I WATCHED TONS of Movies: Part Three

I had to change the title of this "series" to the past tense since, thank GOD, Busy Season is now over and I haven't watched a movie (by myself) since last Sunday. But, to continue my train of thought (which I'm not always so good at; "Flawed at the Core" being one example), I'll "review" the other movies I watched whilst I was a CPA Widow!

Into the Wild

My SIL already reviewed this (she watched it after I did) and did a good job at it, I might add. So, I won't add to much except to say that, it's been a long time since a movie got to me like this one did. One of those that I couldn't stop thinking about days after I watched it.

Briefly, it is the (true) story of a young dude (recently graduated from college) who chucks all things material and goes off on a grand adventure with his ultimate destination being Alaska. Along the way, he meets some very interesting characters who help him in their own different ways to achieve his goal. He finally DOES make it to Alaska, where he takes up residence in an abandoned bus. He learns a lot about nature, solitude, and himself. In the end, he realizes he DOES need people, maybe even the family that he ran away from. Alas...

The film was directed by Sean Penn. Is there any limit to what this talented man can do? The actors in the film were more than excellent; a great cast with no one taking more of their share of the lime light. I really enjoyed the soundtrack, too; compiled by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.

Was what this young man, Chris McCandless, did brave, misguided, or just plain stupid and thoughtless? I'll leave it up to y'all to decide if you elect to watch this film.

Mrs. B

I've Been Watching TONS of Movies: Part Two

Sorry that my last entry only had one movie! I was learning how to embed videos from You Tube so wasn't sure if it was even going to work. Obviously, it did! Yey! But, these reviews of mine are pretty long, so, I'll probably keep them to one per entry.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Wow, what an intense movie! And, an excellent one (unlike another one I'll be reviewing later that came out around the same time; mid-70s). I had seen bits and pieces of this flick over the years, but, never in order/in one sitting. So, I purposefully decided it was time to do so. I was not disappointed (even though I knew what was going to happen at the end because I'd seen it at one point in time). This is one of those movies that is superior in just about every way possible; the acting, the directing, the screenplay; even the music. It's also one of those movies that makes you run the gamut of emotions: amused, disgusted, scared, annoyed, thoughtful, sad. If I'm not mistaken, a bunch of Academy Awards went to this movie and those folks associated with it, rightfully so.

So, jokes aside (I remember hearing this move referred to as "One Cuckoo Flew Over The Rest"), this is a tale of a guy, RP McMurphy (Jack Nicholson's character) that's sort of a low-level criminal. He keeps getting intro trouble in jail; won't work, acts crazy, etc., so, they send him off to a mental institution to be evaluated. While there, he inspires a group of male patients to stand up for themselves and to question authority (as illustrated by the nasty Nurse Ratched; an eerily and creepily excellent Louise Fletcher). The entire time he's there, he sort of thinks it's one big joke, but, as he comes to find out, it is anything BUT. There are other great performances by actors you'll recognize, Danny DeVito, for one.

And, I'll tell you; if you've ever known someone or loved someone that's been in a place like this AND have some control over it, you'll likely think twice before you ever allow them to go there again.

Mrs. B

I've Been Watching TONS of Movies: Part One

Another by-product of Mr. B being so incredibly busy these past few weeks (it's actually been longer but the past few weeks in particular he's been REALLY REALLY busy; this is why they in the business refer to this as THE BUSY SEASON) is that I've had the chance to watch a bunch of movies. I've mostly tried to pick ones that I think either Mr. B simply wouldn't care for OR ones that he's mentioned to me that he's already seen (but I have not).

So, here's a brief run down of the flicks that have been playing at The B's B&B:

Gone Baby Gone

This was directed by Ben Affleck, who, as most of you know, normally is on the other side of the camera. Like the movies he's collaborated on with his good friend Matt Damon, this one takes place on the tough streets of a dingy suburb near Boston (where, apparently, Affleck and Damon actually grew up together). Anyway, the cast is pretty good; lots of heavy-hitters (such as Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris) plus Affleck's younger brother, Casey (of the Ocean's 11, 12 and 13 movies plus he was recently nominated for his role in a Jesse James movie) and Amy Ryan (nominated for her role in this film for best supporting actress but she lost out to The movie is based on the book by the guy who wrote "Mystic River", Dennis Lehane

As I wrote in my NetFlix review, I wasn't really sure this movie would be that good, but, it turned out to be better than I thought; about the young daughter of a terrible young street-wise mother who gets kidnapped and all of the folks that get involved trying to track her down. At the end of the movie, the characters are faced with the proverbial question of "What is REALLY the right thing to do in this situation?", and, it's not a simple answer. I'd say it's definitely worth a rental.

Mrs. B

Atonement

In our yearly quest to see as many Oscar-nominated films and performances, we went to see the much nominated (but not for Best Actor or Best Actress, more on that later) movie "Atonement" this afternoon. Actually, we really wanted to see "No Country For Old Men" (highly recommended by sister in law Analee and which also garnered a lot of nominations) but it was no longer playing at the theater we went to.

Anyway, we thought "Atonement" was okay. At the risk of being a spoiler; it's not the most chipper movie we've ever seen. My guess is the book was a lot better. Frankly, I am a bit surprised that it even got nominated for Best Picture, but that could be because, as often happens, there just aren't that many good movies out there worthy of a Best Picture nomination.

So, there was a big bally-hoo that neither Keira Knightley or James McAvoy were nominated for their performances in this film. A shut out! Well, in my opinion, I think the academy nailed it this time as I didn't think either performance was really of a stand-out nature. Not bad, not terrific. Boy, that Keira Knightley, as lovely as she is, is looking sort of stick like...I mean sick like these days.

The young Irish actress Saoirse Ronan was nominated for best supporting actress for her performance of the Knightley character's younger sister. As I haven't seen any of the other actresses' performances in this category, I can't really comment other than to say she was decent enough, but I have a hard time believing she's going to beat out the likes of Cate Blanchett, Ruby Dee or Tilda Swanson.

Well, not a whole lot else to say on this topic.

Yeah, my Blog fodder is a bit weak these days, sorry, y'all!

Mrs. B