I used the word "relationship" far too many times this year.
I went to see Phantom of the Opera yesterday. It was interesting to see a musical I have known and had memorized for far too long re-interpreted as a film. I was sorry that the filmmakers felt that they should make it more of a musical. They could have gone the Evita route, take the music, make it a story, realize that the music is the dialogue and you don't need to worry that people won't understand. Anyway, I didn't like that they changed a lot of the dialogue into spoken words instead of sung. The whole "Raoul, I'm frightened, don't make me do this . . ." scene sounded really cheesy. And that's one of my favorite parts. I don't like musicals. I like POTO and Les Mis and Evita because they aren't so much musicals as sung plays. The music doesn't interupt because there is no talking. I hate it when people randomly burst into song and the way the Phantom movie did things it sounded even more like people were randomly bursting into song because they would start out talking and them they would start singing mid-sentence. Oh, and the Phantom had like a square-inch of scar tissue. Really hideous.
Anyway, I feel like anymore complaining would be like kicking the movie while it's down. I liked it for its nostaligic value, and it was a pretty movie. I liked Madame Giry. She's wicked cool. I think she's Andrew Lloyd Webber's presence in the musical. Oh, and I like Mr. Beebe as Andre.
I found this review that says pretty much what I have to say about the movie.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou reminded me of my childhood. I thought it was interesting how for Ned and Jane this was about their childhoods. This was about their childhood image of Steve Zissou and about Steve being human (about him being "Stevesie" and "Papa Steve" and "Dad"). But Wes Anderson did not let that get in the way of having lots of fun with dynamite and explosions and guns and wetsuits and I admire that. Ryan talked about how this was almost an action movie. Reading this from Ryan made me think about the action side of the film more and that is probably why I noticed the lack of anything to tie this movie to the action genre. These were not the fights we get into every day, no, not even I do, but we can still watch the film and think "yes, if pirates were attacking me that's probably how I would react." These are not ordinary situations, but they're still ordinary people. It's the humanity that I love about this film. The subtle humor and the Proust and the siamese kittens roaming the ship, pouncing on those poor budgies just bring that out more. (I loved the Proust scene, by the way, especially the part when Jane asked Ned if he wanted her to catch him up on the story and he said he would figure it out. Yeah, I read that last year. There is no plot.) Oh, and I also want to say that I loved Annemarie. She was so great, stomping around in her semi-clothed state, so secure and pissed off at the same time. Great women in this film, all three of them. Great men, too, but great women.
Well, the mulled wine was not a success. To tell the truth, it was a great success until I put in the cream. I don't know what they were smoking (or drinking) in the seventeenth century, cream does not go in wine. Vodka and Kahlua, yes; wine, no. But the mince pies are great with egg nog, so it's okay.
In my true domestic fashion I spent almost all of Christmas Eve baking. By the end of the time I was more white than a white christmas. We still haven't made the traditional gingerbread. They're going to be Harry Potter gingerbread men this year, due to a strike of Lord of the Rings characters. They didn't like that "I'm eating Arwen, she's elf-licious" crack. Next year we can make Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe gingerbread men. "Oh no, the White Witch has turned them all to gingerbread!"
I will leave you all with my favorite Christmas song:
The Rebel Jesus
All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
Well they call him by 'the Prince of Peace'
And they call him by 'the Savior'
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
And they fill his churches with their pride and gold
As their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus
We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus
But pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
I love being free to wander about the country. The fall semester ends and I get in the car with some friends and drive up to Boston. Boston, a city I had absolutely no experience with a couple weeks ago. This amazes me. I love how easy the interstates are to navigate with a good atlas. It's like having a treasure map--"Now, fifty paces until we come to the place where the men hang high . . ." Driving over the George Washington Bridge at two in the morning, seeing The City all lit up and beautiful, even though I wasn't going there, is one of the greatest moments of this Christmas break. I think the best time, though, was singing in a Messiah Sing in Boston and feeling part of this city that I wasn't part of and feeling at home with these people I didn't know. It was beautiful.
Flying home on Wednesday was another experience of feeling at home with strangers. I had never traveled that close to Christmas before and I was suprised and how cheery all the airport and airplane staff were. The man who announced the flight in Providence asked the passengers for a holiday poem he could read so a lot of people wrote one for him. I wrote one. Heh heh, not my finest creation. But the whole poem reading in the terminal made everyone feel more open and I had a nice little chat with a man who I think is a designer for statues for public parks and stuff. He said they're going to erect one in Chattanooga next summer. When I got to Omaha I realized my luggage had gone missing so I had to wait in the lost luggage office for a long time while people harrassed the poor man in there. He sent me to go look for my luggage with that from another plane, but then rather sheepishly brought it up to me later. Hurrah for arriving in one piece! And now I am having a jolly time in my warm house with my family and Jimmy Stewart and Patrick Stewart and their respective Christmas movies.
It's been five days since I finished exams and I've driven through eleven states and seen many scenic New England towns. Some hallmates and I drove up to Boston (and I will write more about that later) and now I'm in Rhode Island visiting some old friends. It's very strange to be here because I haven't been at this family's house since I went to Covenant and it really feels like a different world. I said to my friend today, "Do you get any NPR stations here?" and she said, "What's NPR?" I'm trying to figure out whether it's me who comes from the strange world or whether it's her. She goes to GA Tech, but she seems much more sheltered from life and the world in general than I am, but it might just be who we are and not where we go to school. Anyway, I'm enjoying the Northeast with its Dunkin' Donuts and snow, but tomorrow I fly away to Omaha where I'll be spending the rest of Christmas break with my family, mulled wine, and hot mince pies.