New Boots and Shorts

I love boots. I have one pair of black Justin boots and a pair of grey Tony Lamas which have been re-heeled, the soles hanging on by threads. So when I am back in SA I just had to stop by Boot Hill and get myself a new pair. I like the classic mid-calf, point-toe style. Never was a Roper gal. So I got a pair of classic dark maroon Justins with great stitching. I'm an Aggie so I have to use maroon over burgundy. Wearing a pair of Western boots is heaven. I feel a wonderful sense of height, and this tallness in so comfortable it gives me a sort of confident swagger ... plus boots are so comfortable. So now I'm a three boot gal. I'm happy.

Dad and I hopped over to the Bijou at Crossroads to watch the live action short films chosen for the Academy Awards. All the selections are foreign films, although the UK entry, Tonto Woman feels and looks like an American Western. Overall, the selection ranged from what is best about foreign films - unpredictable and delightful - to the worst about foreign films - dreary, long, and pointless.

The first, Tanghi Argentini, was the best. In thirteen minutes, this Belgian film was a complete joy with a very unpredictable ending. An office worker is chatting online after hours with a lover of tango when he's caught by the cleaning lady. Since it is Christma, he uses the excuse that he is there late searching for Christmas presents for his coworkers. He makes a date with the woman but is confronted with the problem that he doesn't know how to tango. He enlists the help of a friend at work and soon is finding his passion in the steps. Lovingly told, I was amazed that I, the jaded viewer who has seen many a film, was pleasantly surprised by the ending. Never did the dialog or the pacing give away where the story was leading you, each word, each frame added up to a delightful dance of its own. One of the best films I've seen all year regardless of length.

Unfortunately the next selection was atrocious. A deadly long 40 minute film about cancer and death. At Night is a Danish film and damn are they depressing. Filmed in horribly depressing grey tones, we are subjected to watching three girls struggle and die from their disease, and even the one moment where the director could have delivered a happy moment - celebration of New Year's Eve - the slow motion and sad, sad, torturous music wouldn't even allow the girls to enjoy each other's company. Even cancer wards aren't this suicidally melancholy. Pain, pain, sadness, and more pain last way too long only to end with a phone call that is supposed to give a sliver of hope which it doesn't. I just wanted to smack the girl on the phone with a big whoopie cushion to see if anyone in this film could enjoy a simple laugh, for even a brief moment.

The Substitute, and Italian film, started goofy - high school kids milling about hallways with a girl walking by not knowing the sign on her back saying, "Speak slowly, I'm a natural blonde." Yes, high school sucks. Then the substitute shows up and stirs things up, playing with the kids and acting more like a peer than a teacher. He gets the kids to act like barnyard animals and takes away a cherished ball from the fat kid in class. But soon we find out this teacher is not whom he appears to be and the fat kid is determined to reclaim his ball. Dedicated to the kid in all of us, the part that doesn't want to conform to social norms and authoritative constraints. It's a fun little romp.

The Mozart of Pickpockets, from France, carries on this fun theme as it follows two inept theives through the streets of Paris. Their French looks and nationality makes them perfect accomplices in a con with Spanish professional pick-pockets; they act like police and arrest the guys before any real police can intervene. But one day the real cops do arrive and this leaves the two men out of a job and unable to work their own scams. But during the bust, they find themselves shackled with a mute Spanish boy who has no place to go once the other men are arrested. The two Frenchmen bring him into their home and soon find themselves trying to figure out there next move, unaware the kid has a natural talent for thievery himself. Good laughs and a great finish - with a big child's smile.

The Tonto Woman was from UK. It follows the lustful gaze of a Mexican cattle thief as he interjects himself into the life of the Tonto Woman. She's kept in a remote home far from her husband and the town. Her husband is embarrassed by her chin tattoo, received when she was captured and kept by a Tonto tribe. Her husband recovered her but never loved or accepted her. The Mexican character gave the director the opportunity to film her half naked, and later fully naked, supposedly to show her beauty. But that is the only worth this film showed in her - her beauty. You never learn anything about her and the story quickly dissolves into a male battle over her, as if whe were property just like the cattle they covet. Sad and degrading ... but beautifully filmed; interesting reflection on the story itself.