Struck By Lightning

It's been a very long time since I'e written a blog post.  Especially one about a movie.

Struck By Lightning certainly is not a move I had heard of until I found it on Netflix.  But it certainly spoke to me.  It seems to be one of those typical, coming of age teenager angst movies.  But what it really is about is real life.  The protagonist, Carson Philips, gets struck by lightning his senior year of high school and the movie is about his semester leading up to when he died.  He has a mother who is an alcoholic and dependent on prescription drugs and a father who left his family and started a new one simply because he didn't want to deal with them anymore.  Carson is an outcast in high school and ends up blackmailing other students into participating in a Literary Magazine so that he can better his chances to get into his dream college.

This movie really spoke to me because Carson has been dealt a lot of shit in his short 17 years of life.  While I can not say that I understand everything he went through, I do certainly know some of it.  I was an outcast in high school myself and have been dealt my fair share of trials over my 25 years of life.  But this movie is real.  This movie shows what it is like to deal with unfavourable situations.  There is no sugar-coating in this film.  The cast is phenominal as well.  The preppy cheerleaders, the outcasts, the deadbeat parents, the ridiculous school system....  All of those things that every single person experiences in their life, they can see here in this film.  Even if you were on the other side of it, this film gives you a great view of what it was like to be the other person.

The major thing that this film does is also help to reinforce an idea that I have always reminded others of - everyone is fighting their own battles.  I can't say that anyone will learn anything from this film or should.  People can take it as it, but it yet another amazing piece done by Chris Colfer, who portrays Carson Philips, and they should at least appreciate it and take a moment to consider what others go through in life before they judge or force anything else upon them.

So, until next time--

"Say Anything" 1989

Somehow I never got a chance to watch "Say Anything" starring John Cusack until tonight when I stumbled upon it on Netflix.  Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing has yet to be determined because we all know that Netflix sucks the life out of you and it was at least my third movie of the day.
I digress - this post is about my feelings on the film, not a synopsis of my day.
I have heard reference to one specific scene of this film for many years.  It has never even been a reference to the entire scene, though.  It has only ever been a reference to a very particular moment in that scene - Lloyd (played by John Cusack) standing outside Diane's (played by Ione Skye) window.  I mean, that image is even on the movie poster.  I am sorely disappointed in how that scene played out, actually.  I thought it was going to make everything better, but it didn't.
This film is in the genre of Romantic Comedy, and while some things were funny and there was romance involved, I honestly would not have ever put it into that genre.  It doesn't really fit into any genre really, other than "80's films" which is obviously not a real genre but there are a whole slew of films made in the 80's that should create that genre.  Not all 80's films fit it, but I think you know the ones I'm referring to; I'm looking at you, "Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles".
I was very confused about the point of the movie the entire time, as well.  Usually there is a particular purpose behind films but this one I just did not see or get.  The title also confuses me.  I love when I can determine the reason behind the title of film; usually there is a reference within the dialogue or cinematography.  But I did not catch it this time.  Maybe I missed a line or maybe it has a deeper meaning that I have yet to figure out, but this film seemed more like an amateur docu-drama than a Hollywood Classic.
Sure the situations were wrapped up (in a brown paper bag from Publix, tied loosely with some random ribbon found in the bottom of the Christmas decorations box, with a name scribbled on top in crayon) and it wasn't just some random dialogue with bad actors and no plot, but the feel of the movie was just strange and unusual to me.
I do enjoy other 80s films, but maybe this one was released just too close to when I was born for me to really appreciate it and I don't understand any of the references; I really don't know.
I think the whole IRS scam with Diane's father just confused me to the point of not being able to enjoy the film.  The film in general did not play out as I had expected it to, just based on my knowledge of a portion of a scene and I suppose that is what bothered me throughout the entire film.  I only knew about a 5 second clip of a 100 minute film and that is simply no way to go about film knowledge.  Maybe if I watch it again in the future I can appreciate it more.  For now, it's going in the category of 'movies about random events that are mostly related but have no purpose being made into a film' in my mind.
So, until next time--

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

If you have not the read 'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkein but plan on seeing the film based off of it, I have two tips for you - don't worry if you haven't read it, you practically do not need to with how detailed the film is and that being said, that's because the tiniest book in the series about Middle Earth, The Hobbits and the Lord of the Rings is split into three films, each will probably be as long as the first, which was almost 3 hours long. For once, I probably will NOT complain about how the films don't follow the book. There is a problem with that however - I have not read any of the books. I own 'The Hobbit' and 'The Two Towers' (which is actually the culmination of Books 3 & 4 in the series, 'The Treason of Isengard' and 'The Ring Goes East'. I love when authors do series because it just makes it easier for the world to last for the fans. I am a HUGE fan of the 3 films that are currently out and maybe that's why I haven't read the books yet. Also maybe because reading books out of order annoys the crap out of me and I just can't do it. Who knows? But regardless, when you put the first installment of 'The Hobbit' into the mix, things change a little bit. If you thought the previous Lord of the Rings films were a little long, just wait until you see 'The Hobbit'. I am pretty sure once I read the book, I will not have missed a detail. This film while interesting is VERY long and kind of boring. While I enjoy Middle Earth and everything, it just felt very drawn out. Yes, there was lots of action and plenty of new information that I did not know about, but the problem is, I cannot imagine sitting through two more films like that. Maybe it's because we went to the late night showing and I know tomorrow will be tiring because we will be in a car for 6 hours, but even still, to sit there for 3 hours when maybe 3 days has progressed in the story that takes much longer is a little taxing on your brain. It also makes you scream why and talk back to the movie. I did that a lot. But I do that for every movie, it seems. This film does totally fit into the series. There are the travel montages and the huge action scenes, the fights with the orcs, the ridiculous ideas they come up with that make you facepalm, it is definitely a part of the series. Probably the most interesting part is the casting - two things that just would not leave my mind during the film and maybe affected my taste of the film was that Martin Freeman as the younger Bilbo and Christopher Lee as Saruman. While Lee plays Saruman in all of the films, the previous films came out before another role that my minds put him in; Dr. Wonka, Willy Wonka's father in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. All I saw was that for Lee but what was even worse was poor Freeman, who I have recently seen cast as John Watson in Sherlock, the BBC series. While Freeman is not type-cast, he has the same ticks when acting regardless of the character and I kept going back to Sherlock and John Watson than thinking he was Bilbo Baggins, which quite frankly is obnoxious. Both men are amazing at what they do and are FAN-TASTIC in this film, so do not let it deter you from seeing the film. I suppose I can better give my view of this film once I have a) read the book and b) have seen all 3 portions of the film, which sadly won't be until 2014, which thankfully means that fans and probably managers will be pushing for them to get done quicker so that everyone can enjoy the story nicely. So, until next time--

Food Review: German Bistro

This is actually my first food review I've ever written, so I hope you enjoy it!

This is their Facebook image. I got to visit German Bistro in Tampa on MacDill Ave earlier tonight. I went to meet with some members of the USF German Culture Club, which I am the current president of, and can I just say 'WOW!'. I only ordered the Potatoe Pancakes and Sauerkraut, but oh man was it good! The potatoe pancakes were fresh and hot, the spicing of it was PERFECT! The sauerkraut was not the stuff you get in cans, either. I'm not sure if there is such a thing as fresh sauerkraut, but it was the best kind I've ever had. We then got to try their homemade apple strudel because they wanted to support the club. Now, I worked at a German Bakery in Fort Lauderdale one holiday season and this apple strudel was even better than that, even though I personally made it fresh (then again, that was before I could actually bake). The restaurant is a little smaller than I had expected, however the atmosphere was fantastic, the service even better and the food the best thing in the world. I dare to say that their potatoe pancakes were better than those from Willowtree Cafe in Sanford. But then again, I have not been able to compare them in the same day. Regardless, it was fantastic and I highly recommend it to anyone! Currently, they are also giving away free beer with food purchase. Not just any beer but German beer brands. So yeah, everyone should definitely should go check it out!

The Notebook

Let me preface this by saying that this is legit the first time that I have actually seen 'The Notebook'. That may be sad, it may not be. Regardless, it's true. I have heard about people talking about it since it was released in theatres in 2004. Essentially, it's about a woman's whom is retold the story of her own life from a book she wrote herself. At the end of the film, it shows her husband, Noah, flipping to the beginning of the book where she wrote "The story of our lives by Allison Hamilton Calhoun. To my love, Noah, Read this to me and I'll come back to you." The film is adapted from the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name. I have not read the book either, so this was a completely new experience for me as I was expecting a very romantic, gushy, chick-flick type film. It took me about half of the film to realize that the story was about Allie as the flashbacks are longer than the current-time scenes. The story itself is very beautiful and while the plot is mainly an old woman with dementia is being forced to remember her wonderful life, the portrayal of the characters by the cast is amazing. The younger versions of Allie and Noah, Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling do wonderful and completely fit in the 40s and 50s that the main part of the film takes place in. The costuming and make-up was done so beautifully, there was not even a hair out place. The film is not as chick-flick type as I had imagined, however. It had a feel of a romantic docudrama if anything. I'm not sure if this film can be cast in any kind of normal film genre, though. Maybe a romance. The nurse at the end of the film was very sweet, letting Noah go see Allie, using a ridiculous excuse to disappear for awhile. After that, the sweetest moment of the film happens, Allie remembers Noah without being read anything. Noah climbs into bed with his wife and they fall asleep, only to be found, finally together again in peaceful death. The costuming was perfect for the time periods, the character and actors were amazing. It was certainly interesting to watch. So, until next time--

The Hunger Games

This film adaption based off of the novel "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, came as a surprise to me. Having just completed the 3-book series before I watched the first film was certainly helpful because otherwise I would have been highly confused had I only read the first book. While watching the film, the person I was with had to have some scenes explained by me as simply saying 'Book 2' or 'Book 3' because the scenes were actually from stuff that happened not in the 1st book. In the novel, there were quite a few flashbacks - in the film, the flashbacks were much less in number, but also not shot the way I expected. Beware there are spoilers of the storyline and some details as this is more a comparison of the book to the film. Then again, the entire film was shot in a way I was not expecting. The angles of shots, the use of music over silent scenes, and the overall choices by director Gary Ross were not pleasing to myself, a self-described fan of the series. Since the books are written as a narrative from Katniss Everdeen's perspective, I expected the film adaption to have a over-voice narrative done by Jennifer Lawrence (who plays Katniss Everdeen) for most of the film, during the silent parts, where instead there was music. Other things that shocked me were what they got wrong from the book in the movie. Very specifically the pin that Katniss wears of the Mockingjay. In the film, she picks it up from the Hob and gives it to her sister to wear, who then gives it back to her. If you read anything in the book, you would have easily picked this up as being false. I spent a lot of scenes of the film saying 'false', because in the film adaption, there were indeed false to what was written in the book and how it was written. That is probably the one thing that I absolutely HATE when watching film adaptions of novels I have read. Not only do I expect it to be accurate, but I also have a tendency to expect it to be how I visualized it in my mind. Some examples of this would be Rue & Thresh, the District 11 tributes - while I approve of the actors they chose, I was surprised at the same time, especially Rue. Rue is supposed to remind Katniss of her younger sister, Primrose 'Prim' Everdeen, not only in character but also in looks. Plainly put, Prim & Katniss are white while Rue is black in the film. I would say in mannerisms yes, but most definitely not in looks. The chariot costumes, I expected to be head to toe flames, slick-black with CGI over-laid. Instead, it was like a small cape of CGI flames and some weird shoulder-pad wing things and of course Katniss's hair looking like a Darth Vader helmet of braids was not expected, either. I was also a little surprised for some other character options like Cinna, Peeta & Gale (who reminded me of Jacob Black not only in the books but with the actor choice as well). Some of the speech was a little changed as well, but for some reason it bothered me more than any other book to film adaption Ive ever seen, even the Harry Potter series. Words seem to be so few in this book series that I suppose when they are actually used, I expect them to be exact. I absolutely LOVE who they chose for some characters though, but also how the Capitol people look. Imagining it or seeing it, it is hilarious and fantastic! Also, how PERFECT was Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman?! Some of the worst things you can do in films were done in this first film; Katniss had hair in front of one eye almost every second of the film, the inclusion of scenes from 'Catching Fire' and 'Mockingjay' when we already know there will be film adaptions for both, and the inclusion of things that were not in any of the books at all. I did enjoy the film, but the fact that my brain can scream 'wrong', 'nope', and 'false' during so many moments of the film makes me want to hate it. Kind of like the film adaption for 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'. So, until next time--

Unique opportunity

I get a pretty awesome opportunity later this week. I get to watch Hitchcock's Rear Window again. Sure, this could happen at any time on my own. However, I will be watching in my History of Photography course. It has been about 6 years since I have seen this film. While that's not that special, I will be reviewing my notes and view of the film from my first viewing before I watch it again. Here is my first review
While it will not be required to write another review on this film, I plan on it. I feel like being able to review a film after 6 years with only those 2 views of the film will be an interesting read for myself later in life. Maybe I won't let myself see it again for another 6 years and write another review then. Who knows - but I think it will be very interesting to see how aesthetics and my comprehension of things has changed over the years. So, be on the look out for it!
So, until next time--