Limes with Orange

My weekend update in two parts:

1. Party — Saw in FFWD that the Butchers were playing at Morgan's this weekend (formerly the New Butchers, formerly the Lonely Butchers, guitarist and leader singer both formerly of Zuckerbaby), so I ditched my curling-up-with-a-movie plan on Friday night and went dancing instead. I haven't been to see this band in ages... I wish they had a website so that I could actually plan to see them ahead of time and have a dance partner and everything. Though I fared quite well on my own. Especially because the bass player recognized me and I chatted with him quite a lot between sets. I was only planning to stay for one set, but ended up staying to the bitter end and dancing to every song. And, boy, am I out of shape... every muscle was complaining when I woke up the next morning. Still well worth it, though.

2. Prejudice — Watched Bride & Prejudice yesterday (the movie I ditched on Friday night). A very faithful adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, if you can imagine the story transported from Regency England to modern day India. Jane Austen meets Bollywood... who'da thought that would work? Well, Gurinder Chadha, I guess. And she was right. One thing that worked exceptionally well: the social commentary — so apparent in Jane Austen's writing, but missed in so many movie adaptations of her work — was very prevalent in this film. I don't know if it was intentional or simply a happy by-product of the clash of cultures in the movie, but it worked. My only disappointment: the resolution of the Wickham storyline. In the original, one of my favourite parts is when Elizabeth discovers Darcy's selfless act of saving the day without wanting the credit. It kind of starts a warm glow that continues to grow until the happy ending. Unfortunately (probably due largely to time constraints), this adaptation has Lalitha (Elizabeth) accompany Darcy to save the day. More modern, perhaps, and certainly easier to condense, but less romantically satisfying. If you're not bothered by that particular flaw, however, I would definitely recommend the movie.

Labels: film, pop culture