The Fountain

Just saw this the other night and was blown away. It’s the most wonderful, beautiful, amazing film I’ve seen in ages. It looks phenomenal, sounds phenomenal, features stunning performances from Jackman and Weiss and the story is incredibly, deeply, spectacularly moving. In case you can’t tell, I liked it.

Now this was a surprise as almost every review I’d seen totally trashed it. Even the positive ones referred to its ‘flaws’. Seriously, how badly reviewed do you have to be before the only pull quotes you can put on the DVD include: “rises above its flaws” and “go with the flow and you’ll be rewarded”. There’s talk about its difficult and confusing structure, with the 3 stories across the 3 time periods intercutting throughout the film. It’s been called “time-travelling kabbalistic balderdash”. It was booed at the Venice Film Festival by critics. I can only assume that they either a) saw a completely different film or b) have no soul. Oh, and can’t understand the concept of metaphor.

Anyway, I can’t recommend it enough. Buy the film, buy the soundtrack and buy some tissues as you will be crying by the end.

Alex and Rocio

This weekend we went off to our first wedding abroad: Alex and Rocio in Valladolid, Spain. Needless to say the ceremony was beautiful, with Alex giving his vows in Spanish and Rocio in English, after which came the Ave Maria and much throwing of rose petals (and confetti mortars!). Then it was on to the reception with bilingual speeches from a nervous groom and an even more nervous best man. The whole evening was wonderful with plenty of drink, dancing and delight. The first dance was ‘Beyond the Sea’ which I’d recommend to all couples for their wedding (*cough* just in case you’re reading this S *cough*). We hit the floor for a while, but the music quickly changed from crooners to euro pop so we called it a night. That was a 1.30am. 5 and a half hours later the party ended. I don’t know how some of the guests made it to the brunch (though I think the sunglasses even when down in the basement helped), which by the way had the best beef I’ve ever tasted. Then there was more wine and shots and unsurprisingly most people went back to sleep it all off, or catch a train to Madrid, while Naomi and I checked out the city.

Valladolid is gorgeous, with tall buildings and narrow streets and wide piazzas all with fountains, statues and cafes serving ‘cafe con leche’. We did the 3 walks in the guidebook, checking out the park complete with peacocks and lake, the Christopher Columbus museum (the explorer, not the director of sugary pap – Bicentennial Man I’m looking at you), and dozens of churches and galleries (sadly all closed because it was Sunday). We had a fantastic time, and then it was all over, with a short flight back and a long train ride home.

To Alex and Rocio, wishing you every happiness for your future together.