Sooo.... this is not at all the movie I remember it being. I remember slick action, adrenaline pounding fight scenes, dry wit, charming characters, Jason Statham greased up and fighting while wearing bike pedals. And I got the last thing. That's it.
I think of Jason Statham now and think of him being gruff but charming. He's pretty uncharismatic here. It is fun to see baby Jason Statham again, though.
I am forever amused with the heavy Orangina sponsorship of this movie. It's tasty but the bottle is so awkward(?) so it feels like such an odd choice for Frank.
I cannot think of a single other movie in which the soundtrack and score ACTIVELY HARM the movie. Every single music choice was Wrong. The pacing felt so weird on this viewing and mostly because the music never grew or diminished or raced or anything. Just wild.
I bought this movie after I started the project because I was surprised to find I'd gotten rid of my copy somewhere along the way. I... can probably get rid of it again.
And woof, I'm still pretty jetlagged from our trip. I think I'm glad it was this one this week because I'm too tired to think of anything else to say! Haha
Never Trust the Cook
Brown butter madeleines with orange soda caramel slick
Takeaways:
-I truly could not come up with anything else for this movie and I'm trying to convince myself that's okay.
-The Orangina website lies and I couldn't find any at the stores listed. So I made due with Faygo. Orangina would have been a subtler taste but since this barely tasted of orange, I guess Faygo was the better choice.
-I was underwhelmed with these, my first madeleines. They're tasty but a little fussy for the end product. I do love a kitchen smelling of beurre noisette though.
-I haven't made a caramel sauce in so long and hoo golly did I forget everything I knew about it so the first go was a Disaster. The end result isn't as smooth as I'd like but I'm proud of myself for pulling it together.
Savvy readers will notice that I have completely skipped the "next" movie, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. I was so convinced that on a red eye flight to Ireland, that while on vacation in Ireland, that on the way back from Ireland, I would have time to illustrate my Bill & Ted alphabet (it's completely planned out, if I ever finish it, it will be awesome). Shocker, I didn't. And then I felt guilt. And then I felt shame. And then I got so overwhelmed with work and coming back from a wonderful trip that did not refresh me at all that I just kind of collapsed, creatively.
And then I started thinking about this project and how much I love it but it's becoming contrary to its original purpose. It's creating, often, with a proverbial gun to my head. I'm honestly afraid of taking a break from it, though, because ultimately I enjoy it, and I have a history of abandoning projects. And I want to finish this. I would be so angry at myself if I let it slip away like so many other things in my life.
And this is all tied, too, to larger existential ponderings I've been having. There's so much I want to be doing but I'm so tired from my work, I can barely get that done. But how lucky am I to have a very creative day job? But I'm tired of being a mess. I'm tired of the financial struggles. I'm tired of being tired.
I wonder, too, who I'm doing this for. I put the blog up for accountability but there's always a nagging worry that I'm not "making it." Whatever that means. I still catch myself comparing my art to others. I did some garbage renderings for three (3!) shows in the last week and wasn't that the whole point of this thing? Get better at theater stuff?
So all that to say that I don't know what I'm going to do. I need a vacation. Haha. But like, two weeks on my couch doing nothing. The next movie is The Sword in the Stone and I intend to watch it but I might slow down the timeline on getting the art done.
I hope you're being kind to yourself. The world is absolute shit and all we have is kindness. And we have to start with ourselves. Take care of yourself.