Movies!
The last two movies I've seen in theatres have both been really enjoyable. I'm not a particularly critical movie watcher, in that I generally can get into most any movie that isn't a Will Ferrel comedy (sorry B, and your epic love for Talladega Nights) without worrying too much about anything in particular, but these two stood out as more than just good times.
1. District 9: epic, but somehow it also felt nicely small. I loved the style, it felt very forward-thinking instead of falling into your standard action-movie, but it also wasn't trying to be pretentious and was happy to admit it was an action flick, just with a brain and a conscious as well. I have a low gore tolerance, and for the most part, whenever it got to the point that I had to shut my eyes, they cut the tension and moved on. That's always a sign for me that the gore is tempered and not just for slasher thrills. I loved the split documentary/regular footage style, and despite the long runtime I was always itching to see where it went next.
I thought they did a great job making the aliens relatable, but also making it clear why humans were refusing to integrate them into mainstream society. They seemed animalistic on the whole, but once we got to know a couple, the filmmakers did an excellent job building empathy founded on understanding rather than pity. Absolutely superb CG went a long way to this. It's funny comparing the CG in this to Lord of the Rings. LotR had pretty awesome CG "for it's day", but you could still sort of see the edges around the computer generated creatures. This film contained constant, close-up interaction between aliens and humans, and holy crap did you not even think about it except to go "how is this possible?" I'm a sucker for good graphic, and this got an A+++.
Best part, was I was incredibly satisfied with the ending. This film could have ended badly in so many ways, so it was a pleasant surprise to find myself happy with the ending on many levels. Yay for innovative sci-fi!
On the other hand, District 9 completely failed in the Bechdel test department. Even the aliens we got to know were clearly male; the only women we saw were unnamed or the protagonist's wife in a purely wife role.
So Julie&Julia? The perfect anecdote. Not only did it have many scenes in both times which focused on two women talking about something other than men (usually food, but not always), those were solid friendships. Furthermore, it was two female stories that weren't about getting or losing or hating men - each of them are married and (nearly) completely happy in their marriages. I felt positively bubbly watching a story about women without having to put up with awkward, over-the-top and convoluted romances.
The one scene in Julie&Julia that felt out of place to me was the Sex and the City style lunch with the "power women" who were supposedly Julie's friends. I get that it was the impetus for the breakdown that lead Julie to write the blog (though now I want to know if they added that to the script or not) but it didn't fit at all with Julie's lifestyle or personality. Sure, you hang on to friends, but not to that extent, and these women were caricatures in a sadly over-done way! It just felt forced. I'd give them a pass if it's straight from her blog, though.
The rest of it didn't at all - Amy Adams was adorable and perfect in her character, and who can say anything bad about Meryl Streep? She nailed Julia's unforgiving and often brash joy and optimism in a heartwarming and hilarious way. Jo and I cracked up the whole way through. As someone who totally gets the need to accomplish something of some sort, just to feel a little less useless (I rolled by eyes a bit at the ADD line, to be honest), I totally got where these women were coming from, and felt buoyed by watching it.
Do not watch on an empty stomach, though! French cooking isn't my particular favourite (though we eat it a lot at home, since that's how my dad cooks - and very well, I just am not a rich sauce type person) but if I hadn't eaten dinner right before, it would have been torture.
1. District 9: epic, but somehow it also felt nicely small. I loved the style, it felt very forward-thinking instead of falling into your standard action-movie, but it also wasn't trying to be pretentious and was happy to admit it was an action flick, just with a brain and a conscious as well. I have a low gore tolerance, and for the most part, whenever it got to the point that I had to shut my eyes, they cut the tension and moved on. That's always a sign for me that the gore is tempered and not just for slasher thrills. I loved the split documentary/regular footage style, and despite the long runtime I was always itching to see where it went next.
I thought they did a great job making the aliens relatable, but also making it clear why humans were refusing to integrate them into mainstream society. They seemed animalistic on the whole, but once we got to know a couple, the filmmakers did an excellent job building empathy founded on understanding rather than pity. Absolutely superb CG went a long way to this. It's funny comparing the CG in this to Lord of the Rings. LotR had pretty awesome CG "for it's day", but you could still sort of see the edges around the computer generated creatures. This film contained constant, close-up interaction between aliens and humans, and holy crap did you not even think about it except to go "how is this possible?" I'm a sucker for good graphic, and this got an A+++.
Best part, was I was incredibly satisfied with the ending. This film could have ended badly in so many ways, so it was a pleasant surprise to find myself happy with the ending on many levels. Yay for innovative sci-fi!
On the other hand, District 9 completely failed in the Bechdel test department. Even the aliens we got to know were clearly male; the only women we saw were unnamed or the protagonist's wife in a purely wife role.
So Julie&Julia? The perfect anecdote. Not only did it have many scenes in both times which focused on two women talking about something other than men (usually food, but not always), those were solid friendships. Furthermore, it was two female stories that weren't about getting or losing or hating men - each of them are married and (nearly) completely happy in their marriages. I felt positively bubbly watching a story about women without having to put up with awkward, over-the-top and convoluted romances.
The one scene in Julie&Julia that felt out of place to me was the Sex and the City style lunch with the "power women" who were supposedly Julie's friends. I get that it was the impetus for the breakdown that lead Julie to write the blog (though now I want to know if they added that to the script or not) but it didn't fit at all with Julie's lifestyle or personality. Sure, you hang on to friends, but not to that extent, and these women were caricatures in a sadly over-done way! It just felt forced. I'd give them a pass if it's straight from her blog, though.
The rest of it didn't at all - Amy Adams was adorable and perfect in her character, and who can say anything bad about Meryl Streep? She nailed Julia's unforgiving and often brash joy and optimism in a heartwarming and hilarious way. Jo and I cracked up the whole way through. As someone who totally gets the need to accomplish something of some sort, just to feel a little less useless (I rolled by eyes a bit at the ADD line, to be honest), I totally got where these women were coming from, and felt buoyed by watching it.
Do not watch on an empty stomach, though! French cooking isn't my particular favourite (though we eat it a lot at home, since that's how my dad cooks - and very well, I just am not a rich sauce type person) but if I hadn't eaten dinner right before, it would have been torture.