Movies and Music
My heart's a stereo
It beats for you so listen close
Hear my thoughts in every no-oh-ote
Make me your radio
And turn me up when you feel low
This melody was meant for you
To sing along to my stereo
MOVIE REVIEWS:
Yesterday I had myself my last movie day of 2011. Of course, I'd forgotten that it was a week of vacation, and what better way for families to spend the last few days of their holiday than to go to the movies? So the theaters were a lot more crowded than they usually are when I go. Anywho. I saw three movies: The Descendants, The Artist, and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
The Descendants
I enjoyed this movie. For those who don't remember the previews (it's been out for awhile), this is a movie about a man (played by George Clooney) who's wife is in a coma. The doctors tell him that she's reached the point of no return, she's not going to get better. Since it was her wish to not live as a vegetable, the plug has to be pulled. And so George needs to visit all their friends and family and tell them what's going on. After retrieving his eldest daughter from boarding school, she informs him that her mother, his wife, had been cheating on him. So George is balancing his feelings about his wife dying and this new information that she's been unfaithful with controlling his two wild daughters and the older daughter's "boyfriend" - who, yes, deserves to get punched in the face.
This is one of the most truthfully portrayed stories about a loved one dying that I think I've ever seen. I won't say that the story itself isn't...unique, it certainly is - but I feel that everything is balanced well. No one is completely inconsolable throughout the film, and no one is able to forget, in their new anger for the woman in a coma, that she is, in fact, dying. People get angry, people are forgiven, and they take realistic paths towards making the right decisions. Does it annoy you in movies when people always know immediately what the right thing to do is? Or without thinking it through, do the exact wrong thing? Doesn't happen here. And my goodness, isn't it refreshing? George Clooney's performance is stellar, but the voice overs in the first half of the film were a little much. No one was happer than I when they (the voice overs) didn't come back at the very end.
The Artist
It's a silent film! Mostly, anyway. You may not have heard of this movie, it's had a quiet release, but it won awards at Cannes this year. It's about a silent film actor who meets this young, up-and-coming gal. You can tell there's a spark there, even though he's married. But before anything can happen, the talkies take over the industry. The veteran actor thinks they're nothing more than a fad and refuses to go with the flow. As a result, he his fired. No problem, he'll make his own film. Of course, it's a flop because no one wants to see silent films anymore. Then the depression hits, and his life really begins to spiral out of control - and in the meantime the young actress is becoming a huge star and going her own way. But she's never forgotten him. I won't give away the whole film - you should go see it. But I will say that a certain furry, Asta-like canine deserves a best supporting actor nomination. And I'm only sort of kidding.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
I like to end my movie days with a movie that makes me feel like kicking ass and taking names on my way home. Unfortunately, the denouement of this film was a little long for that feeling to stick with me, but I still had a good time. At The Movies said that it's worth it to see this movie in Imax if you can, and I could see why - even though I only saw it on the regular sized movie theater screen. The big sweeping aerials are truly stunning. As for the movie itself, well, if you've seen a previous Mission Impossible movie, then you know what kind of movie you're getting into. An unbelievable situation in which the world is about to experience some unimaginable catastrophe, and only Tom Cruise and his team can stop it from happening. They have a limited, but extremely advanced amount of technology. My favorite example is the pair of gloves that will allow Tom to climb 11 stories up the outside of the tallest building in the world and 7 windows over. He starts, of course, on the 119th floor. Naturally, there's no wind that far up. But there is a dust storm coming. And apparently there are no people occupying the rooms of the windows he's moving across - at least no one who happens to look out the window and find it strange to see a man clinging there. And the building has all these security features, but nothing that can tell when a window is broken? Okay then. Oh, and one of the gloves fails so he has to go half the way with only one glove. But if you're paying attention to such things in the moment, then there's no way you're going to enjoy the movie. With movies like this, what's best is to just get on the train and ride. And if you do that, as I did, then you'll get a fun adventure with excellent big screen action sequences, funny characters, and, of course, a russian prison riot. Who could ask for anything more? Maybe Tom Wilkinson.
It beats for you so listen close
Hear my thoughts in every no-oh-ote
Make me your radio
And turn me up when you feel low
This melody was meant for you
To sing along to my stereo
MOVIE REVIEWS:
Yesterday I had myself my last movie day of 2011. Of course, I'd forgotten that it was a week of vacation, and what better way for families to spend the last few days of their holiday than to go to the movies? So the theaters were a lot more crowded than they usually are when I go. Anywho. I saw three movies: The Descendants, The Artist, and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
The Descendants
I enjoyed this movie. For those who don't remember the previews (it's been out for awhile), this is a movie about a man (played by George Clooney) who's wife is in a coma. The doctors tell him that she's reached the point of no return, she's not going to get better. Since it was her wish to not live as a vegetable, the plug has to be pulled. And so George needs to visit all their friends and family and tell them what's going on. After retrieving his eldest daughter from boarding school, she informs him that her mother, his wife, had been cheating on him. So George is balancing his feelings about his wife dying and this new information that she's been unfaithful with controlling his two wild daughters and the older daughter's "boyfriend" - who, yes, deserves to get punched in the face.
This is one of the most truthfully portrayed stories about a loved one dying that I think I've ever seen. I won't say that the story itself isn't...unique, it certainly is - but I feel that everything is balanced well. No one is completely inconsolable throughout the film, and no one is able to forget, in their new anger for the woman in a coma, that she is, in fact, dying. People get angry, people are forgiven, and they take realistic paths towards making the right decisions. Does it annoy you in movies when people always know immediately what the right thing to do is? Or without thinking it through, do the exact wrong thing? Doesn't happen here. And my goodness, isn't it refreshing? George Clooney's performance is stellar, but the voice overs in the first half of the film were a little much. No one was happer than I when they (the voice overs) didn't come back at the very end.
The Artist
It's a silent film! Mostly, anyway. You may not have heard of this movie, it's had a quiet release, but it won awards at Cannes this year. It's about a silent film actor who meets this young, up-and-coming gal. You can tell there's a spark there, even though he's married. But before anything can happen, the talkies take over the industry. The veteran actor thinks they're nothing more than a fad and refuses to go with the flow. As a result, he his fired. No problem, he'll make his own film. Of course, it's a flop because no one wants to see silent films anymore. Then the depression hits, and his life really begins to spiral out of control - and in the meantime the young actress is becoming a huge star and going her own way. But she's never forgotten him. I won't give away the whole film - you should go see it. But I will say that a certain furry, Asta-like canine deserves a best supporting actor nomination. And I'm only sort of kidding.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
I like to end my movie days with a movie that makes me feel like kicking ass and taking names on my way home. Unfortunately, the denouement of this film was a little long for that feeling to stick with me, but I still had a good time. At The Movies said that it's worth it to see this movie in Imax if you can, and I could see why - even though I only saw it on the regular sized movie theater screen. The big sweeping aerials are truly stunning. As for the movie itself, well, if you've seen a previous Mission Impossible movie, then you know what kind of movie you're getting into. An unbelievable situation in which the world is about to experience some unimaginable catastrophe, and only Tom Cruise and his team can stop it from happening. They have a limited, but extremely advanced amount of technology. My favorite example is the pair of gloves that will allow Tom to climb 11 stories up the outside of the tallest building in the world and 7 windows over. He starts, of course, on the 119th floor. Naturally, there's no wind that far up. But there is a dust storm coming. And apparently there are no people occupying the rooms of the windows he's moving across - at least no one who happens to look out the window and find it strange to see a man clinging there. And the building has all these security features, but nothing that can tell when a window is broken? Okay then. Oh, and one of the gloves fails so he has to go half the way with only one glove. But if you're paying attention to such things in the moment, then there's no way you're going to enjoy the movie. With movies like this, what's best is to just get on the train and ride. And if you do that, as I did, then you'll get a fun adventure with excellent big screen action sequences, funny characters, and, of course, a russian prison riot. Who could ask for anything more? Maybe Tom Wilkinson.