Black & White

Meg: Chris,you're hogging all the fans!

Chris: Well, you're hogging up all the ugly!

(From Family Guy)

Arrived about a day ago and things have been going smooth so far.The phone lines and internet were both busted and it took sometime to fix the whole darn thing-and the room's DVD player plays black and white (i've switched the wires countless times in a futile attempt to bring colour in) but i finally gave in,went down to the City Library this morning to rent some old black and white films-like,Manhattan (pictured).It's from 1979,features the ever adorable babbling and self-righteous,overly self-aware Woody Allen as well as Diane Keaton (who was also in Annie Hall with Allen,playing the kooky and exuberant title character) and the incredibly beautiful Meryl Streep,whose impact lingers around after the movie despite playing a very small character.She has this presence i can't describe in words.Manhattan's now one of my fav romantic films,only for its superb script and perfectly unconventional and multi-layered storyline-but i've always been a sucker for old Woody Allen films,ever since i saw Deconstructing Harry in my preteen years.Watched The Queen on dvd again yesterday,and seriously,the subtlety of this film goes understated and much to be admired-only once does a character shout (when Blair screams at his assistant),however the film's just as intense and interesting,much of its emotional resonance and depth contributed by Hellen Mirren's brilliant performance and extraordinary script.The new room's perfectly proportioned and i have a generous view of the sun from my window-so yesterday when my head felt like exploding from not being able to sleep (after downing a whole bottle of ice coffee,a stupid measure taken to cure the excruciating sore throat i felt),the cure arrived early morning in the form of sunrise.The Nova Cinema,known to ditch huge blockbusters in favour of small indies (they have a signed poster of Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind,one i'm determined to obtain,one way or another),are currently showing the three films i've been anticipating for months but haven't been able to get my hands on-Notes On A Scandal,Last King Of Scotland and Pan's Labyrinth-the last one had me eagerly searching high and low,in various dvd stores and torrent websites,because i've read so many good reviews and many of them reportedly calling it the best film of 06'.My thoughts and overall state of mind is still plagued by a certain feeling of dizziness,isolation and weird divide from having newly landed in Melbourne after two months-suddenly i'm too conscious about everything and everything and everything-i really need some distractions to put my mind off whatever hellishly gruesome thoughts its waiting to bow down to.Been reading (or,more accurately-trying to finish) Mitch Albom's 'Tuesdays With Morrie'-the overly simplistic language and random outpouring of so-called lifelessons in every chapter makes me question the book's supposedly 'Bestseller' title,but then again i can understand how many find the underlying story,about a dying professor and his student,sincere and humane somehow.