Beauty In the Know, In the Nose

Went to see Penelope yesterday with a girlfriend, and of course the theatre was packed with women. Yes, we do love our chick-flick bonding time. Billed as a modern day fairy-tale, the film is about a wealthy girl named Penelope Wilhern who is cursed with porcine features-- pig snout and floppy ears. Needless to say, this does not bode well for little Penelope who grows up with no playmates and an overprotective mother who wants to hide her from a world obsessed with appearances. The only way to break the curse is if "one of her own" (a blueblood) can accept her and marry her. Mommy Dearest rounds up the best matchmakers and funds a dowry to try to get Penelope married off, but once her suiters get a glimpse of her, they go running. But then she meets a gambler named Max and then everything changes...

It's a very cute movie, but not for cynical hearts. It is as much a tale about self-acceptance as it is a love story, but it doesn't get all after-school-special on you, if you know what I mean. The soundtrack is also surprisingly good, featuring artists like Sigor Ros and Stars, as well as up and coming bands like fellow Canadian group, Paper Moon from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I thought their song "String of Blinking Lights" was written especially for the movie because I misheard the lyrics:

A bottle of wine that hadn't been opened yet.
We forgot about it while you were here.
And a string of blinking lights that Penelope put away.

She actually sings, "a string of blinking lights that can now be put away."

Oops, my bad. But Paper Moon is still pop heaven though.

Penelope, starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Reese Witherspoon, and featuring Richard E. Grant (Posh Nosh!)

Paper Moon- String of Blinking Lights
(Buy their album or buy the Penelope soundtrack)