Watched two nice movies: Santa Clause 2 (2002) & Drive (2011)

The Santa Clause 2

"The Santa Clause 2" was a pretty original movie in its own genre (generic Santa Claus movies). I'd never seen a Santa Claus movie that had Santa in a romance, though that was the whole premise of the movie. I'd also never seen a Santa movie with sci-fi elements! I gotta say I was surprised with the reindeer, Santa having a naughty-list son and family drama and the sudden (and not longlasting) military dictatorship in the North Pole.

It follows many of the tropes of the romance-comedy genre but seems to come from sudden bursts of inspiration and originality by the author. It was a completely predictable piece of filmography, and many things didn't make sense, but I loved it. I enjoyed the middle parts better. The beginning was absurd and didn't have anything to do with the movie (the plane part), the ending was super forced, but the parts in the middle were sweet and had a very nice flow to them. Like a very tasty fruit, I guess! One with a hard shell.

Drive

"Drive", on the other hand, had other kinds of cliches, and other bits that were very original. The ambience is similar to that of Blade Runner. All calm, long synthwave melodies, tall buildings, not much shouting, even during the action parts. They extracted the raw emotions and drew colours over them. Drive wasn't overfilled with elements to fit the expected tropes. Events spoke for themselves.

The viewer was praised a lot in this film. Many details were made implicit for viewers to make the connections. Other movies often shout the details over and over because they think people won't notice them otherwise. I like it this other way, though, all quiet reflections, a more introverted outlook on action.

I was reminded of my dreams. They have the same texture as this movie. They're quiet and roll like a film. I see the details, the rocks on the ground, the texture of the reflections, the thoughts that come and go. It was surprisingly similar to my dreams. And it's also cool that they'd make a movie out of just a driver, someone who accomplishes his goals by riding a car and being cautious.

I felt a little bad for him in the end. He was misunderstood and didn't speak up sometimes where speech might have solved his problems, but the movie unwinded itself in the end, closed the open doors. It was nice. You should watch it.

Some thoughts

Overall, Drive reminded me of Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner. I like the aesthetics. They're not extremely unique, but they're nice. They're like getting a little tipsy, leaning against a wall and watching the cars and the people pass by. Maybe a cigarette, but I don't smoke.

I dreamt today that I was in a 4x4 car, being driven by an uncle across a muddy beach. There were rocks on the floor and tiny ponds. He drove for a long time. It was one of the longest drives I've had in dreams, just seeing the ground, the landscape, thinking about many things. Then I got to a house where a woman was bathing another woman like cattle, with a hose and a sponge. She looked accustomed to it, I was instead surprised that they'd do that in front of other people. I wasn't disgusted, I just found it peculiar.