Garden State

I shall put off writing a post on what I've been up to lately by obsessing about a new trailer. Garden State is the directorial and writing debut of Zach Braff, the endearing lead fellow in NBC's Scrubs. He's a graduate from Northwestern University's film program, and wrote this screenplay while he was a student there. He managed to sell his film at a recent Sundance Festival.

This trailer has no dialogue, no human voices; just a great song called "Let Go" by Frou Frou (and I recommend the album, Details, heartily) and images that flow perfectly in time with the song. Oh, and it also features a leading lady called Natalie Portman.

Some of my favorite details - a guy shooting a flaming arrow from a crossbow (while smoking), a knight in armor holding a gallon of milk, Braff's character in a shirt that blends in perfectly with the wallpaper, Portman's character doing a silly dance, Natalie dancing in front of a fireplace in a huge hall, Natalie looking away and smiling, Braff getting cornered by two big dogs while Portman hangs up her sweater, Braff and Portman looking right at each other...hmm, lots of Natalie in my observations. She is a lovely, lovely girl after all, and recently armed with a degree from Harvard.

Oh, yes, and the movie...Braff's character returns to the Garden State (that's New Jersey) some ten years after leaving it. He's there to attend his mother's funeral and arrives with more baggage than he's pulling off the luggage belt. It opens in the US July 30, so I should be able to catch it when I return August 10.

Go here to see the trailer.

Posted by Monoceros at May 17, 2004 1:34 AM