Shawl --- Check
Salted Caramel Popcorn --- Check
Umm, I guess thats all I really need for 2 blissful hours a la Inox! Last week, I managed to watch two interesting movies. Let me get to them in order of viewing:
So serving as mid-week (or should I say, mid-shaadi) respite was
'Ides of March', starring the incredibly dreamy, Ryan Gosling as the main protagonist. I went to the movie half-heartedly and harrowed; imagining I would use that time for a quick snooze and instead found myself riveted and far from sleepy.
A dramatic thriller, set in a premise that I'm largely ignorant about - politics, and especially US politics, but dealing with emotions that I'm unfortunately, fairly familiar with - jealousy, corruption, ambition…
A stellar male cast comprising George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamitti; each one a strategic pawn in a dangerously close game of chess.
Slick, shiny and infallible, Clooney as Governor of Philadelphia is in the middle of his ambitious Democratic senator campaign trail (if he wins this one, he has a good chance at being the future Mr. President). By his side and working tirelessly are the team of P.S.H as Paul Zara, Campaign Manager to the Governor and the main protagonist, the young and restless Stephen Meyers (gobble-worthy Gosling) press secretary and chief assistant to Zara.
Adding an element of much-needed theta to all that alpha is pretty little, Evan Rachel Woods as Molly Stearns. Hitherto known to me as the kinky counterpart to the creepy artist Marilyn Manson; she had left an indelible mark in my mind as some freaky celebrity. Just as the two were set to get married, she broke it off on grounds of bi-sexuality!!
In any case, she was quite lovely as the not-yet-a-girl-not-yet-a-woman intern in the political campaign and incidentally, the daughter of a devout Catholic and chairman of the Democratic National Committee. She gets herself into a “light evening with the boss” situation one night when she and the Govenor spend more than necessary time over a “delivery” and as fate has it; the young girl finds herself in an immoral situation.
They say knowledge is power and this certainly holds true in the movie as Meyers has to quickly learn. The young girl looks to him for affection and soon tells him about her worrisome position. Gallant, upright and loyal; Meyers knows that this is the sort of fodder that can drive the Govenor right out of the race and moves into damage-control mode.
At some point; Meyers does something that changes the entire dynamics of the story line - He decides to pop by for a tete-a-tete with the competitor candidate, Arkansas Senator Pullman’s campaign manager, Tom Duffy ( Paul Giammati – restrained and awesome!).
Whilst the candidates are campaigning in Ohio and are desperately attempting to enlist the endorsement of the North Carolina Senator; the mood tenses up as the race gets tighter.
Whilst cleaning up the governor’s dirty laundry, Meyers is suddenly found in an unforeseen situation of his own. A New York Times reporter (Marisa Tomei – old and not so gold); threatens him to blurt that he was caught having beer and buffalo wings with the competition. Suddenly Meyers is found jobless; getting kicked by Zara and the Govenor for showing a lack of loyalty and conviction.
Meyers then does what he has to do…plays hard ball right back with the Govenor. (Go Gosling!)
Well, I would rather not say more; lest I give it alllll away….
After getting home, I just had to Google the title of
the movie and this is what I got:
<< The Ides of March (Latin: Idus Martiae) is the name of the 15th day of March in the Roman calendar, probably referring to the day of the full moon. The word Ides comes from the Latin word "Idus" and means "half division" especially in relation to a month. It is a word that was used widely in the Roman calendar indicating the approximate day that was the middle of the month.
In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," has forever imbued that date with a sense of foreboding. >>
How allegorical and apt!
Go catch it if you haven’t already!
