I saw An Education over the weekend. I was interested in it because it is getting a lot of Oscar buzz, particularly for the Best Picture and Best Actress (Carey Mulligan) categories. The movie is set in 1960s London. Jenny, 16-year old in her last year of school, meets an older man who shows her how exciting life can be. Jenny has to choose between the seemingly boring life of education at Oxford or the glamorous but mysterious life with her new beau. What will she choose??? (Hint: this movie follows the traditional Hollywood formula)
An Education is a good movie, but certainly not the best that this year has to offer. Carey Mulligan was flawless, the story moved at a good pace, and I felt invested in the characters. However, the movie was too forgettable to win a major award. I felt like I have seen this movie a hundred times. A brilliant student / athlete / musician must choose between the long, hard road of school or the short-cut to a high-paying, glamourous life. Its a fine story, but An Education did not do anything original with the story.
The best part of the movie was Alfred Molina. He was a delight as Jenny's father. It was nice to see him shine in a supporting role and move beyond his Doctor Octopus role from Spider Man2. Have you seen An Education? Are you planning to?
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Fantastic Mr. Fox
I saw Fantastic Mr. Fox over Thanksgiving weekend, and quite frankly, it was fantastic. It was much better than this year's overrated Up. The movie stood out to me for three reasons:
1.The personal connection. I love Bill Murray and Wes Anderson, so I was looking forward to this movie for quite some time. In fact, Bill Murray is one of my favorite actors of all time (I love love love What About Bob?) But things get a little weird from there. Bill Murray plays a badger in the movie who is a lawyer. I am a badger (UW alum!) and a lawyer. Not only is Bill a badger lawyer, he is a badger real estate lawyer. I am a real estate lawyer!
But the strangest fact of all is that previously unbeknownst to me, I have owned a Fantastic Mr. Fox t-shirt for about 5 years. I found it in the 50 cent section of Urban Outfitters while in college. It has a cartoon fox on it and the words "I'm fantastic!" I wear it about once a month when I am feeling particularly cocky. All these years, I never knew that my shirt was referencing the Fantastic Mr. Fox book by Roald Dahl. I may have never made the connection if it wasn't for my husband. Right before I was going to leave the house to see the movie, Erik asked if I was going to wear my I'm Fantastic shirt. I had one of those rare "Aha" moments and I felt like my whole life was leading up to the movie. It was a strange feeling indeed.
2. The animation. This movie uses the old fashion technique of stop motion - you know, the technique used in the 1930s classic King Kong. Last night I was watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and then Santa Claus is Coming to Town on TV, and I realized just how truly special Wes Anderson's film is. The detail in Fox is impeccable. Every outfit is tailored and every detail artfully chosen. But in the Christmas classics, the details just aren't there. The dolls clothes are sloppy and the backgrounds have almost no detail whatsoever. It makes you appreciate how much time he must have put into the making of this film.
3. The cussing. Yes, cussing. The animals swear constantly in the film! At least once a minute. But instead of actually saying the F word, the animals say "cuss" instead. For example, Mr. Fox would say "Clustercuss" or "Let's cuss with his head." What a hilarious and ingenious way of inserting cuss words in a children's movie.
Have you seen Fantastic Mr. Fox? Did you think it was the best movie ever?
1.The personal connection. I love Bill Murray and Wes Anderson, so I was looking forward to this movie for quite some time. In fact, Bill Murray is one of my favorite actors of all time (I love love love What About Bob?) But things get a little weird from there. Bill Murray plays a badger in the movie who is a lawyer. I am a badger (UW alum!) and a lawyer. Not only is Bill a badger lawyer, he is a badger real estate lawyer. I am a real estate lawyer!
But the strangest fact of all is that previously unbeknownst to me, I have owned a Fantastic Mr. Fox t-shirt for about 5 years. I found it in the 50 cent section of Urban Outfitters while in college. It has a cartoon fox on it and the words "I'm fantastic!" I wear it about once a month when I am feeling particularly cocky. All these years, I never knew that my shirt was referencing the Fantastic Mr. Fox book by Roald Dahl. I may have never made the connection if it wasn't for my husband. Right before I was going to leave the house to see the movie, Erik asked if I was going to wear my I'm Fantastic shirt. I had one of those rare "Aha" moments and I felt like my whole life was leading up to the movie. It was a strange feeling indeed.
2. The animation. This movie uses the old fashion technique of stop motion - you know, the technique used in the 1930s classic King Kong. Last night I was watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and then Santa Claus is Coming to Town on TV, and I realized just how truly special Wes Anderson's film is. The detail in Fox is impeccable. Every outfit is tailored and every detail artfully chosen. But in the Christmas classics, the details just aren't there. The dolls clothes are sloppy and the backgrounds have almost no detail whatsoever. It makes you appreciate how much time he must have put into the making of this film.
3. The cussing. Yes, cussing. The animals swear constantly in the film! At least once a minute. But instead of actually saying the F word, the animals say "cuss" instead. For example, Mr. Fox would say "Clustercuss" or "Let's cuss with his head." What a hilarious and ingenious way of inserting cuss words in a children's movie.
Have you seen Fantastic Mr. Fox? Did you think it was the best movie ever?
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