VDay Sunday
Return of the Jedi
Roman Holiday
6. (Romance in romantic Rome!)
Summary: Audrey Hepburn. Princess. Too much stress eating too many fucking crackers and milk. Escapes while drugged. Falls into arms of ruggedly handsome (and gentleman enough to not take advantage of her but not enough to get a good story out of it). Cuts hair. Italy. Italy. Italy. Return to Reality.
Things I learned from this film:
- Don’t stick your hand into faces carved into stone
- Don’t run away while drugged
- mopeds are a great way to travel
Also, I appreciated this film for the two things its ending was not. A, an M. Night Shyamalan ending where she’s been asleep the entire time or B. she says “fuck it” and runs off with her lover and his friend only to enjoy a care free life in Italy.
What would I rate this? 3.5/5 **
Update on my life: I’m having a mid midlife crisis and I’m realizing that I too, like Audrey Hepburn, am tired of plain old milk and crackers (my current life path) and want to cut my hair (change direction) and dabble with strangers and a foreign land (go into art not premed). The cutting of hair is me shirking my responsibilities during the summer… only to grow back as I return to my royal responsibilities of university.
Mea Culpa
It is officially a year since I started this blog and I’ve done… what is it? five movies. Trust me I have good reasons. Although I have been watching movies here’s what I’ve been doing instead of writing like I should:
– university work
– travelled around the country (and outside) for modeling in the fall 2012
– maintained a class blog about food
I’m going to come back because, although I’m not sure how many read this, I want to finish something I’ve told myself I’ll do- which doesn’t happen much. (try the diet I tried last week that lasted until Friday when I had a week without coffee leading to a weakness during a pub visit with my friends at the end of the week). Though thinking about what stopped me from writing wasn’t the time required- it was the model I’ve created for the blog of post summaries. Sometimes I feel passionate about a movie enough to write about it but most of the time I watch movies to relax (thus the feeling of just enjoying with no responsibility). Did you ever have a movie day in grade school only to have the teacher tell you that an assignment was due afterwards? Yeah- FUCK that! It was terrible! I’ll tell you right now, if you miss the summaries go to imdb. So, I will continue to post but as of now I’m not sure what I’ll be specifically posting about. Somewhere between a tweet and a chapter about my angsty life.
An Ode to Daniel Day Lewis
For those of you who read this blog, I’m sorry that I haven’t been posting. Although I tell only the truth that movies are relaxing for me, there has been little to no relaxing this last semester. But ! The weather outside not only cues birds, sunlight, and beach goers but also my extended time to start posting (and watching again).
Who can you thank? Daniel Day Lewis.
After watching the Oscars I just fell in love with him through routing for his win for Lincoln (which he won because of me obviously…). It’s also a running joke among my friend and I to see who can do a better “milk shake scene” from There Will be Blood. I claim that I can do a great Lincoln also but according to my audiences it sounds more like an old woman.
Also, tell me you don’t want to marry DDL. He’s aged amazingly, fantastically talented, sexy accent, AND you’d never get bored. (a new man every night- if you’re into that thing, Gangs of New York on Wednesdays- Last of the Mohicans Fridays?)
Anyway.. back to the movies.
“The Great Watchlist is a JOY! Just an absolute Joy!” – Daniel Day Lewis “Oh, and the writer isn’t too bad looking either”
Happy Oscars Everyone!
Who’s filling out a ballot? I know I am. As for the best picture what are you guys thinking? On a scale of Les Miserables to Django unchained. If I were to have an outfit posted for this it would be my gold morph suit, always a crowd pleaser. (Just Kidding!)
In all seriousness, the Oscars have been part of my life since I was prenatal. My mom used to host huge oscar parties with people dressing up and filling out ballots and the like. It was the one night of the year I got to stay up past ten! (At my age a good night is going to bed at 10). Who remembers when Whoopi Goldberg came in on a swing? Or when Hallee Barry was kissed in front of the entire audience? Fingers crossed for something scandalous tonight.
Instead of an Outfit for Donnie Darko….
Wouldn’t mind this little guy if he followed me around. Let’s call him Franky!
5. Donnie Darko (What would you do if you knew the future?)
I’ll be honest I watched this back in Halloween 2012. However, I figure the logical thing to do is to post about movies I’ve seen on the list before going on to the ones I haven’t. Ok.. yes, it also postpones me watching 2001: A Space Odyssey. I don’t know what it is about this movie that turns me off like a cold-shower. I’m just not feeling it. So as you could probably guess [from the blog title], the movie I’ll be covering is Donnie Darko.
All I can say is: “uh, alright, that was… mmm, what?” So a bit of a muddle of emotions in response to this.
Here’s the plot base via imdb: A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.
The pro of this movie is that Jake Gyllenhaal is in this. Oh yeah, also Patrick Swayze… as a teacher into… child pornography? Both usually pretty attractive (see Love and Other Drugs) although Patrick Swayze, let me repeat, was into child porn and Jake Gyllenhaal was sweaty and most likely on Ecstasy the entire movie. About half way I just sat back and enjoyed what I didn’t and would never understand. It’s kind of like an early 2000 Inception, although with mental illness involved. The movie was, needless to say, relatively creepy and disturbing. Although, weird enough that it didn’t leave you questioning reality; you just came away appreciating it like an uber-modern piece where there’s a black and white video of a cat running in a circle and it’s supposed to be about peace in strength or something.
There’s not much I can say further about the movie that won’t give anything away (or make me re-question my attraction to Jake Gyllenhaal) other than I did understand why it was a must see. It’s a movie that is out of the ordinary enough that it becomes a “viral video” one that you tell your friends they have to see it because it’s so bizarre. Also, I love the headline song “Mad World” by Gary Jules.
4. The Artist
In a timely manner comes The Artist! I say that because Oscar nominations recently were released and what better movie to cover than this one, taking best picture of 2012! I’ve already seen this film a couple times but had no complaints to watching it a fourth (maybe 5th) time. What separated this movie from many is that it’s a silent film (as I’m sure most of you already know), although you wouldn’t feel the lack of speech with the presence of the soundtrack. The tracks of which grace many mixes on 8tracks.com (if you haven’t tried it- it’s a great way to search for exactly what you’re looking for).
Plot: Outside a movie premiere, enthusiastic fan Peppy Miller literally bumps into the swashbuckling hero of the silent film, George Valentin. The star reacts graciously and Peppy plants a kiss on his cheek as they are surrounded by photographers. The headlines demand: “Who’s That Girl?” and Peppy is inspired to audition for a dancing bit-part at the studio. However as Peppy slowly rises through the industry, the introduction of talking-pictures turns Valentin’s world upside-down.
When I went to see this the first time my friend forbid me to buy Bugles as a movie snack. Personally I felt the music would have covered up the delicious sound of salty crispiness. After seeing the movie a few times however I have a new found respect for the movie as more than a suggestion from my mother. The snack of choice would now be maybe a glass of red wine and some white cheddar pirates booty (organic version of le cheeto puff). By the second viewing you’re used to the lack of speaking, you’re not straining to follow the film, and you sit back (with what i think is the point of the film) to enjoy the wonderfulness of simple Hollywood charm that the movie exhibits. By the third glass of red wine too you’re probably laughing your pants off at the dog scenes which, although a cat fan, I do find pretty cute.
The comments I’ve seen on this film describe it as a love story. However, I never quite caught on to the romantic relationship between the two main characters. I can see the romance, but most of what I picked up was a good friendship and respect for one another. I actually kind of appreciated this. I do love a good romance but I think the lack of over whelming romance in this made me like the movie more. I believe that the romantic and glamorous time of the 20s would have been lost in the cliche if the movie was more of a romance. I felt there was a good balance of focus on the time period and the relationship.
In the end: happy ending and a great dance number.
The Great Watchlist 