Five Day Lazy Weekend- Day One: Movie Marathon!

Today started off my five day "weekend"! I thought about cleaning up the house and doing laundry... but then I realized how silly that was. So instead, I finished up reading Taste of Darkness (Healer #3) by Maria V. Snyder, and started a movie marathon of all the movies hubs would never sit through with me. Needless to say, it's been a pretty great day.

I kicked things off with the movie One Day starring the beautiful and amazing Anne Hathaway and the oh so attractive Jim Sturgess. It tells the story of two friends, Dexter & Emma, and their life together (and apart) over a period of years. Emma is in love with the charming, self-absorbed Dexter from the very beginning, but being the smart girl she is, she knows that it's never going to happen and starts off a life long friendship with him instead. Their lives weave in and out of the late 80's through the 90's as they both grow to find out who they are and what they want out of life. 

This was really a beautiful love story and Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess just made it all the more wonderful with their brilliant acting and skills. It did feel a little rushed in parts, but it covers such a huge time span, that there was really no helping it. I have a feeling this was probably to stay as true to the original novel as possible (just a guess here, since I haven't read it yet). However, it did have some truly beautiful lines, such as:

Dex: I thought about you... I think about you. You and Me.

Emma: And if I can't talk to you... then what's the point of you? Of us?

Emma: I love you, Dex, so much. I just don't like you anymore. I'm sorry.

Next up on my list was Sleepless in Seattle, and this is where I have a major girl confession: until today, I had never seen it. I know. I felt like I was breaking this huge Tom & Meg Fandom rule (because truly, I love them both), but I just never got around to watching it. And here's where I make another confession: I didn't like it. I KNOW! Everyone raves about this movie (well my mom and her friends did anyway), but I just don't get it. Basically, we have Annie who is engaged to this boring hypochondriac guy by the name of Walter (played by Bill Pullman), and who one night just happens to turn on a radio show in which this young kid is talking about how lonely his widowed father is and how he needs to get re-married. The talk show hosts gets Sam, the dad, on the phone and he goes off on a sad spill about how in love he was with his deceased wife. And for some bizarre reason, Annie becomes infatuated with him in the five minutes that he talks. She then goes on a huge investigation into Sam's life (going so far as to hiring a private detective) and starts to pull away from her fiance as she tries to find a way into Sam's life.

All in all, I just thought this movie was... well, ridiculously silly. Meg Ryan is basically a stalker and poor old Tom Hanks is just having a tough go of it after losing his wife. It gives a new meaning to the term "insta-love". The only redeeming quality for me (besides the actors) was the witty dialogue between Sam and his young son:

Sam: Didn't you see Fatal Attraction?

Jonah: You wouldn't let me!

Sam: Well, I saw it and it scared the shit out of me! It scared the shit out of every man in America!

After being disappointed with my second movie choice, I had to fall back on one of my favorites, The English Patient, starring Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Willem Defoe, and Juliette Binoche. I find it so hard to actually explain this movie to anyone though, other than that it is simply beautiful, passionate, and appeals to the romantic in all of us. The language is timeless and sophisticated, the scenes poignant, the acting superb. It's a classic and one that is definitely worth having on your movie shelf and your bookshelf. Just be prepared to have tons of tissues handy. Some of my favorite quotes from this one include:

Almásy: What do you love?
Katharine Clifton: What do I love?
Almásy: Say everything.

Almásy: What do you hate most?
Katharine Clifton: A lie. What do you hate most?
Almásy: Ownership. Being owned. When you leave, you should forget me.

Almásy: I just wanted you to know: I'm not missing you yet.

Katharine Clifton: You will.