I had very much wanted to see The Science of Sleep at the film festival, but I had to skip it because it was the Closing Night Gala and therefore spendy. However, it was probably better that I didn’t see it until now, because my new boyfriend Gael García Bernal’s performance is all the more remarkable in contrast to his work in Bad Education which I had seen a few days before. Seriously. He’s one hell of an actor, sweet & comic here.

The film is gorgeous. I said elsewhere that the script isn’t as tight as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which, of course, was written by Kaufman, not Gondry), but frankly, I didn’t care. It’s touching and surreal and yay. I loved it. So there.

I totally failed at Almodóvar last week, but two of the three I had seen on the big screen before, so I suppose I can forgive myself. Last night I took myself up the hill to catch Bad Education on its last showing, because I hadn’t seen it before and because Gael García Bernal is pretty. I didn’t really know much about the movie itself, and once it started I understood why: it’s twisty and meta and layered and complex, and if you know anything about it you probably know too much.

It is, I think, an atypical Almodóvar film in that it is all about men, but resolutely Almodóvar in color and melodrama and queerness. Bless him for that. Also, Bernal’s performance is just -brilliant-.

(It was particularly nice after the previous day’s Confetti experience to see a film with people who didn’t feel compelled to laugh at gay content. This theater’s only about a 20 minute walk away from the other. Oh, Seattle.)

It’s been a while since I hit a free screening at the Meridian. A few things were odd this time around. First, they had a sign up for general theater patrons stating that recording devices were not allowed. Not -use- of recording devices. -Possession-. For now I will just say “hmm” but if they intend to start enforcing that policy, well, they have only themselves to blame for a drop in box office. People don’t enjoy being treated as if they are criminals, and there comes a point where waiting for DVD becomes pretty attractive. The other odd thing was that they let us in 45 minutes early … and didn’t search our bags. Perhaps only odd if you’re a free screening regular.

But anyway. Confetti. (Oh my god, Jessica Stevenson’s fiance was Arthur Dent. Jeeze. No wonder he looked familiar.) It was cute, and really, better than I thought it would be, but the audience needs to die. The premise of the film is three couples competing to have the most original wedding and thus win a house. It’s an improvised mockumentary, and the heart (and sanity) of the film is the wedding planners, a middle-aged gay couple, just as sweet as you please, very sympathetically portrayed. And every single time they were -themselves- and charming or showed the tiniest bit of affection the audience -laughed-. Ugh. And, okay, I understand that laughter is a typical response when people are uncomfortable. I get that. Just because I understand it doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it, though. I just want to throw up my hands and yell “GET FUCKING COMFORTABLE ALREADY.”

Which doesn’t help. But. There you go. Movie cute. Includes half of the cast of “Green Wing” (or so it felt) and lots of non-sexual nudity, for those who feel that they need to be warned about that sort of thing.

I wondered why I hadn’t had much to post here lately, and then I realized it’s because I can’t stop plowing through television:

* The Sopranos, season 5. Steve Buscemi’s character is -fantastic-. It wasn’t as enthralling for me as previous seasons, but it was still solid, and there were a few hits that still made me gasp even though I was spoiled for them. That’s good storytelling.t

* Arrested Development, season 1. You’ve all seen this, right, so I don’t have to tell you that it’s The Royal Tenenbaums meets “The OC” and shot as if it were “Cops”. And also that it is grrrreat.

* House, season 2. I am pretty inept at keeping up with broadcast tv, and so thank goodness for DVDs coming out in time for me to catch up. Of course, I still haven’t managed to see any of season 3 yet. But season 2 was solid. Yay.

* Oz, season 6. I really loved this show. It went a little weird in seasons 4 & 5, but it rose back up in season 6.

* The West Wing, season 1. You all told me I would explode with love, and you were right. So much so that it is now added to my Amazon wishlist.

* Battlestar Galactica, the miniseries. Now, the “hey, there are chicks on this show” didn’t work to pull me into “Grey’s Anatomy” because, you know, that show sucks. But the BSG women are awesome, so yay.

Others that I was nearly finished with and then my computer decided to be a butthead: A Bit of Fry and Laurie, season 1 & Veronica Mars, season 2.

I’ve mostly been mainlining tv this fall, but I also saw …

* Something New was complex for a romantic comedy, and quite well-handled, I thought.

* I shouldn’t have been surprised to notice that Iron Jawed Angels was written, directed, and largely produced by women. I picked it up mostly because it had several of my imaginary girlfriends in it and because it was about women’s suffrage. I thought it was really well done, beautifully shot & acted, and good use of modern music and film techniques to make the material come alive. Woo yay.

* Hustle & Flow was great, and seeing the infamous song come together was amazing.

*…and I keep forgetting, I watched Playing By Heart again. I gave it a mediocre review when it first came out, but oh, the people are pretty. It’s a comfort movie. And I perhaps should be concerned regarding how much I identify with Meredith. Dancing About Architecture is still a better title, though, darn it.

In theaters this fall they’re doing a really cool series of Pedro Almodóvar films. Last week they ran Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown & I caught it on Thurday night. He’s a remarkable director (well, of course, or they wouldn’t do this sort of a series for him). I haven’t seen all of his films, but I’ve loved the several I’ve seen because they are all about women, they’re all clever, and they’re all messy and real in spite of featuring characters that could easily be cartoonish. Women is funny and colorful and touching. And has the original Mambo Cab. Take that, 200 Cigarettes.

This week they’re running three more. I’m planning to make it to two. Talk to Her is only playing when I’m still at work. Woe! Though I’ve seen it on the big screen already, when it first came out.

I had intended to just Netflix The Illusionist, but a friend suggested going last night and so. Here we are.

Without spoilers I will say that Edward Norton was particularly good, especially as a good deal of his performance was sans dialogue, and that Paul Giamatti was excellent as always. I tend to enjoy things having to do with more or less Victorian magic and mediums, so the movie had me there. Also, it was beautifully shot for the most part.

I swear I am not one of those people who always says “oh, I totally saw that coming” because really, I’m not. There are lots of twisty movies that had me along for the ride, and lots of movies that people thought were predictable that I was blown away by. But when The Illusionist ended, my first thought was that the final scene had gone on too long and the director had told us too much. I was quite surprised to find out that my partner in crime had totally bought it, because from the beginning I was sure she wasn’t dead, and so I was watching it for that.

The only thing that had made me doubt myself was the timeline. I’m still unclear on how long everything was supposed to take. Eisenheim mourns, buys a theater, etc, and in all of that time no one notices that her body has disappeared? And no one mucks out the stall?

And in the end, an innocent man kills himself. An innocent man with anger management issues, true, but I don’t think he deserved to die for that.

(I have a lot of video & DVD things to post, as usual, but they’ll have to wait. I have a pot of coffee & two discs worth of “House”.)