Garden State Of Mind

Just got back from an advance screening of Garden State, and it was the great little movie it was hyped up to be. Easily squeezes into my year's Top 5 Movie list. If I were to give a quickie review (I usually let a movie's impact settle in for a few days before coming up with an opinion) I'd say the best things about it were the witty script, the visual style, and the superb acting from the cast, especially Natalie Portman. Now, I'm not saying this because I'm biased towards my ex (haha), but she really shines in this film. She plays a pathological epileptic liar (!), and she just dives into the role fearlessly. I swooned over her in Beautiful Girls, and in Garden State I swooned again. Will probably post a more detailed review in the future, but overall, great film, captures pre-30's ennui and anxiety perfectly. Anyone who's ever sought out life's answers and strived for that seemingly unattainable thing called self-contentment should go see this movie.

After the film we were treated to a question and answer forum with Zach Braff, the film's writer/director/star. You may know him as JD in the TV show Scrubs. In person Zach came off livelier and funnier than Andrew Largeman, the character he plays in GS. He kept the crowd in stitches with his quick wit (when asked by an un-coy female audience member how he manages to stay so handsome, Braff answered, without missing a beat: "lotion.") and amusing anecdotes about the humping dog scenes in the film.

As adverse as I am to getting autographs from actors (I believe in respecting their personal space) Zach seemed like a nice enough guy so I said 'what the hell' and got an autograph and photo to boot:



Mentioned to him that I read his blog and he laughed and said that readers were getting annoyed because he hasn't been posting as much anymore. Well if I were a suddenly-A-list director travelling around the world promoting a hot movie, I wouldn't have much time for blogging either. It then occurred to me that I blog quite often. In other words, I still have a long way to go...