School has started, so between that, work, and some sort of sad social life, I'm pretty tied up. I'll do my best to keep the ship afloat though. Promise.

There's a bunch of fires here in Cali since it's so freaking dry. Crazy.

I am currently watching Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress.

That is all.

I went to see Becoming Jane with Ruth for our final short Friday. Who better to see a Jane Austen movie with than Ruth? This one, for once, isn't an adaptation of a Jane Austen movie, but rather an adaptation of Jane Austen's life. I'm guessing it's a pretty liberal adaptation, but that's okay; it's not like I expected a documentary. This movie stars Anne Hathaway, poorly cast as Austen, and Jame McAvoy as her love interest. Austen's parents are eager for her to marry into money, but of course, she falls for a man with no prospects, but not without the cliche love-hate prologue to their relationship.

This movie was a difficult one for me. I wanted to like it, but was so disappointed with how it began that I was determined to hate it, and then I actually fell for it at the end. In the beginning, the setup is stale and pales when compared with Austen's own stories, which at least have a little more character and flare. McAvoy and Hathaway have absolutely zero chemistry as they pick up the I-hate-you-but-secretly-love-you routine. Great actors like James Cromwell, Julie Walters, and Maggie Smith appeared to be wasted as the movie settled in to be mediocre, and the musical cues were just as sad.

But suddenly, when the two leads are about to be parted, they finally express a genuine interest in each other, and things kick into gear. It's almost like watching a completely different movie from then on. And, unlike Austen's own novels, the ending is not quite what one might expect (unless they know much about the author's personal life). The side characters that once seemed wasted start to feel like reasons why the movie works, including Anna Maxwell Martin as Jane's sister and Joe Anderson as her brother.

My favorite character and actor in this movie was Laurence Fox, who plays the nephew of a rich woman (Smith) who wants him to marry Jane. He is dutiful to his aunt, but actually seems to like the independent spirit in Jane that drives every one else nuts, and manages to hit just the right notes in behaving in a restrained, admiring way. That he doesn't sulk, but does show mild signs of disappointment when he sees Jane with another man, is what makes him a multidimensional person, for whom I cared more than the rest of the characters.

The film was a disappointment, but not a waste of time for me. The turn it took about halfway in was one for the better, and I ended up being surprised to find myself interested. Overall, not a bad way to fill an afternoon.