Archive for January 21st, 2009
2 items.
Jan21
Perhaps today’s comic tries a little to hard to tie itself to the historic events of yesterday’s inauguration of President Barack Obama. His appointment to Leader of the Free World really has little to do with a Brandon Fraser movie. But what is the web if not an opportunity to stay timely with your content? Plus, it’s history and I’m a big Presidential history fan. So why not?
Not to over-explain the joke, but the significance of President Obama’s inauguration is such a game-changer socially, politically and racially that it might not be uncommon for people to look for profound meaning and significance in other facets of their lives where there might not be any.
I am a big Obama fan (I voted for him during the Iowa Caucuses). But there have been critics who chastize his supporters for putting him on a pedestal and treating him like some kind of Messiah. Not to be a Negative Nancy, but I agree with that a little bit. Obviously the ripple effect of Obama taking the Oath of Office is HUGE. But let’s not raise him up to far, too fast. Let’s give the man some room to work. Let’s also not forget to roll up our sleves and help.
As far as Inkheart goes, I don’t know what to make of it except that Brandon Fraser seems to be stuck in some kind of fantasy/action ghetto career-wise at the moment. Between Inkheart, Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor, we’ve seen a lot of Fraser and his wigs with the weird bangs running away from special effects. Either he must be REALLY good on a green screen or he owes someone money. Wasn’t this guy in Crash a few years ago? What happened there?
In case you are unfamiliar with the plot, Fraser plays a Mo “Silvertongue” Folchart (oy…) who can bring fictional characters to life by reading aloud from their books. Adventure ensues.
Let me say this: In terms of movies that make reading the fulcrum point of their plot, there’s only one movie worth talking about, okay? And that movie is The Never Ending Story.
Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently.
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I know Tom mentioned last week that I might be blogging and I thought I’d try my hand at this today…here goes!
Tom and I saw Last Chance Harvey on Monday. Since we had a day off, and a “films we haven’t seen yet” list a mile long, we chose to see a great character piece. Although Dustin Hoffman is fantastic as Harvey Shine, a washed up advertising jingle writer who visits London for his daughter’s wedding and ends up losing his job and what’s left of his broken family; it’s Emma Thompson as Kate Walter who stole the movie for me. Like her performance in Love Actually, Thompson delivers a nuanced portrayal of a real woman. Someone whose hair doesn’t always look perfect, whose mom is slightly annoying and who shows real emotion—you really believe it when Thompson breaks down in tears a couple of times. You wonder whether her job as a Public Statistics Official is really satisfying or if it just pays the bills. Although Last Chance Harveyis probably not going to generate Oscar nominations for either Hoffman or Thompson, it’s an enjoyable movie that I highly recommend!
Yesterday at work we watched Barack Obama take the oath of office. Although we’ve been and will be completely saturated with media coverage of this historical event, and everything that can be said about this moment has been or will be written, I wanted to comment on one thing. This is one of the rare times, where I’ve been with a large group of people, and they’ve applauded at the TV. I always think it’s weird when people clap after a movie. It’s not like the actors can hear you. Most likely, the kids picking up trash pretend the applause is for them. In this case, I was clapping right along with my coworkers after Aretha sang, Yo-Yo Ma performed and especially when Barack Obama took the oath and then gave his fantastic speech. I actually felt like I was part of something bigger and better today and that’s an awesome feeling.
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