Garden State

We went to see Garden State tonight... I had no idea that Zach Braff was so talented. I'm a big fan of Scrubs, and he plays his role as JD very well (even if the character himself makes my teeth itch sometimes)... but that's just acting. However, he wrote, directed *and* stars in this excellent, poignant tale of self-discovery and redemption. By turns it is moving, absorbing and hilarious, and Braff shows an assuredness with his direction that underpins the execution of the whole. I'll definitely be on the lookout for his next movie, whenever that appears.

On another note, today I began (and finished) reading Mark Twain's 'The Diaries of Adam and Eve'. Don't let anyone tell you that Twain was merely a lightweight humourist who produced nothing of substance - this is a love story as heart-warming as any ever penned. The edition I read was stitched together from many different drafts, some published and some unpublished - towards the end it gets a little dark as Eve rails against the injustice of their expulsion from Eden. The last few pages are moving in a way that reflects some of the grief that the author felt over the death of his wife. The last sentence written by Adam echoes a comment he made about his own wife:

Wheresoever she was; there was Eden

I do love the works of Mark Twain - the only problem with this one was how quickly it was finished.