An intriguing thought from 'The English Patient' by Michael Ondaatje: "Tell me, is it possible to love someone who is not as smart as you are? [...] Could you fall in love with her if she wasn't smarter than you? I mean, she may not be smarter than you. But isn't it important for you to think she is smarter than you in order to fall in love? Think now."

Snippets:
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Video: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994); 123 min; w/ Robert De Niro (The Creature), Kenneth Branagh (Victor Frankenstein), Helena Bonham Carter (Elizabeth); directed by Kenneth Branagh. The Classic with a great cast.
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Video: Young Frankenstein (1974); 108 min; w/ Gene Wilder (Dr. Frederick Frankenstein), Peter Boyle (The Monster), Marty Feldman (Igor), Teri Garr (Inga); directed by Mel Brooks. Very funny! Teri Garr looks like an earlier version of Lisa Kudrow.
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Video: The Fall of the House of Usher (1960); w/ Vincent Price. Thrilling horror movie after the novel by Edgar Allan Poe. A young suitor comes to visit the family of his bride-to-be in the House of Usher and tries to rescue her from the madness of her brother. Well done, even though the story itself is a bit slow.
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Book: Michael Ondaatje: The English Patient (1993). The intersection of four damaged lives in an Italian villa at the end of World War II. Complex story. Jumps between times and places. Need to pay attention to detail. Need to read slowly! Full of many hidden treasures.
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Video: The English Patient (1996). 162 min. w/ Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Kristin Scott Thomas, Willem Dafoe. Directed by Anthony Minghella. Received 9 Oscars, including Best Picture. Gripping. Tragic. Sad. Deviates from the book in many points, but in itself a good movie. Great cast.
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Video: Rebecca (1939). 130 min. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. w/ Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. Restored version. Based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier. Young, inexperienced girl marries the rich widower Maxim de Winter, but soon realizes that the 'shadow' of de Winters first wife, Rebecca, is all around. First hour is much too slow and, though Fontaine's acting is superb, her role is annoying. Olivier alternates between macho, temperamental, and depressed. Overall a good movie, but story could just as well have been told in less than an hour.
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Video: Girl, Interrupted (1999). 127 min. w/ Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Whoopi Goldberg. Directed by James Mangold. Girl (Ryder), after attempting suicide, checks into a mental hospital and quickly makes friends among the patients. But she learns that she needs to make a choice between them and the 'sane' world outside. Good movie, dramatic at times. Good tempo (most of the time). Plot reminds of 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest'. Jolie is quite scary and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
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