Tag: New York City

BEFORE WE GO (2014) movie review

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fa05503ea550f40661581606ee7e7bcf832775daPerusing Netflix recently, I came upon a film that a friend suggested I watch. She knows that I dig a decent, sweet RomCom now and then. I had no idea at first click that I would be watching Chris Evans’s directorial debut. It turns out Captain America can act and direct; Evans stars in it, as does Alice Eve.before-we-goIt may seem like a common, re-run romantic comedy on the outset, but the script is lovely, refreshingly honest, and well acted. I also found the film work unique and thoughtful. It helps that I love New York City. I enjoyed the detail and the color choices, and the ability to continue hearing a conversation while watching the outcome and next steps. We see Eve hang up the phone, dig through her purse for change, hail a cab, etc, all while listening to the end of her phone conversation. Brilliant use of movement and timing on Evans’s part.BeforeWeGo-619-386It’s feels a bit like Before Sunrise (’95) in that it’s the journey of two strangers learning about one another and helping each other conquer their greatest hurdles in just one night in New York City.21_07_15_01_ntsIt reminds us of the bravery it takes to have and build relationships with anyone, to be honest, to be kind. It shows the potential reward for small good deeds because we never know what one bravely kind good deed could lead to.before-we-go-3

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (2012) movie review

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EXTREME  stream of consciousness:

thrust, pain, 9 – 11, wander, wonder, fall and falling, alone to wander, never swing, sell, consume, buy, drink, speak! scream, play, sell, cry, dust, play, spell, chart, graph, organize, know, hear, listen, speak, spell, sell, know, known, No.

LOUD  contrasts:

I stop in NYC on a busy street and hear a buzz of voices, traffic, horns, businesses, etc. There is no real quiet in the city. It’s the price you pay for city life. Some love it.

The blunt contrast is my Uncle’s farm on the prairie in Minnesota. Stop and stand there in the tall grass of that dark earthy place and stay long enough, you’ll hear the wind moving the grass, crickets, and perhaps the distant freeway.

I think this film is about Asperger’s syndrome. It could have coincided with any tragedy in a boy’s life, but in this case, 9 – 11 in New York offers setting, a mere marker on a map to anchor the boy’s quest for illumination.

INCREDIBLE performances:

I’m shocked that the boy, Thomas Horn, (winner of the 2012 Kids Week on Jeopardy) wasn’t recognized by the academy for this genius performance. He shows the inner struggle perfectly – the irony of the why in grief. Responses to grief are as unique in execution as speech: individualistic in  dialects, accents, cultural biases, colloquial norms.  We do not have answers for questions like why people die and why it hurts. We cannot explain it to adults, let alone children. We are all learning how to help one another. And young Oskar Schell, despite the unique way that he sees the world, carrying his tambourine into the living rooms of strangers, will not find answers either.

CLOSE-ups:

This film plays like a hymn. Four or five verses with a similar melody, without choruses to break up the consistency. It perhaps needed a chorus or two. The consistency of tension and grief in this film is exhausting. I suppose it enforces a new empathy for a syndrome that requires monotony, routine, pattern, and sameness. I do love the scenes with Max von Sydow. He is precious, beloved.

My favorite verse in this hymn is a scene that sums up the whole film.  The boy visits Viola Davis, asks for iced coffee, and throws out elephant facts as she cries. He takes her picture even after she says no.

I love parallel moments in film, and when he finally breaks and asks a stranger for forgiveness, I am broken too. This film does have the power to move people, to help us see strangers as people of stories and loss and hope, like us. It helps us relate to those we cannot hope to understand. It give us hope to see and swing and laugh and live another day.