MyQuest | my thoughts on life's journey

All the Best Supporting Actresses in 5 minutes

The Hunger Games

I didn't get a chance to write about The Hunger Games after we saw it last Thursday (has it really been a week?).

I have not yet read any of the books.  I had intended to before the movie came out, but I've had plenty of other things on my reading list.  I kinda enjoyed seeing it not having read and will read the books now.

The film was a lot of fun.  I've read lots of interesting on-line and print discussions of the film from theological and spiritual perspectives, though those didn't resonate for me while watching it (as they usually do).  It was simply a disturbing but engrossing adventure story, which I thought was told relatively well.  The film had a few shortcomings, most of which I had seen pointed out in various reviews.  But I wasn't assuming it would be great art.  The best compliment I could give it was how often I was nervous, tense, or on the edge of my seat, which was quite a few times.

The filmmakers did a good job of creating a convincing world and inviting us into it.  I'm looking forward to reading the book and seeing the next film.

5 popcorn kernels
2  film reels 

John Carter

 Tonight we went to see John Carter and really enjoyed it.  It was the sort of fun, sprawling fantasy epic that you enjoy as a kid.  The visual effects were a delight without being overwhelming.  The story introduced just enough mysterious mythology to intrique you withous mystifying or confusing you (and fortunately they didn't spend a lot of time trying to explain things).  The supporting characters were enjoyable.

I have never read the books, but will put them on my list.  It is easy to see how this story influenced later science fiction and fantasy.  It seemed to have a few Wangerian influences on it.

Go for the fun of it.

5 popcorn kernels
3 film reels 

Oscars Predictions. Rather, My Oscar Rant

Actually I'm not going to go to the trouble of picking winners in each category (wow, how I used to get into this).  I haven't seen most of the films up for awards this year (another trend in recent years).  Not that I didn't have the chance -- most did have decent runs here -- I just wasn't interested in many of them.  I had no interest in seeing The Help, for a number of reasons, including the critique that black stories keep getting told through the lens of the white people involved.  The Descendants didn't look appealing on any level.  And so many others got bad reviews that kept me away, even The Iron Lady, which I had looked forward too (I am a big Margaret Thatcher fan and a big Meryl Streep fan, and if I decided the film didn't look appealing to spend my money and an evening on . . .).  I've already seen a fine film version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  And War Horse looked like sentimental poop.

Among those I did see,  a handful I didn't like or thought they were overrated (In reading articles this morning, one said it was the worst Oscar season ever as far as the quality of films competing).  Hugo was simply awful and a waste of both my time and money.  And though I liked Midnight in Paris, it was not a great or strong film, and I'm puzzled by its recognition.

Despite all that, there were amazing films this year.  Tree of Life is a masterpiece.  A. O. Scott wrote that it should be compared to Leaves of Grass and Moby Dick rather than Citizen Kane or Lawrence of Arabia.  I may not go quite that far, but close.  I think it among the greatest artistic achievements in the history of film and a film that transcends is medium to become a serious philosophical and theological work.  That Tree of Life wasn't the hands-down favourite to sweep awards was mind-boggling to me.

The only competition it should have had was Melancholia which is also a truly great film.  Kirsten Dunst should be winning best actress.  Von Trier might be a dick, but that shouldn't count against his film.  When Melancholia failed to pick up any Oscar nominations, I basically wrote the Academy off this year.

Margin Call was one of my favourites from the year.  Very well written, with sharp, fine performances, nice camera work and editing.  Should have been a Best Picture nominee.  

I also liked Weekend and found it a refreshing take on romance.

Meek's Cutoff was excellent.  Why isn't Michelle Williams nominated for it?

There were really fun popular films as well that had good qualities.  Super 8 had a splendid first 2/3 and a really crappy closing, but was still overall a much better film than Hugo.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes was consistently well-done popular entertainment.  Given how little of that appears these days, maybe it deserved a Best Picture nomination.

And don't forget Deathly Hallows, which was a strong film.  I had assumed that the Academy, especially with the expanded Best Picture category which hopes to include more blockbuster films, would nominate it in recognition of the entire series (which is the biggest money-making film series in history).  In particular, I had hoped that Alan Rickman would be nominated for supporting actor.  His performance of Snape through all the films was the sort of delight which is rare in films.  Maybe my most quoted movie line this year came from it, "Just because it's in your head doesn't mean it isn't real."

All that said, I enjoyed The Artist.  It is probably the third best film I saw this year.  It rises to some high artistry, particluarly in the Fellini-esque nightmare scene.  So, if it wins big, I won't mind. 

Therefore, I'm not really all that interested in the show this year, and am not even sure I'll care to watch.

Fifty years from now people will shake their heads and wonder why 2011 gave the award to How Green Was My Valley and not Citizen Kane.

The Artist

At first I was just enjoying the film, but not fully engaged in it.  Then came the nightmare sequence which was like a Fellini film with these Hitchcockian elements -- sheer artistry.

The film has its predictability and it cliches, but most of the latter to good effect.  It is among the most well crafted films I've seen in a while.  The stars are engaging, and it conveys emotion much better than most films.

After Hugo, which I did not like, I'm a little jaded on Hollywood navel-gazing.  This seems to be the year of Hollywood homaging itself.  The film really doesn't take you anywhere you haven't been before, and if you've seen Singin' in the Rain, you've got the basic idea (sans colour, sound, and musical numbers).

But, there are moments of true delight.  Besides the nighmare, my second favourite was a conversation between the leads, held on a staircase.  The wide shots reminded me of Fritz Lang and the entire conversation is easy to follow just from the looks on their faces.

It is the third best film from 2011 that I have seen.

4 film reels
4 popcorn kernels 

The Sin of Hiding

One of the excerpts in Creating Women's Theology was from Susan Nelson on the sin of hiding, which she says is the primary sin of women historically, not pride.  

A woman knows guilt for most of her life.  She is guilty if she is too assertive; she is guilty if she is too feminine and therefore seductive.  She is guilty if she is too brilliant, too articulate, too successful.  If she becomes pregnant, she is at falut.  If she chooses not to have children, she is guilty at best of denying her true femininity; at worst, of murder.  If her children are maladjusted, if they fail at school, get involved with drugs, or exhibit inappropriate behavior, it is her fault.  And, if her marriage fails, if her husband loses interest and chooses the attentions of another, it is because she has fallen short.

She continues:

Guilt, then, is directly related to the way in which a religion focuses on the nature of sin and to the way it then names and proclaims the forms of sin.

Reading this essay on Sunday, after having watched Winter's Bone, the two resonated together.  Rhee's offense of the cultural mores is that she will not remain silent.  She keeps asking questions.  She keeps invading spaces that she is not supposed to go.  One time another woman even asks, "Don't you have any men who can do this?"  

Rhee refuses to hide.  Rather, she actively works to create her self through decision and action.  She is an agent, a subject, and will not be made passive or an object.  

Winter's Bone

Sunday afternoon I watched Winter's Bone, and it exceeded all my already high expectations.

A powerful story, with mesmerizing characters, filled with suspense and dread, you are pulled into this world and fully captivated by it.  The writing, acting, directing, cinematography are all superb.  

It is a little old, so you've probably seen it, but if you haven't, you should.  It is the story of a 17-year-old girl in the Ozarks who is taking care of her family when the law informs her that her father had posted the house as bond and if he doesn't show for court, they will lose the house.  She then goes looking for him among the hill people to whom she is related, but who are private, violent people who don't like questions or the law.

I was struck immediately by the feeling that this was a real place and that these people were real, and that I grew up not far from people like this.  After watching the film my childhood accent emerged more strongly for the rest of the day -- something which always makes Michael laugh and mock me.

4 1/2 film reels
4 1/2 popcorn kernels 

Bridesmaids

Saturday evening Michael and I watched Bridesmaids finally.  He had wanted to see it in the movie theatre, but I didn't; I'm not a Kristen Wiig fan.

Okay, I enjoyed the film far more than I expected I would.  It is filled with really funny lines and sequences that had me pausing and almost falling off the sofa.

However, just like her skits on SNL, I think many sequences went on too long and the entire film dragged out and became too cliche.  Some moments were pretty uncomfortable and awkward.

The cop was cute.

3 popcorn kernels
2 film reels 

Margin Call

While folding laundry and sorting receipts, I watched Margin Call this afternoon.  It lived up to the reviews and positive comments I'd heard/read about it.

The basic plot is a Wall Street firm, circa late summer 2008, during the 24 hours in which they realize they don't have the capital to cover their projected losses.

It is tightly constructed, with some fantastic dialogue, and a marvelous cast.  This is one of those films everyone should watch in order to understand more about the period we are living through.  I'm surprised it hasn't done better this awards season.

4 popcorn kernels
3 1/2 film reels 

Hollywood's gay sex taboo

A Daily Beast article discusses the Hollywood taboo on gay sex.

Real societal change is always the product of the stories we see. In 1967,Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner made interracial marriage normal just months after the Supreme Court ruled that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. That’s why there’s more at stake in this gay-sex debate than just the titillation. If Hollywood refuses to push boundaries, to make more people comfortable with something that a segment of America is still uncomfortable with, gay people remain second-class citizens.