The Big Year

I have said this before, but movies are my way of going to another place. It may appear that I have not even seen any movies lately, but that is not true. I just have not written about them. I recently saw a movie though that took me to a place that I needed to go. Although the people sitting in front of me were more interested in the videos on their phone and their kids kept calling for their dad sitting on a different row, I was able to really enjoy the film. By the way that is what you get when you go to a matinee at the dollar theater.

The film was the Big Year. It stars Owen Wilson, Jack Black, and Steve Martin. All funny on their own, and also funny in different styles. I was not sure how they would blend together. Jack Black can have a tendency to over do it, and steal the show. Much to my surprise, and appreciation he did not. It reminded me of his role in the Holiday.

The Big Year is about the hobby of birding. Birding is going out and seeing different kinds of bird species. A big year is a contest among birders to see how many species of bird they can see in North America. Owen Wilson is the world record holder, and is going for another big year record. Steve Martin is CEO of a huge company, and wants to retire and go for a big year. Jack Black is a divorced computer tech that lives with his parents. Black has an amazing ability to name birds based on their songs. He does not have much going for him, and wants to try a big year.

The film follows the three of them throughout the year as they all try for a big year. Since birds are seasonal, all three our found in the same areas to try and see the same types of birds. The three begin to get to know each other while they keeping bumping into each other all over the country. Martin and Black become close friends, and try to help each other.

Throughout the film though each guy has events happen at home that distract them, and also helps them put life into perspective.  Each one will make different choices though when the events come up. I loved how each character was in different phases in life, and were facing the events that come up in those phases. I know it sounds vague, but I don't want to give to much way. The film introduces a specific relationship that each character has. Owen Wilson and his current wife, Jack Black and his father, Steve Martin and himself. All relationship that in a sense we have and can relate to. I loved how I was reminded of my relationships, the importance of them, and the effort I put into them.

I left the movie, and thought about what I could do this next year that would be my big year. Although I have done stuff this year, I do not feel like it was a huge year. I walked out thinking how I should go after what I love. Why let stuff hold me back. Jack Blacks character maxed out credit cards, and risked his job, and relied on other people to help him out but he was going out and doing what he loved. I then tried to decide what I love that much to travel the country.

Now I know that it is somewhat unrealistic for me to put everything on hold and go around watching high school basketball around the country, or traveling to every Jazz game. However, I cannot just sit around wondering what I am going to do with life. I just need to go out and do it. See more plays, go to more community events, when invited somewhere go. So far it is just talk, but hopefully I will make this year a big year.

On a side note, the song during the closing credits was a Guster song which is one my favorite bands.

The show may not have the same affect on you, plus you probably will not be in a soul searching, go to a movie by yourself kind of mood, but I think it is a simple comedy with a good message. The actors blended well, and each added something, and didn't take away from the movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053810/

Midnight in Paris

 

Movies are my books. People read books to be taken to a different world, one that is different from theirs, and can act as an escape from the mundane world that they live in. People read a book to connect with a character. People place themselves in the story and can just relate. People admire that character, and feel like that character is them. They then will take the courage of that character and use it in their life. That is the power of books, the author creates this world, and we see ourselves in it. It is a way to escape from our problems, and trails.

Now I like to think I enjoy reading and read on a regular basis, but I don't. It is hard for me to keep reading a book, that is why I do movies. Not every movie can have that power of a book, but from time to time I get lost in the movie, and come out thinking about how I want to live in the world of

                                                   

                                             John Keating in Dead Poets Society

                                                  or Will Hunting in Good Will Hunting 

                                                    or Scotty Smalls in the Sandlot

Now I must first say that I am not comparing this movie, or the story anywhere near that of those I mentioned. But it was a movie that I really connected with right now with where I am right now. I must add that I went to this movie alone, during the day on a Tuesday, and was the only one in the theater which was a first.




Midnight in Paris stars Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and Kathy Bates. Owen Wilson is a movie writer that is trying is luck at writing a novel, and is currently engaged to Rachel McAdams. They are on vacation with her parents in Paris, and Owen Wilson loves Paris, and the idea of Paris.

He just wants to walk around Paris and take it in. We all have an era that we dream about growing up in. Mine is definitely the 50's when kids rode their bikes, and life was so simple. Owen Wilson's character would love to have lived in 1920's in Paris.

That is where F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Cole Porter where hanging out. Paris is where the artists, and thinkers of that generation went to do their thing. When McAdams wants to do other things and spend time with this old friend that they bumped into, Wilson got his chance to just explore Paris.

He found this world that was all that he could wish for. He goes back each night, and is able to look at his live and find a direction that is best for him. He also learns what it means to love, and to take chances, and doing what you believe in. Then when he comes back to reality he applies what he learned.

What I gained from this cinematic experienced while at the theater on a Tuesday afternoon by myself was that I need to follow my dreams, to not fear the result, but to go at it with my head up and do what I love. That I can't just stay at McDonald's getting fresh fries for complaining customers, I can't continue to go to movies by myself on weekday afternoons. I need to find my passion for a job, and do it. I need to find someone to attend these movies with me on Friday and Saturday evenings(although they are a lot cheaper on a Tuesday afternoon).

If by chance you do go see this you might not get anything close to that from the movie, and when it comes down to it, it is a creative story and a twist to the cookie cutter romantic comedy. And I think you will enjoy it. Owen Wilson did a great job, he is one of my favorite actors with his casual acting that seems so natural, and his simple humor.

Easy A

This movie isn't exactly new, but it was the next movie on my blockbuster Que. And with seeing Emma Stone in Crazy Stupid Love, I wanted to see her in something else. I wasn't sure what this movie was about before viewing it, but I have decided I like going into a movie not knowing much and letting it tell me the story from scratch.

Nothing drives me more crazy than watching a movie with someone that wont wait for the movie to explain something. Seriously, just wait. That might be why I am privy to going to the movies alone or I am just that pathetic, not sure.

So Easy A is a Mean Girls like movie. They are so much a like that they are both stared with red heads that narrate the movie. At least one isn't crazy. Emma Stone is an average girl in high school, and one day her friend asks her about her weekend and Emma Stone, who is rather sarcastic in the show jokes that she was with some guy from a community college. The friend begins to assume that she had hooked up with this guy, and all of a sudden the rumor spread through out the whole school. She was now the school bimbo.

Now we all have had rumors started about us, and we can react two ways, either you deny it, or not deny it. By not denying it people just assume it is true. That is the road Emma Stone chose, and mainly it was because people now noticed her, she wasn't average anymore. Then the rumor turns to more rumors and she is now getting return from guys to just let them say things happened, but in all reality nothing ever happened. She then is playing into the rumor and it gets to the point where she starts to believe it and she hits rock bottom. The ending was alright, a little anti climatic, but it was creative in a sense that it incorporated things that had been mentioned earlier in the show, so maybe a cute coincidence.

This movie really brings out the question do we care what people think about us if we are getting attention? People want to be noticed, even shy quiet people, people that make fun of popular people, everyone wants to be noticed. Its just natural.

But does it matter what is getting us noticed. This girl had let a rumor between her and her friend change how the whole school thought of her. And it wasn't good, she was the girl that slept around with everyone. In the end the movie shows that it does matter, that it is better to not be noticed than to be thought negatively. And really people notice a lot more then they let on, so why make what they notice be negative.

One of my favorite parts about the movie was the interaction between Emma Stone and her parents. It was a lot of give and take, and sarcasm, and I thought that the family was well casted. Overall an average movie, funny lines but just mindless entertainment really.

Flipped

I took this week off from work, and school is out for a couple weeks. So I had some free time, and I had my Blockbuster DVD of the week that I can trade in at any location as many times I want a month, on hand.

 I went in and sadly they didn't have the movie I first wanted so I wondered around, it gets tough to choose when you have already seen most of the new releases. I chose Flipped, the girl at the desk said it was a cute movie, and I felt like I could trust her since she worked at Blockbuster.

Flipped ended up being a cute movie, feel weird calling it cute, but I guess that it what it was. It is a love story between two kids. There really aren't any big name actors in the movie, but the lead actors Madeline Carroll and Callan McAuliffe did a great job. Both are young, but did really well.

Callan's grandpa in the movie is John Mahoney, the dad in Frasier. Mahoney plays a similar roll that he did in Dan in Real Life. The quiet guy off to the side that just sees everything, and then he has his big moment where he knocks some sense into everyone.

Besides being reminded of childhood crushes, and the elementry relationships that we all laugh about now. And it is protrayed really well in this movie. But the way the story is told is what intruged me the most.

It starts out with the boys perspective, and how he moved into this new house and the first day this neighboor girl comes over and starts bugging him right off the bat and it never stops until the eighth grade.

Then it goes back to the begining and the girl tells her story about how it all started, and the story telling goes back and forth and you are able to see both sides of the story, and it makes you laugh seeing how one person takes something compared to the other.

This movie also reminded me of a movie called Little Manhattan. A cute little movie about young kids in love. It is funny to watch young kids think that they are in love and that they have found the one. I recommend both of these movies, if you are wanting to be reminded of those childhood love stories that we can laugh about, and even bring to light what really matters in a relationship, the simple things. A side note, to that last comment. I heard someone tell me on the golf course this week, while telling me why someone he knows got a divorce, it was because they couldn't say sorry. Something so simple.

Poll Results-Tom Hanks Best Movie

I first would like to thank all those who cast their votes for their favorite Tom Hanks movie. I thought I put a variety of his movies, he does a few different styles, which is probably why he is so successful, he has not fallen into a trap where he plays the same part time and time again. The most popular by a long shot was Forrest Gump. With Saving Private Ryan coming in second and the Other category rounding out the top three. I am curious as to which those were referring to.

I would have gone with Forrest Gump as well, he played the part so well. You seem to just fall in love with the character. I think we all want to be like Forrest, in the way that he sees the world as a place for opportunity. He doesn't see any limitations, and just goes.

We seem to put restrictions on ourselves, and regret not taking advantage of a what is placed in front of us. We almost make fun of people that are so naive, and innocent, but they are the ones not caught up in all the stuff that we cannot control.

They are actually able to enjoy life, while we are sitting here watching the news wondering what is going to happen with the national debt problem, who is the next president, will there be and NBA season, who is going to win American Idol, and all those issues that keep us up at night. Forrest though doesn't see that as he goes through some of the most shaping decades of our countries history.

I know that I look at him, and wish I could just be that carefree and happy. That is why I like it, it is a creative way to portray American history, and it does it through the eyes of a character we all want to be like deep down.

Saving Private Ryan is also an excellent movie, very well done, and makes you grateful for the brave soldiers that fight for our freedom. And also brings us a young Matt Damon that does a great job.

I think that some of Tom Hanks best work is his early stuff. The Burbs, and the Money Pitt are what come to mind though. Simple humor, which is what I love. If you haven't seen them, I would recommend them to anyone.

Crazy Heart

Crazy Heart is about a washed up country musician that is an alcoholic, and is traveling around the southwest doing small gigs.

Jeff Bridges, who before seeing him in True Grit earlier this year I didn't know who he was. But have come to really enjoy his acting. He plays a very good drunk western style character. I thought he did a good job. While staying in Santa Fe he meets a young reporter girl, who seems to change everything for him. The girl is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who we know from the Dark Knight.

She does a good job, I just did not like the way the relationship between Gyllenhaal and Bridges was developed. He met her one day half drunk and next scene they are in love, and she comes across a little desperate, and maybe the type of person that keeps making bad decisions when it comes to relationships, which turns out to be somewhat true. Plus Jeff Bridges is playing a 57 year old guy, and she is noticably younger, kind of weird.But I just felt like the story was not developed very well, and you just had to assume there was more that wasn't shown, which I don't really like that.

 Now I am not really one for country music, or so I thought. The music in the movie is more of a country western style, and I really enjoyed it. It wasn't this catchy pop country that kind of turns me off. Now when I saw that Colin Farrell was in it, I am a little excited, but not because I think he is a great actor. We all have a movie that comes to mind when you think of an actor, and for Colin Farrell I think of American Outlaws, and I really like that movie, but he sure comes across as a cheesy actor. I put him in the same category as Nicholas Cage, bad actor entertaining movies.

The actor that really made the movie for me was Robert Duvall. I think he is one of those old school actors that knows how to really get into character. He did a great job, although it was a small part. I feel like everyone in the movie comes out a winner, but it was a little slow and anticlimactic. So I was a bit disappointed, by the story telling aspect of the movie. The aspect of a man changing his life for a girl, and trying do become better is good, just could have been told a little more detailed.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

For all the office lovers we were probably looking forward to seeing Steve Carell, and he doesn't let us down. Carell is funny as always, not over the top, just does a good job. When seeing the previews one might think that it is a romantic comedy with more comedy then romantic, but after seeing it I would say it is more romantic then comedy. Now there are plenty of things to laugh at, but it was more Dan in Real Life, then Date Night. I also felt that it dragged a little at parts. There is a specific scene about hour and a half in where it turns, and you almost forget that it was dragging. There are surprises, and a good ending.

On a philosophical, those that have talked personally with me about movies, know that I really like the movie Serendipity. The idea is also something that I feel strongly about. There is someone out there for you, and in Crazy, Stupid, Love. that idea is focused on. We all know that Carell's part is getting a divorce, and one aspect of the movie is how the divorce affects his 13 year old son, who is beginning to think about love. At first I was disappointed in the message the movie was sending, that divorce is no big deal, and that you can just move on and not work through the tough times. As the movie went on I got a different message, and really liked the ending.

I thought that the chemistry of the actors was really good. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling clicked really well, and Ryan Gosling played his part great, and he played off of Steve Carell really well. Kevin Bacon made an appearance and he is kind of one of those cheesy actors that does a good job, but you aren't sure if you can take him serious. He played his part well though. Overall I was going into the movie expecting comedy, and it wasn't as funny as expected, but it was a fun movie, but not my favorite movie. One of those movies where the previews showed the funnier jokes.

Adam

Adam is an independent film about a guy that has aspergers disease. He lives with his dad until his dad passes away, and it shows the struggles he goes through the first little bit. There is this girl that moves into his apartment building, and she tries to be friends with him, and at first he doesn't really give her any attention and you can tell she doesn't understand, and thinks he just isn't interested. Then he will get her to go do something or will show her something, and she begins to understand that he has aspergers. They set up a lot situations where you can see how the girl responds to Adam and his aspergers. I felt like there was good chemistry between the two actors, and they filled their roles perfectly. The movie is funny, dramatic, has a really good soundtrack, and an ending that some don't like, but it also leaves it open for contemplation on what is going to happen. I personally thought it was a really good ending.

I am beginning to really enjoy independent films, like (500) Days of Summer, and Adam, movies that are done a little different, but have a good story, and I feel like they focus a lot on actual dialogue and also the music seems to always fit. There usually aren't big name actors so you are able to see people as they are beginning their acting career. I would recommend this film, and hope that you enjoy it.

Super 8

A movie that I really didn't know a lot about going into it. But I quickly fell in love with it. At first you are reminded of the Goonies. There is an conflict with the main character, who was starring in his first movie and did an amazing job. Once the conflict is introduced you meet all of his friends. I thought that the chemistry of the group of kids was perfect. Similar to the Goonies. The kids are filming a movie using a super 8 camera. Which if you stay through the credits you end up seeing the finished movie that they made. There is of course a love interest, which brings in even more drama. There is a big train crash, and it seems like there is some sort of alien like creature that was on the train. The rest of the movie is the kids trying figure out what it is. There was no "Hey you guys", but it was overall a very exciting movie, that kept my interest right to the end. There is the cheesy 80's like movie ending, but I feel that just adds to it, and why I liked it so much. Know we will see if the main actor becomes our next football hero.

Zooey Deschanel - "So Long" (Winnie the Pooh OST) FULL SONG

Taken Back to My Childhood

I went with my mom and sister to see Winnie the Pooh. And it really did take me back to my childhood. Winnie the Pooh was always one of my favorite shows as a little kid. I remember my best friend growing up loved it as well, and that is what we always watched. While sitting in the theater I thought about those childhood memories of playing in the sandbox, setting up a lemonade stand, playing cowboys and indians, creating this huge plans of how we were going to make a theme park, playing in mud, riding old skateboards that we had found down the ditch in my backyard, having sleep overs each month that Disney came out with another Disney Original Movie, we would have pizza soda and watch the movie back to back. The movie was of course a little childish, as it is intended to be. It is a classic tail(spelled like that on purpose) of the Winnie the Pooh gang solving a problem, lots of honey, and it has a part where each character is able to shine. And the credits song by Zoe Deschanel was enjoyable as well. The movie is rather short so you feel scammed paying full price for such a short film, but the memories and feelings it brought back were worth it. There were probably only 10 people in the theater, while I am sure the one next to us which was Harry Potter was full, but I know I made the right choice by seeing my childhood favorite Winnie the Pooh.

My Blue Heaven

I am going through a phase of watching movies from the 80's and early 90's. I get on IMDB, search an actor, and then add their movies to my blockbuster que. Right now I am going through Steve Martin movies. My Blue Heaven was made in 1990. It has Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, and Joan Cusack. Steve Martin plays an Italian mobster that was just put into the witness protection program, and Rick Moranis is the FBI agent that is supposed to watch over him. Martin plays a pretty good Italian, he even changed his hair color. It obiviously had a Steve Martin twist to the part, but I thought he played the part well. Martin finds a way to continue to get into trouble and that is when Joan Cusack comes into the film. She is the assistant general attorney, and Joan Cusack who I think plays all of her parts so well, did a really good job. I find her really funny. She is going through a divorce, as is Moranis, the nerdy FBI agent. Of course each time Martin gets into trouble Moranis has to come and get Martin out of jail, and that is when one of the greatest on screen romances begins. Rick Moranis and Joan Cusack. I will let you picture that. Needless to say the movie has a happy ending, but like most of these old movies it is a very simple movie, and simple humor, which is what I enjoy. I thought that Rick Moranis and Steve Martin and Joan Cusack all played off of each other well, and had great chemistry. Overall 3.5 stars.(I go off of the the tradition 0-5 stars rating system).

I Like Movies

I like movies. I like a simple story, a complex story, a good cast, a memorable musical score, a good fight scene, bring me to the edge of my seat, thought provoking, and a meaningful message. You wont find that in every movie, and I am not looking for that in every movie I watch. I just want to be entertained and those are the aspects that bring that satisfaction. I don't get caught up in cinematography, and all that stuff that the Oscars is about. I am easily entertained. For example, some of my favorite movies are Dumb and Dumber, Sound of Music, The Back to the Future Series, Sandlot, Breakfast Club, Remember the Titans, 310 to Yuma, Forrest Gump, Marry Poppins, and Fletch. It is a pretty wide range of movies.

My goal is to give a personal review of current movies, and also bring back some movies from the past. I am not going to be able to see all the movies coming out, but I will see most of the popular movies (except Harry Potter, haven't seen any of them and just not interested, sorry).

If you want me to see a movie just ask, hopefully I can give a review that will give you a good idea if you will like it. I will try to give my thoughts on past movies so you can base my thoughts towards yours. I am a big fan of blockbuster, not Netflix, and with the recent price increase for all you Netflix subscribers, I am sorry but come join Blockbuster. (Not sure if you knew but all non new releases are a dollar for a day, that's better than Redbox, which I wouldn't use if I didn't have a bunch of coupons from work). Plus there is just something nice about going out to Blockbuster and getting a movie, getting some ice cream and going home and enjoying the film.