Something about movies (and life, and people, and stuff)

If you'll notice, one of the personal blogs I regularly read is devoted to pop culture in all its forms. I don't know who keyser soze is (except when played by Kevin Spacey), but I truly enjoy reading her thoughts about everything from Battlestar Galactica to Project Runway. She belongs to the Cult of Kubrick, which is all right - my only beef with him is how he turned the scariest novel ever written into a comedy. Whether I agree with her or not, I always respect what she says because I can tell it comes from a place of deep appreciation, intelligence, and thoughtfulness. Plus, she's a total fangirl, not afraid to squeal a little.

Me? I'm just a fangirl. I don't pretend to have deep thoughts or anything more than a smattering of intelligence when it comes to pop culture criticism. I like what I like. Sometimes I examine more closely why I like or dislike something. But usually, I just go with my initial instinctual reaction, especially when it comes to movies.

For the most part, I watch movies to be entertained. I have mentioned before I do not like being lectured to about The Human Condition(tm) and have little desire to have Life Lessons shoved in my face. There are many who love this, or even need it to understand why people are the way they are. I prefer to form my own conclusions based on my interactions with real people (which may explain why I haven't jumped on the Judd Apatow love train - I know too many men who can't quite bring themselves to grow up in real life - that shit is frustrating, not entertaining) (Exception to the previous - The 40 Year Old Virgin) (Also the reason I'm the only human on the planet who didn't like Sideways).

That's not to say I don't like to be a little flummoxed by my movies, as long as I'm being entertained at the same time.

I saw Wall-E last weekend and I can't get it out of my head. I am going to go out on a limb and say I think this was easily one of the best movies I've seen in ages (and I thought that of The Dark Knight just one week previous). The funny thing is, I loved both of these movies for ultimately the same reason: they both showed me what I believe to be true about people - when pushed most human beings will choose to do the right thing. In The Dark Knight, humanity had to learn this about themselves while at the hands of an evil madman. In Wall-E, a robot desperate for connection shows everyone around him that we can only save ourselves if we too reach out and connect with others.

So I just made a liar of myself. I do love movies about The Human Condition(tm). But what I'm looking for are those that show me that condition isn't a lost cause. We are, at heart, thoughtful beings yearning for someone to show us our greater purpose, not understanding only we can tap into that purpose within ourselves to bring it to light.

So this is way more philosophical than I intended it to be. And I'm not quite certain it makes much sense. But it's true (to me) all the same.