January 8th, 2010 at 2:10 am
by sillyjoe (Adventures in Randomosity, Life and Introspection, The Movie Corner)
How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life… you start with the little things. The shelves, the drawers, the knickknacks, then you start adding larger stuff. Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, your TV… the backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. You go bigger. Your couch, your car, your home… I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now I want you to fill it with people. Start with casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around the office… and then you move into the people you trust with your most intimate secrets. Your brothers, your sisters, your children, your parents and finally your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. You get them into that backpack, feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life. All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises. The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living. Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not swans. We are sharks.
That quote from Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air covers Ryan Bingham’s entire philosophy of living. All of his possessions are in the luggage on wheels and the wallet in his suitcoat. He carries dozens of keycards for hotels, car rental companies, airlines, etc. He lives on the road and in the sky. Ryan’s family accuses him of self-isolation. Ryan counters “I’m not isolated, I’m surrounded.” But it becomes fairly clear that the random people Ryan encounters in planes and airports aren’t enough. Without even realizing it, he’s seeking relationships. Community. He meets Alex, a fellow constant traveler with similar philosophies, and they form a sexual connection. But that isn’t enough for Ryan, and it’s a joy to watch him realize that. I won’t go into where the relationship goes, and there’s so much more to this film I didn’t bring up, but I love the way this film depicts the difference between living in isolation and living in community. The final scene of the film is filled with interviews of people Ryan has “fired” telling how they made it through the ordeal. Each of them depended on their family and friends to get them through it. That’s what we need. God made us to be together, not alone.
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February 29th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
by sillyjoe (Music, The Movie Corner)
Here’s the new stuff I picked up this week:
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February 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 am
by sillyjoe (Music, The Movie Corner)
U2 3D is (according to its Wikipedia article) the first live-action movie to be done exclusively with digital 3-d technology. I was incredibly excited going into the theater, but that may have been about the glasses. I love 3d glasses. There was a part of me that was skeptical, because I thought there was no possible way that any U2 film could top Rattle and Hum, but now, as the dust has settled, I am in love with this movie. I had to miss the first two songs (friggin’ traffic), which sucks since they opened with “Vertigo” and “Beautiful Day.” As I entered the movie theater I heard the familiar (and awesome) bass line to “New Year’s Day,” and my excitement grew. No longer was my excitement only related to the glasses. I was at a U2 show! And everything was so amazingly vivid! I haven’t seen a film in IMAX since middle school, and I had forgotten how incredible the technology is. I sat as close to the front as possible without having to crane my neck, and locked my eyes to the screen. For the next 80 minutes or so (it ended way too soon!) I sat, completely riveted. This one gets five stars from me, and it’s renewed my U2 love…which is not good for my wallet. Here’s the full setlist from the film:
Vertigo
Beautiful Day
New Year’s Day
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own (I was reminded how consistently good Bono’s voice is here)
Love And Peace Or Else (the following stretch of songs was pretty incredible and flowed perfectly)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Miss Sarajevo
Pride (In The Name of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
encore
The Fly
With or Without You
credits
Yahweh
And, as I stated in the last post, it seems that these 3-d concert films are going to become new trend (If U2, the Stones, and Scorcese do it, the rest of the world is sure to follow). I surely hope so.
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February 23rd, 2008 at 12:02 am
by sillyjoe (Music, The Movie Corner)
Yeah. Oh Snap.
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February 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
by sillyjoe (Music, The Movie Corner)
Review coming…
Click for the full-size shot of the poster
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February 21st, 2008 at 11:25 pm
by sillyjoe (Adventures in Randomosity, The Movie Corner)
So tomorrow is one of the incredibly rare occasions in which I have a day off, and nothing planned. Therefore, I think I’ll go see a movie, and maybe two.
Right now, I’m definitely wanting to go see Be Kind Rewind, the new Michel Gondry film starring Jack Black and Mos Def. Gondry is without a doubt the most visually imaginative director in the business, so I’m excited about this one. Here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen it. However, if I decide to go to the 4:50 show of Be Kind Rewind at Downtown West (Knoxville’s arthouse theater), I can go to a 1:40 show of U2 3D at the Pinnacle at Turkey Creek. Now, seriously…a U2 concert in 3D IMAX?!?! Yeah, I gotta check that out. So, I’m gonna try and do both after I grab some lunch (maybe Moe’s, Shane’s Rib Shack, ooh or maybe Bonefish)
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February 16th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
by sillyjoe (Adventures in Randomosity, Around the Interweb, The Movie Corner)
Pulp Fiction is probably the best movie made in the 90s, and it made Tarantino a household name, no longer to be confused with big spiders. Here are two videos, one an awesome parody of the movie inserting Jim Henson’s Muppet’s heads onto the actors (except, of course, for Eric Stoltz. And also, HT to cavness for this one), and the other making use of typography in the famous “What does Marcellus Wallace look like?!” scene. They’re both pretty awesome.
Enjoy
P.S. – I still maintain that Rowlf would make a way better Jules than Fozzie Bear.
P.S.S – Sorry if this post gave you complete pop culture/hyperlink overload
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December 14th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
by sillyjoe (The Movie Corner)
I went to see The Holiday the other night with a friend of mine. It’s the latest from writer/director/producer Nancy Meyers (What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give). So, take a look at the list of Meyer’s movies, and you’re fairly positive that you’re in for a romantic comedy, or, dare I say, a chick flick, right? Well, you’d be correct in that assumption. This is a TEXTBOOK romantic comedy. Almost too textbook. A lot of the scenes are either homages to past romantic comedies, or ripoffs…I’m hoping for the former, because this is a movie I want to like (read Richard Roeper’s review of the film to find out specifics on the ripoffness). There are two stories told in the movie, that just happen to have the same beginning and end. They branch off on their own, however, when Brit girl Iris (Kate Winslet) and Hollywood movie trailer producer Amanda (Cameron Diaz) switch houses for the holiday. The two stories that follow are the romance that unfolds between Amanda and Iris’s brother Graham (Jude Law) in England, and Iris’s relationships formed with her older neighbor Arthur Abbot (Eli Wallach, easily the best performance in the movie) and Miles (Jack Black), Amanda’s recent ex’s movie composer friend. The latter story is much more interesting, more realistic, and more engaging and entertaining than the first, and this is the movie’s downfall, as Amanda/Graham’s story seems to take away from the interaction between Iris/Arthur/Miles and eventual Iris/Miles romance. I wanted to slap Cameron Diaz in the face during much of this movie. I found her character to be annoying. I feel like we’re supposed to identify with her and feel for her as we watch the movie, but I was just annoyed. I felt sorry for Jude Law’s Graham, as he was a much more interesting character to watch…and much easier to get involved in. On the other side of the pond, in Los Angeles, Iris meets Arthur and Miles, and a wonderful story unfolds. Arthur, a famous screenwriter from way back in the day, is asked to come to a ceremony in honor of his work, but he doesn’t want to attend unless he can walk across the stage freely. Iris proceeds to train him…getting him away from his walker, and eventually his cane, so that he can walk around freely. Iris and Miles strike up a friendship, and hang out regularly, renting movies that Arthur has suggested, and having Christmas Eve dinner together after having been jilted by their loves. What we see is a much more realistic romance than the compulsive match of Amanda and Graham. Miles and Iris start as friends, but the attraction is undeniable. He finally asks her out on a date before the movie ends.
Honestly, this was a decent movie. It was cute, and women from everywhere will be flocking to Nancy Meyer’s latest. I, however, only wish that more time could’ve been spent with Iris, Miles, and Arthur, here in America. They were a charming trio, one that I would’ve liked to hang out with and here tales about old Hollywood.
As a last note, this movie further solidifies the fact that I am in love with Kate Winslet.
Good night, and good luck.
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September 16th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
by sillyjoe (The Movie Corner)
Okay…seriously. I bought the first two Lord of the Rings movies’ special edition DVDs the other day, cuz they were cheap at Movies 4 Sale…They didn’t have Return of the King…so…next time, hopefully. There was a void in my collection…it is now partially filled.
I just watched Fellowship…Now, listen. I have to be honest. I cried like a little girl when Boromir died…during that whole exchange between Boromir and Aragorn. I feel so…weird. I mean…I’ve seen the movie HOW many times now? And that scene has never hit me like it just did. But dang…it did.
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