Apocalypse. Time Travel. Love. Heartache. What more could you want from a 28 minute film? This film is entirely done in still pictures. The original language is French, but I viewed it dubbed in English on Netflix instant view. Normally I strongly prefer subtitles over dubbing, but since this was in still pictures, it didn’t matter. I’m not going to say more since it’s difficult not to give away spoilers in such a short film, but I highly recommend it if you’re interested in any of the above.
Julie and Julia was a pleasant surprise for me. Of course I knew it was about Julia Child, but funnily enough, I didn’t know it was also somewhat about blogging! I remember watching Julia Child on PBS when I was a kid and thought she was the funniest thing. Meryl Streep has to be one of the best (if not the best) actresses of all time. She played Julia sooooooo well. I’ve loved Amy Adams in other movies, but to me she was a little disappointing in this film. All in all, though, I really liked the film. I most enjoyed learning more about Julia’s life — she was quite a character. [Side note: Did you know Julia was 6'2" tall? Her husband made special kitchen counters for her!]
I don’t even like cooking all that much except for a few dishes that my family loves me to make, but I may just have to get Julie Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The recipes looked and sounded delicious!
Since there’s been so many highly anticipated films that have come out recently, my family’s been on a bit of a movie watching binge. Luckily, my theater’s first showings of the day are only $4.00 — even for a new film! We’re sci-fi nuts at our house, so we’ve been anxiously awaiting these three films. I’m not going to give full reviews on these, but I would like to briefly state my thoughts on each.
Star Trek. Grade: A+
Absolutely loved this. Casting was perfect, and I loved the storyline. One of my sons has a problem with movies and books that have time travel involved, so he didn’t care as much for the story as the rest of us. I, however, loved it! Even my sister, who’s not really into Star Trek at all, really liked the movie.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine.Grade: A
This movie definitely answers all your questions about the origins of Wolverine. Jackman was awesome, and so was Liev Schreiber. The opening sequence of the movie is really great. I liked this movie much better than the third X-Men film.
Terminator Salvation. Grade: B-
Disappointed. I actually almost gave this a C+. I love all the Terminator films and we’ve also seen all of the Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles episodes on TV. This was our (and I mean all four of us!) favorite show on television, but sadly, it got cancelled. So I was really excited that the fourth installment of the films was coming out.
Christian Bale is absolutely one of my favorite actors, so it pains me to say I really didn’t like him in this. He acted it well, but there was really no heart to the story. The only heart I saw came from the characters Marcus Wright and Blair. Some of the machines were particularly cool, like the ‘motorcycle’ terminators. However, I really despised some of the sound in the film. Terminators are machines, not animals. Some of the sounds coming from them were almost like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Didn’t care for that at all. One more thing — some of the terminators in LA were wearing bandanas. Campy. Just dumb. This is my least favorite film of the franchise, and I must say that the TV series is also better. That makes me sad because I really wanted to love this.
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So if you’re in the market for a movie this weekend and you’re into sci-fi, I’d choose Star Trek or Wolverine over Terminator Salvation.
I watched this movie from Netflix instant viewing to wrap up my Jewish Literature Challenge. I also used it for the Orbis Terrarum Film Challenge.
Words cannot describe how much I loved this movie. It’s a film about love, hospitality, and above all, faith. Ushpizin means “holy guests,” and when Moshe and Mali have unexpected guests during the Succoth holiday, their faith is not only tested, but also their love for one another. This is a must see if you are interested at all in the Jewish experience. Highly recommended.
Awesome trailer — I’m very excited for this movie to come out. I love Christian Bale, and I love the whole Terminator saga, including the TV series (probably my favorite right now since Battlestar Galactica is over). I may have to take my kids out of school on opening day for this one (aren’t I a cool mom?). [For the record, we went on Saturday morning.]
I’m a sci-fi nut, so of course a few years ago I just had to see the movie Solaris with George Clooney. I loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. I loved it so much that I not only have watched the film over 20 times, but I also own the soundtrack and the Criterion Collection Russian version. And now, I’ve read the book written by Polish author Stanislaw Lem in 1961.
I did love the book as well, but perhaps only because I love the movies so much. There is a lot more science involved in the novel, which I didn’t mind (and even enjoyed) because I’m sort of a geek that way. It made me appreciate the movies even more and understand more of what the scientists were actually doing in their study of the planet Solaris. I relished the additional background story that the movies didn’t have time to go into.
Soundtrack
I’m not going to say much of what the book and/or movie is about, because it would just spoil it too much for those who aren’t familiar with them. Let me just say that it is a pschological romance in a sci-fi setting. The movies do concentrate more on the romance while the book is more sci-fi, but I loved all aspects of the both the book and movie versions. I also love the soundtrack by Cliff Martinez in the Clooney movie. I even listened to it while I read the novel!
The movie also introduced me to what is now one of my favorite poems:
DVD
And death shall have no dominion. Dead men naked they shall be one With the man in the wind and the west moon; When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone, They shall have stars at elbow and foot; Though they go mad they shall be sane, Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again; Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.
And death shall have no dominion. Under the windings of the sea They lying long shall not die windily; Twisting on racks when sinews give way, Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break; Faith in their hands shall snap in two, And the unicorn evils run them through; Split all ends up they shan’t crack; And death shall have no dominion.
And death shall have no dominion. No more may gulls cry at their ears Or waves break loud on the seashores; Where blew a flower may a flower no more Lift its head to the blows of the rain; Though they be mad and dead as nails, Heads of the characters hammer through daisies; Break in the sun till the sun breaks down, And death shall have no dominion. – Dylan Thomas
1961, 204 pp. 4.5/5
If you’re still reading this review, you might be interested in some youtube videos of the movies. This first one is George Clooney reading the poem. Note: Stop at 1:30 if you don’t want to see spoilers!
This next one is one of my favorite scenes from the Russian DVD version:
And this last one is some scenes from the modern version highlighting the soundtrack:
"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? (1 Peter 3:12-13, ESV)
