![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
*Whew* There’s so much to say, I don’t really know where to begin this update…Ummm, most notably, I made my first trek to T-dot this past weekend as a friend of mine had hook-ups to the film festival.
In many ways this was the best trip I’ve taken in a long time. The reasons for that being
A) It was the only trip I’ve taken in a long time.
and
B) The following interesting things happened:
(WARNING: The following things may not be interesting)
The train ride (Via rail) was spectacular. Not only were our tickets free (!!!!Thank you Margaret’s dad!) but the car was nearly empty and the weather was beautiful. Relaxing (illegally) in one of the four person sections with the warm sun shining on my face, Lake Ontario glinting into my eyes and a good friend sitting across from me I realized: my life is very, very good.
We took the Go-Train to Union station and made our way to the film library (where they store kitschy/nifty stuff like the helmet from Thunderdome and Isabella Rossellini’s legs from The Saddest Music in the World) where our hook-up (aka Lindsay) showed us their copies of every movie ever made. EVER. And all in a space the size of an average Subways™ restaurant…
I have had, for as long as I can remember, nasty, nasty feelings about Toronto. This trip proved me wrong in a number of ways. 1) It doesn’t smell nearly as bad as I was led to believe 2) while people are more aggressive, I wouldn’t say that they are cold and 3) It is the cleanest place I’ve ever seen. Millions of people pulsing through it every day, yet by the looks of it you’d think it was just taken out of the box. On the Go-Train not a single plexi-glass pane had fingerprints on it…weird.
Now to the films. I was underwhelmed by them for the most part, let’s just get that out of the way first, but they gave me quite a bit to think about, so I consider it a win. While watching the films I became acutely aware of the unspoken contract between viewer and filmmaker; they take us to places we’ve never imagined, but we trust that they’re not places we would never want to go. Over the course of the weekend some bonds of trust were broken and others strengthened.
The first, Tideland, was directed by Terry Gilliam and, in the span of two hours, dropped him from near the top of my list of people I’d like to meet to pretty much last place (even lower than Paris Hilton and Charlton Heston…). It was pointless. Cracked-out, poorly edited and pointless. On the list of offenses were: the practice of taxidermy on humans, pedophilia, and the crushing of the skulls of said taxidermy specimens…I am not now, nor have I ever been, averse to senseless ultra-violence. Convoluted plotlines and gross-out graphics have there place. Unfortunately, I think they are only appropriately handled by filmmakers more skilled than Mr. Gilliam…sorry Terry.
Film 2, 50 Ways to Say Fabulous, was a cute little New Zealand number by [name to follow] about pre-teen friends who are struggling with their sexuality. It was simple, but refreshingly so and dealt with issues of belonging quite well.
The last film was directed by Ang Lee (who couldn’t make it to the screening!!) and is by far the best film I have seen in a while. The name, Brokeback Mountain, refers to the place where most of the story takes place. The story is straight forward; two rough (and handsome) ranch hands fall in lust and then in love with each other over the course of a summer sheepherding job. The era being the 1960s, society doesn’t make it easy for them to carry on their relationship and the film follows, in one of the most realistic depictions I’ve seen, the progression of their love affair. It’s rare that a movie stays with me long after the screen fades to black, but this one certainly did. It handled loneliness, gender roles and the fear of intimacy terribly well and was true-to-life funny to boot. It was also very poignant; I have a soft spot for poignancy and that’s one of the things Ang Lee does best. When/if it comes out in theatres, don’t be put off by the big star names (Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as the leads); it’s definitely worth seeing.
We capped off our film fest blitz with a fruitless wait on the red carpet hoping to see Johnny Depp and Tim Burton arrive for the Corpse Bride premiere, but to no avail. I’m not a star watcher, but seeing two of the quirkiest men in the bizz would have been a treat.
The train ride back was…painful. I was dead tired and some woman filled the car with the most obnoxious, long winded ramblings I’ve ever heard spewed from a human throat. She talked, no joke, for 6 hours straight. Margaret killed the batteries in her Mp3 player and I got a tension headache that would make your ears curl.
Still, it was the best trip I’ve taken in a long time.
In many ways this was the best trip I’ve taken in a long time. The reasons for that being
A) It was the only trip I’ve taken in a long time.
and
B) The following interesting things happened:
(WARNING: The following things may not be interesting)
The train ride (Via rail) was spectacular. Not only were our tickets free (!!!!Thank you Margaret’s dad!) but the car was nearly empty and the weather was beautiful. Relaxing (illegally) in one of the four person sections with the warm sun shining on my face, Lake Ontario glinting into my eyes and a good friend sitting across from me I realized: my life is very, very good.
We took the Go-Train to Union station and made our way to the film library (where they store kitschy/nifty stuff like the helmet from Thunderdome and Isabella Rossellini’s legs from The Saddest Music in the World) where our hook-up (aka Lindsay) showed us their copies of every movie ever made. EVER. And all in a space the size of an average Subways™ restaurant…
I have had, for as long as I can remember, nasty, nasty feelings about Toronto. This trip proved me wrong in a number of ways. 1) It doesn’t smell nearly as bad as I was led to believe 2) while people are more aggressive, I wouldn’t say that they are cold and 3) It is the cleanest place I’ve ever seen. Millions of people pulsing through it every day, yet by the looks of it you’d think it was just taken out of the box. On the Go-Train not a single plexi-glass pane had fingerprints on it…weird.
Now to the films. I was underwhelmed by them for the most part, let’s just get that out of the way first, but they gave me quite a bit to think about, so I consider it a win. While watching the films I became acutely aware of the unspoken contract between viewer and filmmaker; they take us to places we’ve never imagined, but we trust that they’re not places we would never want to go. Over the course of the weekend some bonds of trust were broken and others strengthened.
The first, Tideland, was directed by Terry Gilliam and, in the span of two hours, dropped him from near the top of my list of people I’d like to meet to pretty much last place (even lower than Paris Hilton and Charlton Heston…). It was pointless. Cracked-out, poorly edited and pointless. On the list of offenses were: the practice of taxidermy on humans, pedophilia, and the crushing of the skulls of said taxidermy specimens…I am not now, nor have I ever been, averse to senseless ultra-violence. Convoluted plotlines and gross-out graphics have there place. Unfortunately, I think they are only appropriately handled by filmmakers more skilled than Mr. Gilliam…sorry Terry.
Film 2, 50 Ways to Say Fabulous, was a cute little New Zealand number by [name to follow] about pre-teen friends who are struggling with their sexuality. It was simple, but refreshingly so and dealt with issues of belonging quite well.
The last film was directed by Ang Lee (who couldn’t make it to the screening!!) and is by far the best film I have seen in a while. The name, Brokeback Mountain, refers to the place where most of the story takes place. The story is straight forward; two rough (and handsome) ranch hands fall in lust and then in love with each other over the course of a summer sheepherding job. The era being the 1960s, society doesn’t make it easy for them to carry on their relationship and the film follows, in one of the most realistic depictions I’ve seen, the progression of their love affair. It’s rare that a movie stays with me long after the screen fades to black, but this one certainly did. It handled loneliness, gender roles and the fear of intimacy terribly well and was true-to-life funny to boot. It was also very poignant; I have a soft spot for poignancy and that’s one of the things Ang Lee does best. When/if it comes out in theatres, don’t be put off by the big star names (Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as the leads); it’s definitely worth seeing.
We capped off our film fest blitz with a fruitless wait on the red carpet hoping to see Johnny Depp and Tim Burton arrive for the Corpse Bride premiere, but to no avail. I’m not a star watcher, but seeing two of the quirkiest men in the bizz would have been a treat.
The train ride back was…painful. I was dead tired and some woman filled the car with the most obnoxious, long winded ramblings I’ve ever heard spewed from a human throat. She talked, no joke, for 6 hours straight. Margaret killed the batteries in her Mp3 player and I got a tension headache that would make your ears curl.
Still, it was the best trip I’ve taken in a long time.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-09-14 09:52 pm (UTC)From:I find the only way Toronto to be tolerable is to have great friends waiting on the other side.
Without that, Toronto is...
Well - that's a long story spanning about 14 years - starting with my running away to Toronto when I was on the cusp of 15. And very little of it is good.
Sounds like you had a great time. You should have started barking at the talky lady. It usually shuts them up.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-15 04:00 pm (UTC)From:I feel the same way about Toronto as I do New York: I could live there for a while if I had to (job, partner etc.), but it would never feel like home.
I’d be interested to hear about your times there… even if they weren’t so good.
See you Sat. at Kolvin’s?
no subject
Date: 2005-09-15 04:04 pm (UTC)From:"See you Sat. at Kolvin’s?" - I seem to have been confused. Glad I checked that out...
no subject
Date: 2005-09-15 04:10 pm (UTC)From:Or ICQ for that matter.
messiah_divine@hotmail.com
158310106
no subject
Date: 2005-09-15 04:08 pm (UTC)From: