6 posts tagged “movie”

spring lies abandoned.
a ditch the color of dark violet
moves along side me
giving no images back.

the only thing that shines
are some yellow flowers.

i am carried inside
my own shadow like a violin
in its black case.

the only thing i want say
hovers just out of reach
like the family silver
at the pawnbroker's

- april and silence, tomas transtromer

I flew back to San Francisco on Monday morning and I'm still somewhat recovering. While I out for some New Years revelry several people mentioned how much they liked Juno. I'm always a little bit skeptical of other peoples choices in movies. Of course I have immaculate taste in movies bordering on divine :P. I woke up on Tuesday morning in a daze and after becoming myself once again in union square and absorbing as much sun light as possible I found my way to the Metreon to check out Juno. I hadn't actually read anything about it and I was going in completely blind. My only negative reaction was that the theater started to fill and was basically full by the time movie started. Don't these people have anything to do on a holiday? They all need to get a life.

Now I know you're waiting for me to actually get to my non-review of Juno but I have a side story. There was an 8 year old girl sitting next to me. A commercial was playing and they used Led Zeplin's Kashmir as the song. As soon as the girl heard the song she started to sing out aloud to the song and had these dramatic hand movements to go along with the singing. She then turned to her mother and said "I know who plays this, it's led zeplin". She seemed very proud of the fact she knew who they were and I thought it was the coolest thing I heard all day. A young rocker in the making which restores my faith in the youth of today to balance out the army of britney zombies.

Ah yes, Juno. There are some movies I fall instantly in love with from the first scene and Juno is one of them. There is a certain artistic sensibility in the way the writer and director have imagined the world that appeals to me. The characters are  awkward, weird and utterly lovable. The basic gist of the story is Juno gets pregnant after getting it on with Paulie (Michael Cera) and follows how she handles it as suitable high jinks ensues. Juno has some great lines and liberally throws them around, though Paulie gets in on the action too.
 
Juno MacGuff: I think I'm, like, in love with you.
Paulie Bleeker: You mean as friends?
Juno MacGuff: No, I mean, like, for real. 'Cause you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know...
Paulie Bleeker: I try really hard, actually.

I think Michael Cera is going to get type-caste as the super awkward guy in all the movies he does although he has been known to branch out:

It's just one of those movies you leave with a big smile on your face. I had the exact same reaction to Little Miss Sunshine and movies like this are such a welcome change to regular stuff we're forced to put up with.  If you're looking for a fun movie this is a good start to the new year. The soundtrack is also quite awesome and I itunesed it as soon as I got home from the movie.

Time to catch up on sleep :)

To be alone I find it necessary to escape the present - I avoid myself. How could I be alone in the Roman emperor's chamber of mirrors? I seek a garret. The spiders must not be disturbed, nor the floor swept, nor the lumber arranged.

- Henry D  Thoreau ,  first journal entry

I caught Into the Wild with a friend yesterday. I didn't really come into the movie expecting a great deal. The reviews on  IMDB were pretty good. I tend to use IMDB as my guide though it doesn't always get it right. The movie is about Christopher McCandless who gave away all his money after college and went off on an adventure and ended up in Alaska where he eventually died. There's much more to the story with a central theme being all the people he met and touched along the way. I'm not sure how much was done more for theatrical effect versus reality. Although reality has a tendency to be quite a bit more stranger than fiction. There is also a book which probably covers the actual story in more detail which I might be tempted to pick up.

What really resonated with me in the movie is the struggle to go against the norm and discover something from within. So much of life is lived in externalities that doesn't leave a great deal of time for reflection. Christopher's journey doesn't seem like it was one of pure self-discovery but his way of trying to erase his own perceived brutality of a emotionally traumatizing family life. His need for solitude is something I have covered before but seems to be a common theme within the writings of many people. The movie is also a metaphorical journey of the self from city life to Alaska as he withdraws from the external world into his own internal one. His ultimate realization and one which I will not spoil for you is all too true and the revelation seems so obvious but we are often blind to what is right in front of us.

The movie has some beautiful quotes in it that inspired me to seek a few more books. I get really excited when I'm reading something and the author's words penetrate deep into me as if the author is saying "i too have felt what you have felt". It's that bridge of words that vainly attempts to grasp the subjective nature of our being. It is the only path we have that without them we would remain emotional ivory towers forever alone with our feelings.

I went into Reign Over Me not quite knowing what to expect. I like Adam Sandler but I think sometimes he gets into this repetitive acting mode where he does this one voice which really annoys me. Lately he's been branching out which is a good thing and I think this has to be his best "serious" movie. The central theme of the movie revolves around Alan (Don Cheadle) bumping into his old college room mate Charlie (Adam Sandler) and discovering how much Charlie's life has fallen apart after his wife and three kids were killed aboard a plane on 9/11. Charlie is a broken man and lives in his own world in order avoid thinking about his family. Alan a frustrated dentist tries to reach Charlie and save him but discovers you can't save someone that doesn't want to be saved. The movie isn't all serious and is full of humor both obvious and dark. The movie is really quirky which I love and as the movie went on I fell in love with it.

The movie tackles the issue post-traumatic stress disorder and how easy it is for a supposedly perfect life to unravel. Another point the movie tries to make is that we get caught in the trivialities of life and often miss the big picture. Alan lives an uninteresting life and is the nice guy that always gets kicked around. In Charlie he finds someone who can help him discover himself again. It's a non-linear symbiotic relationship that works in beautiful way. I know a movie is good when it can move me to tears. There was something really compelling about Adam Sandler's raw emotion that made me really feel for him and his pain. Throughout the movie you're rooting for him to overcome his adversity and you get drawn into to wanting Alan to figure out the best way to help him. This is one movie that is worth your time and after it go have think about your life and who really matters to you.

I wasn't doing anything Sunday morning and I was curious to see Bridge to Terabithia and had low expectations. I figured if it was from Disney it had to be mediocre with special effects to compensate for the lack of a story. I also hadn't realize it was based on a book written in the 70s and supposedly most American school children read. I didn't grow up in America so I had no clue about the book. It was a beautiful little movie which packed in quite a few themes. The central theme is a friendship that grows between Jesse and Leslie two outcasts at school. Jesse escapes the world through his art and Leslie through her vivid imagination. They help each other get through the torment of school by hiding away in a secret location in a forest near their home. They create a world called Terabithia inhabited by creatures inspired by the bullies at school. It's kind of like Pan's Labyrinth in the sense that it doesn't overdo the special effects and provides a perfect contradiction between the real-world and the imaginary. I really have to buy the book now but I'm going to wait a while by the end of the movie I was on the verge of tears. A movie hasn't done that to me a long time and it's a credit to the young actors that they could inspire such emotion. It's definitely worth  watching even if you don't have kids and will probably make a great first date movie if you want to guarantee to be holding the other person at the end ;)

I saw Music and Lyrics Saturday night and it's an ok movie (do the cheap ticket show). I had to see it because it has two of my favorite actors Drew Barrymore (I want to have her babies) and Hugh Grant. The movie is funny but the story doesn't really sustain itself all the way through. The acting seems a little forced at times but the general themes are solid. There is even some social commentary in there with the way modern pop stars such as Britney Spears etc are portrayed and taken way too seriously which leads to them taking themselves too serious. Hugh Grant plays an 80s pop musician who is trying to make a come back. One of the better parts of the movie is the opening clip of an 80s music video with Hugh Grant's fictional band pop (oh no could they possibly be parodying wham ;)). While he's having trouble coming up with lyrics Drew Barrymore who waters his plants turns out to have a knack for doing lyrics and things go on from there with predictable drama, sex and ultimately wonderfully romantic overtures on Hugh's part (vomit). It isn't the worst movie I've seen this year but I am disappointed. I guess I was looking more for about a boy or love actually and it doesn't come close to either.

Memento

And you are waiting, expecting that one thing,
which infinitely enriches your life;
the mighty,  tremendous,
the awakening of the stones,
depths, turned to you.
Dawning in the bookshelves
are volumes in gold and brown;
and you think of encompassed lands
of images, of the garments of
 women lost again.

And suddenly you realize: that was it.
You rise to your feet and before you stands
a past year’s
fear and guise and prayer.

- rilke
 
I've been waiting for a couple of months for Pan's Labyrinth to come out and it didn't disappoint. Guillermo del Toro has an incredible imagination with an eye for detail to bring it to life. The movie is full of contradictions in style, characters and internal story lines. This is a grown up fairy tale that is hauntingly beautiful that had me mesmerized all the way through.

The story is a battle between Ofelia a young girl who lives in her fairy tales and her sadistic step father who is a captain in Franco's army. The world of fairy tales comes back to reclaim Ofelia who is really a princess but she needs to prove if she can still exist in that world. You can see the movie from so many different levels. I see that point in time where the world tries to rob you of your innocence but it's always there hidden waiting to be brought out again. It's a movie that reminds us that it's ok to be a dreamer. It's all too easy to forget the beauty of imagination in a world that constantly numbs us and tries to coerce us into becoming followers. I'm going to go see it again :)

As a child I was obsessed with transformers and I believe this obsession has come back. Check out the new transformers trailer at Yahoo. I've watched the trailer about 30 times and it's probably the movie I'm most looking forward to in '07. My favourite transformer is soundwave because he kicks arse.