Chinese New Year/Ash Wednesday/Weather Day/Toothache Day/Lent
2005-02-09 @ 11:58 p.m.

I just watched Village Of The Damned and Chocolat back to back. The former's your typical thrashy B-grade horror flick, although I think there's something to be said for having pure white hair. Very striking. The way the kids' eyes flashed before they made people kill themselves was interesting too. I suppose the ending works to some extent. Having one of the alien kids being rescued, who happens to be the only one with the capacity for emotion, does pave the way for a sequel. Not that I'd want to see the sequel. Incidentally, the movie stars the late Christopher Reeve as a local doctor, one of numerous characters whom you can't really be bothered about in this remake. Plot is derived from The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, who also wrote The Chrysalids.

Chocolat, on the other hand, is beautiful. It's one of those movies that successfully makes the book-to-film transition. I especially like the movie's reversal of the ending, which leaves Vianne and her daughter in Lansquenet, instead of dragging them off with an unconvincing explanation as Joanne Harris does. Personally, I think she just did that to dismiss the complications of the implied love triangle developing between Vianne, Roux and Joséphine. The scenes where they make chocolates are gorgeous! As is the symbolic use of colour against dull backdrops, which occurs frequently in the movie. Speaking of Harris, I find Blackberry Wine extremely difficult to read. I've given up halfway through, so Mel can expect her book back on Monday. It's my guess that Harris is one of those authors that become overrated based on the merits of one good book.