Thanks...

Dad and aunt travelled to Salvador yesterday and I'm home alone for the first time in a very long time in Conquista. And needless to say how alleviated I feel, having the house only for me with no worries of sound volume or where to smoke [as long as I carry an incense along]. The mood is so sweet that I'm even enjoying my introspection at my utmost, avoiding people's presence and all.

Last night Purki and some others came over, but I still felt so on my own and as they blabbered around I watched Björk in my room; I didn't even mind to sleep in the middle of Pan's Labyrinth. I remembered a question the ho did me a while ago: "how do you handle always being around people?" And at that moment I didn't have an exact reply for that, because the fact was that I've been needing a time by myself...

Just to listen to anything I want without hearing complaints, write peacefully without no one asking me things and crap. So at this time I wanna thank some entities for making my days:

- Nessa Carlton - for having the coolest and sweetest songs to sing along;

- Feist - for giving me the best of introspective songs;

- my aunt - for going with my father...

- Norah Jones - for inviting me to come away with her;

- Keira Knightley - for making me cum and cry at the same time with her beauty;

- Dario Marianelli - for writing such beautiful scores;

- Julia Roberts - for showing everyone how to light up a screen;

- Björk - for always fulfilling the gaps and silent spaces; and,

- dear leisure - for just existing and allowing me to write such useless post without feeling guilty.

[Song: Come Away With Me - Norah Jones]

My Celluloid Women

Here are the top 6 movie women that made my year marvelous in different ways.

6. Anna Scott [Julia Roberts - Notting Hill]

There she is, the greatest star in the world; maybe the face we all can't forget. And out of nowhere she gets in an unattractive travelbooks shop and lives are changed. This marvelous modern Cinderella story made me cry unashamedly on some of the darkest days of the year. Roberts' performance was both heartbreaking and lightful, portraying the poor celebrity with marvelous dignity. If in the past I felt more like Hugh Grant's character, today I'd be definitely Miss Scott - hyped but unloved. The beauty of the movie lies on the feeling of possibility that fills the air as you watch it. As Björk would say "all is full of love... your doors are shut."

5. Regina George [Rachel McAdams - Mean Girls]

"This girl is the nastiest skank bitch I've ever met. Do not trust her. She is a fugly slut!"

Those who had seen the movie know what I'm talking about. But for the newbies I'd start with "Regina George is flawless", not because she really is, but because she knows she is and parades it! From all the evil self-indulgent bitches out there, Regina George is the most fun of them. With a notable beauty she goes beyond the hot shallow High School queen, becoming an archetype of a human phase. Of course there is some exaggeration on Tina Fey's genius script, but this girl is real, she's everywhere and [believe it or not] on every age field.

Of course that most of Regina's charm is due to McAdams's performance; you can see she's having the time of her life as the blonde adolescent who thinks she's the cherry on the top of the sundae. Her jargons and laidback confidence match adoringly with her [mostly] subtle meanness. As Janis says "she's a life ruiner", but as Cady says "she's like de Barbie doll I never had."

4. Elle Woods [Reese Witherspoon - Legally Blonde]

The best quality of Elle Woods is that she is good! "She may seem like your typical selfish, back-stabbing slut faced ho-bag"... but wait a minute, that's the #5! Elle Woods is GOOD!! She's sweet, helpful, devoted and hardworker. That's why you totally don't understand why that ugly-piece-of-shit Warner Huntington III breaks up with her. "You're breaking up with me because I'm too blonde?"

Further on we end up reassuring ourselves that breaking up with Elle was the best thing Warner could do to her, because she then created one of the best icons of this century so far. The way her triviality is never judged and is actually sweetened makes you adore her right away and hate those who mistreat her.

Besides, she's a twisted feminist icon, funnily competing with Enid, the lesbian activist from the same film; although she follows the preppy blonde stereotype, she's the reinvention of the feminist one. But above a feminist, Elle is a humanist! The best thing I learned with her was to have faith in people. As she'd say "you might be surprised."

3. Miranda Priestley [Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada]
"Do you know why I hired you? I always hire the same girl- stylish, slender, of course... worships the magazine. But so often, they turn out to be- I don't know- disappointing and, um... stupid. So you, with that impressive résumé and the big speech about your so-called work ethic- I, um- I thought you would be different. I said to myself, go ahead. Take a chance. Hire the smart, fat girl. I had hope. My God. I live on it. Anyway, you ended up disappointing me more than, um- more than any of the other silly girls."
That's the worst thing you could hear from you boss right? Yup, we agree and there'll be no punchline here. Alright, I'm kidding! All I have to say is that no one could've said those lines better than La Streep with her Oscar-worthy performance as the most evil of the bitches: Miranda Priestley.
I'd say that she and Regina George are my favorite movie bitches, but what makes Miranda #1 is the fact that she's got reasons to be how she is; George is just a conceited teenager that is funny, hence we love her. But Miranda uses her meanness to keep herself where she is, on the top; and if she were a man everyone would say she's just doing her job, as Andy would say to defend her. The thing is that, despite the headeater behaviour, Priestley is a fine and perfect example of the modern executive women; and since we're keen to feminism, she's highly praised. That's all.
2. Lizzie Bennet [Keira Knightley - Pride & Prejudice]
Okay, I've written a million posts about this film and my Lizzie Bennet adoration. So, I'll limit myself in saying that the second Miss Bennet is still my favorite female character and that Keira is my favorite this-generation actress. I'm so damn happy she's got a Globe nod; I don't think she'll get an Oscar one, but I'm sure we'll have delicious red carpet moments!!
1. Bridget Jones [Renée Zellweger - Bridget Jones's Diary]
"Bridget Jones, wanton sex goddess, with a very bad man between her thighs... Dad... Hi."
I loved talking about my Bridget devotion. But right now I lack inspiration! This year I've become her by drinking vodka at home and mourning the broken heart with tearjerking songs. But indeed I've said so much about Bridge that I'll just leave it for the ho this time.
"So beyond good and evil with me, that now I'm careless about being a spinster and a lunatic, if my life can be carried with at least half the joi de vivre with which Bridget carries hers. It also left me craving a snow filled make out session."
"Whenever I'm having a rainy day, it instantly makes me feel better."
"Behold as Renee Zellweger creates a cultural icon."
[Song: The Weather - Patrick Wolf]

The Greatest Star

Alright, I planned a big pompous kind of presumptuous post about my current movie obsession; but you see, I'm so busy getting drunk and fat that I'll just cut to the important part: Julia Roberts rocks the hell of my socks!!
Today I saw again Erin Brockovich and man how she deserved that Oscar. Burstin was dang perfect in Requiem, but [1st] she already had a golden naked man and [2nd] that movie didn't deserve any Oscar [u.u]. I love how messy her hair always looks and how ungraceful her walk on those heels is; from all the de-glamed Oscar winners from 2000-2004 she and Nicole are the only ones [imo] that really deserved to win.

So now, as I feel like watching all movies from her I can get close from [I'll of course delay Notting Hill as much as possible cos I know it'll kill me], I can only say how beautiful, sexy, marvelous, luminous, subtle and lovely she is!! She's surely on my movie divas altar.

[Song: She - Elvis Costello]

If My Current Life Were A Movie...

...It would be Notting Hill. I'll explain.

- William Thacker [Hugh Grant] - me

- Anna Scott [Julia Roberts] - you-know-who

Alright, today* I was supposed to study but I got drunk and decided to watch a movie to de-drunk myself. My choice was Notting Hill.

Why's it my life? Well at first: Hugh Grant plays a man, William Thacker, who lives in a not-so-splendid [until the movie of course] small "village inside of London", Notting Hill. It's the place where nothing extraordinary happens except for good Architect friends becoming chefs. Will has a travel-book shop; maybe because he always wanted to travel the world but couldn't afford. So, here I am: a soul with no nationality. I also wish I could travel the world but guess what: I can't afford!!!! And maybe that's why I spend most of my hours connected to the WWW. One fatidical day the greatest movie star of the world goes into his shop and his life changes dramatically. Uhh... he-who-must-not-be-named isn't a movie star, but if you consider our trajectory you'd agree with me that I was on my own, living my dull life, until this bitch came along with his "surreal, but nice" moments and turned everything upside down. He made the first move towards our first kiss, just like Anna does twice in the movie; and I had a rude awakening as well when the friend factor got into the screenplay.

That is why for the first time [that I can recall] in a movie I related myself to the hero, not the heroine. Even if I'm not as down to earth as Thacker I haven't fallen in love with so many people. Yeah, I've had some crushes, but love?... nah. Also, as hopeless romantics, Will and I tend to deify the people we're in love with; that's why we feel like there's no sunshine when we're heartbroken, wishing someone would mend our broken hearts. Besides, we both love Jane Austen.

This screening also made me cry like no other. I blame the booze, but you know I'm a drama-queen. When you-know-who ditched me, he said he could not understand how I would be in love with him, because I'm [as he views me] always this cool and hype person while he's a normal guy with self-steem issues. That is the only part when I identify myself with Roberts's character; when she said: "I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her," I had to pause the movie because the tears wouldn't let me read any subtitles or see anything else.

The way Notting Hill flirts with another favorite film of mine [Roman Holiday] makes me love it even more. I don't care if it weren't as bold as its 1953 inspiration, I actually love that Scott and Thacker stay together at the end; it gives me a stupid and useless sense of hope that in this low moment of my life is just soothing for my abstinence period. Grant's performance is my favarite of his so far; he often looks the same in evey movie he's in, but in here he's marvelously subtle, fabulously non-British [well, I tend to imagine British men as cold and sexy heartbreakers - like the ones he played on Bridget Jones and that silly Sandra Bullock co-starred romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice, - but in this he shows the romantic side of the British men]; he's always saying "classic" as a rememberance of Notting Hill's source, or a premonition of what the movie he's in would become for some people. As for Julia, she is G-d! You know how I love subtileness in acting performances and Julia's Scott is the epitome of that. Her expression variations are real and full of light, giving her Anna a depth of character as mesmerizing as Hepburn's in Roman Holiday. So, when she gets to that line which made me have a crying breakdown, there's no way you would not believe her.

In the end, I'll probably never have a press conference to change my life to a happy ending; and I'm working on not wishing for it anymore, I promise. But when the dog bites and the bee stings, I'll simply tap myself to my favorite things, the films, to make me live the happily-ever-after that still haven't happened to me.

*I was supposed to finish Kylie Minogue Week today. But I'm exhausted and still have to study, so to say this post has nothing to do with Kylie I'll just type the following words: can't get you out of my head, you're the one, your love, drunk, I don't need anyone.

[Song: She - Elvis Costello]