So, I went to Hitchcock class today, which was good: I understood a solid 90% of what the teacher was saying. This would be even better if it had something to do with my course grade (all in my 'Color in Hitchcock' paper). I was also a little tired, so that kind of put a damper on the experience.
I'm also really shy, apparently. I've had something of a tough time meeting French people my age. It's really tough for me to start a conversation with them because they all know each other so well and immediately group into impregnable* conversation circles. Plus, I'm, well, me... I don't know.
So, after class, I decided to go see a movie to brighten my spirits. I had seen the trailer for Percy Jackson and the Olympians; it came out today and I had thought it looked like fun, so I walked over to the movie theater near Paris VII. They didn't have it, so I decided I should brush up on my French anyway and bought a ticket for something simply because one of my professors said it looked good and because Gerard Depardieu is in it.**
So, I go in and sit down***, and the trailers come on... mostly American films, which is weird, but whatever, and then the little clip ("seal?" "trademark?") for Lionsgate appears. I'm film major enough to know that that's an American company, so I figure they must have collaborated. Then, there are marines-- the American kind-- marching across the screen. Uh-oh, I realize, I can't believe this; I've walked into the wrong movie. But, if I'm not watching L'Autre Dumas, then what am I--OH NO.
And before you could say "Tobey McGuire," I realized I'd sat down for Brothers.
Well, the other movie had almost certainly started already, and I wasn't about to walk out on a 6-euro investment. So, I watched it. It was every bit as way-too-serious as I knew it would be. Not that Afghanistan and PTSD aren't serious, but it was serious in the same way every movie released between mid-November and the Oscar nominations is serious. Revolutionary Road serious and Doubt serious and Nicholas Cage wishes he were this serious. So, I spent the two hours laughing inappropriately (and laughing my inappropriately American laugh) at how seriously this movie is taking itself and at the casting choices. Jake Gyllenhaal was pretty good and Natalie Portman was pretty... pretty. But Tobey... ah, Tobey. Tobey gave my inner commentary a field day.
"Who am I? I'm ANGRY Spider-Man!"
Yes, well, enough about that. I then grabbed Greek food near St. Michel with Rhiannon, Becky, and Aaron. Rhiannon and I didn't have much time to eat because we were going to the chorus she's singing in for a class at Paris IV. I agreed to try it because they needed baritones and I figured it would be a good way to meet French people. I was really nervous, but after a while I realized I was doing pretty well for my first time and that these people seemed more relaxed and friendly than most of the other students I'd yet encountered. We're also singing some really beautiful music**** and it's really good to have a friend there doing this with me. I think I'll stick with it.
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Footnotes. I wonder where in a document the "earnotes" would go?
* Not a French word: just a very uncommon English one. It doesn't mean what you think it means, but then again, it's kind of close.
** Flight of the Conchords references. Go.
*** Sorry to keep dragging you back here, but I want to make a note about the MK2 chain. They have these great movie seats: comfy like a sofa, and only every other armrest folds up. Basically, this theater is made up of a bunch of loveseats: perfect for couples going to "watch" a movie. Only in Paris. I cannot begin to tell you how much annoyance this would have saved me the last time I took a girl to the movies back in the States.
**** Including some Mendelsohn, with lyrics in German. German! I'm an American student in France singing music in German... Oh, what a day.
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