Watch a Freaking Movie! - Marie Antoinette

For those of you who don't know. I travel a fair amount, usually twice a month, to New York City from Boston. At the top of the year, I bought myself a Kindle Fire (which I HIGHLY recommend as far as tablets go) to help myself read more. And indeed I have! Not to mention the fact that I recently figured out how to use my local E-Library and am FINALLY number four in a queue of 52 to read Insurgent. FINALLY.

But the fact of the matter is, I take the bus to New York, and for as long as I've been traveling in automobiles, I get motion sickness when I read and ride. As a direct result, I've made it a habit to rent two movies prior to each trip; one for the ride to, and one for the trip home. I've never been much of a movie buff, as it is both expensive and kind of off putting to spend 2-ish hours in a darkened room surrounded by strangers in forced silence. However, I've spent the last few months catching up for lost time, watching all the films that pretty much everyone has seen but me.

It's not news that movies are an art. If formerly dating a filmmaker taught me anything, it is just how much thought and vision go into making a [poignant] film. (And also that working as an "extra" is not nearly as glamorous as one would hope. The things we do to impress boys!) When you're watching a movie, you're watching the manifestation of someone's idea, series of ideas, and countless visions and revisions. I dare not say that I watch a movie with an artful eye, but I'm trying to. I try to discern specifically what I liked about a film. Aside from the storyline, I mean. What was visually and acoustically stimulating? What images or moments stayed with me after the film, and why? Who are these characters and what makes them the way they are?

Anyway, a movie that I recently watched that I canNOT stop returning to mentally is Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst.

Unfortunately, my knowledge of French history is paltry at best, though it is my understanding that the account is, naturally, elaborated and artistically liberated. BUT JUST LOOK AT IT.

Need. That. WALLPAPER.

While I highly doubt that the Dauphine lived in such a high-contrast, ultra-bright Versailles...SHE STILL LIVED IN VERSAILLES. The color temperature of this movie is exciting and strong. Sharp, but also warm. Like this bubblegum queen could have easily giggled with you after school, playing MASH and plotting homecoming outfits that would have sacked you a quarterback.

We are SO overdue for a masquerade.

Anyway, watch this film on a dark day, when you need to lighten up. (Don't worry. While we all know what happened to the real Marie, the film leaves that fact to its viewers own details.) Aesthetically, you're going to want to tease your hair, trash all your earth tone tops and toss back a dozen macarons. Be forewarned; you may also want to run away with a Swedish Count (But don't. Unless, I mean, you can ethically swing it. Then by all means!)

What movies make your eyes want to dance? Leave a comment for my next bus ride!

Adieu, and obligatory mention of cake,

-A.