Day #81 - Away We Go

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I loved this movie!!! It was so, so cute. Chris and I honestly felt like it was written about us - a couple of times we looked at each other like. "did they really just say that? We say that all the time!" Away We Go is about Burt and Verona and their journey to find the perfect place to raise their child. Verona is six months pregnant when they find out that Burt's parents are moving to Europe - since Verona's parents passed away and they moved there to be close to Burt's parents, they decide hey, we don't have to be here anymore. So they think of a few places where they have friends or family and set out to find a city to move to. Burt and Verona really love each other and are excited to have a baby, even though they aren't married. When they spend time with their somewhat crazy friends and family, they learn a lot about how different relationships work - between husbands and wives, parents and kids....etc. They see how unfair the world can be when relationships don't work out or are troubled and it just reminds them of how much they love each other. Really the movie is a journey for them, in my opinion, to really figure out what kinds of parents and people they want to be.

I looooooved the cast in this movie - fantastic all around! I was really unsure of John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph....to me, John Krasinski is just Jim from The Office and I wasn't sure I could see past that....and Maya Rudolph seemed too old I guess. But they both did an amazing job - their dialogue was really natural and there were a few semi-emotional scenes where John Krasinski especially really surprised me. The supporting cast though really makes this movie a gem - Allison Janney might be my favorite actress ever, she just cracks me up. Some of the other friends and family were played by Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhall, Paul Schneider and Jim Gaffigan.

I definitely recommend this movie - it was directed by Sam Mendes and it's just really sweet!

Day #80 - Gran Torino

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Gran Torino is a film directed by, produced by, and starring Clint Eastwood. So I had a couple of assumptions going in - one, it was going to be slow, and two, Clint was going to be monotonous. Luckily for me, I LOVE Clint Eastwood. I didn't use to - but I didn't really know much. I had a bitter taste in my mouth after Million Dollar Baby came out because of how much I didn't like the movie and how much attention Clint got for it. That being said, earlier in this challenge I watched Unforgiven. Unforgiven changed my opinion of Clint forever. I just see him as this total badass and no, he's not the greatest actor there ever was, but I really don't care! I think he has great screen presence and he scared the daylights out of me in Unforgiven so that's that. I desperately want to meet him and hang out - he's gotta be super cool :)

Clint plays Walt Kowalksi - he's an old Korean War vet who lives in the same neighborhood he did decades ago, even though over the years he slowly became the only white man around. Walt is grumpy, extremely prejudiced and lonely...his wife just passed away and he has a terrible relationship with his two sons. A Hmong family live in the house next door but they seem to really hate him and vice versa - he sees the youth around his neighborhood as disrespectful and the people as having no pride in their properties. One night Walt catches Thao, the Hmong teenage boy who lives next door, trying to steal his prize possession - his 1972 Gran Torino. Despite this incident, Walt saves Thao and his sister Sue on two separate occasions when they are being harassed by the Hmong gang they are trying to avoid. People start to respect Walt for this, and Thao is sent to work for him to pay off his shame for trying to steal his car. With no real role model in his life, Thao becomes close to Walt as Walt teaches him how to be a man. Though their relationship helps them both greatly, it creates a lot of problems as Walt continues to put himself in between Thao, Sue and the Hmong gang.

I thought the story was pretty good - I think it could have delved deeper but that may have been a bit of Clint's acting too. I liked the ending a lot - I really wasn't expecting it and that is refreshing! Did anyone else see it? :)

A few snippets from Roger Ebert's review...

"I would like to grow up to be like Clint Eastwood. Eastwood the director, Eastwood the actor, Eastwood the invincible, Eastwood the old man. What other figure in the history of the cinema has been an actor for 53 years, a director for 37, won two Oscars for direction, two more for best picture, plus the Thalberg Award, and at 78 can direct himself in his own film and look meaner than hell? None, that's how many."

"Among actors of Eastwood's generation, James Garner might have been able to play this role, but my guess is, he'd be too nice in it. Eastwood doesn't play nice. Walt makes no apologies for who he is, and that's why, when he begins to decide he likes his neighbors better than his own family, it means something. "

Day #79 - Wolverine

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The key to watching Wolverine is to go in with lower expectations. Honestly. I don't mean that as a huge insult AT ALL, I just think that when it first came out, there was, according to friends and reviews, a lot of disappointment because it was so over-hyped. Having heard many negative reviews, Chris and I put off watching it for a long time - and I'm glad we did. Going in with different expectations and a desire for a fun action movie helped us to really enjoy it!

Wolverine tells the story of Logan (Hugh Jackman) before he became Wolverine (before all of the other X-Men movies). The movie starts by showing us a glimpse of his childhood and then travels through time showing Logan and his brother Victor (aka Sabertooth) fighting in many wars before it jumps to the future where Logan and Victor are being recruited by William Striker into a team of mutants. After Logan learns that their intentions are not entirely good, he leaves the team, as well as his brother, who is growing increasingly violent. To seek revenge for Logan leaving, Victor seemingly kills Logan's wife, sending Logan on his own quest for vengeance. He returns to Striker and agrees to be part of an experiment in which they fill his body with the metal adamantium (sp?). Hence his transformation to Wolverine. The remainder of the movie is basically Wolverine seeking out Sabertooth and eventually Striker, after learning that his experiment was actually a farce.

The real surprise in this movie for me personally was Sabertooth...ooooooh Liev Schreiber, you are scaaary my friend. He really freaked me out!! I like how understated his teeth were and I was creeped out by his movements. He had a GREAT evil look! Hugh Jackman was great as Wolverine - and I liked Gambit but I thought his character would be bigger? I was quite elated to see Dominic Monaghan in the movie as a mutant...love him. Charlie! As for the action, I don't particularly care for action that is wild and overdone, which I felt like it was at times in Wolverine...it was just too much, too unrealistic. What did you all think?

Day #78 - Blazing Saddles

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I'm going to need help with this post :) ...so please, pipe in with comments. I know some of y'all have seen this movie and LOVE it, so don't be shy - I'm here to learn :)

So I've had Blazing Saddles at my house for probably a month and half - that tells you how excited I was to watch this movie - the only reason I had it was because Chris hijacked my Netflix account again. So tonight I bit the bullet.

About 30 minutes in, all I could think was...."Is this supposed to be funny? ...and if so, why?"

Then 35 minutes in I thought..."what on Earth is going on with Gene Wilder's hair?" LOL

The first half I really didn't care for at all - the second half was better and I did laugh out loud a few times, but this is really, really not my cup of tea. I just....don't get it. Why is it so funny? The scene where the men are sitting around the fire eating beans? I wanted to throw up! I have had a bad taste in my mouth since seeing Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka but I did like him more in this movie. Chris and I decided that what makes him creepy is that he talks so quietly all the time...and slowly....but it also makes him kinda cool? Haha :)

Is this the first movie where someone said "Excuse me while I whip this out?" Classic Marlie and Melissa quote that I never knew came from this movie.

Blazing Saddles was nominated for 3 Academy Awards - Best Film Editing, Best Music and Best Supporting Actress...ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Was no one else acting that year? Unbelievable.

Day #77 - Bringing Up Baby

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OK. I think I need to watch this movie again. I was painting and thought I could watch it at the same time and perhaps I missed a lot by not being able to "see" a lot of the scenes since I had my face in a glass. I've heard a lot about this movie over the past few months as other movies have come up so I was really looking forward to it. I got it from Netflix like 3 weeks ago and I really fell behind. I'm also holding onto Grapes of Wrath and Blazing Saddles.

Bringing Up Baby is a comedy starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn and I thought the plot was allllll over the place - the dinosaur bone, Baby, the aunt - and that's really why I think I need to watch it again - I may have missed some transitions. I have to admit that although Cary Grant is not one of my favorite actors, I found him to be really, really funny in this movie...I especially loved when he was wearing the women's fuzzy robe. His comedic timing is fantastic. Interestingly enough, I really do love Katharine Hepburn but didn't care for her in this at all. I found her to be really annoying - I mean, with her voice, she can only be taken in regular doses and her character in Bringing Up Baby was SUPPOSED to be annoying and a big talker so it was just too much.

Bringing Up Baby is a screwball comedy - does anyone have any thoughts on what exactly a screwball comedy is compared to a regular one? I have some ideas but was curious. They seem to be very fast-paced and comedy is already tough enough for actors to pull off - I imagine it was quite a challenge. I'm still hoping to see one of Rosalind Russell's screwball comedies :)

Day #76 - Love Happens

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So tonight I was headed for the movies - I was hoping to see Bright Star but ended up seeing Love Happens, which was fine since I wanted to see it anyway! I'm not a big Jennifer Aniston fan - I guess I'm neutral really, she just doesn't do much for me. Aaaaanyway, Aaron Eckhart DOES do something for me so it's all good :) Here we are again with a movie that was marketed one way and in reality was something else. I was hoping for a cute romantic comedy and ended up with a romantic drama-comedy, a dramady? It was good though, I really enjoyed it.

Movies like this leave me thinking about at what point the script decided to go a certain direction. The story in this movie is actually pretty moving and has a lot of potential for a deeper exploration of human emotion. If you took away the gimicks and the cliches, it becomes a solid drama....but that's not what they went for, so we end up with a good romantic dramady instead of a great drama...thoughts? I would like to take the script and give it to PT Anderson - add some true reactions and reality and see what you end up with. Just a thought.

In a nutshell, Aaron Eckhart plays Burke, a motivational speaker of sorts. Burke wrote a book called A-OK and holds seminars for people who are trying to deal with the loss of a loved one. Since he lost his wife in a car accident, he seemingly has had to cope with the same feelings as his audience. However, we come to find out that he has not practiced what he preaches and is still holding on to his wife's death. While in Seattle, his hometown, for a seminar, he meets a local florist named Eloise. Eloise helps Burke to confront some of his unresolved issues and by the end of the movie he has come clean to his audience and to Eloise. The movie is definitely sad and I cried a few times - doesn't take much these days!

Day #75 - Sunshine Cleaning

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I just love it when a movie is marketed as a comedy and turns out to be well...not funny at all. . Sunshine Cleaning to me, looked like a really cute and funny movie about two sisters and their cleaning business. All of that being said, the movie was good, it just wasn't at all what I was expecting.

Sunshine Cleaning is about two sisters who are very different from each other. Amy Adams plays the older sister, Rose, and is the more responsible one - her younger sister Norah is reckless and rebellious. She is played by Emily Blunt, who I love...but who maybe shouldn't try American accents :) It was odd. The sisters lost their mother to suicide when they were really young so they were left under the care of their father. Rose used to be really popular in high school but seems to have lost most of her friends along the way and gained a son but no husband. She works for a cleaning company and is sleeping with a man who I presume was an old high school boyfriend...only problem is, he's married. So you could say Rose's life isn't exactly what she hoped for. When Rose learns that there is more money to be had in crime scene cleanup, she starts her own company with Norah, hoping to make something of herself. The movie goes on with various cleaning situations and a fairly predictable relationship between Rose and Norah. There were a few funny moments but overall it was a downer - I give it 1 thumb up.