BrainStream: Garden State/Zach Braff Rocks

One of the things I'm coming to terms with being a new father is how behind everyone else I am ... but with TivoToGo and other opportunities on the far horizon (Netflix Tivo partnership), I hope to catch up.

I saw Zach Braff's movie "Garden State" last week and I can't get it out of my head. Ever since jgd3 got me into Scrubs, I've been itching to see this movie and it was much more than I expected.

While my wife really likes "Scrubs", she wouldn't have cared for Garden State. One of the major areas we differ in our relationship are our taste in movies & music. I call her tastes very "vanilla" - she likes funny or happy movies that stay on the light side. She doesn't like watching foreign movies unless they are in this vein AND are dubbed as opposed to subtitled.

For me, on the other hand, "Garden State" was an incredible emotional journey. I truly enjoyed almost every moment of it. As I've expoused in great deal on before, I like music & movies that evoke all sorts of emotion - anger, frustration, sadness, depression, elation, love, and neediness.

I don't think I'm an emotional vampire, because I don't see myself "feeding" on these emotions or trying to evoke extreme emotions in those around me to experience them. I think this ability also allows me to be extra intuitive about the emotions of those around me, though Kirky says I'm overreacting and am just as "sensitive" as everyone else.

I've also been obsessivly listening to the soundtrack. I have an aural memory of sorts. Songs tend to evoke memories of what I was feeling and where I was when I heard them - especially if it was a particularly meaningful moment. So the "Garden State" soundtrack, in addition to being great music, gives me a taste of the emotions I so reveled in while watching the movie. Ah, escapism.

My favorite tracks are Cary Brothers' Blue Eyes, (which I listen to over and over and over), and Frou Frou's "Let Go", the latter of which brings back the incredibly emotional ending of the movie back every time the track gets 47sec in and the lines "(So let go), So let go, Mmm, jump in, Oh well whatcha waiting for?" play.

Honestly? I can't remember what was happening in the movie when "Blue Eyes" came on. It's also been used on "Scrubs" a few times - usually when they take a quick time out from being silly and have one of those striking serious moments that make me sit back and go..."ouch." I love to close my eyes and listen to that song.

There was a cinematographic techqnieue I really liked from the movie where Braff's character was stationary and everyone/everything else around him was moving at fast forward. It conveyed a great sense of being left behind, lost, lonely and out of it. Braff used it in an episode of "Scrubs", (Episode 87), he directed recently as well.

OK, I'm rambling. I bought the DVD for this movie and it will become stationary in my Portable DVD player for a while like "Lost in Translation" did. I like to watch it when I'm too tired to read or need a "time out" from reality and need to sink into something.

[BrainStream]
(Permanent link to this entry)