The King's Speech

Wow. What a great story about what it means to define oneself. Are we our name, our title or are we our voice? This struggle for Prince Albert to define himself, not by how others have treated him, but how he sees himself had me enraptured. I thoroughly enjoyed how Geoffrey Rush's character, Lionel Logue, did not allow Colin Firth, as Prince Albert, to define himself and the nature of their relationship by the Prince's title, but as a human being. As "Albie".
In this same vein, Lionel didn't use his lack of official status to deter him from his work. Even after being confronted by the soon-to-be King just before his ordination, he stood firm that he was not to be defined by any official paperwork, but by how he had helped hundreds of people overcome their speech disability.
This film is deep in psychological exploration, but unfortunately is only able to touch the surface of such intriguing topics, including the sibling relationship between Edward and Albert. It left me wanting a little more. A good tell that the cast succeeded in their believability, not only in their social status, but also the chemistry between their characters. Definitely a must see and has my vote for Colin Firth as Best Actor and Geoffrey Rush as Best Supporting.

True Grit

Do you have it? Hailee Steinfeld does in this sure to become classic Western film by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on the novel by Charles Portis. Not having seen the original film starring John Wayne, I went in without assumptions and was pleased, as always, by a film well-done. While not my favorite Coen film *cough*NoCountryForOldMen*coughcough* I was taken in by Steinfeld's character, Mattie Ross, with her assertiveness and innocent determination. Even more believable is Jeff Bridges in his role as Rooster Cogburn. Another Oscar-worthy performance by a scene-stealing actor. The film leads you to believe that it is Rooster Cogburn that has the grit with his greasy hair and character, missing right eye and unabashed sense for shooting his gun. This is in stark contract to Matt Damon's character, LeBouf, who seems to like shining his Texas Ranger badge more than taking in his surroundings. He gets caught off guard not only by Mattie's frankness, but also by a bunch of outlaws. His vulnerability makes you wonder how he ever made it out of Texas across the open country alive, much less in pursuit of Josh Brolin's dangerously dumb character and Mattie's father's killer, Tom Chaney.

Between Mattie's youth, Cogburn's drinking and Lebouf's jawing, it doesn't seem likely that the three will ever catch Chaney. A great story told by two of the greatest film directors alive with an all-star cast that is great to see again and again.

Black Swan

This may be my new favorite movie. The pull that Natalie Portman had on the audience was Oscar-worthy. Not only did she go through rigorous training in order to become a believable dancer, but her anxiety was truly felt as she attempted to fill a role that was outside of her character's artistic spectrum. This is definitely a film that you have to be prepared for. The level of anxiousness that is conveyed not only by Portman's acting, but also by Darren Aronofsky's brilliant direction will keep you on the edge of your seat, helplessly trying to anticipate the next move. It will leave you with more questions about the film and your personal reality than you sat down with. In which case, the appropriate title of "Black Swan" becomes a pun, blurring the lines between ballet and statistical anomalies. Very well done and worth seeing more than once.

Twilight: Eclipse

It's been a while, but I'm ready to post again! Unfortunately, it regards a movie that may not leave you satisfied...
Twilight: Eclipse is right on point for a movie that calls its demographic the tweens, teens and cult movie saga followers. It gives you great fight scenes, hot bods (Go Team Jacob!), and a deep romantic love story. My husband and I went on a double date with friends and the guys actually enjoyed the movie quite a bit. The problem comes when you not only follow the film series, but also the books. My girlfriend and I actually had a hard time enjoying the film because not only was it not true to the dialogue of the book, but it also lacked the emotional aspect, which was written by a young Mormon woman whose purpose for the series was to remind youth of the fire that burns within while in love and the satisfaction that comes with waiting to make love with your soul mate until marriage.
The movie lets in a little too much sexual content and even though the featured couple doesn't break the bounds of promised abstinence, showing Jacob without his shirt 19 times and having Bella BEG for Edward to ravage her incessantly, although it draws in more viewers, doesn't leave the true Twilight fans really begging for more.

Where The Wild Things Are

I actually saw this movie a few weeks ago, but it was just too hard for me to comment on it at the time. It's a beautiful children's movie that addresses the real effects of relationships on young people and what it's like for a young person or child to feel hurt or betrayed by a person that they love and depend on.

The main character, Max, is dealing with feelings that stem from his mother's new dating life and his sister's growing distance due to adolescence. His culminated reaction to the situation causes him to run away to a fantasy island where he meets the Wild Things. Max develops intimate friendships with the Wild Things and when he disappoints them, they have a similar reaction to the one Max had towards his family.

This movie is a deep and fantastical equivalent to watching a child yell at and hit her dolls in much the same way that she experienced what may have done to her, her sibling or parent. There is no father figure in the film for Max; his mother has a boyfriend that does not seem to be involved in his or his sister's lives. His father may have passed or left the family. It then seems logical to infer that the behavior exemplified by Max when he runs away was "learned" from his father "running away" from Maxs family.

This movie was especially hard to watch because it was difficult to come to terms with the fact that a boy so young understands the deeply felt anger and disappointment that would come from being hurt by someone he loves. It is normal for an adult to have to come to terms with pain, disappointment, resentment, and abandonment. However, knowing that a young child has to try not only to understand and come to terms with these feelings, but then to forgive and move on so that he may live freely, without being hampered.

Director Spike Jonze's choice to use the fantasy world of the child to present this issue was even more poignant because the association with a fantasy world usually allows a person to escape from painful realities, not explore them more deeply.

Beautiful film; very deeply felt.

Inglourious Basterds

This movie is a taste of brilliance brought to you by the insurmountable Quentin Tarantino. Brad Pitt, blowing things up, and Nazis; what more could you possibly ask for?

The opening scene puts us on the beautiful French countryside and focuses in on a man tending to his dairy farm, with the help of his daughters. Think Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven; or Paul Newman, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as he approaches the innocent boy and his family on their farm. This scene leads us allows us to look into the life of a man's man who aspires to do good, but in the end becomes who all of us have inevitably and regrettably been at one point in our lives: bad, or a tool used by the bad guy, if they aren't one and the same. The tears he sheds are felt by the audience when he realizes he must help the Nazi Jew-hunter, or suffer the consequences put on himself and his three exquisitely beautiful daughters.

This is also the scene in which we are introduced to the Jew-hunter, adeptfully and artfully played by Christoph Waltz. You know who he is the moment he steps on screen as he exudes meticulous evil and commands the most deeply felt fear. As he sits and drinks a glass of milk brought to him by one of the dairy farmer's daughters, and casually discusses his talent for hunting Jews and the weight of the lives being hidden by the dairy farmer, your fear and disgust for him rises to a bitter taste in your mouth.

This fear is realized again in a wonderful scene expertly carried out by Tarantino, in which he places the dairy farmer's only surviving daughter, Shoshanna, at a table surrounded by the pretentious, self-important heirarchy of the Third Reich. None of them know who she truly is: a Jew. And the fear of her position is felt by the audience, just as her father's was, when she sees the Jew-hunter approach. Does he know who she is? Can he see her; smell her? Will he bring her to an end?
Tarantino's filmmaking is brought to a palpable edge-of-your-seat moment when the Jew-hunter orders a glass of milk for Shoshanna, the same drink of choice given to him by the dairy farmer as he weighed out the lives of her family.

These scenes are but a glance into another triumph given to us by Tarantino.

Please watch this film. Over and over again.

The Brothers Bloom

Please see this film! Adrian Brody and Mark Ruffalo are fantastic as the title characters in this cat and mouse chase about two brothers who make their way through the world as con artists. Many of the nuances are never explained and that way the film never loses its novelty, such as Boom-Boom. Where did she come from, why does she never speak and why does she leave without reason?

This is defintely a love story that epitomises romance. But asks the modern question: who rescues who? Does Brody's character, Bloom rescue Weisz's Penelope from the castle or does Penelope rescue Bloom from his life of crime? Or perhaps it is in fact Ruffalo's Stephen that rescues them both by giving them something greater than themselves to live for: their love. In the end, everyone really does get what they want as Rian Johnson depicts a beautiful, quarky and adventurous Wes Anderson-esque film that everyone should see and fall in love with.




"I've been doing a lot of thinking and the thing is, I love you."