La fête du Thanks

Thanksgiving at Chez Kehoe has been a little cray-cray. The house is undergoing some renovations, and a lot of things are being moved/put in boxes/thrown away as my parents are preparing to move. I can’t find anything! On top of that, I’ve brought Maggie home to meet the fam, which includes my childhood pet – a fifteen pound white long-haired cat who is affectionately known as either “Sparky” or “Fluffy.” Apart from spending Thanksgiving transporting Maggie up and down the stairs to get to her litter box (she’s too little to climb them herself) and making sure she and Sparky don’t eat each other, I’ve been watching movies and making table decorations. For the centerpieces I made little flowers out of orange peels and glued Mardi Gras beads in the middle. They only took about 45 minutes to make, and I think they turned out pretty well.

The wine next to the flowers is a bottle I brought back from my trip to France this summer. It’s a “vintage” Beaujolais bottled in 1999. Most Beaujolais wine is almost rosy, but because this bottle is a little older, it has a bolder, darker taste. It went really well with the turkey.

I’ve also watched roughly a movie and a half since I’ve been home: Swimming Pool and Ingmar Bergman’s first film Torment.

Swimming Pool

is a half English, half French thriller released in 2003. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s basically about a murder mystery author (Sarah) who goes away to her publisher’s house in the south of France to find inspiration for her new novel. After she’s been there for a few days, the publisher’s daughter Julie shows up unannounced to stay indefinitely. The girl is a blonde French bombshell who has a habit of seducing older (and much less attractive) men and bringing them back to the house, much to Sarah’s dismay.

The first hour of the movie focuses on Julie and Sarah’s evolving relationship, as aspects of Julie’s personality and life story start to reveal themselves. Things take an unexpected turn at the end of the movie, though; I would say about 75 percent of the plot unravels in the last half hour. I’m still not sure if I’ve completely made sense out of the ending, but it was a very enjoyable film – I give it 4 out of 5 stars overall.

Torment

was filmed in 1944 and is based off Ingmar Bergman’s first screenplay. I'm only halfway through watching this one, so I won't comment on the story line, but I will say that Bergman is my all time favorite director. I was really excited when my boyfriend gave me the box set of his first five films for my birthday this year. Bergman has the unique ability to make a three-hour film filled almost completely with dialogue and keep audiences (or at least me) captivated the whole time. I knew I was a sucker for Swedish film and black and white before watching this movie, but so far I especially love the cinematography of Torment.

Scenes from a Marriage

is one of Bergman’s later works from the ‘70s and the first film of his that I saw. It’s quite a bit different from Torment, but also one of my favorites. The realness of the account of a couple’s crumbling marriage is totally heartbreaking, but it’s a very enjoyable film nonetheless. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any Youtube clips of either Bergman movie with English subtitles, but I highly recommend checking out some of his films. A lot of them are available on Netflix.

…More on Ingmar once I finish watching the other four films in the set.

Also, stay turned for a Black Friday post (which *hopefully* will include details about my new camera) and a complete chronicle of my 21^st birthday :DD.