Books and Movies--Really amazing ones!
I haven't written in a while because, well, I've been a bore.
About two and a half weeks ago, I started not feeling great. Two weeks ago today, it knocked me off my feet and I'm still on the floor. It all started out as a cold and feeling blah, then all of a sudden morphed into full blown flu, then stomach flu, then it all went to my lungs. I still can't walk down the street without collapsing into horrible coughing, gagging trying to breathe fits. As a result, no writing, no running, no playing with friends, no church, no almost anything but laying in bed for two and a half weeks.
The up side has been a stellar couple of weeks for movies and books. Since I couldn't do anything else the first week, I did a lot of reading. One of the books I read this past two and a half weeks was Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. It was seriously one of the best books I have EVER read. I am a very slow reader but I devoured it in two sitting--two very, very long sittings, but still. Her writing was so amazing that it not only had it's own voice and style, it seemed to have it's own breath. This book is what I love about words!
Movies have been fun, too. I never go to the movies, even though I LOVE them. I have a million DVDs and generally watch several movies a week. Well, I have had cabin fever to the extreme with it being February and me being sick, so twice this week, I have doped myself up and Tyler has taken me to the movies. I always forget how great February is for films.
First we saw The King's Speech. WOW! That was one of the best movies I've ever seen! I expected good things from it, but it was much better than I expected. I think the thing that really worked for that movie--even more than the wonderful acting, the wonderful costuming, the wonderful directing, the wonderful music and all that, was the execution of the theme. Really, it wasn't about a king and a queen and a speech therapist, it was about a guy who had to do something out of duty that was practically (at least he thought so) impossible for him to do. They took the theme to an individual psychological level and because of that, we in the audience can all relate and the movie becomes about us. We have all had to do things that we were sure we couldn't do, and that terrify us. We have all had responsibilities placed on us that were more than we thought we could handle, but we did it anyway because it was the right thing. In this way, even though it was about royalty, it was really about each and every person alive--and it was WONDERFUL!
Films like that tread a fine line. They can easily drift into a sort of affectionate, but not quite realistic portrayal of the characters. They can stoop to being about costuming and fall flat on story and depth. They can be so internal, that it ends up being a movie where people talk instead of do. It could have easily been an all star cast weakly directed so that even though they are great actors, they are falling flat. It could have been didactic and preachy and hit us over the head with the theme--that is an element that particularly grates on me. This movie had none of these failings and was, in my opinion, a masterpiece!
Those of you reading this who don't watch rated R movies, quit your policy this once. I am going to take all my kids to see it. It is very appropriate and beautiful and edifying. This movie is the perfect example of our flawed rating system. I'm SOOOOOOOO glad they don't rate book! Really, go out and see it--today! You won't be sorry.
The next movie we saw was True Grit. We saw it last night. That was a great movie, too! I didn't think it was quite as good as the King's Speech, but it was definitely right up there. The acting, the directing and the writing were wonderful! How do the Coen Brothers do it! They have such nuance that they present as sort of exaggerated, base and ugly, that ends up having a delicate quality somehow. It's like their movies are what they aren't. For example, take O Brother Where Art Thou, how they made it trashy and ignorant, but the way they did it made it a smart, sophisticated, intellectual film. What the heck!? True Grit was like that, in that it was base and ugly in a lot of ways, but at the same time, beautiful, smart, sophisticated and so tight it was nearly perfect! I really liked this movie!
I think the best things about this film were the acting, the directing and the writing. Jeff Bridges and that little girl were just amazing! The directing was just what you'd expect from a Coen Brothers movie--exactly right on! And the writing was excellent--the kind of thing that feels literary somehow and pulls you right in. This movie of theirs I think had even better writing than usual.
I think the only disadvantage this movie has, at this point, is that it came at out the same general time as The King's Speech. It may not take as much at the Oscars as it normally would because of the other movie. Alas, that's how things can go.
I was so excited to see two such wonderful movies in the same week, that I made a plan to go more often. These two movies were so fulfilling and nourishing to my spirit, that I couldn't wait to see what was coming out next. Hmmm. Once I started looking about me for what was coming out in the next few months, I got less excited--a sexy cheap Twilight kind of movie about Little Red Riding Hood--no I am not joking, it's for real, The Smurfs in 3D, and a movie I didn't catch the name of but the girls on the posters had their boobs out, legs spread, and were holding machine guns. Hmmm. Well, when all else fails--and it looks like it will in the Summer, we have Netflix--and next February.
I'm so grateful to live in modern times where I can be sick and spend my resting time filling myself up with these amazing works of art!
About two and a half weeks ago, I started not feeling great. Two weeks ago today, it knocked me off my feet and I'm still on the floor. It all started out as a cold and feeling blah, then all of a sudden morphed into full blown flu, then stomach flu, then it all went to my lungs. I still can't walk down the street without collapsing into horrible coughing, gagging trying to breathe fits. As a result, no writing, no running, no playing with friends, no church, no almost anything but laying in bed for two and a half weeks.
The up side has been a stellar couple of weeks for movies and books. Since I couldn't do anything else the first week, I did a lot of reading. One of the books I read this past two and a half weeks was Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. It was seriously one of the best books I have EVER read. I am a very slow reader but I devoured it in two sitting--two very, very long sittings, but still. Her writing was so amazing that it not only had it's own voice and style, it seemed to have it's own breath. This book is what I love about words!
Movies have been fun, too. I never go to the movies, even though I LOVE them. I have a million DVDs and generally watch several movies a week. Well, I have had cabin fever to the extreme with it being February and me being sick, so twice this week, I have doped myself up and Tyler has taken me to the movies. I always forget how great February is for films.
First we saw The King's Speech. WOW! That was one of the best movies I've ever seen! I expected good things from it, but it was much better than I expected. I think the thing that really worked for that movie--even more than the wonderful acting, the wonderful costuming, the wonderful directing, the wonderful music and all that, was the execution of the theme. Really, it wasn't about a king and a queen and a speech therapist, it was about a guy who had to do something out of duty that was practically (at least he thought so) impossible for him to do. They took the theme to an individual psychological level and because of that, we in the audience can all relate and the movie becomes about us. We have all had to do things that we were sure we couldn't do, and that terrify us. We have all had responsibilities placed on us that were more than we thought we could handle, but we did it anyway because it was the right thing. In this way, even though it was about royalty, it was really about each and every person alive--and it was WONDERFUL!
Films like that tread a fine line. They can easily drift into a sort of affectionate, but not quite realistic portrayal of the characters. They can stoop to being about costuming and fall flat on story and depth. They can be so internal, that it ends up being a movie where people talk instead of do. It could have easily been an all star cast weakly directed so that even though they are great actors, they are falling flat. It could have been didactic and preachy and hit us over the head with the theme--that is an element that particularly grates on me. This movie had none of these failings and was, in my opinion, a masterpiece!
Those of you reading this who don't watch rated R movies, quit your policy this once. I am going to take all my kids to see it. It is very appropriate and beautiful and edifying. This movie is the perfect example of our flawed rating system. I'm SOOOOOOOO glad they don't rate book! Really, go out and see it--today! You won't be sorry.
The next movie we saw was True Grit. We saw it last night. That was a great movie, too! I didn't think it was quite as good as the King's Speech, but it was definitely right up there. The acting, the directing and the writing were wonderful! How do the Coen Brothers do it! They have such nuance that they present as sort of exaggerated, base and ugly, that ends up having a delicate quality somehow. It's like their movies are what they aren't. For example, take O Brother Where Art Thou, how they made it trashy and ignorant, but the way they did it made it a smart, sophisticated, intellectual film. What the heck!? True Grit was like that, in that it was base and ugly in a lot of ways, but at the same time, beautiful, smart, sophisticated and so tight it was nearly perfect! I really liked this movie!
I think the best things about this film were the acting, the directing and the writing. Jeff Bridges and that little girl were just amazing! The directing was just what you'd expect from a Coen Brothers movie--exactly right on! And the writing was excellent--the kind of thing that feels literary somehow and pulls you right in. This movie of theirs I think had even better writing than usual.
I think the only disadvantage this movie has, at this point, is that it came at out the same general time as The King's Speech. It may not take as much at the Oscars as it normally would because of the other movie. Alas, that's how things can go.
I was so excited to see two such wonderful movies in the same week, that I made a plan to go more often. These two movies were so fulfilling and nourishing to my spirit, that I couldn't wait to see what was coming out next. Hmmm. Once I started looking about me for what was coming out in the next few months, I got less excited--a sexy cheap Twilight kind of movie about Little Red Riding Hood--no I am not joking, it's for real, The Smurfs in 3D, and a movie I didn't catch the name of but the girls on the posters had their boobs out, legs spread, and were holding machine guns. Hmmm. Well, when all else fails--and it looks like it will in the Summer, we have Netflix--and next February.
I'm so grateful to live in modern times where I can be sick and spend my resting time filling myself up with these amazing works of art!