted the film was amazing and was patient with me when I kept stopping the movie to take notes!

Über

SOURCE
At the start of each week I write myself a To-Do list though I never seem to check anything off nor get anything done.

This week has been no exception, thanks to a distracting little epic called Inglourious Basterds. Until my 2nd year of college, I had never seen a Quentin Tarantino film in its entirety. I had a roommate who pretty much worshiped him (From Dusk 'Til Dawn included). I never really saw the fuss--to me, he was this funny-looking guy who had made a cameo on an episode of Margaret Cho's All-American Girl in the early 90s (a show that I watched religiously) and liked to pack his scripts with guts and expletives. As someone who found The Adventures of Milo & Otis mildly traumatizing, I doubted my ability to endure a Tarantino picture.

Then I took a screenwriting class sophomore year, had to read Pulp Fiction, was appalled, watched the film, and fell in love with it!

But I digress, because this is not meant to be a written tribute to QT! Though I'm still set on being Mia Wallace for Halloween sometime in my life...as soon as I have a Vincent Vega to be my +1.

Anyway!

Here are the real reasons for this post.

The talented & lovely Daniel Brühl & Christoph Waltz.





Now I've been obsessed with Daniel Brühl for quite sometime (I was one of two people under the age of 70 in the theater when Ladies in Lavender was released, the second being my friend Joycie whom I dragged along!), but IB definitely reminded me of how versatile of an actor he is.

And Christoph Waltz...akdjklsjakfl...so amazing. I might have sifted through 40+ pages of Fuck Yeah Christoph Waltz! in one sitting in lieu of doing my homework. I need help. He's too cute. And Der Humpink is an instant mood lift.

Mein gott, I want to learn German! This always happens whenever I watch foreign language films, I get this itch to know the language. For example, I was dying to learn Spanish after my Gael Garcia Bernal phase (but I never did!)....and wow, I totally just looked up language classes at the Goethe Institut.

Anyway, if you haven't seen IB yet, I urge you to asap! Digestible for the faint of heart, even. In the meantime I think I'll slowly work my way through the QT canon, but I'll probably close my eyes during the yucky bits.