Gwen surprised me by being as interested in seeing Hellboy as I was, so we made yesterday a double-feature day.
It was fun–visually interesting, with entertaining and baroque villains (I especially liked the wind-up Nazi). Ron Perlman is a good actor with a habit of taking on roles in movies that otherwise probably couldn’t attract his level of talent, and this movie is the better for it.
As part of her day of hookey, Gwen and I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Charlie Kaufman has really outdone himself, managing to combine PKD-style mindfucks with a really poignant story.
One exchange was especially memorable, and relevant beyond the scope of the movie
Clementine: This is it, Joel. It’s going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.
The whole movie is wonderful.
The really important things are hard to put into words.
I’ve been married before, and one might expect that my attitude towards marriage would be less awed, less wondering, and more cynical. And at some level, that’s true: I have firsthand experience of a marriage that didn’t last, so I can’t discount the possibility that it will happen again. On another level, it’s not true at all: there’s still a very immediate sense of stepping into the unknown, of electricity, of possibility, of change, and of permanence, or at least the prospect of it.
Later: Our friends Frank and Mary Pat, professional photographers, volunteered to take photos at the wedding, and they have posted pictures online.