Love, Actually
Nov. 23rd, 2003 04:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hel_anaRoss was out driving on Friday night, so I took the opportunity to catch Love Actually, a flick I'd considered seeing at the TIFF, but didn't.
I'm glad now that I didn't. Not because I didn't enjoy the flick, I did, and I'll probably actually get a copy of it when it comes out on DVD. But I'm glad I saw it in Florida, a day after I found out about the petition being approved, when I've been the happiest I've been in a while. Because if you're going to see this movie, you should really be both blissfully in love, and happy with the concept of love. It really is about love in all its myriad and varied forms. As Hugh Grant's PM says in the opening narration, "When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love." and "I think that love, actually, is all around". They take that, and run with it, taking on the full spectrum from the sublime to the painfully heartbreaking.
This is also a film that requires you to think, since it has a cast list as long as my arm, and about 20 of them are major characters, and they're all inter-related. Some of these relations don't become apparent until late in the film.
The main weaknesses of the film, in my opinion, was first the somewhat unrealistic handling of Liam Neeson's character, and second the somewhat out of place five minute swerve into political message partway through the film. Yes, you can justify it by the fact that love of one's country is a legitimate feeling, but it felt kind of heavy handed.
A few notes:
- For all that it was an ensemble piece, Emma Thompson owned this movie. She's funny, but she also has the single most moving moment, and the single most arresting moment. At one point, her character takes an action that I completely, totally did not expect her to take, and the way she played it completely blew me away.
- Billy Bob Thornton as the US President was momentarily amusing, but ended up kind of meh... Wooden in all the wrong places.
- I love Colin Firth. That is all.
I'm glad now that I didn't. Not because I didn't enjoy the flick, I did, and I'll probably actually get a copy of it when it comes out on DVD. But I'm glad I saw it in Florida, a day after I found out about the petition being approved, when I've been the happiest I've been in a while. Because if you're going to see this movie, you should really be both blissfully in love, and happy with the concept of love. It really is about love in all its myriad and varied forms. As Hugh Grant's PM says in the opening narration, "When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love." and "I think that love, actually, is all around". They take that, and run with it, taking on the full spectrum from the sublime to the painfully heartbreaking.
This is also a film that requires you to think, since it has a cast list as long as my arm, and about 20 of them are major characters, and they're all inter-related. Some of these relations don't become apparent until late in the film.
The main weaknesses of the film, in my opinion, was first the somewhat unrealistic handling of Liam Neeson's character, and second the somewhat out of place five minute swerve into political message partway through the film. Yes, you can justify it by the fact that love of one's country is a legitimate feeling, but it felt kind of heavy handed.
A few notes:
- For all that it was an ensemble piece, Emma Thompson owned this movie. She's funny, but she also has the single most moving moment, and the single most arresting moment. At one point, her character takes an action that I completely, totally did not expect her to take, and the way she played it completely blew me away.
- Billy Bob Thornton as the US President was momentarily amusing, but ended up kind of meh... Wooden in all the wrong places.
- I love Colin Firth. That is all.
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-23 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-24 12:17 pm (UTC)This is Eve Mike and Ross' friend. I have a Tech Writing question for you if you would not mind taking a look.
I posted this to the Tech Writing LJ, but I think it is dead because of the holiday and I want to know RIGHT NOW :) And Ross said you knew everything. So here goes (pasted from the LJ Community):
I have created a template so that when you open it, it prompts: "What is the name of this document", "What is the document number", etc. It then fills in the information in the right places in the right styles. It works fine until I go to print, when it asks the questions again. Why?
I used Insert > Field > Fill-In, and typed the question in the prompt box. I have also tried using "Ask" as the type of field, where I assign it a bookmark, but that does nothing. So then I tried to assign the bookmarks, THEN tried the Ask field again, referencing the bookmark, and still, when you go to use the template, nothing happens.
What am I doing wrong, and why is Word Help so less helpful than it used to be?
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Thank you very much. I also added you on my list. I figured it was high time anyway.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-24 02:29 pm (UTC)I don't know. I do know that somewhere on the web there is a Word user's forum. I think it's on the MS website somewhere.
I'm sorry I can't be more help... One person who may know is Sam.