I didn't see Sex and the City 1....the first movie. But, I did watch the actual TV show when it was on re-runs late at night a few years back. I liked the show a bit, and I did get into it, just because I had only 5 channels at the time and the only thing on late at night when I came home from working a late shift while in college.
It was about 4 single women (getting up there in age) with good careers trying to find someone. It talked about dating and relationships a lot in a very thoughtful way through the eyes of Carrie Bradshaw, who had her own column in the newspaper called Sex and the City. Each episode was narrated with thoughts from her column that would be published in the paper. A lot of the thoughts were deep insightful and witty. This movie was set up with the occasional narration from Carrie Bradshaw about her thoughts on marriage instead of dating. A change from the TV show. Carrie in this movie, unlike the show, was married. It was about getting along in married life and finding different ways of living together. This movie was scattered with a lot of funny moments, and it was very entertaining to watch.
I am surprised it received so many poor reviews from the critics. Not just the professional critics, but regular people said horrible things about this film. I can see where they are coming from, they thought it wasn't funny, long and boring, offensive to Muslims and gays, about four privileged women whining, a stupid pointless plot. A shallow movie. I think all those people missed the real meaning and spirit of the movie. They missed the point, and the humor. Look, it's not Masterpiece Theater, it's entertainment. I disagreed with the negative reviews.
I found many of the reviews to be nit picky, overly serious and too snobby and judgemental towards the main characters and the plot. It lacked compassion. Get off your high pedantic pseudo sophisticated high horses. Maybe I have to be Muslim to to see why this movie was offensive to Muslims. But, as I'm not Muslim, I didn't find myself getting a bad impression of Muslims from the movie. If anything I had more respect for them after this movie, and saw them as real people, instead of foreigners in a strange land. That I didn't get a bad impression of them counts for a lot. Muslims should be relieved in that regard. The situations were silly, but that's what the movie was...silly. I don't think people should have been truly offended.
As an American that doesn't travel much, the rest of the world starts to seem fictional. America is surrounded by Ocean, Canada wilderness, and Mexico. It sound nuts, but to us, most of the world and it's people seem to not exist. Even one of our Presidents went down to South America and made the comment, "There is actually people down there." It sound super dumb, but the world starts to seem like a myth such as Avalon when you don't see it, but only hear about it; being removed from it in a remote location as we are.
I thought overall it was well done. It was a fun movie, with a slap of real life struggles and problems to be faced. There were a few things that didn't make sense to me...like why would that Arab dude pay for Samantha and three of her friends to stay in Abu Dhabi on an extravagant trip. The hotel was 22k a night!!! And the odds of Carrie meeting her ex-boyfriend in Abu Dhabi was so slim, it would be close to impossible.
I really liked this movie. It was entertaining, I liked the characters, and the thoughtfulness of each of the plots pertaining to each women. It was professional, and all the threads of the movie came together and made a lot of sense. I have seen a lot of movies lately, and I liked a lot of the movies I watched, but I wasn't that entertained by them though I liked them. But this one was truly entertaining the whole time.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Coco Chanel with Shirley Maclain
This story about someone's real life was more touching to me than a lot of the movies I have seen that are about love and romance. It wasn't a made up fairy tale, or formula written like a lot of the movies out these days. It didn't have a happy ending unless you count her fashion success. Both of the romances of Coco ended up badly with depressing conclusions. It was about real people, and it felt real. I enjoyed the movie a lot, and I wish more movies could have that realness to it, and that much touching emotion and life.
The movie starts out when Coco Chanel is an old lady in the 1950s. Her most recent fashion line up received poor reviews claiming that her clothes are for old ladies. Her business partner wanted her to sell the business and quit. She said she is in no mood to retire. She wasn't supposed to design a next line because of contract, but she did anyway, and it was a huge success. She became a famous designer in the US too, and she continued to design for the next 20 years. She said she wanted to continue to design for the love of her life that died. She wanted to honor his memory. If it wasn't for him, she would have never been able to get started with her career. Despite bad reviews and fierce pressures, through determination she continued. This is proof that just because you are old, and have had failures you don't have to give up. There is a lot of life left in you. Her biggest successes are in her later years.
The movie starts out when Coco Chanel is an old lady in the 1950s. Her most recent fashion line up received poor reviews claiming that her clothes are for old ladies. Her business partner wanted her to sell the business and quit. She said she is in no mood to retire. She wasn't supposed to design a next line because of contract, but she did anyway, and it was a huge success. She became a famous designer in the US too, and she continued to design for the next 20 years. She said she wanted to continue to design for the love of her life that died. She wanted to honor his memory. If it wasn't for him, she would have never been able to get started with her career. Despite bad reviews and fierce pressures, through determination she continued. This is proof that just because you are old, and have had failures you don't have to give up. There is a lot of life left in you. Her biggest successes are in her later years.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Love Destroys the Beast
I recently watched an old Disney Classic, Beauty and the Beast. As a child, this was one of my favorite Disney movies. Watching it again as an adult brought on new perspectives for me.
The end of the movie, where the beast is transformed into a human was a glorious moment for me, and it made me cry. This scene didn't have this kind of affect on me as a child. It was love that caused the spell to be broken, so this beast could turn back into a human.
When I saw him transform, I was reminded of the Resurrection. Our corruptible bodies will become incorruptible. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become transformed into glorious beings. And just like love got rid of the beast in the movie, love can transform us, to get rid of our inner beasts.
A person would have no trouble keeping the commandments of God if they had love and charity. In the Bible, when someone asked Jesus what the most important commandment was, he said to love God with all your mind might and strength,and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is where all the law and the commandments hang.
When I saw the beast in the movie turn into a glorious human, I found myself hoping and wishing that I can be reborn with my inner beast removed when I die and return to God. I know that love is the way all beasts can be removed. Seeing that scene in the movie really hit me very hard.
The end of the movie, where the beast is transformed into a human was a glorious moment for me, and it made me cry. This scene didn't have this kind of affect on me as a child. It was love that caused the spell to be broken, so this beast could turn back into a human.
When I saw him transform, I was reminded of the Resurrection. Our corruptible bodies will become incorruptible. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become transformed into glorious beings. And just like love got rid of the beast in the movie, love can transform us, to get rid of our inner beasts.
A person would have no trouble keeping the commandments of God if they had love and charity. In the Bible, when someone asked Jesus what the most important commandment was, he said to love God with all your mind might and strength,and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is where all the law and the commandments hang.
When I saw the beast in the movie turn into a glorious human, I found myself hoping and wishing that I can be reborn with my inner beast removed when I die and return to God. I know that love is the way all beasts can be removed. Seeing that scene in the movie really hit me very hard.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Date Night
This movie was I guess a comedy, but it wasn't really full of jokes, or moments that were going for humor. It was trying to convey a moral or a lesson maybe, but the movie wasn't heartfelt. Overall, it missed an emotional and dramatic flare giving the affect of a sterile movie. Also, both of the comedians in this film, Steve Carell and Tina Fey are kind of straight men. They needed someone more goofy to offset their straight man comedy. Watching the two of them is like watching I Love Lucy without a Lucille, but with two Ricardos. (Ricardo being the "straight man" of the duo.) It would have been a much funnier movie if they had a goofy person like Lucy offsetting a serious type like Ricardo.
The movie is about a married couple who are getting along okay, but are very tired with their packed schedule. Despite this packed schedule, they still go out on date nights. Their date nights are usually lame, and unhip. But, when they hear that another married couple that they are friends with are getting a divorce; because their love life got too boring, and they were more like good roommates than a couple....they decide to have a more glamorous date night in New York City.
A case of mistaken identity has them running for their lives from bad cops working for the mob because they believe they stole a flash drive from them that contains incriminating evidence. It is basically an adventure of life or death for a married couple on a date from New Jersey late at night in New York City.
It has a few funny scenes, but overall it felt like an action flick. But, it didn't seem that real, which made it uninteresting. Other people said it was hilarious. I don't know where I was, but I missed that hilarious vein somehow.
The movie is about a married couple who are getting along okay, but are very tired with their packed schedule. Despite this packed schedule, they still go out on date nights. Their date nights are usually lame, and unhip. But, when they hear that another married couple that they are friends with are getting a divorce; because their love life got too boring, and they were more like good roommates than a couple....they decide to have a more glamorous date night in New York City.
A case of mistaken identity has them running for their lives from bad cops working for the mob because they believe they stole a flash drive from them that contains incriminating evidence. It is basically an adventure of life or death for a married couple on a date from New Jersey late at night in New York City.
It has a few funny scenes, but overall it felt like an action flick. But, it didn't seem that real, which made it uninteresting. Other people said it was hilarious. I don't know where I was, but I missed that hilarious vein somehow.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Back Up Plan with Jennifer Lopez
The person writing the movie was trying to be cute, romantic, and memorable, they were really going for something and it showed. But they really missed their target on this dart board. It was a bit painful to watch at times. My friend watching the movie with me was just as put off as me. She made grunts that were akin to rolling your eyes. However, luckily for me the viewer, the movie did get less corny as time went on. I did find this movie entertaining, and it wasn’t such a dorky train wreck after the beginning humps. I have to give it that. Most romantic comedies bore me. I guess I find some of them too mundane.
Jennifer Lopez's character gave up on finding the one, but she wanted a baby or a family. She talked to her best male friend about getting a sperm donation, but he was aghast at the suggestion. She ends up buying sperm from a clinic and gets artificially inseminated.
Then she meets the guy of her dreams, she really likes him, but after their first few dates, she finds out that she is pregnant. She was so excited to find out she was pregnant, but that was faded by thinking this would ruin her new relationship.
Jennifer Lopez tells the story of how her mom died when she was a young child. Her mom got cancer, and her father walks out on her mom while she was sick. That's when she realized things don't last forever. She never trusted in a man. Even though her new boyfriend said he would stick by her even though she was pregnant, she just couldn't believe him, and ended up dumping him because of all her doubts. But, as the movie goes on we learn that the moral is to trust in love, and have faith in others.
Jennifer Lopez's character gave up on finding the one, but she wanted a baby or a family. She talked to her best male friend about getting a sperm donation, but he was aghast at the suggestion. She ends up buying sperm from a clinic and gets artificially inseminated.
Then she meets the guy of her dreams, she really likes him, but after their first few dates, she finds out that she is pregnant. She was so excited to find out she was pregnant, but that was faded by thinking this would ruin her new relationship.
Jennifer Lopez tells the story of how her mom died when she was a young child. Her mom got cancer, and her father walks out on her mom while she was sick. That's when she realized things don't last forever. She never trusted in a man. Even though her new boyfriend said he would stick by her even though she was pregnant, she just couldn't believe him, and ended up dumping him because of all her doubts. But, as the movie goes on we learn that the moral is to trust in love, and have faith in others.
Tyler Perry's Why did I get married too?
I only saw one other movie made by Tyler Perry called "I can do bad all by myself"--which I really enjoyed. It had a good message, and it was funny. I went into this movie thinking that this would be a comedy because of the other movie I saw. I also didn't realize this movie was a sequel. I was quickly corrected for thinking that this movie was a comedy--I was surprised by the seriousness of the movie and the realistic way the main characters interacted with each other.
It was about 4 married couples going on a retreat just for married people, so,they didn't take their children. They had a time share in the Bahamas. It showed the problems and trials of the four couples. In the beginning, you just get a superficial understanding of what's going on with them. You see a lot of pointless bickering and quaint mundane chatter, but as the movie progresses, a lot more depth and dirty laundry is exposed, unraveling many layers of their relationships.
Janet Jackson is one of the main characters in this movie. She announces on the retreat that she and her husband are getting a divorce. After the scenes in the Bahamas, they are back in Georgia, and things get very ugly. They fight horribly over money in the divorce. The character Janet plays goes to her husband's job to harass him. He leaves his job and gets in his car to get away from his wife. He is so distracted from his wife yelling and calling him names, that he gets into a bad accident with a truck. In the hospital, while they are in the waiting room, Janet says I don't care about the money, he can have all of it. It turns out that her husband didn't make it and ends up dying.
This was really striking to me. I know someone who might be divorcing and a part of me is angry at her husband, and almost feels like she should go out for the kill in the divorce settlement. Part of me felt like starting World War 3, because I was upset at a lot of things the husband did. This movie was a good movie for me to watch given the way I was feeling. It's better to not get the war paint on.
It was about 4 married couples going on a retreat just for married people, so,they didn't take their children. They had a time share in the Bahamas. It showed the problems and trials of the four couples. In the beginning, you just get a superficial understanding of what's going on with them. You see a lot of pointless bickering and quaint mundane chatter, but as the movie progresses, a lot more depth and dirty laundry is exposed, unraveling many layers of their relationships.
Janet Jackson is one of the main characters in this movie. She announces on the retreat that she and her husband are getting a divorce. After the scenes in the Bahamas, they are back in Georgia, and things get very ugly. They fight horribly over money in the divorce. The character Janet plays goes to her husband's job to harass him. He leaves his job and gets in his car to get away from his wife. He is so distracted from his wife yelling and calling him names, that he gets into a bad accident with a truck. In the hospital, while they are in the waiting room, Janet says I don't care about the money, he can have all of it. It turns out that her husband didn't make it and ends up dying.
This was really striking to me. I know someone who might be divorcing and a part of me is angry at her husband, and almost feels like she should go out for the kill in the divorce settlement. Part of me felt like starting World War 3, because I was upset at a lot of things the husband did. This movie was a good movie for me to watch given the way I was feeling. It's better to not get the war paint on.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Avatar
This movie was done with a lot of craft and finesse because it made far fetched plot points seem very plausible and realistic; with the way they were set up and executed so smoothly. What could have been a very hokey and painful movie to watch, was not because of the great tact by James Cameron. I would compare it to Iron Man in this way: Both movies have all the makings to be really corny, but were done so well that it managed to escape such a fateful outcome.
I was very affected by the green message of the movie. The people of the planet Pandora co-exist with nature and work with it not against it. The humans in this movie were trying to destroy nature for the sake of profit and greed. Jake Sulley said that where the sky people (humans) are from, there is no more green. That is true in much of the world today. I also noticed a lot of the humans in this movie were often inside a plane or a robot. In many scenes they were busy controlling some sort of machinery.
I got into my car when the movie was over, I drove the "machinery" like the humans in the movie did, all the way home in my barren land where they tore down most of nature to make room for man, I never felt more like a human than at this time and I didn't like it. I never saw it that way before until this movie. This movie opened my eyes to the disturbing revelation to my life as a human.
It made me see as if for the first time, the way that we really live. No matter how green we become, it won't matter because we destroyed great chunks of it to make room for us. But, we live in climates that is too cold or too hot. If it were perfect year round, we would never have needed houses to begin with. We could not walk around almost naked like the blue people in this movie and not suffer from exposure. I would have liked living like them better than the way we live if we had nice weather. Oh well.
I saw Avatar in 3D and that was amazing. I guess I'm a 3D virgin. I had no idea how spectacular 3D was. All movies should be in 3D. Seeing in 3D is like seeing it as I would in real life, as if I were there. Despite that being said, when I saw the planet Pandora, it seems so fake at times. It was all digital. The trees did not even look real. The backgrounds on this alien planet looked so fake!! In that way, I wish the special effects were better.
The blue people were done really well. I enjoyed their characters a lot. I was taken by surprise by the spunk and personality of the blue aliens. They are a big part of what made the movie entertaining. Some people complained that the movie did not have developed characters. I could see that, but I really thought they were developed enough for me to get emotionally involved and care what their outcomes would be.
I was very affected by the green message of the movie. The people of the planet Pandora co-exist with nature and work with it not against it. The humans in this movie were trying to destroy nature for the sake of profit and greed. Jake Sulley said that where the sky people (humans) are from, there is no more green. That is true in much of the world today. I also noticed a lot of the humans in this movie were often inside a plane or a robot. In many scenes they were busy controlling some sort of machinery.
I got into my car when the movie was over, I drove the "machinery" like the humans in the movie did, all the way home in my barren land where they tore down most of nature to make room for man, I never felt more like a human than at this time and I didn't like it. I never saw it that way before until this movie. This movie opened my eyes to the disturbing revelation to my life as a human.
It made me see as if for the first time, the way that we really live. No matter how green we become, it won't matter because we destroyed great chunks of it to make room for us. But, we live in climates that is too cold or too hot. If it were perfect year round, we would never have needed houses to begin with. We could not walk around almost naked like the blue people in this movie and not suffer from exposure. I would have liked living like them better than the way we live if we had nice weather. Oh well.
I saw Avatar in 3D and that was amazing. I guess I'm a 3D virgin. I had no idea how spectacular 3D was. All movies should be in 3D. Seeing in 3D is like seeing it as I would in real life, as if I were there. Despite that being said, when I saw the planet Pandora, it seems so fake at times. It was all digital. The trees did not even look real. The backgrounds on this alien planet looked so fake!! In that way, I wish the special effects were better.
The blue people were done really well. I enjoyed their characters a lot. I was taken by surprise by the spunk and personality of the blue aliens. They are a big part of what made the movie entertaining. Some people complained that the movie did not have developed characters. I could see that, but I really thought they were developed enough for me to get emotionally involved and care what their outcomes would be.
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