19 August 2011

15 August 2011

The Help. Sob...

I went to see The Help this weekend. Oh, such a moving film. There are parts where you laugh and parts where you feel your heart is being ripped out of your chest. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I'll say these few things. The cast was amazing. Amazing. Viola Davis turns in a performance of a lifetime in my opinion. And that's not just because she's from my home state of Rhode Island. The last scene left me leaving the theatre fighting back tears, my throat was scratchy from stopping myself from sobbing. Octavia Spencer is a scene stealer. Her eyes are so expressive. Emma Stone is a great Skeeter. I didn't read the book until I had seen the trailer, so I didn't go into it with another vision of Skeeter in my head. Skeeter will always be Emma Stone. The chemistry among this cast was palpable. Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek...all perfect. So if you've read the book you should see the movie. If you haven't read the book, you should see the movie.

Leaving the theatre ready to burst into tears left me thinking about other movies that make me sob. So I've come up with a list. There are scenes in movies that make me tear, others that make me feel emotion. These scenes make me sob until my eyes are red and puffy and I have a headache. Warning - there be spoilers ahead

1. The Man in the Moon (1991) - One of Reese Witherspoon's earliest performances and it's stellar. Some people say the graveyard scene is what makes them lose it. For me, it's the moments immediately after Cort and the tractor accident. Dani (Reese Witherspoon) is running for home and starts screaming for her father. "Daddy! Daddy! Cort...the tractor...help". She can't even get the words out. Start watching at the 1:40 mark. Just remembering her crying for her father makes me tear up. She can't even stand up and her father (Sam Waterson) picks her up like she's nothing more than a feather and leaves her on the front steps. Sadness abounds.



2. Hope Floats (1998) - It's the end of the movie. Why are these scenes always at the end? Bernice (Mae Whitman) overhears her mother (Sandra Bullock) and father talking about a divorce. She decides she wants to go back to Chicago with her father. Dad has other plans. Watch from the 2:30 mark. Sigh. She is so heartbroken.



3. Steel Magnolias - 1989. Oh Lordy, you know what I'm going to say next. "I want to know how that baby will ever know how wonderful his mother was? What she gave up for him?" Sob...sob...sob...



4. Beaches - (1988) The grandaddy of them all, in my opinion. The first notes of "Wind Beneath My Wings" starts and the tears start streaming down my face. Only to turn into great big heaving sobs at the funeral. It's Victoria that gets me started.



Please pass me the kleenex...so what are your go to movies when you feel the need for a good cry?

06 August 2011

It All Ends



I've seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 twice now. It's kind of like reading the books. When a new HP book would come out I'd race through it, eager to see what happens. Then I'd have to read it again to pick up on the stuff I missed the first time around. I felt the same way about the movie. I was so excited to see how they wrapped everything up that I wanted to go back and watch it again. David Yates and David Heyman did such an excellent job, but what really stands out for me is the score. Alexandre Desplat created something magical. I discovered that the first time I saw the movie. I ran out and bought the soundtrack. Everytime I hear Lily's Theme I want to weep. It's so haunting. The score has always been done well for these movies, but Desplat really outdid himself this time.

As for the acting...the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione were excellent. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, have grown so much in these roles. We've literally seen them grow up on screen. Their acting talents have only gotten better. The real stand outs for me though were Alan Rickman and Helen McCrory. In the books, up to the point of Half-Blood Prince, Narcissa is portrayed as cold and unfeeling. Helen McCrory does an excellent job of portraying that icy reserve, except where it comes to her son - Draco. You can see it in her eyes. One of the most memorable scenes is towards the end as Voldemort starts to realize his downfall. His followers start to disperse. Narcissa takes Draco's hand and the walk away from Hogwarts, not once looking back. Their walk is determined and purposeful. Lucius meanwhile is unsure and continually looks back as he stumbles to keep up with his wife and son.

And now on to Alan Rickman as Snape. Amazing scenes. His anguish is palpable. You get a sense of it from Jo Rowling's excellent writing, but Alan Rickman puts incredible feeling behind it. The pensieve scenes after his death are some of the most poignant, engaging, heartbreaking moments in the film. More so than Harry's conversation with Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus with the Resurrection Stone. Movies like this don't generally get awards consideration except in technical categories, but Alan Rickman is deserving of some kind of recognition for how well these scenes turned out.

If I had one bone to pick it would be this. All through the books, from Book 1 to Book 7, from Movie 1 to Movie 7.2, they make a point of noting how Harry has Lily's eyes. Everyone says it - Sirius, Severus, Remus...so why then could casting not hire a young Lily with the same color eyes as Daniel Radcliffe. She was a darling sprite of a girl with the cursory red hair and dark brown eyes! Dark brown! The first time we see Daniel in movie one it's a close up of his scar and his blue eyes! So casting went with a brown eyed girl. In editing and with all the CGI effects, they couldn't make her eyes blue? They completely missed this in editing. A small point in the grand scheme of things if it weren't for the fact that it's mentioned all the time! It's not a throwaway line by one character in one book.

Apart from that, it's a great movie - they really wrapped up the series well. Points of humor, moments of sadness and resignation, and a point of moving on. Well done.
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