Enough Said

Summary:  Eva is a divorced mother of a girl getting ready to head off to college.  At a party, she meets both Marianne and Albert.  Marianne become her new massage client and friend, while she starts dating Albert, who also has a daughter heading off to college.  Marianne's constant complaining about her ex husband leads Eva to realize Marianne is talking about Albert.  Marianne unintentionally leads Eva to become over critical of Albert, when she once really liked him.  Hi-jinks ensue.

OaTs:  Being a lover of romantic comedies, especially ones that don't follow the usual mold, I found myself really wanting to see this movie.  For no other reason that wanting to see a good, lighthearted movie.  They don't come along often enough for my taste.  This fit the bill quite nicely.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is fantastic as Eva.  A nice combination of neurotic and relatable.  James Gandolfini, in one of his last films, is a lovable yet flawed everyday-man.  Catherine Keener as Marianne was perfect for her eccentric character, whose occupation was that of a poet.  No lie.

I appreciate movies that value middle-aged actors instead of the young, hot, and trendy actors.  Here, you have actors in their prime telling a story of the average middle class adult that is just quirky enough to be an interesting film.  No one would be interested in a story that follows these three characters through their everyday lives, so the Three's Company type of misunderstanding is a nice way to get us involved and interested in them as people.  It was nice to see adults playing adults and not action heroes, parents in the background, or bosses who only serve as plot devices.  Especially in a comedy where adults usually play, essentially, children in adult bodies.

I really appreciate when I can watch a comedy, or even just a lighthearted drama, without feeling like my intelligence has been insulted.  This was a nice way to spend an afternoon.  The best word I can find is "pleasant," which is not a word you can use to describe many movies.  It works here.  (8/10)

2013, thus far

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how few movies I have seen this year.  It's a very small list:

Admission (7/10)
The Company You Keep (8/10)
Star Trek Into Darkness (9/10)
42 (8/10)
The Great Gatsby (6/10)
Monsters University (8/10)
Despicable Me 2 (7/10

And then the re-releases of Jurassic Park (10/10) and The Little Mermaid (10/10).

Wow, am I behind.  There is a loooooooooong list of films I really want to see right now, and now that I'm not saving money for Disney World anymore, I'm going to head back to the theater here soon.

Admission:  Tina Fey and Paul Rudd are always a good time.  A good movie, but nothing too special.

The Company You Keep:  Loved.  Latest directorial effort from Robert Redford.  I know I am biased toward him, but that doesn't matter.  I really liked the movie.  Great actor after great actor kept popping up.  I couldn't believe such a cast could ever be assembled.  If you like a solid suspense tale, this one is for you.  Especially if you value the greats like I do.

Star Trek Into Darkness:  A lot of Star Trek purist didn't like the alterations that were made.  I never watched the old movies and shows, so I don't have that point of reference.  All I can say is that I loved it.  It was fun and fast moving and the cast was great.  What more do you want from a summer blockbuster?

42:  I wanted to love this movie so much more than I did.  I liked it, but it didn't grab me like I was expecting it to.  I love baseball, especially baseball history.  I'm so glad this movie was made, and it was really solid.  I'm still holding out for a really great baseball movie.  Moneyball and Trouble with the Curve lately haven't done it for me.  This was better.

The Great Gatsby:  I'm growing a bit weary of Leonardo DiCaprio and all his accents.  He keeps picking these characters that I simply can't sympathize with, therefore don't find all that interesting.  This movie was a bit too much.  I didn't quite buy into it.  I'll always love Joel Edgerton, though, and found him quite charismatic as Tom.

Monsters University:  Solid movie from Pixar.  Fun to watch, and I loved the story of how Mike and Sully met.  I just had a problem with it:  At the end of Monsters Inc., you learn that laughter creates more power than screams do.  It was hard for me to really invest in a story that I knew wouldn't really matter.  Why should I care how great of scarers the monsters are when they are going to end up trying to make kids laugh instead of scream?  On its own, I think it was really good.  But with my love of Monsters Inc., I found it hard to separate it and appreciate it on its own.  I'm trying to, which is why I gave it a higher score.

Despicable Me 2 - Fun.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Just fun.

That about sums it up for what I've seen so far this year.  Really pathetic.  But stay tuned for what's to come.  There's a lot of great stuff out there in theaters right now ready for me to see.  I just need to find time to do it.

2012

So I kinda sorta lost track of this blog last year and most of this year.  I would write most of my entries while at work.  As a receptionist, you have a lot of free time on your hands.  One job I had wouldn't allow access to blog website, so I stopped.  I really hate that I didn't keep up with it for a little over a year now, but I'm back.  Let's see where it takes us.

I left off in June of 2012.  A lot happened after that in the world of film.  Let's start with my favorites:

1.  Argo (10/10)
2.  Skyfall (10/10)
3.  The Impossible (10/10)
4.  The Sessions (10/10)

Then there's the middle group.  Movies I liked, just not as much:

1.  Silver Linings Playbook (8/10)
2.  Anna Karenina (9/10)
3.  Perks of Being a Wallflower (9/10)
4.  Brave (8/10)

And I hate it when movies don't quite live up to my expectations:

1.  Lincoln (7/10)
2.  Zero Dark Thirty (7/10)

There are the ones I was indifferent toward:

1.  The Avengers (6/10)
2.  Trouble With the Curve (6/10)

And some that were just fun:

1.  Pitch Perfect (7/10)
2.  Hope Springs (8/10)
3.  The Amazing Spiderman (8/10)

Then there was Amour.  I actually didn't really like it at all.  So much darker than what I like to watch.  I don't mind serious films if there is some uplifting little piece of it to hold onto.  Not my type of film, but many people loved it.

I don't feel the need to dwell on any of the categories but the first one.  So here we go.

I loved Argo.  I looooooooved Argo.  I've loved Ben Affleck as a director ever since Gone Baby Gone.  One of my favorite movies of the past decade.  The Town was good, but definitely my least favorite of his three films.  Argo is completely different.  It's a historical drama/suspense film that played right into my wheelhouse.  I found it completely engrossing.  I have a huge love of American history, and this explored a time period I'm more unfamiliar with than others.  I'm not used to my favorite film of the year being recognized by the Academy, but it was.  A pleasant surprise, and in my opinion, well deserved.

Skyfall reminded me why I loved Casino Royale so much.  The second Bond film with Daniel Craig, Quantum of Solace, didn't do it for me.  I was skeptical about this one, but was beyond delighted in the outcome.  Great, great action movie.  And it has a little more.  A little more humor.  A little more humanity.  A little more refinement.  All around, a new favorite.

The Impossible was one I wasn't expecting to love so much.  I went to the theater to see Zero Dark Thirty, which was sold out.  I bought a ticket for the next day and went to see The Impossible instead, which played at roughly the same time.  It was difficult to watch, but I'm so glad I saw it.  It was an incredible story about a family vacationing in Indonesia when the tsunami hit on December 26th, 2004.  Naomi Watts as the mother was a force to be reckoned with.  She was my pick to win the Best Actress prize, but the movie wasn't widely seen.  The boys who played her three sons were miraculous.  I don't remember ever seeing such performances from young boys.  I highly recommend this film if you haven't seen it.

The Sessions was my favorite from Sunday.  John Hawkes is my favorite actor right now, this movie is the reason why.  He can do anything and be anybody.  He was completely overlooked come awards season, but I still think he was the best of the year.  I'll watch anything with him in it.  And Helen Hunt was fantastic.  You don't get great roles for women over 40 years old very often, and this one is one of the best in recent memory.

As for some of the others, I'd like to say that I really enjoyed Anna Karenina.  Joe Wright is one of my favorite working directors and he did something really special and different with the classic story.  And Brave, while not being the best Pixar has ever done, was a really great movie for young girls.  And older girls like me.

I didn't have as many FAVORITE films this year as I have in years past, but the ones I loved, I really loved.  Please check them out if you haven't already.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Summary:  Seven British retirees move to India as strangers to live in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, what they believe to be a resort of sorts.  Upon their arrival, they see that it's much more of a work in progress than they originally thought.  They all moved there for different reasons:  Evelyn because her husband died leaving her in debt, Graham to rediscover a past love, Jean and Douglas because they lost money investing in their daughter's company, Muriel to receive hip surgery, Madge to find a wealthy husband, and Norman who looks to act younger than he is.

Jean and Douglas are in a very unhappy marriage.  She constantly scolds him and keeps to the hotel while he is out exploring.  Evelyn finds a job for herself and settles into life, while Muriel finds it difficult to be amongst those different than her.  That's a nice way of saying she is a bit racist.  Graham's story is a bit heartbreaking, and I don't wish to ruin it, but it was one of the highlights for me.  Madge and Norman provided more comic relief.

OaTs:  I love films that take place in far away lands, making the location a character of its own.  I have never been to India, and I have to say it's not that high on my list, but this film makes me want to give it a try.  I know the crowds and the traffic would do me in, but it's such a beautiful place.  I can understand the allure that bought them there.

I really liked Evelyn, played by Judi Dench.  She was such a lovely person, open to all new experiences and hoping that the later years of her life would be put to good use instead of wasting them.  The opposite could be said for Jean, Penelope Wilton, who spends most of her time in the hotel because she's scared to go out.  I also enjoyed how adventurous Douglas, Bill Nighy, was, and he kept trying to get his wife to go out.  You start to feel bad for the guy eventually.  Graham, played by Tom Wilkinson, was a really great role.  A man you can really root for.  And Muriel, the exquisite Maggie Smith.  I love her to pieces, and the way she learned to accept others and turn her back on her prejudices was a lovely story.  I wasn't expecting her to be quite so nasty when the film started, so I enjoyed her growth.

A truly delightful film that made me smile the entire way through.  I enjoy watching character grow and change, learn and teach.  Characters who seem real, and good at heart.  Oh - and Dev Patel, from Slumdog Millionaire played the hotel manager.  His storyline with his mother and his girlfriend added a nice comparison to  the lives of the retirees.  His youth was a nice touch.  He wasn't just used as a manager.  He had a backstory just like everyone else, and changed along with them.  A very well told story.

Score:  8/10

The Intouchables

Summary:  Philippe is a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down.  When he needs to hire a body man, Driss applies for the job in order to fulfill an application requirement to receive government benefits for being unemployed.  But Driss stand out, and gets the job.  There begins the tale of how two completely different men can form in incredible bond.

OaTs:  I love French films.  I'm contemplating learning French just so I can watch them and understand them without subtitles.  For some reason, and I think I can credit Marion Cotillard and her performance in La Vie En Rose for this, I prefer French films to any other foreign films, as a whole.

Francois Cluzet plays Philippe.  I had previously seen him in another French film called Tell No One, which I loved. He reminds me a bit of Dustin Hoffman.  He's simply wonderful in this film.  Dealt such a rough hand, he brings a sense of humor to things, and handles it better than most people probably would.  He has is struggles, sure, but his outlook on life is a lot better than some people who don't have to deal with what he does.

Omar Sy won the Caesar for Leading Actor this past year for his work in this film as Driss.  He won over Jean Dujardin, the Frenchman who won the Oscar this year for The Artist.  (The Caesar is the French equivalent of the Oscars.)  I thought, if he won in his home country over the guy who was winning all of these other awards, then he must be something to see.  And he was.  He has lead a rough life as well, and there are family problems showed throughout the film.  But he's a genuinely good man at heart, a side that not many people get to see.

I don't like a lot of drama in my life, and I don't find entertainment in people arguing and not getting along.  Probably why I don't watch those Real Housewives shows.  So to watch a film that does nothing but tell you the story of how two men began their lifelong friendship was a complete pleasure.  And to think that this was based on a true story makes my heart a little bit warmer.  The world could use more uplifting stories like this one.

Score:  8/10

The Way

Summary:  Martin Sheen plays a doctor named Tom, whose adult son, Daniel, has always been a bit distant.  They have different life philosophies.  When Daniel leaves to travel Europe, they are on rocky ground.  Then Daniel dies while traveling the Camino de Santiago, an old pilgramage trail in France and Spain.  Tom travels to France to collect the ashes.  While there, he decides to travel the Camino, since Daniel didn't make it far, and spread Daniel's ashes along the way.  He meets some really great people while on his journey, who provide him with perspective on his own life and his relationship with his son.

OaTs:  Being a die-hard fan of The West Wing, I knew I wanted to see this as soon as I heard about it.  Martin Sheen is a favorite of mine, and he does a wonderful job in this film.  He is rather quiet throughout the journey, only really speaking when he has something to say.  His quiet grief was so wonderfully protrayed.  I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose a child, especially one that you are estranged from.  And with Daniel being played by Emilio Estevez, Sheen's real life son, I'm sure the journey in making the film was just as incredible as it was to watch it.  Estevez also directed the film and wrote the screenplay.

I rented it from a Red Box, and wish so very much that I could have seen it on the big screen.  The scenery was so beautiful, I took my breath away.  It really made me want to make the journey myself some day.  Maybe I will.  Maybe I'll just dream about it.

But it was a really great story.  I man exploring the world and his faith at the same time.  I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in faith, or even just the human spirit.  It will make you think, but it's not a lecture.  Those are the best kind for me, where you leave the theater (or turn off the television) thinking about things in a different way than you did before.

Score:  9/10

The Hunger Games

Summary:  Based on the literary sensation by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games follows the story of teen girl Katniss Everdeen.  This takes place in a fictional future age where America is no longer American, but a country called Panem.  There are twelve districts, and every year, two teenagers from each district will be forced to participate in The Hunger Games - a fight to the death on national television.  It's the Capitol's way to keeping people in line.  One boy and one girl are chosen as tribute by lottery.  When Katniss's younger sister is chosen, Katniss volunteers in her place.  The rest of the story follows her journey into the arena, alongside fellow District 12 tribute Peeta, a boy she has known her whole life.

OaTs:  I'll start by saying that I loved the book.  The movie was one of the best and most faithful adaptations of a book I have read.  Jennifer Lawrence was perfectly cast as Katniss.  She had a quiet strength about her that the character demanded.  Katniss is a wonderful role model for teen girls out there, much unlike fellow literary sensation "herione" Bella Swann from Twilight.  Katniss takes charge of her life, not waiting on anyone to rescue her or do things for her.  She takes care of her mother and sister since her father passed away.  She's a dependable, courageous, strong young woman who girls and women of all ages can respect and look up to.  And Jennifer Lawrence brought all of that to the table.  I really liked her performance.

Woody Harrelson and Lenny Kravitz were horribly underused in their roles as Haymitch and Cinna, two of Katniss and Peeta's confidantes.  They were surprising casting choices, but absolutely perfect once I saw them on screen.  Hopefully we'll see more of them in the movies to come.

It was a truly faithful adaptation, only making changes when necessary.  For instance, the Mockingjay pin that Katniss's friend gives to her in the book is a very important symbol in the books to come.  It may seem minor in the first book, but you wouldn't be able to leave it out because of its meaning in books two and three.  (The pin is featured on the poster above.)  Instead of having a friend give it to Katniss, therefore introducing a character that isn't really necessary, they have Katniss find it in a shop.  It makes more sense.  In a book, you can easily create backstory and include characters for small amounts of time.  When a minor character pops up in a film, it's much harder to tell the audience who they are without including them for a longer amount of time.  A small change, but one that I noticed.  Since it has been a while since I have seen it, I remember there were other differences, but I can't remember what they were.

All in all, I really enjoyed it.  I think I could have enjoyed it more had I not read the book, but that's not important.  Thank you, Gary Ross, for being faithful to the source material, and creating the world's first real blockbuster featuring a female lead.  I can't tell you how much that means to me.  Really strong female roles are hard to find in mainstream film.  It's about time a female carry a film to blockbuster status.  Batman be damned.  (But I still love Harry Potter.)

Score:  8/10