The Light Between Oceans (2016)

Watched: 3/13/2017

 

Oh boy, I don’t even know what to say.  I read this book when it came out and I remember the storyline but not the details.  The person who checked this out at the library for me, told me to be prepared to be frustrated and I assured her that I knew where this was going because I read the book.  I didn’t really remember the dumb founding part like I thought I did so I was in fact frustrted with the ending.

I should also express that I have a new outlook on the subject matter and that made this movie incredibly difficult to watch.  I had to stop watching twice and had to walk away from it.  The emotions that miscarriages cause was beautifully portrayed but it hit a little too close to home for me.  A family member suffered a miscarriage between my reading the book and watching this movie.  It felt very raw and broke me.  I knew it would happen but seeing it and reading it are two different things.  I’ve always thought that Alicia Vikander was a brilliant actress and here she rips your heart out.  Watching her suffer was incredibly hard, Isabel is such a loving person but she is routinely thrown terrible things in life but just when you think she can be happy, she can’t.     I will stop writing about it as I’m tearing up as I’m typing.

I just want to say this is a fantastic movie, extremely well acted and heart breaking.  My trigger is just too strong t think about it anymore.   If I take anything positive from it, I want to remember how in love Isabel and Tom were when they first got to the lighthouse.  Sorry this wasn’t a cohesive review, I just realize I can’t write about it properly.   It’s a thousand times more depressing than Manchester By the Sea.

 

 

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Watched: 3/12/2017

Watched with: Ken & Andrew

 

When my boys asked me if I wanted to see this movie, I shouldn’t have been surprised but I was.  My husband is a big fan of Kong and Godzilla movies I just didn’t think he would enjoy any movie with Tom Hiddleston in it, that didn’t involve any of the Avengers.  I guess Kong really means more to him than I ever knew.

This movie is set in the 70’s and a team of explorers with different skill sets are sent to a remote island to discover what is there.  There are soldiers, scientists,a photographer and a tracker.  They immediately set bombs off, which is beyond dumb.  Kong meets them immediately and destroys a majority of the people.  The rest must try to survive on the island that is filled with strange oversized creatures and each other,

Kong is truly impressive.  He looks real and he’s incredibly detailed.  They also did a great job of making him sympathetic.   The other creatures are either awesome looking or lacking in believability.  It’s either hit or miss.  The acting is good, not great.  Tom Hiddleston is good in his role as the tracker, although sometimes when he’s trying to be the action hero, it seems he tries too hard.  Brie Larson is great with the wide-eyed terror, and as one of the only females in the cast, she was often in peril.  Of course she is more receptive to Kong than the men.  I liked we got to see the photos she was taking, as she took them.  Samuel L Jackson, is just for lack of a better description, a bad ass.  He leads the soldier presence on the island.  At one point he says “hold on to your butts” which is a direct quote from his character in Jurassic Park, and I loved that.  John C. Reilly shows up as a person who has been stranded on the island for years.  His character is comic relief, as well as a cubs fan.  Being in suburban Chicago watching this with an audience that has just experienced the Cubs winning the word series, the cubs as losers jokes were funnier than ever.

This was a fun movie.  It was action packed and at times scary.  It was well acted and the visual effects were very well done, especially when it comes to Kong.  The emotion that they packed into his facial expressions really resonates,  especially in retrospect to another movie I just saw.  I appreciate what was done here to make him a fully formed, realistic ape.

Stay after the credits for a treat!

 

A month of catching up…

My life has been a little chaotic as of late, so my blogging has been put on the back burner.  In order to catch up I’m just going to list some of the movies I watched during February and March I’m choosing not to write about.  They  didn’t make as much of an impression on me as others.

 

2/23/2017 : Moonlight (2016)

3/02/2017:  Edge of Seventeen (2016)

3/03/2017:  Keeping up with the Jones (2016)

3/04/2017:  Earth to Echo (2014)

3/11/2017:  Moana (2016)  re watch

3/25/2017:  Cloverfield (2008)

3/25/2017:  Central Intelligence (2016)

3/26/2017:  Rebecca (1940)  re watch

3/31/2017: My week with Marilyn (2011)  re watch

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

Watched:  2/28/2017

I love movies based on true stories , that are outrageous and you feel like no one could come up with it, if it wasn’t in fact real.  Florence was such an interesting person ,as were those around her that supported her ambitions no matter what.  You get the sense people were fond of her, and as the audience we become fond of her.

Florence Foster Jenkins ( Meryl Streep) was a socialite who wanted nothing more than to be a great opera singer despite having absolutely no talent nor self awareness that she sounded terrible.  Those around her, mainly her husband, St Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) go along with the farce.  They hire a pianist named Cosme (Simon Helberg) and prepare for a concert at Carnegie Hall.  Cosme of course questions what they are doing but in the end he also becomes part of the ruse to protect Florence from the truth.  St Clair would routinely pay off the critics for good reviews but he encounters one who refuses, setting off events they can’t come back from.

I enjoyed this movie.  It was heartwarming and a little sad.  Meryl Streep is amazing as Florence, she really went for it with the singing, since we already know she’s actually quite a good singer.  Hugh Grant is so good, I felt like I missed him and that I was watching an old friend.   The relationship between Florence and St Clair is complicated, he seems to deeply care about her but he also has a girl on the side and they live apart.

I wish I had as much ambition as Florence, she was an unapologetic go getter.  I mean I even struggled to write this little write-up a month later.  I really admired her for wanting what she wanted and trying to get it.  As a side note I watched this by myself and at times my children wandered into the room.  This resulted in both a ten-year old and a one year old mimicking Florence’s singing voice.  What a treat for my ears!

 

Strangers On A Train (1951)

Re watched: 2/20/2017

This is probably my favorite Hitchcock movie.  It’s really underrated and I think often forgotten.  It has just enough crazy and an unforgettable character.

Strangers on a train is about two strangers that meet on a train.  Ha!  That is the most basic sentence ever written.  The two men are Bruno and Guy.  Bruno discusses how he has the perfect plan to get away with murder.  If they each murder the person the other one wants dead, they could get away with it because nothing would link them to the murder.  Bruno wants his father dead and Guy is going through a divorce where his terrible soon to be ex cheated on him.  Guy laughs it off but when his ex winds up dead, he understands that Bruno decided to go through with his crazy plan.  And now Bruno expects Guy to hold up his end of the “deal” or he will plant evidence to frame Guy.

Bruno is bat shit cray.  He sort of just becomes a crazy stalker and he’s always two steps ahead of Guy.  Poor Guy is just to naïve to see he’s outmatched.  Anytime he thinks he’s got a plan, Bruno of course ruins it.  Bruno shows up to  a fancy party and puts his hands on a lady’s throat to show her how to murder someone.  Who does that!!!  My favorite scene is at a tennis match (Guy is a tennis player) and when everyone is watching the match going back and forth, Bruno just stares straight at Guy.  It is simple visually but extremely creepy.  The ending is amazing and features a carousel and I can’t give it away but it’s GREAT.

The entire time I re watched this I kept thinking how great it would be if this got remade with Kevin Spacey as Bruno.  I’m not sure who I would cast as Guy, although Colin Farrell popped into my head.  Kevin Spacey would be a great Bruno.  I also kept thinking how fun it would be to see this remade in modern times.  I doubt Bruno could do the things he does with the presence of social media and camera phones.

Southside With You (2016)

Watched: 2/19/2017

Southside With You is a sweet and refreshingly short movie about the supposed first date between Barack and Michelle Obama.  Even though Michelle insists that this is not a date, it’s pretty clear Barack thinks and wants it be.  They are played by Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers.  I really felt that Parker Sawyers captured the earnestness and charm of Barack while, I struggled a little believing Tika Sumpter as Michelle, only because I really like the real Michelle so much and Sumpter is a little less fun.

It’s an interesting take on the former first couple. Knowing where they end up and who they become, it’s fun to watch their early relationship.  Barack smokes a lot, which we know he won’t stop until many years later.  Michelle doesn’t want him paying for her sandwich, girl power!  My absolute favorite part is while in a park there are drummers and Michelle starts dancing with a little girl.  There is the fun Michele we know from Fallon!  And while she dances with abandon, Barack stays on the sidelines watching her, conveying how much he admires and only has eyes for her.  I’d like to believe that look originated as early as their first date.

I really liked this movie because I really liked this couple.  It would work as a cute movie about a first date regardless that it is about the Obama’s.  I’d like to see more from Parker Sawyers, he really captured the essence of Barack beautifully.

 

PS the struggle to find a picture for this post is ongoing, the struggle is real.

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Watched: 2/18/2017

Watched with: Ken & Andrew

I’m really not sure what was happening in this movie due to the glasses of wine I had directly before we started watching this.   Ken picked this movie for family movie night, after years of wanting Andrew and I to watch this.  I feel without a doubt his devotion of this movie has to do with Olivia Wilde’s hotness and nothing else.  When I asked him questions about the plot, he didn’t have any answers.  Hmmm.. guess he wasn’t paying attention either.

Since there is really nothing constructive to say about this, I just want to write a little about watching movies after already seeing later movies.  The effects of this movie reminded me of Rogue One: a star wars story.  The use of computer graphics to recreate complete people, was done well considering it is 6 years older than Rogue One.  I also could not stop thinking of Stranger Things every time the music played in this.  It’s weird watching a movie from 2010, reminded of stuff from 2016.   So in conclusion, I am really lloking forward to Stranger Things season 2 coming Halloween.

 

 

Arrival (2016)

Watched: 2/17/2017

Watched with: Ken

Arrival is very quiet, for a movie about language and communication.  It is very slow building, at times my eye lids got heavy.  The characters are incredibly impersonal with each other, with the exception of Jeremy Renner’s Ian.  He is the nicest person in this movie.  Amy Adams plays, Louise as both a scared mouse and seemingly reckless at the same time.  It’s as confusing, as the use of time in this movie.

Louise has been hired by the government to attempt to communicate with an alien race that has landed in 12 parts of the world.  Louise is questioned at every point of this process, why are you doing that, don’t do this.  She was hired for her expertise but they seem to undermine her work.  I was annoyed on her behalf.  Ian is the only one who really cares about these processes, making him a good partner for her.  She actually makes some progress and this is the strongest part of the movie for me.  The aliens are squid like and communicate by drawing symbols with their ink (?).

At the beginning all the 12 different landing sites are communicating with each other to discover all the best information.  At one point all this breaks down and everyone is on their own.  This is a powerful commentary on how the world does indeed need the rest of the world.

There is no way of knowing what he time frame for certain aspects of the plot.  You are led to believe something that later isn’t what is happening at all.  I still don’t know what exactly happened and when.   It’s all just weird and at times annoying.

Weiner (2016)

Watched: 2/15/2017

Anthony Weiner is one of the smartest idiots, I’ve ever seen.  He seems capable and passionate about government.  He has some great ideas, but he can’t help himself.  He was forced to resign from congress because of a sexting scandal.  This documentary follows his mayoral campaign and what happens during this time.

His beautiful wife, Huma Abedin, has stood by him through out all his transgressions.  She was Hilary Clinton’s right hand woman.  Hilary has described Huma, as her second daughter.  This is a smart, successful woman.  Why would she put up with both Anthony and the filming of this movie?   She is often seen distancing herself from everything, with a pained expression on her face.  She is a mother to  a small child, she exhausted both physically and mentally.  I felt the urge to shout Run Huma, Run!

Anthony’s campaign takes a turn when a second sexting scandal breaks out during a time he is actually doing well in the polls.  He is advised to stop running but he refuses based on the fact that his personal life has nothing to do with his political life.  At this point no one trusts him, including his staff.  He also gets into a heated argument while the cameras are rolling with a voter.  Why can’t he just stop this upsetting behavior?  Like a previously said , he does seem to have good ideas.  It would have been amazing to see what he could have accomplished if not for his inability to stop sexting strangers from facebook.

I have since read that Huma and Anthony have separated, possibly over another sex scandal that happened last year.  Now if only Huma could run for office, I think she’d win in a landslide.

The blogging experience

It’s been an interesting experience blogging.  It’s an exercise in discipline and arranging thoughts.  Since I’ve finally picked a lane and decided not to promote this blog as originally planned, I don’t see the point  of typing  when I can easily just use pen and paper to keep track of my thoughts.  So if you stumbled in here and read this blog, thank you.    Now if you will excuse me I have a movie to watch.