waking life

i was first exposed to richard linklater's movie BEFORE SUNSET by accident: i was channel surfing and stumbled on this movie playing on HBO one day, some 10 years ago. the movie revolves around this boy who goes around and goes in his own subconscious and meets people who spew out philosophical ideas and life works... the movie was filmed using real actors, but then when you watch it, it's like a cartoon, the actors and the settings have all been created into a watercolor-like type painting - it's ingenius. it starts off with this boy who learns that "dream is destiny" and then subsequently his settings change from one scene to another - at times peeping into the lives of strangers who are just talking about nothing and everything. this is a jewel for people who love movies AND ideas, those who are open to creativity and wonder and the truth. i'm not saying that everything that's been said in the film's all correct, you just have to be open-minded about things and let their words and thoughts flow.

i loved that the boy/guy interacts with different people and those people talk about things like dreams and work and violence and physics and politics and revenge - anything under the sun, but they all make sense... one word to describe this movie would be surreal - it's like being IN a dream yourself! i just thought it was beautifully made and very well-written. another must-see.

some of my favorite quotes are:

"It's like you come onto this planet with a crayon box. Now, you may get the 8-pack, you may get the 16-pack. But it's all in what you do with the crayons, the colors that you're given. Don't worry about drawing within the lines or coloring outside the lines. I say color outside the lines. Color right off he page. Don't box me in. We're in motion to the ocean."

"I know we haven't met, but I don't want to be an ant. You know? I mean, it's like we go through life with our antennas bouncing off one other, continuously on ant autopilot, with nothing really human required of us. Stop. Go. Walk here. Drive there. All action basically for survival. All communication simply to keep this ant colony buzzing along an efficient, polite manner. "Here's your change." "Paper or plastic?" "Credit or debit?" You want ketchup with that?" I don't want a straw. I want real human moments. I want to see you. I want you to see me. I don't want to give that up. I don't want to be an ant, you know?"

"Hey. You a dreamer? Yeah. I haven't seen too many of you around lately. Things have been tough lately for dreamers. They say dreaming's dead, that no one does it anymore. It's not dead. It's just that it's been forgotten. Removed from our language. Nobody teaches it, so no one knows it exists. The dreamer is banished to obscurity. I'm trying to change all that, and I hope you are too. By dreaming every day. Dreaming with our hands and dreaming with our minds. Our planet is facing the greatest problems it's ever faced. Ever. So whatever you do, don't be bored. This is absolutely the most exciting time we could have possibly hoped to be alive. And things are just starting."

go check this out, it's worth the 1 hour and 38 minutes of your waking life ;)