Stationary Reviews: 2

This past week I upped my biking to 2 hours at a time (who thought I would be wishing for the days of being able to run for exercise...), and this has made movie watching much faster. In fact, I am often much faster than Netflix is at shipping and will sometimes finish a movie and still have over 30 minutes left to bike (ugh). As you can tell, my life recovering from shoulder surgery is superbly entertaining, and not really all that random. So, until my life returns to the typical nonsense, here are my thoughts on the movies:

The Young Victoria: This movie came highly recommended to me by a family friend and she did not disappoint in her choice. Not only did this movie make me wish I lived in a country where they have kings and queens and a deep history of royal drama and love affairs (as did visiting Monaco and subsequently becoming obsessed with Grace Kelly), but there is something about this movie that puts some other romantic dramas to shame...perhaps because it is based on truth?? Even though this movie is PG, you still get a sense of how awesome Queen Victoria was and also how strong she was in both in her judgements (even if they were against everyone else) and her love for her, well ultimately, husband. Emily Blunt (from Devil Wears Prada/marrying Jim from the Office fame) did a fabulous job in this role and this is definitely a great "chick flick"to watch.

Gone with the Wind: While I have no memory of actually watching this whole movie in the past, although I have always intended to, my first reactions upon viewing it were: 1. It is long (2 workouts at least) and 2. It is incredibly depressing. Unlike other sad movies like My Girl or The Notebook, I cannot remember one person prefacing this movie with "It is really depressing"...but seriously...like EVERYONE dies in it (her daughter, her parents, her friend, her unborn child) and more often from falling off a horse than from the actual civil war. Also, in other movies I hate the protagonist and want them to end up all alone, but I really never hated Scarlett and really did not think she deserved to only have her house in the end, even though I get why Rhett ultimately left her. It was weird having that reaction to the movie because it made it hard to truly love. But, I liked the story line (even though you think its over a good 5 times), how old fashioned it was with the musical intermission and prelude, and how obviously ahead of its time it was in cinematography and acting. I think I will read the book, and the book's sequel at some point soon.

Crazy Heart: Another pretty depressing movie, Crazy Heart felt like the country music version of the movie the Wrestler (old guy still trying to do his craft while battling addictions, depression, and loving some young girl with baggage), only it had a more positive ending. It is a fantastic portrayal of alcoholism and how badly it can mess up a persons' life and the acting (for some reason I just love Maggie Gyllenhaal in all of her movie choices) was phenomonal. I also think I want to download the music (as a country fan)....and am pretty impressed if the real actors actually sang (especially Colin Farrell and his Irish Goodness).

Nine: Loving Broadway, I had every intention of seeing this movie in the theaters...and then I read review after review slamming it. In fact, even in this year's Tony awards they made a crack at the movie for being bad and how Antonio Banderes made a good decision staying away from it. While I definitely think the Broadway to Big Screen transition can be a huge hit or miss (hit= Chicago, Miss= Hairspray, Rent) deal, I did not think this movie was as bad as people said (though, in all honesty, I have never seen the play). While the plot is pretty predictable and often little boring, the cast is so loaded with talent that it is impossible for this movie to really be bad. And, it seems as if all of them can actually sing as well. True, I was not floored by this movie, but I definitely did not think it deserved the critical reviews it received. Rent it and let me know :)

State of Play: This thriller was a great choice for my exercise movie (and I want more of this genre...any suggestions?) as I was kept on the edge of my "seat" the entire time and in typical thriller fashion was .. surprised by the outcome. It had a great cast (my favorites, of course, were Rachel McAdams--if you have not guessed it yet I really liked Mean Girls-- and Robin Wright--Duh, shes the Princess Bride AND Jenny from Forrest Gump...you can't go wrong there) and it reminded me a lot of the other thriller I liked with Ben Affleck in it, The Sum of All Fears.

CoCo Chanel: As I have mentioned before, I do not really shop, nor do I really keep up with trends, but I do enjoy learning about fashion/watching movies about fashion whenever I get a chance. I was particularly excited for this movie because I really did not know much about Chanel's life and this movie did a fantastic job teaching me about it. While it was a little sad in the love story department, I loved learning about how Chanel made clothes so that women could dress comfortably and for themselves, and NOT for a man (a first in culture, so I suppose I have her to thank for my sweatpants, hoodies, and jeans attire). Since I liked this movie so much (RENT IT), I was wondering if anyone knows of any other good  biography type movies like this? (they don't have to be about fashion people, but they should be done by actors.... I just can't sit through the History Channel.)

Lost in Translation: Straight off her win at the Tony awards, I decided to rewatch the movie that made Scarlett Johansson shoot to being famous. I liked the movie for two reasons: 1. I felt exactly like them during my trip to Japan with my parents. Americans are just so culturally different from the Japanese (which also makes the vacation awesome eventually) that seeing the sights, getting around, and eating...is just so...difficult. I remember how hard it was to find me non-fish food to eat, and how disgusting both Japanese Pizza and Shark Fin Soup were, but how I force fed them to myself as someone else had gotten them for us to try as a delicacy. This movie just does such an awesome job of portraying the culture shock. 2. I like that Bill Murray and ScarJo do NOT get intimate with each other. All that they do is kiss (in the same way after the best friend declares his love for Keira Knightly in Love Actually, she kisses him and he says "Enough")...and that is just a perfect way to end it. They have a fantastic relationship, and this movie doesn't glamourize cheating as so many movies do.

Extraordinary Measures: For the science nerds (or the science nerds in all of us), this movie is awesome. It tells the true story of a father's fight to save his children who are dying of Pompe Disease (an orphan disease that few people suffer from, but due to genetics, 2 of his kids have), before they reach the end of their lives (9 is usually the longest). To do so, he not only quits his job and convinces the leading theoretical researcher in the world to do the same to create a new drug, but he partners with big companies for drug development and testing and you get a real look at how clinical trials/business interactions work. There is something special to this story, though, as it is uplifting and true, and for someone going into medicine, it makes you believe in miracles.