We've been seeing a lot of movies in the last few days. We saw Catching Fire, American Hustle, Nebraska and Her. I recommend any and all of them.
Catching Fire was a slightly less dreary vision of Hunger Games than the first film but equally deft in its storytelling without spelling everything out for the audience. I don't know if absolutely all of it will make sense if you haven't read the books. I did overhear one woman on the way out of the theater saying she didn't understand what the ending meant. Maybe she was one of the many, many people in the theater who talked during the whole film or got a phone call. Grrr...
American Hustle was, I felt, an ode to Scorsese and New York in the 70s. It's slick, gleeful film-making with some really amazing performances. Seeing Jennifer Lawrence in this back-to-back with Catching Fire really highlights how talented she is. She is hilarious in this movie. Everyone is great.
Nebraska is a quiet, sweet little movie. Director Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways, The Descendants) goes for simple, unembellished visual storytelling. Great performances all around in this one too with a mainly no-name cast. Not one that really needs to be seen on the big screen though.
Her was my favorite of them all. Spike Jonze has written and directed a wildly original story beautifully. The film is quite sublime and surprising. It doesn't have the really off the beam insane vibe of a movie like Adaptation. It takes a wild idea--a man falling love with an operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson--and tells a heartfelt, romantic and eye-opening story. Older Son saw all four films with me and this was his vote for best too.
While watching movies I've been knitting a few hats for charity. Nothing interesting, just plain stockinette.
Here's one.
But I am nearly finished with a cowl I started last week, Millwater knit in Mushishi. This is just what I need right now. Easy but not too dull.
No comments:
Post a Comment