Expectations

There is no subject on which more dangerous nonsense is talked and thought than marriage.
-- George Bernard Shaw

Tuesday, May 18, 1999
One year ago: Dino Martinis
Two years ago: A Bobolink for a Chorister

Wally updated a few days ago. He's got some amazing pictures of himself, going through the molding process for making a life mask. Check it out!

What to eat during the film festival is always a challenge. On a normal weeknight, I'm in the theater from five o'clock until after eleven, with only short breaks in between the movies, so I really need to sneak food in. I don't want to only eat candy or popcorn, either. The "Essential Sandwich" type of wrap is a good choice, but it can be rather bland. So when I found a competing brand that I like, I was happy! "Neato Burrito" Italian Picnic style -- red potatoes, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, and a rosemary vinaigrette dressing, in a whole wheat tortilla. Very tasty!

• Dead Letter Office
  (IMDB link for this film) This gentle Australian film might already be available on video, according to the IMDB. It stars Miranda Otto, whom I've really liked in Love Serenade and The Well. A young woman, whose father took off when she was a child, takes a job at the post office, dreamily supposing that she might find him now, through the dead letter office. Her supervisor is avoiding his past (horrors of Chilean politics), not searching for it. I liked how their relationship developed. The photography was good, and the supporting cast excellent!

• Such a Long Journey
  (IMDB link for this film) This is a Canadian and British production, filmed in India and based on a novel by Rohinton Mistry. I hadn't heard of this author before, but I think I'd like to read him, now. A middle-aged bank clerk (Roshan Seth) has problems in the neighborhood and with his college-age son, but life gets even more complicated when a former friend asks for a favor that could be dangerous and illegal. This surpassed my expectations! It was really moving and had a warm spirit to it. Seth is always good, and the rest of the cast also.

• The Big Swap
  (IMDB link for this film)This British film had a surprising amount of male nudity! A group of friends decide to try wife-swappping. Of course, after the comic scenes in the beginning, feelings get hurt, secrets are revealed, and lives are changed. Again, this was better than I expected it to be. I hadn't seen a single cast member before, which is unusual in a British film. Niall Johnson makes his writing, directing and producing debut! And he did a good job with all three. I would like to see a film sometime where people experiment with non-monogamy and everything turns out alright, though, instead of them always encountering all these terrible problems.

So all these movies were better than I thought they'd be. A good trend for this year's festival! Or maybe it just means that my expectations are too low.