...to the movies again.
I think I will go see Monster, starring the lovely Charlize Theron. It got an incredible write-up in the New York Times. I've always thought that Theron was very talented - but that she had a bad manager or something. Bad "handlers", as they say in "the biz". She is not picky enough in her choices of roles - she has been in a string of bad movies - Her face, a couple of years ago, was on every magazine cover. Now? She's nowhere.
Renee Zellweger obviously has very good handlers. You cannot take 2 steps without seeing her smirking apple-doll face on every magazine rack. Her handlers have obviously pushed her to the top of the list for every Hollywood project - stardom such as Zellweger's does not happen on talent alone.
So maybe Theron is starting to pick more carefully. She is better than the "girlfriend of the lead male" roles she's been getting.
I can't wait to see her work in this new film.
I shall report back.
(One of my favorite things in the world to do is to go to movies by myself. Even when I have been married for 30 years, I will probably still go to films by myself.)
Posted by sheilaI live to see movies by myself - especially ones where I can weep shamelessly as no one is next to me needing to worry about my mental health! I first saw Charlize in "The Cider House Rules" which I loved - and I loved her in it.
Posted by: Betsy at January 2, 2004 5:48 PMms. s,
Is this our best calling card for the prospective spouse? "I have only occassional interest in going to the movies with you, and my apathy will only deepen with time."
I do worry so for your future happiness. Do you feel any need to clarify?
From the interviews I've seen, Charlize Theron is obviously a very intelligent woman. I always sort of suspected that she would be more interesting in real life than as an actress. However, I also had the vague idea that she came from a wealthy South African family and was therefore perhaps not as aggressively ambitious as is the Hollywood norm. What I didn't realize until today is that her mother shot her father to death in self-defense when she was 15 years old. It's hard to even imagine how difficult it would be to deal with that sort of trauma. It's possible that she just wasn't ready to take on a character with deep emotional scars until now...
Posted by: MikeR at January 2, 2004 6:42 PMI always go to the movies by myself. Espceially ones that I know will mean alot to me. I like to soak it in before I start hearing someone elses opinions.
Posted by: anna at January 2, 2004 7:24 PMSo much to respond to.
Bill - I worry for my future happiness, too. To clarify: I love alone-time, I cherish alone-time - and I love going to the movies by myself. Anna said it perfectly - I like to soak it up, especially if it's a movie I am really into. Hopefully, my apathy will not be apathy at all. Just a consciousness that I need to have date nights WITH MYSELF. :)
mike - WOAH. I did not know that about her past. I knew she was wealthy and South African but I did not know that. Very perceptive of you - perhaps she wasn't ready to delve into personal stuff. Great point.
I just came back from the film and let me tell you - this is one of the most brilliant acting performances I have ever seen. I would rate it up there with DeNiro in Taxi Driver. She completely transforms.
I have to get my thoughts together so I can write more about it.
Turns out I know someone who's in the film - the first guy she kills. A real bastard. (I mean, the character) The guy in real life is the sweetest man imaginable - funny, self-deprecating, sweet ... It was amazing to see his transformation too.
The movie is wrenching.
Hats fucking OFF to Charlize Theron. This is the kind of performance that raises the bar for other actors.
Posted by: red at January 2, 2004 9:17 PMI watch movies alone at home often, but going to the theaters has always been a communal experience for me, often involving dinner, arriving 30 minutes early so you can have a pre-movie discussion and the always important post-movie discussion on the ride home.
I especially like company for repeat viewings, since you can almost experience the film through your friend's eyes.
Not that I don't enjoy alone-time, I just get mine behind the wheel of a car late at night in the company of a few good CDs.
Posted by: Bill McCabe at January 2, 2004 9:52 PMI like to go to movies I loved a second time with a friend who hasn't yet seen it. Yes.
The communal movie experience always stresses me out, for some reason. My best memories of communal movie-going moments are from high school when my friends and I would all drive up to the Showcase to see The Breakfast Club for the 8th time - or the time we all lined up down Main Street to see the 2nd Indiana Jones. Now that was fun - and not something you'd want to do by yourself.
Posted by: red at January 2, 2004 9:58 PMOh one more thing -
but something like Monster, or Mystic River, or Boys Don't Cry - serious films which I know will pack a punch - I definitely prefer to go by myself.
I get lost in the experience much easier that way. It's like I fly out of my own body - and forget where I am.
Posted by: red at January 2, 2004 10:00 PMI saw 21 Grams by myself a few days ago. I only saw it alone because my wife didn't feel like going and I had to get out of the house or go stir crazy. But it's a nice treat to sit there alone with my thoughts and a thoughtful movie.
Movies are ultimately solitary experiences, anyway, unless they're comedies, in which case laughter is contagious.
Posted by: Michael J. Totten at January 3, 2004 2:10 AMI guess I'm on the fence of the going to movies alone issue. I've done it for as long as I can remember, but over the years I also saw a great many movies with my sister and my best friend from high school. Since both of them passed away some years ago, I've never had the same sort of comfortable, enjoyable experience going with someone else. For not going solo to be fun, I think it takes someone who both has a perspective on the world similar to one's own, and with whom you're completely at ease. There's nobody who fits that description for me right now, but you never know what the future may hold...
Posted by: MikeR at January 3, 2004 11:23 AMWhen I go alone I don't have to tell the person next to me to be quiet so I don't miss anything. That is probably why the woman I have lived with longer than both my marriages put together and I have absolutely no common interests other than our dogs and children (in that order).
Posted by: Jim at January 3, 2004 11:44 AMMike, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry.
Posted by: red at January 3, 2004 7:26 PM