2003-09-14 | 10:29 p.m.

corduroy licorice always started his day by looking up a new word in the dictionary. that way every day of his existence included at least one "defining moment."

***

rant alert:

i didn't listen to dubya's address to the nation last week on purpose. one reason is that i knew whatever he said would be intelligence-insulting bullcrap. the other is that the way he speaks makes me cringe with embarassment.

while flipping through the radio dial during a three-minute span of his speech, i did unintentionally hear two sound bites. oddly enough, both invoked the phrase "september 11."

it makes me sad and angry that he would wrap his neocon godhead's $87 billion fundraising effort in the suffering of the innocents who died that day.

$87 billion is not going to stop terrorists. if anything, it will help fuel their flames. $87 billion will mean more troops putting themselves at risk while fighting a losing battle. $87 billion will deepen the national deficit of a country already struggling to keep its footing.

september 11.

chapter 11.

film at 11.

***

movie review:

lost in translation is the latest cinematic offering of one writer/director sofia coppola.

i remember i was disappointed in her first film a few years back, the virgin suicides. the story was undercooked, but i remember being really impressed by sofia's ability to create a mood. she captured the essence of teenage girliness--from frosted lip gloss to horses sketched on notebook covers.

that said, i loved lost in translation. i lurved it. the pacing is super slow and the dialogue is minimal, but that's been my favorite movie style for awhile. there's something so peaceful about soaking in a scene in silence.

bill murray is brilliant, hilarious and irresistable as a down-and-out movie star who is in tokyo selling out by making tv commercials for a brand of whiskey. scarlett johansson is mesmerizing as a reflective young woman who is following her photographer husband (a hilarious giovanni ribisi) from gig to gig while she figures out what to do with her new college degree. bill and scarlett's characters cross paths in their sleek downtown hotel, due to their shared insomnia and ennui, and strike up a sweet friendship in this sushi out of water tale.

from the beautifully spare opening shot to the crazy clash and hush of japan's diverse environments, sofia takes the audience on a thoughtful and touching physical and emotional journey. don't worry, it's not all heavy ish--there are winsome moments of comic relief, too. bill, take me now.

at moments funny, at others heartwrenching, this film proves that sofia not only has looks, but brains and heart, too.

this one is definitely making my top 10 list for 2003. arigato, sof.

<----������� ---->