127 Hours (2010) - the longest five days and seven hours ever

directed by Danny Boyle / starring James Franco

I just had a sip a cool, fresh water, and man, did it taste good! My mouth was getting a bit dry in the cinema and I noticed that thirst becomes much more intense when you know there's no water near you. I'm sure Aron Ralston would agree with me here! Not that I'm comparing my experience to his. I doubt anyone would want to see a movie about me sitting in a cinema and dreaming about water.

In April 2003 Aron Ralston got his arm trapped under a huge rock while hicking alone in the Utah canyons. He was low on water and food, and, as it happens, he'd informed no one about where he was going. The phrase commonly used in situations like this is: oops.

I love when good movies are made of topics that sound deadly dull on paper. A king tries to overcome his stammer. A guy creates a webpage. A man is stuck in one place for five days. Actually, all of these films are based on real people, actual events, which once again proves that sometimes the best stories can't be made up - sometimes they come from real life. (We have the proverb for that in Finnish, but I'm not bothered enough to look for English equivalent. Pardon me. (I'm too engaged in finding split ends. Seriously, everytime I stop to think I begin to examine my hair and won't stop until I find a split end. And I always find one. Which means I should probably go cut off some of the poor thing. Anyway.))

I almost already ordered the book (Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston himself) from Play.com, but restained myself for now, as I've donated so much of my student grants for them lately. And I wouldn't have time to read it right away, anuway, as there's about half a million books already waiting in line. BUT, it is a must read book, and don't worry Play.com, I will continue keeping you alive soon enough.

(Oh, god, this split end obsession is far too distracting. I'll continue tomorrow... Now, the morning after! No worries, today my hair is up in a bun, far out of my reach, so none of that split end business today. Let's get on with the post. (...Had to hide my nail scissors, too, as I began to examine my nail beds in the lack of split ends. Now, seriously, get on with it, woman.))

Danny Boyle is one great director! Though I don't like Trainspotting quite as much I would like to (that baby gave me lifelong traumas) and Life Less Ordinary I found absolutely terrible (I've been trying to get rid of my DVD by putting in on sale in flea market, twice, but no one seems to want it). I guess I'm more mainstream kind of girl, as Slumdog Millionaire I really enjoyed, all the way to the supercheesy Bollywood-ish ending and the suberb dance during the credits. And that Dev Ratel is such a sweetheart! Anyway, I think it's safe to say 127 Hours hurtled right to the top of my (undeniebly shortish) list of favourite Boyle films.

James Franco just rocked (no pun intended, really). Previously I hadn't seen much proof of his extraordinary talents (liked him in Milk, though), but now I don't think anyone could've portrayed Aron Ralston quite like him, which usually indicates a nailed performance. He was just utterly awesome. I think I would turn my back on Colin Firth and start campaigning James Franco for the win, if Mr Firth wasn't the most darling man ever. We'll see whom I place my loyalties to in the end... There's still Mr Eisenberg as well to stir up my mind.

127 Hours was a great movie. The cinematography was appropriately shaky and imaginative, contributing to the atmosphere and whatever feeling Aron was going through at the moment. The music was excellent (A.R. Rahman did it again!). Before The King's Speech there was the trailer of 127 Hours. Before 127 Hours there was the trailer of True Grit. I take the hint... Let's hope history will repeat itself and my next cinema experience will be as awesome as the last.

"The minute I was born, every breath that I've taken, every action has been leading me to this crack on the out surface."