Day 3: Beasts of the Southern Wild
SPOILER WARNING!!!
What a great movie! This is the story of a young girl living on an island on the southern tip of Louisianna. The island is eroding and there is the constant threat of it being submerged in a big storm beause of the levy built in between them and the mainland.
This happns early in the movie and the rest of the film is the fallout from the submerging of the island. That's the backdrop to a movie that has so much more to it. The little girls mother left her and she is being raised by her father, who is kind of an asshole and a bad alcoholic. Early in the film, you find out that the dad is dying from blood poisoning.
At the same time this very real story is going on, the little girl learns a story from her teacher about beasts called Aurochs who are frozen in the ice caps and will be free if the ice caps keep melting. The girl then has fantasies about these beasts breaking free and coming for her. To me, this was her way of dealing with her father's death. The closer he got to dying, the closer the beasts got to her and when they finally reach her, she stands up to them and she is then able to face her dad's death.
This movie is great. It is fun and beautiful and authentic and so many other things. The standout here is the little girl, Hushpuppy. She is played by Quvenzhane Wallis and she is just amazing. Please go watch this movie. You will be glad you did.
One final note, the story of the beasts and her parent dying reminds me a lot of the comic I Kill Giants by Joe Casey. Do yourself a favor and check both of these great stories out.
Day 4: In The Loop
What a strange movie. I really liked this movie, although, I don't think it lived up to the enormous hype. Still really good though. The entire movie felt like a very long episode of British TV. It felt like a long, British version of an episode of Veep. A lot of standout performances, most notable James Gandolfini. Overall, a good movie worth a watch.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
30 Day Movie Challenge
I'm in college and since I take summer classes, the only real break I get from school is is during Christmas. Yes, I still work two jobs, but it just feels like a huge break with no classes. So, I figured since I had some time off, I'd try to catch up on movies and what better way to do that than a 30 Day Movie Challenge.
The challenge started yesterday and will continue through January 13th. The rules are simple...I have to watch at least one movie every day for 30 days. These can be movies I have or haven't seen and can be narrative or documentary. For me, short films don't count, unless I have a short film day, where I watch at least 5 of them.
Let's get to the movies!
Day 1: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
For the first day, I decided to just go to the movies and catch The Hobbit. I love the LotR movies and have read those books, but for me, The Hobbit is special. It was the first book I ever read as a kid that made me know that reading was for me. I have read the book at least 30 times and love it every time I read it.
The movie itself was amazing. Peter Jackson's visuals are stunning as always. I saw it in regular 2D, so I know nothing about the 48 fps. The way they were able to take the story of The Hobbit and throw in LotR prequel stuff was really good. My favorite thing about this movie was Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo. You may know Freeman as the Jim character on the British version of The Office and also as Watson in the BBC Sherlock series. He was spot on and every scene that he was in was just so much fun to watch.
A lot of people are complaining about this movie because it seems more like a kids movie than the other three movies. To me, that's OK, because The Hobbit was a children's book, where Lord of the Rings was not. I love that Jackson decided to make a real Hobbit movie, rather than a Lord of the Rings version of The Hobbit.
Great first day!
Day 2: Waiting For Superman
Today, the second day of the challenge, I finally watched a documentary that I've wanted to see for a long time called Waiting For Superman. This is a great doc that explores the problems with the United States public school system.
The kids that it focuses on make for great stories and add real weight to the film. All of the interviews are very insightful and make this one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time.
2.5: Since I was in a documentary mood today, I also watched Mansome, the new documentary by Morgan Spurlock about male grooming and Kings Ransom, the ESPN 30 for 30 doc about Wayne Gretzky being traded to the LA Kings. Both great movies.
I'll be back in a couple of days with my next two films.
The challenge started yesterday and will continue through January 13th. The rules are simple...I have to watch at least one movie every day for 30 days. These can be movies I have or haven't seen and can be narrative or documentary. For me, short films don't count, unless I have a short film day, where I watch at least 5 of them.
Let's get to the movies!
Day 1: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
For the first day, I decided to just go to the movies and catch The Hobbit. I love the LotR movies and have read those books, but for me, The Hobbit is special. It was the first book I ever read as a kid that made me know that reading was for me. I have read the book at least 30 times and love it every time I read it.
The movie itself was amazing. Peter Jackson's visuals are stunning as always. I saw it in regular 2D, so I know nothing about the 48 fps. The way they were able to take the story of The Hobbit and throw in LotR prequel stuff was really good. My favorite thing about this movie was Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo. You may know Freeman as the Jim character on the British version of The Office and also as Watson in the BBC Sherlock series. He was spot on and every scene that he was in was just so much fun to watch.
A lot of people are complaining about this movie because it seems more like a kids movie than the other three movies. To me, that's OK, because The Hobbit was a children's book, where Lord of the Rings was not. I love that Jackson decided to make a real Hobbit movie, rather than a Lord of the Rings version of The Hobbit.
Great first day!
Day 2: Waiting For Superman
Today, the second day of the challenge, I finally watched a documentary that I've wanted to see for a long time called Waiting For Superman. This is a great doc that explores the problems with the United States public school system.
The kids that it focuses on make for great stories and add real weight to the film. All of the interviews are very insightful and make this one of the best documentaries I've seen in a long time.
2.5: Since I was in a documentary mood today, I also watched Mansome, the new documentary by Morgan Spurlock about male grooming and Kings Ransom, the ESPN 30 for 30 doc about Wayne Gretzky being traded to the LA Kings. Both great movies.
I'll be back in a couple of days with my next two films.
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