i think we'll just have to be secretly in love with eachother

i've been in a bit of a shmaltzy mood today, maybe motivated by a late night viewing of 'the time traveller's wife' last night and hysterically weeping that eric banananana didn't look like my henry at all.  where were his glasses??
so this naturally led me onto contemplating my top 5 couples in films which is perhaps a pre-emptive valentines day post but... badabingbadaboom. here they are; a brief but tender gaze at some of my favourite couples from the big screen:

first up is margot and richie from the royal tenaunbaums.

i usually want to marry all of wes anderson's characters or at least stalk them from a safe distance.  this couple are maybe too cool for words, margot is pretty much a style icon with her long fur coat, painfully straight hair and kohl eyeliner and richie just makes me want to stroke his face. he was able to see through the cloud of co2 she emitted from her cigerettes and she was able to see through that.. beard. which luckily he got rid of half way through the film and managed to look a little like the lead singer from maroon 5.. only more earnest and less slutty.  one of my favourite lines is from margot, 'i think we'll just have to be secretly in love with eachother and leave it at that richie'. heart.broken.  why do you do this to me mr anderson??

numero deux. joon and sam from benny and joon.

this clip explains it all.  johnny depp plays sam; a quirky, mysterious, funny, agile outsider with a penchant for small baguettes.  he attempts to woo joon our typical female character in turmoil (she paints) and has 'mental health problems'. is it obvious that i'm less impressed by joon? can i help it if i naturally identify with brunettes? hmm. so does sam succeed in wooing our flaxen-haired weirdo? of course.

maybe a bit predictable but everything happens for a reason. it's charlotte and bob from lost in translation (scarlett johansson and bill murray)

the best duo to run riot in an increasingly alien and at times detached tokyo.  i'm a sucker for most films by sofia coppola and the lingering beautiful way she shoots them, so this was always going to be a winner.  i like the way it subtley seems to suggest that a love story doesn't have to be a traditional progression from a to b to c but can be brief and fleeting.  it's like a love chapter. or maybe a paragraph. (??)

drei. definitely angel-a and andre from the film 'angel-a'.  directed by luc besson the same guy that directed leon.  just for credentials.

set in paris. je'taime!! andre saves a stunning, giantess of a lady and she returns the favour.  maybe.  angel-a reminded me of katherine hepburn in 'bringing up baby' at times.  following around a man who will eventually appreciate your individuality or in angel-a's case. the longest legs in the world. 

now for..four.  sean bateman and lauren hynde from 'the rules of attraction'.

 

all the things that could have been if it wasn't for victor, the townies and maybe that sean is related to a serial killer. it could have all been perfect.   rock and roll. 

finally five. possibly my favourite couple too is..  clarence and alabama worley from the film 'true romance'.

 because if you ignore the fact that quentin tarentino had a hand in this film, the begining of the film is all pretty medicore and then BAM. you realise that clarence has visions of elvis presley telling him what to do and who to killand that alabama is a call girl 'with a heart' as she is often described by strange people who cannot comprehend that she is not lacking a fundamental organ.  they are usually in the wrong place at the wrong time and go on a bit of a crime spree. but they do it in the most romantic way. 

countdown over.  and they all lived happily ever after.

animal yarn

Not to get all mega depressing before Christmas but today is the 'anniversary' of my dad's death.  Without getting too sentimental; he was an amazing dad.  I inherited a collection of his poems that he must have wrote when he was around my age.  Some of them are reeeeally angsty..comparing life to an extinguished cigerette (now I know where I get it from..) but some were really, really funny and usually involved animals.  He used to read them out to me when I was a weee lass and they made me break down giggling. They remind me of those old Alan Ahlberg poems. I hope they make you giggle too.  Or at least snort. 

The Cat

At six o'clock, they wake me up

And kick me out of doors

I have a sniff and scratch about

And then I clean my paws

When winter comes, I stay inside

The snow is cold and wet

And if I caught pneumonia

I'd have to face the vet

Animal Yarn

The cow is chewing at the cud

The farmer takes a nap

An irate bull trots upto him

And drops one in his lap

The farmer chases after him

Upon his horse and cart

The bull swings round

And all at once, lets loose a mighty fart

The poor man, numbed from sheer surprise

Sits fixed upon his seat

The bull, without the slightest care

Regurgitates some wheat

The farmer grabs his rifle

But accidentally falls

The bull just smirks and lifts his hoof

And kicks him in the balls.

The Bird

I am a bird up in a tree

My life is not much fun

Cos every time I move about

I'm shot at, with a gun

I use to like to chirp and sing

And sometimes I would hum

Byut yesterday, my jaw got hit

And now, I've been struck dumb.

A Budgie's Lament

I'm sitting here, upon me perch

Me heart is all a flutter

Me cage, they've put inside the fridge

Just cos I swiped some butter

They think that I'll have had me fill

From peanut shells and plates of Trill

But what I really want to eat

Is lots of beans and sausage meat

I can't say more, I'm getting cold

Me feet are all a shiver

I think before I'm frozen stiff

I'll grab that bit of liver.

Tehe