My Mumbling Thoughts

On Friday afternoon I began my journey and it has ended on this Saturday afternoon. I've been to Barcelona, Paris, London, Russia and back. Needless to say I'm rather tired, but even after all of the planes, trains and automobiles, part of me just wants to call up the new friends that I've made and ask, "so, where are we going next? What's in store for us now?"

I'm sure you're wondering how is this all possible? How can one travel to so many places in so little time? And the answer is quite simple. There's two reasons actually. The first one is this nifty little thing called Netflix and the second is the ancient building called the Avalon.

After Mel and I arrived home on Friday, she introduced me to l'auberge espagnole, translated to The Spanish Apartment. It's this fantastic film about a man named, Xaiver, who moves from France to Barcelona to work on his master's degree. At least I'm pretty sure it's his master's degree. Anyway, when he arrives, he soon discovers that his accomodation has fallen through and he needs another place to stay. From there we walk side-by-side with him as he learns about his new surroundings, sweeps his new lover clear off her feet, tries to deal with his old girlfriend and their new long distance relationship, lives with his flatmates who each have their own colorful personality and swim through his tormented mind as he tries to figure out what he wants to do with his life, what he wants to get out of it.

Ten minutes into the film and I was already hooked. I fell in love with every aspect of the movie; the music, the camera angles, the amazing shots of each city and even the subtitles, since the majority of the movie is in French and Spanish. It made me want to learn a new language and flip the calendar to September that much faster.

So when Mel told me that there was a sequel and it was still playing in theaters, I knew I had to go.

A couple of clicks on the laptop and we were in business. We found out that it was only being shown in select cities and that the only theater that was nearby was in Washington D.C. at the Avalon. Luckily for us they were showing the second one, Russian Dolls, the very next day. My plans for Saturday were sealed that quickly.

I was slightly nervous seeing the sequel since usually they end up being complete shit. Directors and writers try so desperately to recreate the magic of the first movie that they get lost in what they're doing and it comes off as being cheesy and forced. Thankfully this was not the case with Russian Dolls. It all flowed perfectly and it didn't even seem like a sequel. It seemed like an extension from where the first film left off, like the cameras never stopped recording. Life just continued and moved forward like normal.

I won't divulge into any of the details and gush about this one scene, or a certain line that I thought was brilliant. All I'll say is that you should do yourself a favor and watch these movies. I think that they might have been placed at the top of my Favorite Movies List, and that's pretty hard since I've been in love with Almost Famous and Breakfast At Tiffany's even before I sat down and watched them. The one thing that I love most about these movies though, is that no matter what language it's in, love and life, are all the same.