On friendship

"Mia: Don't you hate that? 

Vincent: What? 

Mia: Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable?

Vincent: I don't know. That's a good question. 

Mia: That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence." - Pulp Fiction. (1994)

I have recently come to the realization that my friends fall into one of two distinct groups. There are those who I have to make a conscious effort to carry on a conversation with and then there is the other group where the conversation always seems to flow spontaneously, and no effort seems to be required on my part. Perhaps I know the people in the second group better, and so I instinctively 'know' what makes an interesting conversation with them. But I don't think this accurately explains the difference between the two groups. I think what it comes down too is that it really doesn't matter whether I carry on a conversation with them at all... just being in their presence makes me happy ... even sitting with them in silence.

Les Carabiniers - The war movie that is not

If you are a fan of Jean-Luc Godard, like me you probably have your favorite Godard movie. Since I have only been able to watch three of his films to date ('Contempt', 'Breathless' and 'Les Carabiniers'), it may seem a little pointless to say that I am a fan of his work. Perhaps I can only truly say that I like what I have seen so far, but I suspect that what I like about his movies is his point of view. I think 'Les Carabiniers' is a perfect example. To me 'Les Carabiniers' is special because it is a war movie, that turns the whole genre on its head. Gone are the heroic battle scenes where the lead actor gives rousing speeches about saving the world. There is no attempt to glorify war. The 'heroes' of the movie are two bumbling fools, 'Ulysses' and 'Michelangelo', who respond to the kings invitation to set out to war with promises of untold riches. You might think that the movie is a bit slow in parts, you might think that its a load of nonsense at times, but I think that you will see something that you've rarely seen before. I think you'll see a man who manages to clearly get his point across. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but I will say that this is one of the best satires on war (second only to Dr. Strangelove) that I have ever seen.