Movies

True fact about me:  I do not, under any circumstance, watch horror movies.  From the campy slasher flicks to the more suspenseful, psychological ones, I do not watch them.  Want to know why?  I have a ridiculous uncanny ability to suspend disbelief when it comes to movie viewing.  (This also applies to books-- after reading "Helter Skelter" and "In Cold Blood," I make sure my doors are locked every night). And the funny thing is... I'm an adult.  I get the whole smoke and mirrors thing involving movie making.  But, if there is a chainsaw wielding man chasing people in a cabin,  he will be chasing me in my neighborhood......for weeks.  I will run from my car to my house at dusk daily until I watch "Love Actually" or "The Notebook" enough times to convince myself that I'm actually dating Ryan Gosling or Hugh Grant.  That's how I break the spell.

On the flip side of that, I am also a fabulous audience for other kinds of movies for exactly the same reason.  As previously mentioned (but absolutely worth repeating), I have convinced myself that Ryan Gosling is my long lost love and that he is building my dream home as I type.  Or that the Prime Minister of England is going to fall madly in love with me because I curse like a sailor and look amazing in red coats (even though I've never even been to London).  I was trying to entice my husband to watch Vicky Cristina Barcelona tonight (for the umpteenth viewing) instead of football by reminding him of the steamy kiss between Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz just so I could pretend to be 25 and an amateur photographer who just happens to sleep with Javier Bardem while taking amazing photographs around Barcelona (I totally lost).

I'm not sure why I'm able to buy into it all....not sure if I just want to....or if I truly get the art of movie making.  I also wonder if those fleeting, hard to find, truly magical moments of acting that are so overpowered nowadays by special effects and makeup and terribly trite writing....those moments that transcend the tangible life- are what I search for.  There are movies I can't forget that are not necessarily the best movies ever but have just 3-5 seconds of pure magic that stick with me forever.  It's what I search for.  Because I'm putting myself on the spot, I'll name just a few.  The scene with Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" where he is talking to Emile Hirsch's character in the truck about how he never had a son but sees Emile as the son he wishes he had.....utterly devastating and beautiful.  "In the Valley of Elah" where Tommy Lee Jones is talking to a young man and during the conversation realizes that this man is the reason his son is dead....no words....just the face.....I mean- Tommy Lee Jones is absolutely amazing.  Terribly romantic, sappy movie but "PS I Love You" -- the entire movie -- I saw this right around my 30th birthday and it just spoke to me.  Like I said-- not top 100 movies of all time kind of list movies-- but my top 100 list....

I'm glad I have this innate ability... I love my husband but it's nice to think about Ryan Gosling building me a house with his bare hands or (and I wish he would bend and do a romantic film) Christian Bale whisking me off my feet.  But- for now-- I'm going to go to bed and pop in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and spend the evening convincing myself that I've always been destined to be a photographer and have fabulous, impulsive adventures in places where they don't speak English (therefore I would be exotic)!  

 PS- It should be noted that I found a way to mention Ryan Gosling 3 times in 1 post....ahhh-- make that 4!