Solaris

"Earth. Even the word sounded strange to me now... unfamiliar. How long had I been gone? How long had I been back? Did it matter? I tried to find the rhythm of the world where I used to live. I followed the current. I was silent, attentive, I made a conscious effort to smile, nod, stand, and perform the millions of gestures that constitute life on earth. I studied these gestures until they became reflexes again. But I was haunted by the idea that I remembered her wrong, and somehow I was wrong about everything." -- Kelvin


Just watched the American remake of SOLARIS. I saw the original Russian movie back in college, which is three hours of brain-screwing trippy dialogue, images, and events. The American version retains much of the sense of wonder, if not the same feeling that one must be on acid to 'get' it.

I really like this movie because of its 'old-school' sci-fi nature. Sci-fi in the movies has become about robots, effects, guns, explosions, effects, improbable physics, or just plain silliness. SOLARIS is a romance, a story about lost love and the chance for its recovery (in a fashion), about memory made manifest. The environments had the hard sci-fi feel much like Red Planet, which was far more of an action/adventure film than SOLARIS.

Having been lost in my memory for years, longing for love lost and seemingly forgotten by everyone else, I often wished for a chance to try again. I think that the pressures that destroyed it the first time around would still be there, the threads of my love for her couldn't hold us together. Were we doomed from the start? Would it ever turn out differently if I did have that chance again? What kind of price would I pay? Would I be willing to relive losing her to be in that moment again? I think the answer is no matter what I wanted or want, she was not willing to relive the pain of giving up on me and she never saw any other path.

Fascinating movie.

(no subject)

Despite the mild concern about Koshka, it has been a very good 'long weekend' so far. jeliza was able to get away from thesis work and the bean for some quality time--a big thanks to rubylou and drakemonger for letting her skip out for a bit--, the trip down to Tacoma was fun, and the Living Jungle game Sunday was very cool. Just finished up running a judge-preparation game of Living Force for this weekend's monthly gameday.

Tomorrow is my last day of 'unpaid vacation' and I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm thinking brunch at Alki Cafe would be awesome, although I don't think anyone else is available to go with me. I need to get the details on what time I'm supposed to show up to Sierra Wednesday and make sure they are happy with the pre-hiring stuff they did on their end.

Today is onyxlynxx's birthday, so I'm sure she'd appreciate any birthday wishes you might dote on her. Happy Birthday, Kirby!