In Which I Go to Market and Talk Like a Film Nerd

Quite a low-key day today. Adrienne and I decided to check out two famous markets in London: Old Spitalfield and Petticoat Lane. I was pretty excited to go- I love markets and a lot of my friends have gotten really great stuff at the ones they've gone to.

Today, though, the markets were a bit of a let-down, to tell the truth. I suppose it makes sense that weekdays aren't their busiest days, but many of the stalls weren't set up, and there were few enough people there that if Adrienne or I even so much as glanced at an item of merchandise, the owner would immediately swoop down on us and ask if we wanted to buy it. We're considering going back on a weekend, though, when more things might be around.

We did have lunch at an amazing creperie at Old Spitalfield, though. I got a strawberry-chocolate crepe with cream. Yummmm.

I've seen a few movies in the past couple of days (one of them just ended an hour ago.)

I saw No Strings Attached, which was cute, though I don't know that I need to see it again. The cool thing about it was that it was the first movie of Natalie Portman's in which I've seen her play a person very close to who she is. Not royalty, not British, not a resident of a galaxy far, far away, not a deranged ballerina, but a late-twenties American girl. I didn't realise I had never seen her play someone so completely normal until I was watching the film, and it struck me how good she is. I think the part she played in No Strings Attached is the hardest kind to play, because how do you play normal? I think it's actually easier to play deranged or perpetually conflicted or of high birth... but how do you be normal? Anyway, I applaud her for her performance- both she and Ashton Kutcher were extremely well... normal. Plot-wise, I think it could have used some work, but you can't have everything.

Today I watched The Soloist. I've wanted to see it for a long time, not because of the story but because of the director. Joe Wright did 2005's Pride and Prejudice as well as Atonement and I just love his style, so much that I'll see anything he does. Like I said, the story of The Soloist is interesting enough, but I didn't see it for that. This is another film I don't need to see again, but the direction was really great, as was the cinematography (done by the same guy who did Atonement) and the acting. It also made me miss playing my violin.

This evening I took myself to the cinema to see Submarine. There are posters for it all over the tube and one day at the gym I saw a preview for it and it looked really well-done. It also stars an actress that I like very much but have only seen in one film (Ballet Shoes), Yasmin Paige. I was eager to see her in something else. The film is an independent one, I believe, and it's really, really good. The script is great, and the actors' delivery just makes it better. I think it really epitomizes not just teenage years, but how a lot of people look at the their lives- that if we try hard enough, we can get that movie-perfect moment, whether it be a moment of happiness, grief, or anything in between, if we just add this or that element to a situation. It was also really cool to see Yasmin Paige in a completely different role- in Ballet Shoes, she plays a very under-confident, emotional, naive, black sheep kind of a girl. In this, she plays a very confident, foul-mouthed, girl who despises anything too romantic but is very experienced and loves to light things on fire. The lead actor, Craig Roberts, is like Michael Cera in his flawless awkward delivery, except that I think he's way better than Michael Cera. Definitely see it if you've got the chance.

Script Frenzy update: 21 pages/100

Quotes of the Day:

"Now I know why you never want to have breakfast with me. You eat like a baby dinosaur." -No Strings Attached

"This is the part where you leave him and come with me." "Is it?" "Yeah. So... are you coming?" "No." -Submarine