Movie Moments, Part 3

Here's the end of it. There would have been twice as many posts to cover the full collection, but the rest of them are in South Dakota, and so have been left out. What else did I think was important enough to bring halfway across the country? Read on to see.

Stranger Than Fiction

The scene in which Ana is telling Harold how she became a baker at law school always makes me hungry. I think that scene is meant to be one that the author wrote, because the way Ana lists the foods she baked sounds delicious, yet wooden. People don't really talk that way, but we accept reading them that way. It's fascinating to watch this movie and try to sort out which pieces of Harold's life have been written and which pieces he is simply living.

Finding Forrester

I love the scene when Jamal and William are discussing rules of grammar. William objects to Jamal beginning a sentence with a conjunction, and Jamal defends his decision, claiming it's not actually a rule of grammar but a convention. As they go back and forth about it, both characters intentionally begin their one-sentence pieces of dialogue with conjunctions. I'm a nerd, so it makes me smile.

Mulan

The best part is the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You." We get to see all of the main characters go from being completely pathetic to being actual warriors. Plus, the lyrics are totally macho and it's great fun to sing along to. Also, on the special edition second disc there is a video of Jackie Chan singing the song in Chinese and doing some sort of martial arts dance. It's incredibly funny, though unintentionally so.

Whisper of the Heart

There is a song the main character Shizuku sings in the middle of the movie. It's a new song that she's written to the tune of "Country Roads," and it encapsulates the theme of the movie--it's all about chasing dreams and facing challenges. Her new friend (or soon-to-be friend, after a brief shouting match) Seiji plays violin for her, and it sounds incredible. I fell in love with the movie the first time I watched it, and I was obsessed with this scene for about two weeks after that. It's even on my iPod!

Pride and Prejudice

It's actually two separate moments, but they convey the same idea. What strikes me about this movie, besides the romance, is the way that women were expected to behave and were mostly ignored as individuals. It comes out in conversation when Elizabeth asks how her sister is doing, and both times is answered by her location, not her state of being. First at Netherfield, then by her own mother when both girls have recently arrived home from their separate adventures.

Elizabeth: "I'm so sorry, how is my sister?"
Mr. Darcy: "She's upstairs."

Elizabeth: (of Jane) "How is she?"
Mrs. Bennet: "She's in the drawing room."

How could that be a sufficient answer? The first time it happens Elizabeth is more put off by Mr. Darcy's abrupt manner and her own discomfort, and the second time she clearly expects little better from her mother and is not surprised by it. But it still irks her, and it irks me too!

Sense and Sensibility

Any line delivered by Hugh Laurie is priceless. I love the quality of all the characters, even minor ones, in this film. The best may be the evil sister-in-law, especially in her reaction to learning that Lucy Steele is secretly engaged to Edward. The book glosses over what may have happened in that moment, but the movie shows us how Fanny throws aside her needlework, pushes Lucy off the couch and drags her across the room by her ear before throwing her out of the house. It makes me think of an angry monkey, which suits the character quite well.

Alex & Emma

Alex is an author who needs to finish his next book in 30 days to pay off his debt to Cuban loan sharks, and Emma is the stenographer he cons into helping him. I enjoy the whole concept of the story and the way the movie hope back and forth between the real characters and the action of the novel being composed. Toward the beginning they argue about how a character's name should be spelled, and he then puts their comments directly into the dialogue of the characters, which I find amusing and Emma doesn't.

What a Girl Wants

I know, I know, it's a cheesy, tween girl movie. But I still like it. For those of you who have no idea what it's about, it's Amanda Bynes going to England to meet her father, who is in the House of Lords and doesn't know she exists. Hilarity ensues as she tries to be the society girl he needs her to be while maintaining her own identity. She also gets to meet a cute English boy who can sing and play guitar--bonus points for that. A favorite moment would be when she pushes the archtypal creepy snob into the river at a regatta for trying to kiss her and insulting her boyfriend and then flees with her father on her boyfriend's motorcycle. If they were really concerned about public image, they should have stayed and straightened things out, but it was a lot more fun to flee, especially since it meant the boyfriend and his bandmates (working the gig parking cars) got to run interference with the press. Hijinks!

That Thing You Do

In all honesty, I haven't watched this entire movie yet. I picked it up for cheap at the Boston Public Library book sale last fall. I've seen most of it, just not the end--we were watching it in middle school music class, but I missed the day they finished it. When I have a spare moment I'll get to it. From what I have seen of it, my favorite part is when the band gets an agent and the first thing he wants to do is change their name from the Oneders to the Wonders because no one could pronounce it. One band member's response: "as in 'what ever happened to the Oh-need-ers'?"

-Kim