hey there…

Hey guys so I swear I’m not lazy. Over the last couple days I’ve been moving which means no internet, no big toe nail any more (i’ll save you the details), and my birthday!

Just to tide you over here’s a fun link I found that I will be using tonight!

www.drinkify.org 

See you guys asap the next movie is A Hard Day’s Night, which I believe star the Beatles ..

 

 

 

3. He Saw The World In A Way No One Could Have Imagined

I’ve decided to skip over the 3rd movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, because it is just no where within a 50 mile radius of me. Yes, fellow readers, I failed [even after trying to find “other ways of getting to it”]. As fate would have it, my parents brought A Beautiful Mind to me anyway while they were in town and a friend of mine described 2001 as: “kind of boring and then people fuck up”. So now I moved on to A Beautiful Mind.

I’ve never really seen a Russell Crowe movie, much less this one,  but I know he’s reputable. It was my first day off in a long time so I decided to sit down and just watch it. Since, like I said, I’ve never seen the movie I’m expecting pretty much the plot at first glance. Here’s what I read:

A beautiful mind stars Russel Crowe in an astonishing performance as brilliant mathematician John Nash, on the bring of international acclaim when he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. Now, only his devoted wife can help him in this powerful story of courage, passion, and triumph. 

***Spoiler alert ahead*** [scroll down past the pictures for the end notes]

If I had chosen to read ANY other plot of this movie besides the back of the dvd box I would have at least been prepared for this. Initially I just assumed this would be a classic version of The Social Network. Socially troubled genius makes breakthrough and then gets into some stuff way over his head, not listening to anyone along the way. So I was pretty much right until the whole schizophrenia part, which happens to be a pretty large part of the movie.

All joking aside, I really thought this movie was thought provoking and a really good depiction of the word Strong. I like it so much that for the rest of this post Strong will be spelled with a capital S. The Avengers, which I also saw this weekend, was what I think of as an everyday interpretation of Strong. Very basic strength, with a typical cast of extraordinary human beings, most of whom aren’t really human… but that’s a whole other discussion. This was movie was great because apart from him being slightly genius he was actually just a human being with a severally impairing mental disorder- that he got through without the help of medication or magic. The help from his wife and friends made it just enough to be a feel good movie [avoiding the modern day indie take on movies where the movie would end with him getting denied from teaching or something].

I always love the old style academic feel that you get from the east coast and Ivy leagues. It was interesting to watch this after seeing the Social Network, just all the little similarities between the two. It was I wouldn’t readily watch this again but I would definitely recommend this to a friend to watch.. by themselves. That being said, I am very glad I watched it, it has most definitely lived up to its potential.

Working my butt on

When you’re reading this you may have a mental picture of a couch potato in a dirty t shirt eating junk food watching these movies. Well.. yeah that’s accurate but I’m tall, relatively skinny, and highly value my personal hygiene. I’m not the best self motivator and fortunately for me I don’t put on weight easily… did i mention I like butter? It may be the Olympics getting me in this mind set or the motivation of keeping my booty just above non-existent (I’m ashamed but yes, I have a white girl booty) but I’m going to keep it going! I just stumbled upon this website that might help, check it out!

(P.S- excuse the fucking language)

http://fuckyeahmovieworkouts.tumblr.com/

2. The Best Loved Bandit Of All Time!

I sat down to this movie in great spirits last night, complete with a meat pie from this place down the street and some cold ale from my fridge…. was my plan until i picked up a closing shift at work and found out i still had a cold. So instead of a warm meat pie to get me in the spirit of things I had some leftovers and instead of ale I drank some Theraflu type thing. I guess I still did get in the spirit of things just instead of Robin Hood mindset I was in the serfs he was saving.

On to The Adventures of Robin Hood!

The 1938 version is no different than any other Robin Hood movie you’ve seen. The plot goes as this: Sir Robin of Locksley, defender of downtrodden Saxons, runs afoul of Norman authority and is forced to turn outlaw. With his band of Merry Men, he robs from the rich, gives to the poor and still has time to woo the lovely Maid Marian, and foil the cruel Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and keep the nefarious Prince John off the throne. 

Where do I begin? I’ve already seen this movie and although it’s been at least 4 or 5 years I still had the same reaction. First, the undeniable attraction to Errol Flynn, man that guy looks good in tights. Unfortunately, let’s just say Robin hood and little john were more than just compadres… but a girl can dream. Secondly, made in 1938, the technicolor was amazingly bright in this movie. The outfits put a leprechaun to shame. I thought the acting was just right in this movie. There have been so many takes on Robin Hood and especially recently they all seem very dramatic, dark, a very intense take no prisoners robin hood. As the movies are based on light hearted book as far as i know, this was just what  thought it should be.

#1. Twelve scraps of paper… twelve chances to kill!

 

It’s finally been raining here in Madison, which has not only pushed the humidity out but keeps us on our toes as to when another hurricane will come down. I think it’s fate telling me this blog is a good idea because I’ve suddenly developed the beginnings of  a cold. It may be a mix of lack of sleep, too much drinking, or change in weather… but i’d like to think of it as  fate. After work, I rushed home on my bike trying to beat the random downpours, made Einlaufsuppe (a german anti-cold soup) and crawled into bed. And, as fate usually has it, as soon as my tired butt hit the mattress the sun came out and my cold (and the movie) was the only thing holding me in bed while my neighbors rushed outside to host their weekly shirtless barbecue. Suddenly my very much windowed room seems fitting in this situation. To… The 12 Angry Men!

Let the movie watching commence! This is the first movie on my list of greats- approved by pretty much every movie critic i could find online. The movie came out in 1957 [same time as Alfred Hitchcock] directed by Sidney Lumet and was based off of a teleplay written three years prior.

Plot:  The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case of murder soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors’ prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other. Based on the play, all of the action takes place on the stage of the jury room. 

I really loved this movie. Being a psych major, i tend to love the whole nonverbal communication in people’s faces. This translated to actors acting beyond the words. It was pretty easy to relate to the guys held up in the small, unair-conditioned, room- not only because my apartment doesn’t have an AC but who hasn’t secretly wished their meeting would end an hour early?

Today in movies it seems like everything is decided for you from the beginning. Who the bad guy is, who the good guy is, the hottie, etc..Let’s be honest picking up the average movie- you know how it’s going to end. That is unless the director chooses to mind F**k the audience and adds the cliche’ “oh you didn’t know he was dreaming?”. What I liked about 12 [Angry Men] was that even though the jurors had clear opinions i felt free to draw my own conclusions. Sure, I felt obligated to side with the old guy (I mean who doesn’t like a sassy, flying-monkey look alike, silver fox?) but i could see how someone else might empathize more with number 4 or 7. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good modern action movie, but i miss the times when movies weren’t just made to make money.