The Little Matchgirl, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The French Lieutenant's Woman, & Stolen Kisses

The Little Matchgirl is an Oscar nominated short, which I watched online. See, the internets are good, MPAA, don't destroy them. Of course, it's based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, so it's depressing as hell. But it's directed by the guy who did The Lion King, and wrote Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, so it's actually quite impressive and Disney-feature film quality (at least before they killed off 2D-animation). The problem is that it's a former-workers-at-Disney-production, so I can't quite tell whether its chances will be hurt or helped by that for the Oscar. Stupid Oscar can go screw itself for the horribleness it has inflicted upon society since it's creation.

Never having had any illegal drugs of any kind (save alcohol before I was 21), I never really spent a lot of time lionizing Hunter S. Thompson. I had read a lot of his columns on Page 2, and had seen and enjoyed the movie version of Fear and Loathing, but I never read any of his books. And then I ran out of books and my friend didn't have his copy of Lolita (mmm, 12 year old girls...), so I borrowed his copy of Fear and Loathing and read it in a relatively quick fashion. I still only read on the metro to and from work, but when you get stuck on it for around an hour extra in one week, it really helps speed through the short book. It's crazy, makes me want to know what kind of article could have been produced from such a drug-induced haze, and increases my curiosity about mescaline. Not that I'm ever going to try it, but it seems, from the book, less bothersome than ether, at least. Having said that, LSD will continue to be a drug I will never, ever try. I want to get back to the book, though. There are some seriously funny scenes, and some seriously disturbing Ralph Steadman drawings. Weird book. But, as a student of American history, and a fan of reading, I heartily recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it. Plus, you get funny looks on the metro when you're reading it and smiling like a mofo in public.

The French Lieutenant's Woman has another movie where Jeremy Irons is a creep. Not creepy though, just a creep. And Streep has a different accent this time. Because it wouldn't be an Oscar nominated performance for Streep without it. She's good, but the film feels strange, because it's a film within a film, but you don't really get that feel, because there are very few breaks between the 19th century story and the current time story. You get them commenting upon it, but you don't see them break character to go to the current time. I think the lack of that threw me for a loop, especially after the car in the background of the first scene. I would have thought there'd be more of it. It was quite well made, but it didn't connect with me, because I was expecting more of a post-modern approach. Of course, this does allow for the filming of two of the endings to the Fowles novel rather than just one, or filming all three and confusing the audience. I am fascinated by the film, and the more I think about it, the more I appreciate it, but that doesn't mean the long film was necessarily worth it. I also want to read the book.

Stolen Kisses is the third in the Antoine Doinel series, and it's all about him after leaving the army and trying to find his way in life. What's up with Truffaut pretty much able to do everything well? He's just amazing, and this film is hilarious. Easily up there with the best of Truffaut, Stolen Kisses finds both Truffaut and Leaud clearly enjoying themselves with the character, and that enjoyment really comes through in a couple set pieces, like the private detectives at the hotel and the accidental "sir". Really, I just enjoy his work immensely. Bravo to you both. And to Truffaut for understanding just how delightful Claude Jade was, and trying to marry her.