It's a Movie, not a Book

On Sunday we got out to see the latest Harry Potter movie. We do love the series (book and movies) but we were concerned about this movie because of all the negative fan comments

I'm happy to say, probably in no small part due to the low expectations we had going in, we were pleasantly surprised to enjoy it thoroughly! As for all of the complaining fans, of course it isn't like the book people! It's a movie! The book is 700 pages long! Take it for what it is and enjoy it and stop going on and on about missing characters and the fact that page 542, Paragraph 3, is not in the movie.

The film was beautiful - a great marriage of computer graphics and cinematography - it made the film. The quidditch match, the Weasley joke shop, the Hogwarts grounds and castle - fantastic. And while, as usual, it felt a little choppy hopping from scene to scene because there is little time for segues, the scenes themselves were mostly little jewels. Jim Broadbent was very good, particularly in the one scene at Hagrid's house.

I'll be going back to the book now that I've digested the movie - just to remind myself of what was missed, but not to complain about it. Looking forward to the last movie (I hear there will be two to try and capture more of the 800 pages...and no doubt double the money too).

Twenty Years Ago

It seems I've been bombarded by things lately that are all "twenty years ago"...high school reunion invitations on facebook (25 years!), Pat Benatar music (I was singing Hit Me With Your Best Shot at the top of my lungs this morning), and now I just read it has been 20 years since Footloose, the movie.




And on top of that? They are talking about a remake of this "classic" film. (AKA the film Kevin Bacon would like removed forever from his resume).


Damn I feel old.

Movie Recommendations

This weekend I was able to view three movies - from Oscar winning to unknown - and yet if you asked me to rank best to worst, it wouldn't stack up with the popular opinion.



Best: Taking Chance. A 2009 HBO film starring Kevin Bacon as a guilt-ridden U.S. based Marine (Colonel) who is busy crunching numbers while his fellow marines are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every night he reads the newly posted list of fallen Marines. On this night, he reads a name of a young Private First Class (PFC) Marine named Chance Phelps from his hometown and he determines to volunteer for escort duty. The movie chronicles his journey from Dover DE to the burial site in Wyoming and his interactions with people along the way. This movie was deeply touching and I was absolutely compelled to watch every frame. Some internet research yielded what I had known all along - it was based on the real life activities of the marine. His journal became a highly circulated email story and eventually found its way to HBO. The truth in this movie shone through from beginning to end.



Second: The Magdalene Sisters. This was a library find and an interesting and disturbing story. Based upon fact, but written as a fictional story, this 2002 movie depicts the asylums that were managed by the Sisters of Mercy. The worst part about these asylums is there seemed to be no rhyme or reason of why girls were committed there, except a perception of sin. The movie followed three new inmates and one existing inmate through their multiple years, essentially held as captives with no hope of discharge. One girl was raped at a family wedding - so her family committed her. One girl was seen flirting with boys at the gate of the orphanage school she attended - so the orphanage committed her. One girl had a baby out of wedlock, so her family committed her. When I described the movie to my husband he asked, "what century was this?" According to the footnote at the close of the movie, the last Magdalene "Laundry" was closed in 1996. Astonishing.


Third: Slumdog Millionaire. If you haven't heard of this 2008 movie you are totally out of touch. I was expecting a life altering experience based on the press surrounding this and its recent sweep of the awards, but maybe that was the biggest problem. My expectations were so high, there was probably no way for this movie to live up to them. The child actors were phenomenal and the circumstances of poverty in India and the struggles they are going through as they evolve into a new center of commerce were well represented. But I found myself checking my watch continually for the last 45 minutes. I also thought the brother filling the bathtub with cash at the end (won't say more to ensure no spoilers) was odd and maybe a little over the top symbolism. Overall, not the WOW I expected.

I'd recommend all three of these films. But manage your expectations. Don't expect life-altering experiences or you're bound to be disappointed.

A Must See?

I was flipping through a magazine recently and stopped on the movie synoposis page - I'm always looking for a good recommendation. This one stopped me in my tracks.

Army of Darkness: A time-warped supermarket worker fights in medieval England with a chainsaw and a '73 oldsmobile.

And...you ever wonder what happened to Bridget Fonda? Yup. She was in this film.

Hmmmmm.

Sunday Night at the Movies

We watched two movies back to back last night - "No Reservations" and "The Brave One".

"No Reservations" was surprisingly poignant, due COMPLETELY to the incredible child actor, Abigail Breslin of "Little Miss Sunshine" fame. She pulls your heart-strings...even if it is in such a predictable film as this. I had no idea what this film was about, and wouldn't recommend it unless you are looking for a brief diversion, or you are a fan of Abigail Breslin. But as a break from Olympics track & field moments, it fulfilled its purpose in my afternoon.

In contrast, I found "The Brave One" to be riveting and I was blown away by Jodie Foster's portrayal of a confident New York woman who is suddenly devastated by an unprovoked random violent attack in Central Park. The attack leaves her badly beaten and comatose for 3 weeks, while her fiance dies of his injuries.

Suffering from paralyzing fear, she seeks some illusion of protection by trying to purchase a gun. When told she needs a license and to wait 30 days, her heartbreaking response is, "I don't know if I can survive 30 days."

After a lifetime of free-wheeling NY living, never having been touched by violence or fear, her life increasingly spins out of control through continuing interactions with violence. A robbery in a convenience store, a subway gang attack, a sex crime/kidnapping, and a brush with organized crime. This reversal of character is captured when her counterpart in the movie, a detective played by Terrence Howard, asks her how she has recovered from her trauma, and her response (paraphrase), "You don't. You become a different person."

This story was fascinating to me - and mostly because of the Foster-Howard portrayals of their characters. The ending was surprising - a little too Hollywood - but I do believe the struggles portrayed by Foster and Howard were real, deep, and powerful.

Sliding Doors...What IF....

One of my favorite films is Sliding Doors. Granted, it's a bit of a chick flick, but it poses so many interesting questions. The "What If's" of life. You know, like:

What IF, I didn't make that light before it changed?

What IF, my life was forced to make a radical change?

What IF, two paths diverged into a wood, and I...(oops sorry, I digress).

So the writers of this flick take this concept (which I loved) and make it happen. They show the main character - Helen - and two divergent life paths. One triggered by making the last train home, and the other where she misses it. Following two Helen's for most of the film you see how single moments can change a life forever. One leads her home to find her boyfriend Gerry in bed with another woman, the other delays her return until the coast is clear and he gets away with his tryst without a hitch.

The supporting characters made it truly memorable...like Gerry's friend Russell whose sole job is to sit in the pub, listening the Gerry's tales of trying to balance a girlfriend and a mistress, and laughing at Gerry's self-imposed misery.

Example #1:

Russell: "Sorry, let me just... Lydia's becoming more and more demanding and you feel bad because Helen's working night and day to keep the money coming in. But you've asked Helen to come on a research trip to Dorset with you - knowing that she wouldn't be able to - to cover up the fact that you're really taking Lydia. And despite the fact that Lydia gave you an out on the phone - which you didn't take - you're having a moral dilemma. [pause] Gerry, you are a morality-free zone. "

[later, laughing hysterically] Russell: "I must say, being friends with you certainly makes the wait for the next episode of "Seinfeld" much easier to bear."

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And Gerry's mistress Lydia? She is a true nutcase - played to perfection by Jeanne Triplehorn. She could have easily been cut and paste into Glenn Close's part in that slightly more famous psycho mistress part in Fatal Attraction.

Example #2:

Lydia: "Gerry, I'm a woman! We don't say what we WANT! But we reserve the right to get pissed off if we don't get it.

That's what makes us so fascinating!

And not a little bit scary."

(I had to pack that one in my brain for future use!)

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Example #3:

The adorable James (played by John Hannah) and Helen (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) and their quick witted lines, done in charming scottish and british accents, respectively.

James: What are you doing two weeks on Saturday?
Helen: Probably killing myself.
James: Excellent. What time does that finish? Do you like boats?

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I will warn you that when the stories re-converge you may be in for a nasty shock. You see, the inevitability of the story is that the two parallels cannot continue and must at some time re-align to a single life's journey. The first time I saw this movie, I actually yelled at the television. Really. And I threw popcorn too. I was that put out. But have faith.

Remember what the Monty Python Boys always say?
(inside joke, if you don't get it...see the movie!)

P.S. Hey Mom - if you're reading this...I have the movie on the DVR...we'll be watching it when you visit!

History Class Was Never Like This...

When I was in high school, social studies was my worst class. It was mostly taught by overweight boring white males who didn't want to be in that classroom any more than I did. So it surprised me when I started liking history...or at least dramatized (or fictionalized?) history as an adult. But I have to say, history class was never like this...

I've been watching The Tudors.

(Is this a historical show promotion? or the cover of the next big Harlequin Romance?)

TV-MA is the right rating for this royal orgy of a show. Where else do you get to see Ann Boleyn invite a hot young studly king (wasn't he supposed to be portly and have gout?) to "come soon to my hot bed." I've been slightly confused by the story line, probably because I was also reading The Other Boleyn Girl at the same time...

(Look at this book cover! Do you think Philippa Gregory is a new pen name for Danielle Steele?)

...and since both took artistic license with timelines, characters, and...well...facts...I keep getting my historical figures confused.




My confusion is compounded by the fact that I read The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George (and yes, while the title is "The Autobiography", it was not in fact penned by Hank himself, but is a fictionalized diary accounting of his life and times) about 20 years ago, and little bits of the story are still stuck in the nooks and crannies of my brain.



(Now, while I expect this is closer to what the man looked like, you can't trust a novelist who also writes "The Memoirs of Cleopatra" and "Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles"...but all kidding aside these 1000+ page books were pretty absorbing to read.)


Another of my favorites was Rome - the HBO mini-series.



Again, filled with fine looking men and women - all with beautiful white straight teeth - and many unique sexual adventures (I guess this is what they did before tv?). The political and social intricacies of this historical lesson could put any day-time (or prime-time) soap to shame.

(They were a cute couple until he threw her over the railing to her death....sigh...true love)

With names like Titus Pullo, can you blame the writers of Rome for going for the cheap thrills and jokes?

Much tamer, and yet similarly treated, has been another HBO mini-series, John Adams that just completed its 7 episode run.

(Not quite the hollywood look the others went for eh?)

No royal orgies here...just an ugly whiney patriot, his brilliant if hairstyle-challenged wife, and several bizarre children and their progeny. Since I am a huge fan of all things Tom Hanks, and this was his project, I tend to believe he didn't take too much license here and built as much from historical records, correspondence, and reliable documentation as possible. In fact the website for the show has an interactive timeline, history lessons, and lots of social studies-esque content. Yet they couldn't resist a few scandals, intrigue, and the intimate one-on-one conversations that could not possibly have been recorded.


It was particularly amusing, and not a little bit ironic, in one of the last scenes where Adams is called to Philadelphia to view the famous painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and he scoffs at the fiction depicted...none of the signers were ever in the same room together at the same time, none of them ever looked peacable while signing, and their "shins" were never so well shown. Adams despairs at the fact that the true story of their independence is now lost in myth and fiction.


I guess we can all say the same about our own history. Whether recent or distant, all of our memories and recollections are colored by point of view, prejudices, human tendency to fill in the blanks, or just simply time. And as a woman of particularly poor powers of recollection, I'm more susceptible than most to not only forget, but to fill in all the blanks with fictions.


Following in the models set by the above examples, it could make for a pretty spicey memoir though, don't you think?

Two Posts on Sunday totally catches me up...right?

I'm falling down all over this NaBloPoMo. Good think I didn't sign up for the 50,000 word novel thing...geez....

Anyway - for the last several days I've been thinking about that good-bad movie, "Shall We Dance". I have no idea why, except for the one haunting thing that I remember from that movie...the Susan Sarandon speech about why people get married.

"We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."

(Glad I found the clip - posted above - Susan Sarandon's delivery of this speech is incredible.)

I've always thought this was one of the best representations of what marriage really is. Think about it, your relationship begins with attraction - physical, spiritual, intellectual - whatever turns you on. Passion joins it and falling in love - the greatest drug on earth. But what sustains a marriage? A deep and abiding caring for the other person. A commitment to share your life with them and theirs with you.

Why this topic on this day? I found myself rummaging through a box of old family photos today and I came up with several of weddings and married couples in my family. Not all of my family has been lucky in love...and several of my friends have hit some rough patches as well. But those magical WORKING marriages (and I do mean work) that I've seen inspire me every day to appreciate my own, and to remember that quote.

I like the idea that I am witnessing my love's life. I like the idea that he is witnessing mine. We don't have children. When we are gone, there will be little physical evidence that we were here. But our lives did not go unnoticed, because we have been here for one another.