My favourite movie

I used to love Love Actually. It seemed so romantic and clever... but then I guess I grew up. I realised that all the parts I thought were sweet are actually a bit creepy and all the parts that used to shock me no longer hold shock value. I've seen some stuff since I turned thirty and it's changed my perspective.

I recently saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and it absolutely captivated me. I think it was the combination of beautiful scenery and Ben Stiller. I've had such a thing for him ever since Reality Bites. I know we weren't supposed to like him much in that movie, but I always felt he was the better option for poor deluded Winona.

credit

While I've given up any dreams of the kind of travel that would let me climb volcanoes or cycle along highways in the foreseeable future, I still allow myself the odd fantasy that I really could abseil down a glacier or something if I really wanted to (and won the lottery). I think it helped that I saw the movie in the wide open town theatre (instead of the more modern cinema complex), more or less all alone with the aircon blaring the heat of the Summer evening away. It felt like being somewhere else, far away from my everyday life.

Finding out this was a remake of a Danny Kaye movie, I felt an even deeper appreciation for the level of escape this movie afforded. As a kid, living in a communal living situation, the Danny Kaye movies that screened most afternoons were an escape from the depressing boarding house we escaped to each night.

I liked everything about the movie. I liked the slow pace, the dialogue, the fantasy scenes, the music. I liked it so much, I learned to play Space Oddity on my ukulele just so I could relive the feeling over again. I don't look anywhere near as good as Kristen Wiig doing it, but it is so fun to rock out with David Bowie again after a thirty year hiatus. Kind of feels like reliving a childhood fantasy.

Can't wait to watch it with my kids.

Also linking up with Maxabella Loves at Weekend Rewind