movie raves
Here are some fantastic movies, some of which didn't get a lot of press, which deserve to be noticed and "talked up."
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson light up the screen in this less-than-perfect family. Harrelson's character struggles with his wife's success in the literary field (his success at music has escaped him), but she shows him agape love, always trying to understand where he is coming from. She is gracious and kind, resourceful and clever...and when necessary, tough. It brings Proverbs 31 to mind. The movie is also a stylistic treat, full of witty dialogue and jingles.
Shopgirl: Why was this movie not raved over, talked up, and given Oscars? It is as uncomfortably honest as a real romance is. I can't say that I "liked" the film...Many parts of it hurt to watch. It is awkward and unconventional. But I thought to myself, what I am seeing here is real. And because it is real, it is genuinely funny. In the relationship between Ray and Mirabelle, you cringe and think, This should not be happening. And so you should. It shouldn't feel right because it isn't. And Jeremy is right for Mirabelle, but he isn't perfect and they may or may not live happily ever after. He may have learned a thing or two, but he is still Jeremy...he is still wierd and flawed and a bit self-absorbed. The music, while swelling at times, somehow does not overwhelm the film. I had to ask myself why this was. And I think it is because the music and the acting are telling us the same story. If we were to isolate one from the other, we would get the same emotional story from either one. The music only enhances what we are already seeing on the screen. But the biggest rave should go to Claire Danes. This is a woman who can really act. So much goes on on her face without her saying a word. That ability to convey emotion without being rescued by (the easy way out), words, is the rarest gift in Hollywood. She is amazing...
A Prairie Home Companion: As a newcomer to the culture of white/Scandinavian Minnesotans, it has taken me a while to catch on to the ENORMOUS phenomenon that is Garrison Keillor, but as I have slowly done so, I have just fallen in love with his gentle, understated storytelling and love of the eccentric. He is what you would get if the Coen brothers were gentle and quiet. This movie lets us in to the world that seems to constantly tumble around in his head: a word of characters, folksy music, self-deprecating humor, sometimes (mildly) bawdy jokes, and speech that is fundamentally concerned with the story. This is not a one-plot driven movie...it is a celebration of stories plural. Keillor speaks not with propositions and positions, but with stories. It is his dialect, his language. And I adore it. Not only that, but in this movie you find out that Lindsay Lohan, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, and John C. Reilly can really sing!
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson light up the screen in this less-than-perfect family. Harrelson's character struggles with his wife's success in the literary field (his success at music has escaped him), but she shows him agape love, always trying to understand where he is coming from. She is gracious and kind, resourceful and clever...and when necessary, tough. It brings Proverbs 31 to mind. The movie is also a stylistic treat, full of witty dialogue and jingles.
Shopgirl: Why was this movie not raved over, talked up, and given Oscars? It is as uncomfortably honest as a real romance is. I can't say that I "liked" the film...Many parts of it hurt to watch. It is awkward and unconventional. But I thought to myself, what I am seeing here is real. And because it is real, it is genuinely funny. In the relationship between Ray and Mirabelle, you cringe and think, This should not be happening. And so you should. It shouldn't feel right because it isn't. And Jeremy is right for Mirabelle, but he isn't perfect and they may or may not live happily ever after. He may have learned a thing or two, but he is still Jeremy...he is still wierd and flawed and a bit self-absorbed. The music, while swelling at times, somehow does not overwhelm the film. I had to ask myself why this was. And I think it is because the music and the acting are telling us the same story. If we were to isolate one from the other, we would get the same emotional story from either one. The music only enhances what we are already seeing on the screen. But the biggest rave should go to Claire Danes. This is a woman who can really act. So much goes on on her face without her saying a word. That ability to convey emotion without being rescued by (the easy way out), words, is the rarest gift in Hollywood. She is amazing...
A Prairie Home Companion: As a newcomer to the culture of white/Scandinavian Minnesotans, it has taken me a while to catch on to the ENORMOUS phenomenon that is Garrison Keillor, but as I have slowly done so, I have just fallen in love with his gentle, understated storytelling and love of the eccentric. He is what you would get if the Coen brothers were gentle and quiet. This movie lets us in to the world that seems to constantly tumble around in his head: a word of characters, folksy music, self-deprecating humor, sometimes (mildly) bawdy jokes, and speech that is fundamentally concerned with the story. This is not a one-plot driven movie...it is a celebration of stories plural. Keillor speaks not with propositions and positions, but with stories. It is his dialect, his language. And I adore it. Not only that, but in this movie you find out that Lindsay Lohan, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, and John C. Reilly can really sing!
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