Today I thought I'd stay in and work and instead I went with one of my favorite people to not one but two movies! First, we dashed into Ino in the West Village for a glass of Lambrusco, espressos, and truffled eggs on toast and then around the corner to Film Forum to see Godard's Made in U.S.A. It's a cartoon-y valentine to American pulp, featuring the iconic Anna Karina as a touchingly devoted femme fatale hell bent on investigating the political intrigue surrounding her boyfriend's mysterious death in Atlantic City, France, which is clearly neither here nor there by design. The plot was hard to follow but I liked the way the film looked and the way it made me feel. At one point, in a pivotal scene, a frustrated novelist says, "Outside of time and space, men have lost their way," and that's the ribbon that ties this one up nicely. Then we strolled around and ended up at Le Gamin for dinner before going to the Angelika to (finally!) see Let the Right One In, which is basically the teenage vampire love story that Twilight wishes it could be. I saw Twilight and loved Catherine Hardwicke's directorial debut, Thirteen, but Let the Right One In blows them both away effortlessly. I've never seen a movie that made me want to read the book that inspired it so badly. It was all sublime.
{Image source: Like Anna Karina's Sweater}
Both fantastic films. I saw Made in the USA on Friday with a guest Q&A with László Szabó himself. He looks AMAZING. And Let the Right One In was possibly my favorite movie of the year--I don't know why exactly but it moved me so deeply and also scared the shit out of me at the same time.
Posted by: dana/agingsnob | January 12, 2009 at 12:10 AM
Dana, that's so funny that you commented on this post because, at probably the same moment, I saw your Facebook status about Wong Kar-Wai and was about to respond but it was too late to go into it with the requisite complexity. We'll have to get together and discuss le cinema in person sometime! XX, LC
Posted by: Editor | January 12, 2009 at 12:38 AM
Lauren, people who liked the movie really loved the book.
Miss you much, e
Posted by: E. Tage Larsen | January 13, 2009 at 03:30 PM