Two "pausitive" reviews

With the impending Oscars comes the impending Joobie movie viewing blitz. I'm loath to admit that I've only seen two of the contenders from each of the top 3 categories: Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Picture. This means I've got my work cut out for me.

Still on my list: Good Night, and Good Luck, Transamerica, Junebug and The Constant Gardener. For whatever reason, I'm not really feeling Capote and Munich. I'm sure they're extremely well-crafted, but they're not really inspiring me to rush out and buy tickets. Plus, Philip Seymour Hoffman kinda gives me the heebie jeebies.

Two movies I did see this movie season are King Kong and Brokeback Mountain - on last Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. My punny post title is a commentary on the intense nature of the pauses in both of these films. It's the silences, in which so much is left unsaid and yet so much is understood and felt, that define the characters and their actions in these movies.

Why does Ann Darrow love Kong? Kong isn't called a King because he's the ruler of witty repartee--his connection with Ann comes out of their eyes rather than their mouths. Why do Jack and Ennis come together, then break apart, for more than 20 years? Not because they like to discuss current events, that's for sure--because they're bonded together in a way they lack the vocabulary to describe, a way they can barely endure.

I love movies that are full of heavy silences, because they leave you room to imagine the internal dialogue of the characters. Ironically, when the characters don't talk as much, it's easier to get inside their heads. The Piano, one of my favorite movies, is a prime example of this. Lovely.