Paradox

Wow. That was the busiest boring weekend I’ve had in a long time.

Also, “Atonement”, which I saw tonight, was sad in an anticipated way, and an unanticipated way. I anticipated that Keira Knightley would not be naked at all, and I was right. See? Sad.

The unanticipated way relates to the ending and I won’t be giving that away.

I’ve now seen four of the five Best Picture nominees. The last one, “There Will Be Blood”, I will attempt to see early next week, just to complete the set.

Waiting at the bar next door to the theater prior to showtime, Ayesha, the waitress, asked me what I was doing. I told her about my quest to see all the Oscar nominated films, and listed the ones I’d seen and the one I was about to see. She seemed unusually eager when I listed them off, and then interrupted me to tell me she’d seen “There Will Be Blood”.

“Daniel Day Lewis is… is…” she searched for a word.

“Wow,” I said, “your eyes just lit up.”

An older guy, a regular, laughed. “Chicks’ faces always light up when they talk about Daniel Day Lewis!”

Ayesha smiled, happy but not embarrassed by her enchantment with the actor. “No, you guys, seriously. He’s mesmerizing in that movie. I couldn’t look away! It’s, like, a three hour movie and I didn’t look away once!” She turned to make change out of the register, continuing to talk over her shoulder. “He’s not a good man in that movie, but, damn, I couldn’t look away.”

I can’t wait to see it. It’s highly recommended.