Never in my life have I attempted to see most of the best picture nominees just before Oscars. Now I have Atonement, There Will be Blood, and No Country for Old Men on the docket for the next three days. Any Bostoners who want to join on this venture, give me a ring.
A friend told me about the atmosphere at an Oscars party they attend every year: the whole evening is spent taking jabs at evangelicals and Republicans. I don't understand. What material do they have to play with? The whole point of the evening is to make fun of Hollywood celebrities, most of whom aren't in either category, in fact quite the opposite. Those who focus their critiques elsewhere are really missing out. Of course I also like to criticize/admire the fashion.
Speaking of best pictures, Heidi and I watched Lawrence of Arabia last night while babysitting. I hadn't seen it since I was a wee pup, and the only scenes I remembered were the kid drowning in quicksand and Lawrence getting flogged. Yes, I must have been traumatized. I noticed there are no women in the movie, besides a couple nurses and some Muslim wives. None of them speak. Appropriate considering both the military and Muslim cultures of the time. But my modern movie senses kept expecting a belly dancer to emerge who would steal Lawrence's heart because she was "different" from all the rest, free and loose and brave, but of course that didn't happen, and thankfully not, because that didn't happen in real life. Not only did Lawrence not have a relationship, he was also rumored to be a homosexual - also extremely taboo at the time.
I unfortunately never saw the end of Lawrence of Arabia. The disc I got from the library froze. Then Linnea reminded me that the end happens first. But still. I wanted to see the almost end of the film. Someday, I suppose.