October

Normally, I'm too preoccupied to distinguish between the months and they all tend to run together, but this October truly feels like October. It seems as though as soon as the month started the whole aura changed. Suddenly, it feels like autumn. Perhaps it's because we have a fire going and I'm wearing flannel pants. The weather lately has been sublime; I'm fond of the clouds and the wind. Although I don't have a definite favorite season, I do love autumn. It's awfully cozy being all tucked in the corner of the couch blogging when I ought to be revising an essay. It seems like the perfect night to curl up and watch a movie or read. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is sitting beside me as I type, waiting until the next time I read it. I'm trying to pace myself; it is the final Stieg Larsson novel, after all, and he unfortunately isn't around to write anymore. Perhaps I blog more in depth about the Millenium books another day.

As for things I'm currently looking forward to, Deathly Hallows is the obvious pick. I really ought looking into preordering tickets if I want to see it opening day (hopefully at the midnight showing). I'm extremely excited for part one! Also in November: a film is coming out called The King's Speech. It stars Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, among others, in a period drama about King George VI as he overcomes a speech impediment in a time of national crisis. I believe it'll have a limited release, but hopefully one of the local indie theatres will carry it. It looks excellent. A film about the Howl obscenity trials is also coming out soon, which I'll probably go see with a friend (Was I correct in italicizing the title? Technically the book is called Howl and Other Poems, but I'm not sure if the other poems were drawn under fire, as well. Hmm, perhaps "America" and a few others were. Even if it was just Howl, it'd still be italicized as opposed to quoted due to its length, yes? End grammar nerd rant.) Anyway, hopefully it'll do the topic justice. Well, Kat, is there anything you're looking forward to besides upcoming films? The SAT, of course! Ehh... I was thinking more along the lines of Halloween. I have no idea what I'll actually be doing on Halloween, but I love getting a costume together and seeing other people dressed up. I'm currently weighing the pros and cons of costume ideas, but Halloween is weeks away so I have time. That does seem to be all at the moment. I just wanted to tell dear October that I'm in autumn mode and such. Adieu until next time.

Another Country

I usually watch movies at night, when it's good and dark like a theater, but sometimes it's nice to watch movies in the afternoon. Today was such a day, the movie being Another County, a 1984 film adaptation of Julian Mitchell's play by the same title. The movie centers around Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett), a student in snobby and rigid 1930s-ish English public school. He and his friend Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) are rather outcasts, Bennett for not being discreet about his being gay and Judd for being a devout Marxist. Bennett aspires to be a "God"-- a member of the school's elite. I don't want to give it all away, but that's the premise.

I thought it was an excellent film. Like many people say, it has beautiful photography. Unlike some people say, I only struggled with the English accents a couple of times. I liked Bennett and Judd's characters a lot, and I though Rupert Everett and Colon Firth gave superb performances portraying them. I've seen them together before in The Importance of Being Earnest, which was also happens to be a very good film, which also happens to be a very good play, which happens to be an Oscar Wilde play, which increases its win points substantially. I also "visually sniped" (as my brother would say) Cary Elwes (i.e. "Westley? Westley, is that you?" Princess Bride fan, much). Elwes played James Harcourt, the object of Guy's affections. All the actors were so young! I always think its neat to see actors when they're young, because you can see how they've changed and how they're the same.

While it's not exactly a feel-good movie, I thought it was really interesting to see the hypocrisy and cruelty-- not to mention prime snobbery-- of (most) English public schools at that time. It was an awfully oppressive school. Near the end, Judd gives one of the Gods a good speech about how the boys oppressed by the system grow up to be the fathers that maintain it [cite Wikipedia on that last bit]. That was one of my favorite parts, along with Guy and James having a rare peaceful moment in one of the school boats and all of Judd's clever Marxist ranting. Come to think of it, the whole movie was my favorite part. I think it's a film definitely worth watch, so if you find yourself at a loss next time you're searching for a flick, keep Another Country in mind.