Movies Movies Movies

I said to myself that I wasn't going to blog until I got back to Utah, but my adoring readers (really only Charlotte, maybe there are one or two others, but she is the only one to voice any of your concerns) are chomping at the bit. Not to worry though, I have a number of posts-a-brewing, and I'll get to those when I return to Utah tomorrow. Anyway, on to the post.

So I have had a ton of time since being out here. It's been a little unusual to have nothing to do, and after about a week I was starting to get a little bit bored, but I think I've found my groove a little bit. It really is easy to get used to the do-nothing lifestyle.

I've caught a few movies since being out here. It started with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I thought I would enjoy that movie a lot more than I did. My biggest problem with it wasn't the length or that I couldn't buy into the storyline, but that I didn't really know what to take away from the film. I guess when you have a story that spans a lifetime there is bound to be a lot of death, which normally is kind of sad to me, but I wasn't really affected by it. The writing is good. I liked some of how they captured Benjamin as a child. Brad is beautiful. I felt like the telling of the story during the landfall of Hurricane Katrina was supposed to serve as a metaphor for something, but I couldn't really figure out what. Same thing with "time" in general. I liked it okay. It was long, but didn't feel slow.

Saw Yes Man. I didn't have any expectations with that one, but I actually thought it was really funny. I laughed out loud a number of times. There was one scene that was totally unnecessary. The movie is based on a book, which I can only assume is a little more serious, but it made me want to read it. I just like that theme in general of being a "yes" person. I was talking with a friend about that one night and maybe I'll get to that in another post.

The real reason for this post is Gran Turino. I had seen previews for this and heard that it was getting some really good reviews from everyone, and Kent blogged briefly about it also. I didn't know anything about it really. From what I had seen, it looked to me like a show about vigilante justice, Clint was some crazy old man, and that it was going to be another Oscar favorite that dealt with really dark topics in a similar vein as There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men from last year. I really wasn't in the mood to see a movie like that, but my brother really wanted to see it and I hadn't spent much time with him since I've been home.

The movie was amazing. Some of the teen actors aren't the greatest, but the characters are so real and the themes that the movie deals with are great - redemption, maturation, forgiveness. Clint was great in his role, but mostly I just loved how it all turned out. It got to both my brother and I. I shed a tear, and I'm pretty sure he did too. And probably one of my favorite things about it was that it stayed away from feeling too heavy and depressing which I feel like so many of the critically-acclaimed movies end up doing. It was very funny in ways that I wouldn't have ever expected. I was really blown away with how good it was. That is one of the best movies that I've seen in years, and maybe ever. I wouldn't hesitate to see that again in the theaters, or even buy it. Violence is low, but profanity is very high. I'm actually surprised that they were able to find enough footage in the film to do a trailer without including any racial slurs. I think it's mostly funny just because he is so over the top offensive in an old-white-man-war-veteran kind of way. Here is the trailer:

I highly, highly recommend the movie.

Lastly, I saw this trailer before Yes Man for I Love You, Man. I love love love Paul Rudd and Andy Samberg. It looks really funny to me.

And that's all folks!