Movies, Mom & Me

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  I resisted placing this movie in our collection for some years, even though Mom insisted on watching it every time it came on TV and, I have to admit, I love the dancing, especially the "athletic" (as one critic called it) sequence involving the testosterone soaked brothers against suitors of the town vying for the affections of seven sprightly town maidens. Finally, winter before this last, I found it at Costco and brought it home for a weekend surprise. We watched the movie twice in a row, at Mom's request (and have watched it several times since). I was fascinated to discover that my mother's favorite dance sequence was the one done in the dead of winter while the seven brothers are chopping wood and bemoaning their singular (pun intended) fate. As she would watch that sequence, every time, she'd mention how much she liked it, her body would weave to the adagio accompaniment of the silken cowboy ballad and she'd swing her arm in an arc from her elbow each time an axe swung to a down beat. She loved the rest of the movie, as well, the Sabine Women sequence, in particular, and I loved watching her watch it. I will continue to love watching it and remembering the her high pleasure in the production.

Labels: action, dance, dramedy, musical, period, romance, shared-favorite, spectacle

# posted by gail @ 15:25    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  I'm truly surprised that I never mentioned this movie in the journals because, after I'd first seen it, the year it was released, I was mesmerized by it and talked it up to everyone who would listen, rented it endlessly and forced relatives to watch it with me, etc. I've often tried to explain why this movie has such a hold over me. Luckily, Mom always enjoyed it, as she does most big country-spectacle-epics. The acting is poor to fair to good to very occasionally excellent (usually the minor characters ring in the excellence in acting); the story is, well, the father-son story at the base of it is reasonably interesting but predictable; but the whole business about bears and the fall...it resonates with my own interest in bears and the fact that I've always been unreasonably proud of being a fall baby and feel "special" because of that accident of birth timing. I tend to feel as though I am in a dream when I watch this movie. Weird, I know. But, I expect to unreasonably love this movie for the rest of my life. I was lucky that Mom enjoyed it, too, I think it was like reading a sprawling novel, for her, thus she indulged my need to watch this at least once a year, if not more.

Labels: action, adventure, drama, dream, haunting, me-favorite, period, spectacle, violence, war

# posted by gail @ 14:33    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  One of the advantages, for Mom & me, of subscribing to a DVD rental service was (and remains) the availability of foreign films. Slowly, because of my interest in films from everywhere, if they're good, she learned to handle foreign language films with subtitles. Our favorites, though, were the sweeping epics that communicate mostly without language. This movie became one of our favorites in 2008. You'd think, because it is mostly about conflict, sometimes bloody, short on specific cultural information, etc., we would have found it boring. Quite the opposite. Mom loved the scene-after-scene sprawl of the steppes. I loved the mythical ambience of the film.

Labels: action, adventure, drama, historical, period, political, spectacle, violence, war

# posted by gail @ 13:21    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  My initial interest in this movie was that Robert Downey, Jr., plays the title character. I've never been disappointed with his work, even loved and admired some of it, and I couldn't imagine him playing a super hero. "Must really need the money," I thought, but I went for it, anyway. Perfect casting, I decided, just perfect, and good super hero story, too, good enough for me to want to own it after having rented it (and, I don't have a yen to own many super hero movies, although I try to watch as many as possible). Even though I purchased this movie some weeks before Mom's death and we both watched it (she wasn't thrilled with it), after Mom's death I found myself watching this movie several times...introducing it to relatives then watching it more on my own. I can't explain why, but it has provided me with inexplicable comfort since my mother's death. And, LOVE the suit...

Labels: action, adventure, drama, fantasy, me-favorite, science-fiction, suspense, violence

# posted by gail @ 16:00    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  Mom never saw this movie. I suspect she would have found it interesting, but I don't know, for sure. I'm basing my guess on her reaction to Grizzly Man, which was highly favorable and of which I'm surprised we never sought a copy. Anyway, I bought the movie on the cheap because I've always harbored a desire to take off and attempt to live "in the wild" and was curious about this movie, even though much of my reading about it had forewarned me that Christopher McCandless' journey was probably more about mental/spiritual/emotional/social (take your pick) illness than anything else and that he headed "Into the Wild" frighteningly unprepared, despite himself. Some have speculated that the movie is irresponsible. Thus, any leaning toward a romantic viewing of this film had been cleared before I watched it. Still, I enjoyed the story of what this man did, even though the movie is not completely clear on the brain chemistry or social environment behind his character and choice. It's a highly romantic retelling which, opposing the critics, I find appropriate. Despite this man's talent for personal tragedy, watching the movie has a tendency to allow me to (dangerously, I suppose) consider that, well, maybe someday...with quite a bit more preparation than an idea, I can assure you...

Labels: action, adventure, drama, road-movie, tragedy

# posted by gail @ 15:30    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1* *2* *3*
3. Commentary:  As covered in one of the above Mentions, this movie was suggested by MFS. I was surprised at how much Mom loved it. I enjoy it, too. It's yet another spectacle movie for me (I should create a "spectacle" category, shouldn't I...I think I will, then add to it later) and I love a variety of the acting performances in this movie, particularly (but not solely) Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius. Before he ever says anything in the movie his acting makes many aspects of Marcus Aurelius' character clear. We watched this movie on TV several times, in "to-fit-your-screen" format, before I finally purchased it. Much better in widescreen. On a whim, I watched the movie last night. I continue to find it supremely entertaining; and, as well, now that Mom's dead, surprisingly emotional, specifically at the end when Juba says, as he buries Maximus' personal idols, "I will see you again, but not yet." If you have any interest in this movie, I urge you to click into the link to the title of the movie, above, which will send you to a thorough and compelling critique of the historicity of the movie. Believe me, despite the astonishing number of historical inaccuracies in the movie, the critique renders watching the movie even more enjoyable.

Labels: action, adventure, drama, historical, period, political, shared-favorite, spectacle, suspense, violence, war

# posted by gail @ 14:15    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  We acquired this movie just before last Easter when I was on a mission to obtain every jesus/bible related that we didn't already own. I didn't know whether she'd ever seen this movie, but she was up for it when I mentioned it to her and was immediately enraptured in it's sprawl. She's also, of course, a big fan of over-the-top drama of the period in which this was made. So am I, depending, and this movie didn't disappoint me, but, I have to say, The Ten Commandments is still my preferred movie spectacle film.

Labels: action, adventure, bible movies, drama, jesus-dvds, period, spectacle, violence

# posted by gail @ 10:22    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  This is a movie I've avoided purchasing for a long time, even though Mom and I enjoy watching it every time it appears on TV, whether uninterrupted by commercials and uncut or otherwise. It is, plain and simple, riveting. However, for some reason I could never bring myself to pay for it. Finally, I noticed what looked like a relatively unplayed copy of it at my favorite trade-in movie store really cheap (I later discovered that Costco was selling it cheap, by then, too, although not as cheap as the copy I purchased) and decided, yeah, we should have it.
     Good choice. As soon as Mom hears the theme music, she settles back in her rocker with a subtle smile, as though someone is preparing to read her a Dickens novel cover to cover.

Labels: action, drama, period, violence

# posted by gail @ 02:04    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  My mother used to be a Clint Eastwood fan with her sister, once they began living close to each other in their latter years. They saw them all of Eastwood's stuff, the old and the new. I never figured out if my mother was truly an Eastwood fan or her sister's fan and thus willing to do anything that would bring her closer to her sister.
       At any rate, although I've seen very few Eastwood movies, I saw this one, I can't remember where or why, when it first came out, and was surprisingly impressed. So, when, one evening, some years ago, my mother suggested that we "rent a Clint Eastwood movie", this is the one I picked. Good choice. Aside from Morgan Freeman being in it, she loved the idea that a gunslinger could get old and have trouble reestablishing his former skills in a stab at morality. Since I bought the movie about a year ago, we've seen it a couple of times. Every time she sees it, she either says, "Your Dad would have liked this," or, "You know, I'll bet Jean would like this one, we should have her over sometime to see it. Wouldn't that be fun!"

Labels: action, adventure, drama, violence, western

# posted by gail @ 18:00    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  I got this as a nod to Mom (see mention) but, lo and behold, I enjoy it, too. It's not even a guilty pleasure for me. It's got some great actors in it, I enjoy the fact that the Japanese is not subtitled in English because it keeps the viewer in the same position as Anjin-San and, well, it's an involving production. Mom could probably watch this 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Labels: action, adventure, drama, mom-favorite, period, political, spectacle, TV

# posted by gail @ 17:09    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  MS introduced both of us to this movie. Since knowing it was one of MS's favorites it has become a favorite of Mom's although sometimes, now, it moves a little fast for her. I've always enjoyed this movie. It's like riding on a carousel.

Labels: action, adventure, buddy, mom-favorite, mystery, period

# posted by gail @ 02:29    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M [lots more than] G
2. Mentions:  *1* *2*
3. Commentary:  This is one of my mother's haunting movies. Her reaction to this movie is similar to my reaction to Little Buddha: During some parts, she experiences trance-like states; during others, she becomes fully engaged in the finest detail of the culture of the Native American community portrayed in the movie; throughout, she follows the story meticulously and often attempts to engage other viewers in conversation about the movie, which means that she remembers enough of it from viewing to viewing not to feel as though she has to pay close attention every minute.
     Sometime in late 2007 "they" finally came out with the widescreen version, which I quickly snatched up. This version also cuts in close to an hour of extended footage. I was surprised how much of the original cut the extended footage explained and very pleased with the additions

Labels: action, adventure, drama, haunting, mom-favorite, period, spectacle, war

# posted by gail @ 10:29    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  This one was a "freebie" with another movie, I can't remember which one. With Willem Dafoe, Helen Mirren and Robert Redford I thought this would be an interesting little piece. It wasn't quite as interesting as I thought, although I always enjoy watching all these actors. Mom hasn't watched it. I'll probably forget to mention it to her.

Labels: action, drama

# posted by gail @ 20:32    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  This is one of my very favorite movies. It is one of my mother's least favorite movies. She watched it once when some friends were visiting, one of them noticed I had the movie and wanted to watch it. The visit became a Scarface Fest. When the movie was over my mother turned to me and said, "I don't know why you like watching all that blood-letting, girl!" Neither do I.

Labels: action, drama, me-favorite, period, violence

# posted by gail @ 19:13    3 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G, more than once
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Something about the scene in which the invading army comes over a snow ridge. Something else about that "song and dance" number about what it takes to be a man. Something else about it being a Chinese fairy tale. I don't know if Mom likes it for the same reasons I do, but I know she likes it. I've even replayed the "Be a Man" song for her when we are watching it.

Labels: action, adventure, animated, kids, period, shared-favorite, suspense

# posted by gail @ 15:03    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  Although I was doomed to own a copy of this movie because it is a Peter Weir movie, and although both my mother and I have watched it, once, and enjoyed it although wondered throughout where it was going, then, at the end, where it had gone, I have to say, we enjoyed the booklet that came with the movie much more for its interesting exposition of life in the Navy "at that time".
       I will probably watch it again, someday, when I'm feeling the need for a Peter Weir fest. My mother may watch, again, by default.

Labels: action, adventure, historical, war, weir

# posted by gail @ 15:01    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Blew me away when I was watching this movie on cable, one evening, late, Mom awoke within the first 15 minutes of the movie, I decided to keep it on because I really wanted to see it again and she was riveted. She even likes the end of it, which leads me to believe that she understands the real power of this movie: That it isn't a dirge for the female spirit, but a celebration of it. She has even been heard to mutter, during the semi scene, "Good for them!"
       I actually didn't consider owning this movie until, a couple of times after the above mentioned viewing, when I exclaimed that it was "on", again, Mom always has wanted to watch it.

Labels: action, adventure, dream, me-favorite, suspense

# posted by gail @ 10:49    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I rented this movie a couple of weeks ago just to undergird my decision to purchase it. Mom was thoroughly bored, so bored that she wandered around looking for things to do, at one point, while doing crosswords, asked, "Is that thing still on?!?", so my viewing was highly distracted.
       No matter. Martial Arts movies of all stripes are another of my guilty movie pleasures. I am particularly fascinated with the use of color in this movie. I am approaching it rather more as though it were a Little Buddha movie, rather than a "guilty pleasure" movie. I like the idea of the telling of stories being the subject as well as the discipline of the movie. I find the depiction of the 'heroine', as well, thoughtfully complex.

Labels: action, drama, dream, period, political, spectacle, suspense

# posted by gail @ 08:32    0 comments    email......this post