sideway rain

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. 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. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.

Opening narration from Love Actually (2003)



Typhoon number 11 is coming down like an ocean drops from the sky, horizontally. edit: This one is no joke. I actually got my storm guards up and there is no letting up, no sleep as it pounds my windows through out the night into the next day. Damn it's 6:00am now. Somehow it synchronizes with the other tropical cyclone.

When I came home I thought well what perfect stormy evening to put on a movie. So I decided on Love Actually. The first time I saw it, I was in a theater with Jackie and Claire. Jackie thought it was pretty decent, Claire was crying like a baby, while I shot crap about it. Now after a second viewing, I know why I thought it was utter crap. I felt vulnerable.

It was right around Valentine's Day. You see, in Japan there is always a delay in importing foreign films. It was made for Chrismas 2003, but we saw it for V's D 2004. The way they opened the movie with a scene where there are hugging and kissing people in an airport just set it off for me. I used to go to the local airport to study. I love the airport. I think the partings and reunions make life that much more worth living. I watched people for hours greeting each other. We're a spoiled species; until we part, we'd never know what our heart truly desires.

The second component that further distanced me from the movie was the Christmas theme. Christmas is a personal favorite, not uncommon at all. But on top of that, I've had the toughest Christmas the year before. I just break down a lot easier during the holiday season than any other time of year. I am a sucker for it.

But this time, the second viewing, drew tears from me. No, some of the acting is still dreadful. Some of the plot still forced, some of the shadow from Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) still too obvious, and some of that wholesome try-to-do-too-much still bothers me. I'd rather they focus on a few of the relationships. It feels like blood that is spread too thin in a giant of a body, but more comfortably, finally.

Wouldn't it be nice if the real life prime minister stood up to the mo'fucker? For once, wouldn't that just be splendid? I gave the movie a 6.