36. Ever After

History repeats itself in disturbing ways...don't believe me? The year's coming to a close, and we've had a terrorist attack and the usual catastrophic natural disaster. Just rewind back a year to see what went on round the same time. And rewind another year back, and another. See a trend? Does this mean anything? Probably not. So why bring it up? Because I can.

Too many opinions with too little and nothing new to say. Ugh, this is pathetic. There's a whole lot of shit happening in the world. And the least anyone would want to do is read about some hack writing and giving his thoughts about it. Ah, enough now. Shush.

Rather than subjugate myself to another harsh dose of suffering that only CNN can provide, I decided to watch Ever After on HBO tonight. Ah bliss. In my reckoning, a damn fine film. To most others, nothing but over-wrought sentimental drivel (didn't Radiohead warn us about all that...as in don't get sentimental, it always end up into drivel...listen to them, for they are wise...).

But if film as a medium is meant to entertain, just as news is meant to inform...then I think it fulfills that objective rather splendidly. Not all films are burdened with spreading some deep meaning message...jeez, for every Kubrick or Kurosawa you get a thousand Michael Bays. For every Dead Man Walking or Grave of the Fireflies you get the endless likes of Aliens vs Predator and Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (and even worse shit like Star Wars Episode I).

Hey, not every film can be the masterpiece that is Team America you know. But watching Ever After has re-enforced my believe that films do not need mind-numbing and complex plotlines to be entertaining (like how Kieslowski's deeply layered Three Colours trilogy was, but then again you get supposedly other "deep" film like Eyes Wide Shut, jeez Mr Kubrick, wtf was that about anyway??). Just see Mr Zhang Yimou's beautifully crafted The Road Home and Not One Less for an example of films with very simple plots that somehow transcend into works of poetry.

If only more filmmakers understood this, yes I'm talking to you George "He Who Created Jar Jar Binks And Midichlorins" Lucas and Michael "Let's Blow Up Some Shit Real Loud" Bay (think about it, wouldn't the world be a better place if Pearl Harbor and the first two Star Wars never existed at all? Think about all those psychological scars that could've been averted if one did not have to endure that scene when Anakin Skywalker, in all earnestness tells Padme that "Your skin is so soft"....yes, I know, it's painful for me to even write this).

So anyway, back to Ever After. A nice and simple old-fashioned storyline. A beautiful score by George Fenton (who also scored Groundhog Day, The Crucible and Shadowlands rather nicely). Nice tight direction by Andy Tennant (who also incidentally directed Hitch). And great and heartfelt performances by Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott. All these the ingredients of a really watchable flick with an ever-present feel-good vibe to it. God knows we need more films like that to cheer us up now and then eh. Much better than anything CNN can offer. On this present mood that is. Now please excuse me while I go cuddle with my inner wuss.