Margot at the Wedding

April 6, 2008

ok ok, another quick movie review…

last night Ted and I watched Margot at the Wedding.

Ooof. I loved Noah Baumbach’s last movie, The Squid and the Whale, and this one is pretty genius as well but SO SO SO twisted. I may be twisted myself, though, because I like how Baumbach puts it all out there– the ugly, the bad– the really messed up things that family members do to each other, but ultimately this messed up stuff just reinforces the bonds, ties, and connections.

Nicole Kidman, to me, has never been better; the same with Jennifer Jason Leigh as her sister. Jack Black, I thought, was pretty good, too, but how can you watch anybody else when Kidman and Jason Leigh are on the screen? Zane Pais, the kid who plays Kidman’s son is also fantastic. Baumbach gets such great performances out of his actors and the cinematography by Harris Savides (who did Zodiac, American Gangster, Birth, Elephant, and Gerry among others) is effing brilliant.

Not for everyone, but I loved it.

Finished the following books: Me and Orson Welles– a sweet, nostalgic coming of age (sort of YA) novel

and

Felicia Sullivan’s memoir The Sky Isn’t Visible From Here (I know, I know… I didn’t meant to take so long in reading it but that’s what happens when you try to read three books at once). Such a beautiful, and heart-breaking book but ultimately hopeful. Among the many things I love about Felicia’s writing is the first sentences of her chapters. They kill me–they are so lyrical and meaningful. Some of them I want to type up and then make big posters of them and put them on my wall or in my office at school. For example:

We’re children now, running on the wet grass. We could be four or ten. But really we’re adults, thirty or thirty-five years old, and authors, running amok at a Portland writing conference.

and

We were happiest standing on our hands in the sand, feet to the stars.

I so can’t wait to read more of Felicia’s writing. And by the way– go out and buy the book already, sheesh!

Now i’m reading Oh, The Glory of it All by Sean Wilsey.