Flicks.
I got the chance to see two movies that I think I TiVo'ed AGES ago, two movies that have been collecting dust, waiting patiently for me to get around to them.
Sherrybaby, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, was good but depressing. Sherry Swanson has recenlty been released from jail, where she served time for a drug-related robbery. Once she's released, she contacts her brother, Bobby, who has been keeping her child (Alexis) for her while she's been in the clink. The movie then follows Sherry as she tries to stay clean and put her life back together post-prison. Gyllenhaal is AMAZING in this. Really amazing. (I am a fan since The Secretary, but this cements it.) If anyone has any doubts as to whether she can act, this should answer them. The storyline is a downer, though, as nothing seems to go right for Sherry. The tension between her and her brother over the fate of the child, the vestiges of an abusive relationship with her father, her struggles with addiction, her desperate need to be loved - it all adds up to rather morose entertainment. But it is charged with meaning and blessed with good performances, making it worth seeing in my book. FYI - there is LOTS of language and nudity.
I also had the chance to see Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, and (again) Maggie Gyllenhaal, and I thought it was a delightful, refreshing movie. The story is about Harold Crick (Ferrell), a rather lonely and way too fastidious IRS agent. Harold lives an unremarkable life, ruled by his wristwatch, until one day, he begins hearing a voice in his head (Emma Thompson). The voice quite accurately narrates everything he is doing and thinking. At first, Harold considers this simply a nuisance. That is, until the voice mentions his "imminent death." (That catches his attention.) Harold immediately begins to try and figure out who the voice is and how he can avoid his sad fate. He goes to Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), a literature teacher, for help. Together, he and Jules identify that he's in a tragedy written by a reculsive (and nearly suicidal) author. Harold tracks down his author, introduces himself as her main character, and begs for his life.
When this movie came out, I remember hearing (and thinking) that it sounded eerily reminscent of The Truman Show, but I was wrong, wrong. It is quirkier, and I think ultimately better. It's about the creative process - the author creates a character that is so real, and then she is faced with killing this person. And is she really just writing these novels (in which the main character ALWAYS dies) as a way to deal with her own suicidal tendencies? And, were she to save Harold Crick, what would that mean? Her novel (the story) would fall apart, but Harold would live. I saw a brief interview with the director, and he said he thought the movie was about saving lives - how people save each other's lives every day by doing little things that open up their worlds and encourage people to really live.
It was an interesting, entertaining, superbly-cast film, and I encourage you to see it as soon as possible. Performances are wonderful, script is fresh, and the ideology of it all gives your brain something to chew on for a few days. In addition, some of the cleverest lines I've heard in a while. Rated PG13, this would be a great family movie.
Sherrybaby, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, was good but depressing. Sherry Swanson has recenlty been released from jail, where she served time for a drug-related robbery. Once she's released, she contacts her brother, Bobby, who has been keeping her child (Alexis) for her while she's been in the clink. The movie then follows Sherry as she tries to stay clean and put her life back together post-prison. Gyllenhaal is AMAZING in this. Really amazing. (I am a fan since The Secretary, but this cements it.) If anyone has any doubts as to whether she can act, this should answer them. The storyline is a downer, though, as nothing seems to go right for Sherry. The tension between her and her brother over the fate of the child, the vestiges of an abusive relationship with her father, her struggles with addiction, her desperate need to be loved - it all adds up to rather morose entertainment. But it is charged with meaning and blessed with good performances, making it worth seeing in my book. FYI - there is LOTS of language and nudity.
I also had the chance to see Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, and (again) Maggie Gyllenhaal, and I thought it was a delightful, refreshing movie. The story is about Harold Crick (Ferrell), a rather lonely and way too fastidious IRS agent. Harold lives an unremarkable life, ruled by his wristwatch, until one day, he begins hearing a voice in his head (Emma Thompson). The voice quite accurately narrates everything he is doing and thinking. At first, Harold considers this simply a nuisance. That is, until the voice mentions his "imminent death." (That catches his attention.) Harold immediately begins to try and figure out who the voice is and how he can avoid his sad fate. He goes to Professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), a literature teacher, for help. Together, he and Jules identify that he's in a tragedy written by a reculsive (and nearly suicidal) author. Harold tracks down his author, introduces himself as her main character, and begs for his life.
When this movie came out, I remember hearing (and thinking) that it sounded eerily reminscent of The Truman Show, but I was wrong, wrong. It is quirkier, and I think ultimately better. It's about the creative process - the author creates a character that is so real, and then she is faced with killing this person. And is she really just writing these novels (in which the main character ALWAYS dies) as a way to deal with her own suicidal tendencies? And, were she to save Harold Crick, what would that mean? Her novel (the story) would fall apart, but Harold would live. I saw a brief interview with the director, and he said he thought the movie was about saving lives - how people save each other's lives every day by doing little things that open up their worlds and encourage people to really live.
It was an interesting, entertaining, superbly-cast film, and I encourage you to see it as soon as possible. Performances are wonderful, script is fresh, and the ideology of it all gives your brain something to chew on for a few days. In addition, some of the cleverest lines I've heard in a while. Rated PG13, this would be a great family movie.
Comments
I miss you and wish I could meet your cute baby!!
When (if) you come down this way next, I would love you to meet little man!