Movies: 2 Days in Paris, Fanny and Alexander

I haven't really been sleeping normally. I think it's at least partially because at the end of most days I feel like I haven't really accomplished anything, and there's a little niggling feeling that if I stay up one more hour something exciting will happen. Or else it is just unwillingness to go to sleep without having done or seen or read something. So I've been reading a lot (more on that later) and watching movies late at night.

This is a very funny, touching movie that I watched last night with some friends. It's called 2 Days in Paris.

It starts like this:


The beautiful, beautiful final scene, if you want to ruin the movie for yourself.


And then a few nights ago I watched Fanny and Alexander, which is very long and very creepy but very good. It's set in Sweden at the turn of the century, and it's about two well-to-do children (predictably, Fanny and Alexander) whose parents are involved in theater. After their father dies suddenly, their mother remarries a bishop, who demands that after the wedding the family give up all of their worldly possessions and live with him in an austere, allegedly haunted cottage. The film alternates between being dark and depressing, then silly and heartwarming, but it does so in a way that is more truthful than bipolar. And if that sounds interesting to you, it's all on YouTube! (search fanny och alexander theatrical version 01. warning: it is 22 parts)

So yeah. Those are my cinema picks, and if you have a couple hours to waste I think you should check them out.