Brothers: An honest look into a military reality

I watched the film "Brothers" this past weekend starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman. I was really impressed by the film, especially by its heart. I thought it was extremely successful at portraying the complexities of the real-life drama without becoming an exaggerated melodrama. The film also bravely depicted a serious reality: the stress and trauma and troubles that our brave service men and women have to face, not just on the battlefield, but when they return home. Just like with individuals suffering from depression, the friends and families of soldiers simply cannot understand how these men and women feel as much as they want to and try to. It's a really tough place to be in, on both sides. It's becoming an increasing reality for American families, and it truly breaks my heart that all the love and happiness the should be experienced when our loved ones return to us is being overshadowed by sadness and heartbreak and fear. It's no one's fault. It's just a harsh truth and side effect of troubled times and war. Sometimes it seems to me that to be one of the fallen is a happier ending than to be one of those that survive although I would never wish that on anyone.

Maguire, Gyllenhaal, and Portman all delivered outstanding performances that are captivating, endearing and real. Tobey Maguire as Captain Cahill demonstrated a skill and ability that still blows me away. He proved himself to be more than the dorky nice-guy-superhero and revealed the ability to portray a dark and deep side that shook me to my core. The previews for the film depict a different story than the one that unfolds. It leads you to expect more development and focus on the relationship between Portman and Gyllenhaal, but that remained mostly unaddressed.  In many ways I also found the title of the film to be misleading as the relationship between the brothers played by Gyllenhaal and Maguire was not the center of the film but rather the relationship between all members of the family and how each struggles to deal with life and the situations they find themselves in.


Don't expect an uplifting and happy ending as this is a portrayal of the complexities of reality, not a fairy tale, and don't be surprised if you tear up a bit.

She's Out of My League Occasionally Hits the Mark

I went to see She's Out of My League this weekend, and I enjoyed it. It was far from brilliant, but it was a good, light-hearted movie. I feel like so many of us average Joes and Janes could relate to the premise of the movie: what to do when the object of your affections is "out of your league." Personally, I am a fan of the nice guy. Like any woman, I enjoy eye candy but love the nice guy. Kirk, played by Jay Baruchel, is the quintessential nice guy, and I think he's adorable (don't cringe fellas I mean that in a good way- I would totally fall for him!). Then again, I'm far from a 10 so I'm biased and like to root for the underdog in big screen love stories. Granted, I think films such as these tend to more commonly feature the dorky guy with the hott girl rather than the other way around, or that dorky girl is someone like Sandra Bullock...

This movie will not go down in history as a rom-com classic, but there definitely were individual moments that were utterly fantastic: a make-shift hockey show-down between brothers, a male-grooming scene straight out of American wedding (unoriginal but still hilarious- I hadn't laughed like that since The Proposal), and a cuddly friend, played by Nate Torrence, that defends Love with a profusion of Disney classics tributes. So if you're looking for a movie that won't rock your world but will make you smile and offer a few good laughs then I would recommend checking out She's Out of My League.

Films I want to see!

Movies that are currently out that I want to see (in no particular order):
She's Out of My League
The Book of Eli - Love me some Denzel ;)
The Ghost Writer
Brooklyn's Finest
Edge of Darkness
The Green Zone
Our Family Wedding
Mother - Unfortunately this is a very limited release so I will not get to see it in theaters, but it looks superb.
Shutter Island
The Wolfman
Crazy Heart
The Young Victoria
Valentine's Day- Who doesn't want to laugh at cliches? Caution: May cause severe headache.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief- Give me Greek Myths and I'm good.

Coming Soon (in no particular order):
March 19th:
The Bounty Hunter
Diary of a Wimpy Kid- Oh memories of Middle School... yikes! Who wants to revisit that? But it's like a train wreck...you just can't turn away!
Repo Men
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

March 26th:
How to Train Your Dragon- It just looks kinda cute.

April 2nd:
Clash of the Titans- Sexy men and Greek Mythology, what's not to love?
The Last Song- Yes, I'm sadly aware this means watching and listening to Miley Cyrus
Leaves of Grass- Ed Norton times two! Need I say more?

April 9th:
Date Night- Tina Fey and Steve Carell... period.
Letters to God- I can already tell I will probably cry my eyes out.

April 23rd:
The Losers- Probably terrible but looks hott.

May 7th:
Iron Man 2 , Trailer 2
 
More to come! ;)

And the Academy Award goes to...

Sunday was Oscar night. I unfortunately missed the opening festivities and the fabulous Neil Patrick Harris, but thanks to the glory of YouTube the enjoyment was not lost. While not the most exciting opening number in Oscar history, I can't help but enjoy anything involving Dr. Horrible.

The Big Winners are as follows:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Bastards
Actress in a Supporting Role: Mo'Nique, Precious
Animated Feature Film: Up
Art Direction: Avatar
Costume Design: The Young Victoria
Directing: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Documentary Feature: The Cove
Documentary Short: Music by Prudence
Film Editing: The Hurt Locker
Foreign Language Film: The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)
Makeup: Star Trek
Original Score: Up, Michael Giacchino
Original Song: Crazy Heart: "The Weary Kind",  Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Animated Short Film: Logorama
Live Action Short Film: The New Tenants
Sound Editing: The Hurt Locker
Sound Mixing: The Hurt Locker
Visual Effects: Avatar
Adapted Screenplay: Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker

I am embarrassed to say that I have yet to sit down and watch Crazy Heart and The Hurt Locker, but they are on my to-do list!  I could not be more excited for Sandra Bullock who is one of my favorite actresses, and I absolutely loved The Blind Side. Christoph Waltz's performance was wonderful, and Mo'Nique... oh boy, AMAZING. Precious was a great film, but Mo'Nique's performance was so strong and compelling, it was leading lady worthy if you ask me, which you probably aren't ;) And Pixar continues to blow me away with Up. I'll admit I totally teared up during the film's opening sequence! Overall I was very excited and impressed with this year's winners and I already can't wait for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards!

The Wonderful Remakes of Alice in Wonderland?

This past Sunday I went to see the new Alice in Wonderland film in the IMAX 3D experience. Firstly, I would like to say that I enjoyed the film; I found it entertaining, and that's in spite of my nearly front row seat (thanks to my friends not getting there particularly early)! What I did not realize going in, which I somewhat appreciated about the film, was that it was not an attempt at a straight remake of the Disney classic I grew up with. Instead, the film was more like a sequel, depicting an older Alice's return to "Underland". Similar to the recent remake of Star Trek, I think the writers and creators of the films realize that much too often fans are simply disappointed by failed attempts to recreate beloved originals; so they offer a twist that presents us with what they hope will be a new classic. Star Trek was much more successful at this than Alice in Wonderland, but I thought the later's attempt was fairly cohesive. As with all Tim Burton films, it was a little creepy and visually rich. A successful Burton film if you ask me ;)

I understand that Johnny Depp helps put butts in seats (it certainly helped me want to go!) but I think it was not the best idea to make him the focal point of film promotion. I mean he is absolutely center in the above poster! I thought his acting was great, but I really wasn't satisfied by the character. I was left wanting more out of the Hatter's story in the context of the adventure. I would have appreciated a stronger Alice character. In many ways I think her personal journey was somewhat of a side thought. There was a lot of potential for deep and complex character development with many of the characters, Alice, The Hatter, and the Red Queen in particular that sometimes fell a little short. I think Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of the Red Queen was the most successful and compelling, offering the audience a more intimate look at the more complex nature of the tyrant's personality such as her longing for love and companionship. And nothing really beats The Hatter's "futterwacken" sequence near the end of the film, even if it's not actually Johnny Depp dancing, it's nice to pretend that it is :)

Another notable remake of the childhood classic is SyFy's Alice, a two part made-for-TV movie/ mini-series. The synopsis of this futuristic interpretation is that it is the story of Alice Hamilton, a young, martial arts instructor "with commitment issues." I think it is very well done and intriguing, in particular its interesting portrayal of the relationship between Alice and the Hatter. In this version Wonderland is ruled by the Queen of Hearts, played by Kathy Bates, who rules over her casino castle and imports humans, or "Oysters", from the real world forcing them to "play" while simultaneously draining them of their emotions in order to distribute the distilled joy, excitement and satisfaction to her subjects in an effort to pacify her subjects.

Overall I highly recommend checking out both of these films. And as Roger Ebert best describes in his review of the film, it really isnt' a film for children. Don't expect the Disney cartoon from your childhood, but be open and be entertained. :)

The Magic of Movies

I am a self-proclaimed film-buff. I love movies and going to the movies and the movie-watching experience. I decided to start this blog as an experiment in blogging and as a forum to write about something I love. I do not pretend to know everything about movies, making movies, the industry, etc but as an average person I take satisfaction from the fact that I'm the person these actors, directors, producers, and so on are trying to entertain because I'm the one that's paying to see these films in the theater and paying for the DVDs and memorabilia. And that gives me, and the rest of the "average people" out there a lot of power, and that's pretty damn cool. What I, and what we "average folks" think actually matters; so why not put our thoughts out there, even if in reality no one is listening (or reading as the case may be)?

And so my experiment begins. I plan on writing about films I see and want to see, as well as other aspects of the industry that I find interesting. If you're looking for the latest gossip, this is probably not the place for you. And my opinions are exactly that, my opinions; feel free to disagree with any of them. So here I go. Enjoy (with or without popcorn)!