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First, happy belated birthday to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
astrogirl2 and happy early birthday to mrwubbles! Sorry to those I've missed; my birthday wishes are very hit-and-miss, and please don't take it personally if I miss yours!
I've seen a couple of movies lately and thought I'd share. I'm trying not to give too many spoilers, but to give a little idea of what the movie is about.
The Queen
I thought this was a general biopic, so I was a bit surprised when it turned out to focus very much on the week of Diana's death and to give us a great deal of the newly-elected Tony Blair. The acting is top-notch, though I was a little surprised at some of the portrayals, perhaps because I'm not British and not so familiar with these figures. I always think of Prince Philip as quiet and retiring (no doubt because he is in public when I see him, and I don't think I've even heard his voice), and I never thought of Tony Blair as "modernising" or "revolutionary"! Of course, in the movie, Blair didn't think of himself as the latter either. Helen Mirren is always worth watching, and I was again amazed at how different her different characters are; if I hadn't known, it would have taken me a while to work out that she was also the star of Prime Suspect! It's a quiet, thoughtful movie--good if you're in a reflective mood.
Hancock
On the other hand, if you're in the mood for people bashing each other about and breaking things, you're far better off seeing Hancock. I came in with fairly low expectations: I like Will Smith and think he's very talented, but I'd heard mixed reviews. I really did enjoy the movie, though! Don't ask for plausibility; I think that's where some reviewers went astray. Much of the story isn't even remotely plausible. It's a superhero movie, gang! If it's plausible, the writer or director is doin it rong.
If you don't know, you should be aware: the trailer makes it look like a comedy, and maybe even a mild one, but this isn't for the little kiddies. (When the Mouse is away, the parents will play; that's why we could see a movie in the theater at all!) It's PG-13 for a reason, folks, and it may be close to an R. Hancock is not the typical superhero: he has problems with drinking and "anger management," and people call him bad names (one in particular) for a reason. Will Smith isn't afraid to look rough or stupid or, well, like a jerk. Jason Bateman is also great as Ray, an idealistic public relations man who decides to befriend Hancock and help him with his image (none of which Hancock really wants when Ray gets started). Charlize Theron plays his wife Mary, who also thinks this really isn't a good idea.
The plot gets more complicated than that, but to tell more would be to give away some of the good bits. It's a fun ride with plenty of action, but what none of the reviews mention is that the movie has a little more than that going on. Racial issues come into play in this movie in very interesting ways; no one ever really talks about race per se, and it's never even mentioned in one scene that, as Brilliant Husband says, really hinges on race. The movie never gets preachy but just gives us a multi-racial cast interacting as individuals--individuals with backgrounds and problems, but not just ethnicities--and plays with stereotypes in unexpected ways. Again, I don't want to say too much since I promised no real spoilers, but if you want to discuss it in the comments, I'd be happy to talk about it (and why I think this movie treats race in more interesting ways than the much-lauded Crash, which I really disliked).
We returned home from the movie to enter a house with twin trails of bright pink yarn stretching from my home office out of sight. Small Child was given a knitting set for her birthday; I'd had one skein and the needles in my office to practice with some videos I was going to watch on the Internet before I helped her learn to knit. I'd never gotten around to the videos, Doofus the Cat had already attacked the ball of yarn once, and Brilliant Husband had consigned the yarn to the cubby of my desk, which has a door that hasn't closed in years.
Further investigation showed that part of the skein was out of my cubby but still on my desk, trapped by two old appointment calendars that had fallen on it--thank goodness. Doofus had, however, managed to get a large loop stretched all the way from my desk through the corner of the living room (around a table) through the kitchen (around a table and chair and two carts full of bookbooks), into the dining room. The clump of yarn had stopped less than a foot short of the water bowl. He often saves his prizes in the water bowl, whether to drown them or to be sure he can find them later because he knows he's an idiot and he loses everything that's not by the food we don't know. I'm very glad the yarn didn't make it to the water bowl, because that would have been unpleasant.
We picked up the yarn and brought it to the family room; I found a loose end and started making a ball. I thought this would be quick and easy.
It took the two of us (BH and me, not Doofus and me!) forty minutes to disentangle it, and only then could I make a ball of it (which didn't take all that long, by itself). The ball is now locked securely in the wicker basket that holds the rest of the kit. Stupid cat! It was quite amazing; I wanted to take a picture or some video of it, but we were afraid it didn't really look as impressive as it truly was. I'll leave it to your imaginations.
The adventures at home aren't quite as funny as the adventures in the movies, but they actually involved less property damage than Hancock.
WARNING: SPOILERS on the movies allowed in comments.
astrogirl2 and happy early birthday to mrwubbles! Sorry to those I've missed; my birthday wishes are very hit-and-miss, and please don't take it personally if I miss yours!I've seen a couple of movies lately and thought I'd share. I'm trying not to give too many spoilers, but to give a little idea of what the movie is about.
The Queen
I thought this was a general biopic, so I was a bit surprised when it turned out to focus very much on the week of Diana's death and to give us a great deal of the newly-elected Tony Blair. The acting is top-notch, though I was a little surprised at some of the portrayals, perhaps because I'm not British and not so familiar with these figures. I always think of Prince Philip as quiet and retiring (no doubt because he is in public when I see him, and I don't think I've even heard his voice), and I never thought of Tony Blair as "modernising" or "revolutionary"! Of course, in the movie, Blair didn't think of himself as the latter either. Helen Mirren is always worth watching, and I was again amazed at how different her different characters are; if I hadn't known, it would have taken me a while to work out that she was also the star of Prime Suspect! It's a quiet, thoughtful movie--good if you're in a reflective mood.
Hancock
On the other hand, if you're in the mood for people bashing each other about and breaking things, you're far better off seeing Hancock. I came in with fairly low expectations: I like Will Smith and think he's very talented, but I'd heard mixed reviews. I really did enjoy the movie, though! Don't ask for plausibility; I think that's where some reviewers went astray. Much of the story isn't even remotely plausible. It's a superhero movie, gang! If it's plausible, the writer or director is doin it rong.
If you don't know, you should be aware: the trailer makes it look like a comedy, and maybe even a mild one, but this isn't for the little kiddies. (When the Mouse is away, the parents will play; that's why we could see a movie in the theater at all!) It's PG-13 for a reason, folks, and it may be close to an R. Hancock is not the typical superhero: he has problems with drinking and "anger management," and people call him bad names (one in particular) for a reason. Will Smith isn't afraid to look rough or stupid or, well, like a jerk. Jason Bateman is also great as Ray, an idealistic public relations man who decides to befriend Hancock and help him with his image (none of which Hancock really wants when Ray gets started). Charlize Theron plays his wife Mary, who also thinks this really isn't a good idea.
The plot gets more complicated than that, but to tell more would be to give away some of the good bits. It's a fun ride with plenty of action, but what none of the reviews mention is that the movie has a little more than that going on. Racial issues come into play in this movie in very interesting ways; no one ever really talks about race per se, and it's never even mentioned in one scene that, as Brilliant Husband says, really hinges on race. The movie never gets preachy but just gives us a multi-racial cast interacting as individuals--individuals with backgrounds and problems, but not just ethnicities--and plays with stereotypes in unexpected ways. Again, I don't want to say too much since I promised no real spoilers, but if you want to discuss it in the comments, I'd be happy to talk about it (and why I think this movie treats race in more interesting ways than the much-lauded Crash, which I really disliked).
We returned home from the movie to enter a house with twin trails of bright pink yarn stretching from my home office out of sight. Small Child was given a knitting set for her birthday; I'd had one skein and the needles in my office to practice with some videos I was going to watch on the Internet before I helped her learn to knit. I'd never gotten around to the videos, Doofus the Cat had already attacked the ball of yarn once, and Brilliant Husband had consigned the yarn to the cubby of my desk, which has a door that hasn't closed in years.
Further investigation showed that part of the skein was out of my cubby but still on my desk, trapped by two old appointment calendars that had fallen on it--thank goodness. Doofus had, however, managed to get a large loop stretched all the way from my desk through the corner of the living room (around a table) through the kitchen (around a table and chair and two carts full of bookbooks), into the dining room. The clump of yarn had stopped less than a foot short of the water bowl. He often saves his prizes in the water bowl, whether to drown them or to be sure he can find them later because he knows he's an idiot and he loses everything that's not by the food we don't know. I'm very glad the yarn didn't make it to the water bowl, because that would have been unpleasant.
We picked up the yarn and brought it to the family room; I found a loose end and started making a ball. I thought this would be quick and easy.
It took the two of us (BH and me, not Doofus and me!) forty minutes to disentangle it, and only then could I make a ball of it (which didn't take all that long, by itself). The ball is now locked securely in the wicker basket that holds the rest of the kit. Stupid cat! It was quite amazing; I wanted to take a picture or some video of it, but we were afraid it didn't really look as impressive as it truly was. I'll leave it to your imaginations.
The adventures at home aren't quite as funny as the adventures in the movies, but they actually involved less property damage than Hancock.
WARNING: SPOILERS on the movies allowed in comments.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
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You may not think of Blair as revolutionary, but remember that we'd been under a Tory Government for what seemed like forever before Labour came to power, and while Maggie Thatcher's days were long over, he was like a breath of fresh air compared to the dull and grey John Major.
My favourite scene in the movie is when the Queen's Range Rover gets stuck in the ford, and she haughtily informs the man who answers the phone back at the lodge that of course she's sure she knows what's wrong with the vehicle, she was a mechanic during the war. Can't imagine too many of the current royal females doing that....
From:
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/416992.stm - "Prince Philip's gaffes"
From:
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You know, I have almost no memory of Major? I can remember seeing pictures of him, but now that you mention it, I can't think of a single thing he did. It's not that I don't like Blair; I think one of my students spoke for many of us when, on Sept. 12, 2001, she said, "I wish we had Blair instead of Bush!" The BBC World News seemed to be the only channel we could get over here with decent coverage--you'd think the American networks would have been helpful, but no, they just aired footage from the previous day and wrung their hands--and Blair spoke eloquently while Bush . . . I have no idea what Bush did those first few days, after he put down The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Yes, I do like the scene at the ford; I was quite struck she'd been a mechanic! Of all the royals she was surely by far the most sympathetic and understandable.
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*hugs you*
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