So, I'm fully entrenched in the intense schedule that is student teaching and taking three college courses, hence the lack of posting. I'm going to try to be more on top of wakingslow.com now that I'm in a bit of a routine.
Today at Smith College was Mountain Day. It's a surprise day when the weather is gorgeous in the fall--to celebrate, all classes are cancelled. I still had my responsibilities at the high school, but then no Smith classes, so I headed out to a local farm market with some friends to sit in the sun and have some cider. Delightful.
The weather here in Western Massachusetts has just been glorious since I moved out here in June. There have been so many profoundly beautiful days. I mention them in anticipation of what I'm sure will be an awful winter. I hope to appease the weather spirits by paying them ample compliments now. Absolutely gorgeous out here. It's good for the soul.
This is definitely not a feel good movie. This is a feel terrible movie. That said, I think I like it. I haven't read the book (written by the son of the Dubus who wrote the novellas on which We Don't Live Here Anymore was based--I'm having a Dubus Moonth), but the movie was very well acted. You've got Sir Ben Kingsley, who's awesome, and Shohreh Agdhashloo is really fantastic. Her audition tape is on the DVD, and was really cool to see. Jennifer Connelly is fantastic, although she's kind of frustrating, because even while completely depressed and having the worst string of luck known to one woman, she's still gorgeous. The story has its overblown moments, but I thought that it kind of had a Greek tragedy feel to it--one thing leads to another, to another, to a shocking climax.
I actually watched this in three sittings, not on purpose, it just happened to work out that way. I think that that worked out well because it is so relentless.
What a great film! Every once in a while a movie completely slips under my radar, and I manage to see it without knowing too much about it. This was one of those cases. In a certain sense, it's a biopic, but it's also an autobiography, and a drama all wrapped together. It maintains momentum even though there's not a pressing plot (in fact, there's not much of a plot at all). There were certain moments that were just straight up beautiful. The only thing that bugged me was that Hope Davis' portrayal of Joyce felt just like Shelley Long playing Diane from Cheers, yet in the interviews on the disc with the real Joyce, there was no Diane-ness. I found that really distracting.