Still catching up - Before Midnight, Frozen and more

I'd like to blame spring fever for my sloth and delay in writing, but that would be false (it's still cold here) and lazy. I am now writing almost a week later and I'm not sure what I'll write or how it will turn out. I don't think I've had writer's block this bad. So, if this is not your favorite post, I'll totally understand.

March 2014, Before Midnight, nominated for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), 2013

Heaven help me, if they make another movie in this series I'll going to do something drastic, and if that movie gets nominated for an Oscar, I might have to re-evaluate everything. If you haven't seen the other two movies, congratulations, I don't know if you need to, but there are two earlier movies that set us up for this talkfest. It seems to me to have pretensions of being Bergmanesque and pseudo-intellectual. I don't mind intellectual movies, but you need to have the actors to carry off the heavy dialogue, and I'm sorry but Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy aren't those actors. I really don't have a lot more on this. But you have been warned.


3/22/2014, Frozen, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, 2013

I had wanted to see Frozen but I just could not squeeze it in amongst all the other movies I needed to watch before the Oscars, so I just watched it last week. What a great movie. I really did enjoy it. It's based on the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Snow Queen" and is about Elsa, who has powers to freeze things and who is the next in line to inherit the throne of Arendelle, and her younger sister, Anna. Elsa has been forced to hide away to keep her ability secret so people don't think she's a witch. Elsa is voiced by Idina Menzel, who also sang the Oscar-winning song "Let it Go", which if you did not see her perform that live on the Oscar telecast, you missed something amazing. See if you can find it on YouTube.Kristen Bell is Anna. Elsa opens the kingdom to celebrate her coronation, which is cause for great celebration, until she and Anna have a fight and Elsa's powers come out in full force, and Elsa runs away. Anna and her new friend, Kristoff, go looking for Elsa. There's more adventure, singing, trolls and a talking snowman, and a person with malice in his heart, but I can't tell you who. It's a great movie with strong female characters, but it's not just a movie for girls, or so what if it is? For all the movies that have been geared towards boys over the years, is it really terrible to have one that might be aimed at girls? Last year's Brave also had a girl as its central character. I say "Girl Power".

3/22/2014 Rush, not nominated, 2013

Rush is about the rivalry between James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl), two Formula One race car drivers from the early and mid 1970s, directed by Ron Howard. The two men are set up as being poles apart: Hunt is a womanizer, reckless, and not very disciplined, whereas Lauda is controlled, disciplined and analytical (some things I read said these differences were emphasized to make a better story). The movie builds to a climax when the two men are racing and Lauda crashes and suffers severe burns to his face and his lungs. We then see Lauda undergoing painful treatments to clear out his lungs and rehabilitate himself so he can get back to racing. He uses Hunt as an inspiration.

I thought it was interesting that the movie was not nominated for any Oscars, but Daniel Bruhel was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor; the Golden Globes are voted on by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press, and watching the movie I think I know why - this was a very European movie. It may have been directed by a quintessential American director, Ron Howard, but the subject matter was most definitely European, and there were more than a few subtitles. I know very little about car racing, but in America, I don't think Formula One racing is as popular as it is in Europe and perhaps Asia; pretty much most people know Chris Hemsworth as Thor, but the I don't think many people in America have heard of Daniel Bruhl. I liked the movie, you know, me and sports movies (I don't want to argue if racing is a sport, I'm not up to it), but I felt something was missing, even as I think the movie was too long. I admired Lauda's determination and focus, but I could not relate to him as a character. Hunt seemed like a very fun-loving guy, and my friend enjoyed watching Chris Hemsworth, so all in all, I guess it was a good night.

3/23/2014, I'm Still Here

I'm Still Here is a 2005 documentary that presents readings of the diaries of young Jews as the Holocaust was spreading across Europe. It was an MTV presentation and is only 48 minutes long. The young men and women share their feelings and observations of the events of the 1930s and 1940s, expressing fear, anger, sadness and hope. It's not as dramatic or shocking as some Holocaust documentaries or movies, so it may be easier to watch (easier is probably not the right word; maybe 'less shocking'). I would recommend watching it with your teenagers (or if you don't have kids, just watch it).

Continuing with my favorite method of distracting myself from watching movies, I've been watching a few series lately, including The Vikings, the Newsroom and the latest season of Downton Abbey. I liked The Vikings mainly because that is a period of history that has interested me for many years and I have been to the Viking Museum in Roskilde, Denmark (and not at all because I live in Minnesota and our football team is the Vikings). It's based on Vikings and their mythology and mixes the two. I'm looking forward to Season 2. The Newsroom was created by Aaron Sorkin (who also created The West Wing) and stars Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy, television anchor for a fictional news organization; Emily Mortimer as MacKenzie McHale, his new executive producer and former girlfriend and Sam Waterston as Charlie Skinner, president of the network. If you watched The West Wing you won't be surprised by the political slant and occasional pontificating, and you also won't be disappointed by the fast paced and witty dialogue and great acting. Sam Waterston is my favorite; I loved him in Law and Order (the ORIGINAL) and he's as good here, he seems to be enjoying his lines and the profanities flow out of his mouth as easy as you please.

It is my most sincere goal to find my discipline and motivation in the next week because I'm out of renewal options for the movies I have at home. And as luck would have it, spring may be arriving this week.

Peace out