Recap: 18 August 2009
I finished Round Two of Edits last night on TDPU. And it felt great. Until this morning when a friend read it (after having read the first draft as well) and proceeded to Crush My Soul. You know who you are. Matt. But that is another post for another time. Now is the time for movie mini-reviews!
What I Watched
- When Harry Met Sally (4 stars): As I noted on twitter, it turns out this movie is much more enjoyable without the preface of your boyfriend telling you it reminds him of himself and another girl. Watched with a fresh and baggage-less eyes, this movie is exactly as charming as everyone says it is. It veers a little saccharine in places, of course, but it’s biting enough in others that it’s easily forgivable. A gem of the rom-com genre.
- Julie & Julia (3½ stars): I’ve seen some reviews that say the depiction of Julie’s story is boring, and I’ve seen others that say the depiction of Julia’s story is boring. Well, I didn’t think either one was boring. I loved Ms. Powell’s memoir when I read it a year or two ago, and I knew going into the movie that, barring a complete disaster, I’d enjoy the movie, too. Is it as good as the book? No. Does seeing Meryl Streep as Julia Child make up for that? Yes.
- Sullivan’s Travels (3½ stars): This classic Preston Sturges film about a screenwriter having an existential crisis didn’t thrill me quite as much as I’d hoped it would. I thought it veered a little too dramatic toward the end, I guess, and, to be honest, the movie struggled to keep my attention through most of it. I don’t blame the film for this; I think it was just one of those nights. As I was watching it, I knew that I should be enjoying it. There was nothing to stop me from enjoying it. I just couldn’t get on board for some reason. That being said, I think perhaps this is a film that’ll grow on me in hindsight. It was funny, and I liked what it had to say, and the prison movie scene is the sort of scene I adore.
- The Time Traveler’s Wife (3½ stars): While the stories are very different, this movie plays like a less gooey, less silly, less teenagery version of The Notebook. Here’s what you really need to know: 1) It’s well-acted, 2) You get to see plenty of Eric Bana’s bum, and 3) You’ll cry for the last 45 minutes straight*. (*OK, maybe that was just me, but if you don’t shed at least a few tears, your heart is made of stone! Kate!) If that sounds like your cup of tea, get yourself to a showing.
- Hannah And Her Sisters (3½ stars): Woody Allen has a fantastic way of turning a mediocre film into something I really enjoy in the third act. The turning point here, for me, was the Duck Soup scene. Sort of an homage to the prison movie scene in Sullivan’s Travels in a way, it made the film for me. I seem to enjoy Allen’s films of the mid- to late-Oughts more than his late-’70s and early-’80s classics, but this is a fairly solid entry for me, nonetheless.
It’s also worth noting that I flew through Dollhouse on DVD last week, and I am now a big fan of that show. If you’re a Whedon fan or a sci-fi fan or a fan of shows with really interesting characters, I’d highly recommend checking it out. Season 2 premieres on Fox some time in September, so there’s still time to catch up!
Recap: 3 August 2009
I’ve been in a little bit of a funk the past week. You know those gypsy winds in the movie Chocolat? Well, I’ve been feeling them myself. Mostly, it’s just that I’ve been feeling rather stagnant, despite my efforts to keep moving. This isn’t all related to my writing, of course. There are just a lot of areas in my life where I feel like I’m waiting for something to happen. And it’s not like I’m sitting around wishing and hoping and not doing anything else. I’m working — and working pretty hard, too, if I do say so myself. And sometimes I wish I could be happy just being a normal worker bee, but I already know that, at least for now, I can’t. And so I shake my fist at the sky and rail, “Why must I be saddled with this fate?”
And then I watch a movie like THE LIVES OF OTHERS, and I think to myself, “Honestly, what do I really have to complain about? Things could be a lot worse, and sometimes they will be, but that’s no excuse to squander your gifts.” So this week I’ll start Edits Round Two on TDPU while I continue to tweak the outline for LAID. And hey, I might do a little prose to pass the time as well. Keep going. And on that note, let’s look at…
What I Watched
- Orphan (2½ stars): Occasionally I get the desire to go see a silly horror movie, and it turned out my friend Sam also wanted to see this particular horror movie, so we went and watched it together, and we left unenthused but not angry (which is several steps above how I felt after seeing Prom Night.) All in all, it wasn’t that bad as far as this type of movie goes. Really, it was actually pretty solid until the last 10 or 15 minutes. And even that I could have forgiven had it not been for the last line. (Let’s just say, it is probably unwise to use a well-roasted line from another horror movie in any way other than as a joke.) That being said, I thought the twist was interesting, and the actors actually did a very good job with the material they were given. It a little gory in places, and it’s definitely got the creep factor. And (because this is not common sense, judging by our fellow theatre-goers) please do NOT bring kids to this movie. Nightmares and therapy, folks: that’s what you have to look forward to.
- The Adventures of Don Juan (3½ stars): My first Errol Flynn movie, and I was totally charmed. This movie was really funny (mostly intentionally, though sometimes not). Honestly, I’m not sure there’s much to say about this one. It’s a fun, little swashbuckling, Save the Queen sort of movie. And I like those sorts of movies. And this is a pretty decent one. So there you go.
- (500) Days of Summer (5 stars): I loved this movie. Seriously. A lot. Please go see it, especially if you are in your 20s or 30s.
- The Lives of Others (5 stars): This story (which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film) is set in the mid-1980s in East Germany, and it follows a writer, his actress girlfriend, and the man tasked with surveilling them for the Secret Police. It’s a beautiful film in which everything — the performances, the themes, the emotional chords — is understated and honest. Ulrich Mühe‘s performance both broke my heart and gave me hope.
What Else
- I’m reading The Witch of Portobello
, and really, really loving it.
- I may have done something sort of crazy and started a cooking blog. I haven’t yet gotten my (mis)adventures from this weekend posted, but that should happen some time this evening. You see, I like to cook, but I seem to rarely do it, so I figured tying it into writing somehow might motivate me a bit more. So there you go.
- It is Monday, and I am wearing a real shirt (not a T-shirt). Be amazed.
- This week’s advice: At least one day this week, even if you feel too tired or not motivated or otherwise disinclined to work on that project you claim to love, work on it anyway. Just for a little while. Just so it still knows you love it.
That is all. Have a wonderful week.
