a drop of rain - lyrics w/o tune

lift the bench in the park
i stack it, on my library card
time becomes a boat
floating -into the night
love- shut in the drawer
waiting for the tide
waiting for the tide to wash it away
grass grows taller 'n brushes against my legs
i run,
a drop of rain

open the elevator door
i tape it on to my bedroom window
faith becomes a cloud
dancing - into the sky
love - shut in the drawer
waiting for the moon
waiting for the moon to melt it open
streets are wider 'n grow faster than cars and bikes,
i hide,
a drop of rain

Vicky, Cristina and Bardem

Coming out of the Cinema, it was only 15h00, beautiful afternoon sunshine, still – “Thank God my Day is not yet wasted”.

The most awaited film of the month from Woody Allen, “Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona”, is somehow another disappointment regardless of an all-star team: Scarlette Johanson, Penelope Gruz, Javier Bardem. Since most people have seen the movie by now, I will not repeat the story for you again.

Set on the topic of “love” and “relationships”, the most ancient yet never old topic of all human history, the film brings you for a very plain vanilla type of ride.

After a real comeback with the flawless “Match Point” in 2005, we thought Woody is set for a new era in his career, but unfortunately, that was just an illusion or hallucination on my own part.

This time, tired of London, Mr. Woody turned to the romantic and sunny Spain for new inspiration. Every image of the picture was so golden, sunny, soft, sweet and beautiful I only wish he got some money from the Ministry of Tourism from Spain, because it was the most effective advertising I have ever seen with an all-star crew; everyone in the movie theater starts to dream of a perfect vacation in Spain as soon as the projector was turned on. If I weren’t so turned off by Gaudi, I would have felt the same thing, summer in Barcelona, wow! (For me to love Barcelona, they would have to erase all the building designed by Gaudi from that city, this is another topic which merits another discussion.)

To analyze movies with bullet points has become a hobby of mine. Here are the issues which contributed to the final effect of this caramelized sweet picture of our dear Woody.

1. No conflicts in the story line, it was just so plain, linear and predictable that “effortless” was the real word to describe the experience for the viewer and also the actors. Where is Woody’s usual interest in “money” and “social status”? This could have presented some conflict to the Vicky character: struggling between “money” /”stability” and “love”?

2. As much as I love Javier Bardem, especially for his killer “killer” performance in the recent “No country for old man”, he was actually a bad choice for the painter – Juan Antonio Gonzalez. Bardem’s appearance as a painter seems to have a real stretch considering what we remembered him from “No country for old man”, but he actually acts and the fact that he went to art school at some point to study painting maybe also contributed to an almost too convincing and sincere Spanish painter, who is talented, emotional, seductive yet true and honest. None of the lines by Woody appeared ironic and funny anymore. If Woody had any intention to make fun of artists and people in that social class, that did not happen at all. All one can feel is that the American finance guy is really boring and one should just fall in love with someone sensual like Juan. Plus living with Bardem and Penelope Cruz in a threesome in a beautiful house on a hill in Barcelona would just be all dreams come true. After all, everyone is just on vacation in Barcelona.

3. Scarlette Johansen does not act, but it was okay, she was still perfect for the role – young, dolly and blonde. But she was way too cool, just comes and goes.

4. Color of lighting actually some kind of a key, emotionally directs viewers in the story line. Did Woody lose his sight again? Exact same lighting through out the movie. Or was he try to manage some accidental success with the French again?

Okay, that is enough, less is more. To make things work, here are some suggestions:

A) Vicky needs to be another person, a bit more pale and less pretty. Between Scarlette and Penelope, Woody has got enough beauty on the “tournage”, plus that will give him some more time to actually work on his script.

B) Cristina, the one who thought she was free spirit and up for all adventures, eventually got caught up in a mess with Juan and Marie Helen and suffers. Vicky is the one who controls everything, chooses practical things – financial stableness, commitment, family over anything else; yet she is the one who actually has the ability to feel something. So the blonde vs. the brunette. The brave but actually weak vs. the rational but actually sensual.

C) Bardem has to go. We need someone a bit unsure, or an artist want to be, but lacks real talent. All his attempts to seduce could then be a bit funny. I can’t think of anyone that is latin looking. Okay, so we keep Bardem, but he then has to kill someone in the course of the story. How about Cristina, her personality needs a bit tragedy to it.


D) Oh God, why Barcelona? Make the film in China! There is a vast selection of both pathetic artists and stupid girls.

In conclusion, better toss this one up and write another story.