nadiamente Reviews

Waking Life (2001)

Epilogue or Deleted Scene?

[10/10 · 9 July 2005]

I applaud the filmmaker and all the artists who participated in creating this film. It got me thinking. Here is my contribution:

Epilogue/Deleted Scene: (setting) My Character sitting with Wiley Wiggins.

My Character: "One thing I haven't seen--the one thing I haven't heard about yet is--you know, I'm sitting there with my wife watching this movie--And she falls asleep--except I don't notice until I say something--in reaction to what just happened--in the movie, that is--I say, "Oh" or I laugh or something--And I look over at her--because she doesn't say anything--because I'm saying something--not just to myself, you know--and I, like, don't hear a response.

Wiley Wiggins: "Uh, huh."

My Character: "So I look over and she's got her eyes closed. And she's laying down on her side with her arm under her head like a pillow. And her shirt is lifted up over her belly--Well, she's pregnant--like seven months pregnant--And her huge belly--beautiful--is sticking out. And I think then of the kid--you know, the fetus inside there--It's alive--but I don't know what it looks like. I don't know who it is. And it's fascinating suddenly. But the movie's still going. So I turn back to it. But then I'm listening to the movie and my eyes are watching--they're sort of recording the movement--the action--but it doesn't make any sense to me--I mean, it doesn't mean anything to me--because I'm not in it...And then I look back at my wife and I see her belly move--I mean, the baby inside her is kicking her in the ribs--And she moans, Ah--and I can see its little feet push against her skin--like it wants to get out--or at least its getting bigger and it can't stay in there forever. And so I'm fascinated again. And I grab the remote--because I can't do both--and I push pause in the movie--it's digital now, so, like, it could stay that way forever--or until I ran out of power, electricity, or something--

Wiley Wiggins: "Yeah. I hear you."

My Character: "Yeah. So I see this kid kicking my wife and she's moaning and I'm sitting there on the couch touching her leg and watching her. And it's getting late you know. But I start to think--about this kid and how he doesn't have an identity yet--he hasn't been born. He could be anybody you know? I mean, he comes out and sees us and he's like attached to us, instinctively--And he needs to be fed and he needs to be kept clean and healthy--He needs us to survive.

Wiley Wiggins: (jokingly) "He needs you to wipe his ass."

My Character:(laughing) "Yeah! Exactly. And he doesn't know who we are, except maybe in some mysterious genetic way--But it's sort of coded in a language we don't quite understand--at least, we can't really use our code--our language--to make it understood--

Wiley Wiggins: (skeptical look) "Are you talking about cloning or something?"

My Character: "No! Hell no! No. I'm talking about my kid--that I made--with my wife--in our bed. And he's not dead, but he's not quite alive yet--and so--who is he? I mean, what is that like? To be alive in that moment, those nine months in the womb before you're born."

Wiley Wiggins: (after long pause) "I don't know, man. I mean, I forget."

My Character: "No. I don't--that wasn't a question really--not for you--I mean it's just a question."

Wiley Wiggins: (another pause) "Well, did you tell your wife about it--I mean did you ask her--

My Character: "No--Well, she was asleep. (pause) But then I woke her up--after I finished watching the movie--and I told her it was time to go to bed. And then we were laying there--I mean, she groaned when she got up--she didn't want to get up--I offered to just give her a blanket or something--but she got up--so we could sleep together--I mean next to each other. And so I was rubbing her back--we were laying there--she was pretty wiped out--and I started thinking--I started writing something down, but I was laying there in bed still--"

Wiley Wiggins: "--rubbing your wife's back."

My Character: "Right. And I suddenly had to get up. I had to write this down--actually write it down--on paper--not just in my head still lying there in my bed--I was comfortable--but I had to get up...And then I went to the kitchen and turned on the light above the stove. It was soft. It was dim. It was late. I didn't want to wake anybody--I mean, I was totally naked too--I didn't bother to get dressed. And I went out into the kitchen and I found a notebook and I grabbed a pen and starting writing--finally--something. And it came pouring out of me--it was nice--But I heard my wife get up and I heard her walking towards me in the dark--And I say to her--before she can say anything--before she can ask me anything--I say to her" (looks at Wiley Wiggins, intently): "I'm writing."

The Color of Money (1986)

Either you've seen "The Hustler" or you haven't

[6/10 · 9 April 2005]

There are two possible reviews that could be written about this film; two kinds, that is. One kind comes from somebody who's never seen "The Hustler" (1961), who's main character, Fast Eddie Felson, played by Paul Newman, is here reprised and replayed by the same actor, after 25 years has gone by, in a new script. I'm curious to read a review of this kind. I've seen "The Hustler" and rank it very high on my list of great films. So I can only write a review of this other kind. If you know the story from "Hustler" (and love it), how can you not be interested in what happens to Fast Eddie later in life? I was immediately aware of the extension of ideas (money, excellence, honor, pride, and deceit) from "The Hustler" and curious to see where Scorsese would take them. I think he's true to the time period: the clothing (and Vince's hair!), the music (very 80's), and the shift of values (as compared to 60s; e.g. cocaine replacing alcohol). Fast Eddie is also true to his age (and former excellence as a hustler). It feels like he's inherited a bit of Bert (from "The Hustler), a festering bitterness and pride, which reemerges when he meets Vince. I actually liked Tom Cruise as the innocent Vince and thought he played him perfectly. I winced to see him lose that innocence, which is probably what the film means to do. Mastroantonio is also pretty fabulous and yet no where near as cognizant and complex as Piper Laurie's character in "The Hustler." In that respect, this film is not as "cool" as "The Hustler." To credit Scorsese, he avoids trying to make a film as cool or similar in look to the original. Also, this movie does not attempt to gloss over Fast Eddie's faults (indeed it focuses on them intensely), and it doesn't mean to have him come to some redemption (although he does return to some of his former glory as a pool player). For me, my interest in the development of the story hinges upon my knowledge of what happened in "The Hustler." There was no way I could separate this fact from my judgement of the movie. I was disappointed only in so far that I wasn't watching "The Hustler" instead; and that's unfair to this movie. So, I don't know how this movie stands on its own. Try to imagine a movie about Rick, reprised by Bogart, from "Casablanca" 25 years later, called "The Taste of Defeat" when he's living in Paris, bloated from drink and lamenting the loss of swing jazz and, alas, his only love,Ilsa, etc etc.