Life of Pride
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
I suppose I should add a proper post, not that anyone really cares. 'Cept me. I care. So what should I talk about? Spring break, I suppose.
I've been doing a lot of sleeping. Reading. I bought new sneakers and gave myself blisters after the first mile I ran in them. Yesternight I wrote a poem I think is all right. Had quiet times, of course. And watched movies. I saw Amazing Grace again with my family on Sunday afternoon, Bridge to Terabithia Monday, and Ghost Rider tonight. I figure if I want to watch movies it is best to do so while in the St. Louis area, since we have an excellent chain of theatres, and they offer student rates.
I would love to give detailed reviews, but I feel like I need to go to bed again soon. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed Amazing Grace again the second time, and I definitely want to own it, but I think it is a little long. I am absolutely blown away by the story it tells - the power of one heroic man (and woman!) to change the world - but as a movie it could be more visually powerful. It has plenty of great dialogue, but it lacks for the one memorable scene that makes a movie into a classic. In Chariots of Fire that would be for me the race where Eric Liddell is knocked down and gets up to win. Or Abrahams race with Lindsay around the Cambridge square. Or when Mr. Mussabini punches through his hat. You get the idea. Perhaps it is also the music. Music makes a tremendous difference to Chariots of Fire. And the duel of wills. If it was just Liddell's story, who would watch? But we have Abrahams too, the humanist.
Bridge to Terabithia - Many redeeming elements, but it feels overall to me way too much like Finding Neverland, only without Johnny Depp. Even down to the ending. I really did like the kids they picked for the parts, although I didn't find the story satisfying overall. Also, a dangerous Romantic worldview that confuses and doesn't give any real answers.
Ghost Rider - Wasn't watching for the worldview, 'cause I knew it would be screwy. OK as a story, and Nicholas Cage makes a good Ghost Rider, but the fight scenes were beyond corny. Also, I can't stand the way they made Eva Mendes act the female lead. Ew, too self-conscious, and who keeps her hair and makeup perfect after a demon has dragged her into a city of the dead and then tossed her into a wall? I want that brand of lipstick! Some people will like this movie, but I don't feel any real urge to watch it again.
I guess that is pretty detailed after all. Maybe I like movies.
I've been doing a lot of sleeping. Reading. I bought new sneakers and gave myself blisters after the first mile I ran in them. Yesternight I wrote a poem I think is all right. Had quiet times, of course. And watched movies. I saw Amazing Grace again with my family on Sunday afternoon, Bridge to Terabithia Monday, and Ghost Rider tonight. I figure if I want to watch movies it is best to do so while in the St. Louis area, since we have an excellent chain of theatres, and they offer student rates.
I would love to give detailed reviews, but I feel like I need to go to bed again soon. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed Amazing Grace again the second time, and I definitely want to own it, but I think it is a little long. I am absolutely blown away by the story it tells - the power of one heroic man (and woman!) to change the world - but as a movie it could be more visually powerful. It has plenty of great dialogue, but it lacks for the one memorable scene that makes a movie into a classic. In Chariots of Fire that would be for me the race where Eric Liddell is knocked down and gets up to win. Or Abrahams race with Lindsay around the Cambridge square. Or when Mr. Mussabini punches through his hat. You get the idea. Perhaps it is also the music. Music makes a tremendous difference to Chariots of Fire. And the duel of wills. If it was just Liddell's story, who would watch? But we have Abrahams too, the humanist.
Bridge to Terabithia - Many redeeming elements, but it feels overall to me way too much like Finding Neverland, only without Johnny Depp. Even down to the ending. I really did like the kids they picked for the parts, although I didn't find the story satisfying overall. Also, a dangerous Romantic worldview that confuses and doesn't give any real answers.
Ghost Rider - Wasn't watching for the worldview, 'cause I knew it would be screwy. OK as a story, and Nicholas Cage makes a good Ghost Rider, but the fight scenes were beyond corny. Also, I can't stand the way they made Eva Mendes act the female lead. Ew, too self-conscious, and who keeps her hair and makeup perfect after a demon has dragged her into a city of the dead and then tossed her into a wall? I want that brand of lipstick! Some people will like this movie, but I don't feel any real urge to watch it again.
I guess that is pretty detailed after all. Maybe I like movies.
Comments:
Or Abrahams race with Lindsay around the Oxford square
*cringe* Cambridge. Tsk. Speak not of the denizens of that uncouth whistle-stop with the respect due to true champions.
;-)
*cringe* Cambridge. Tsk. Speak not of the denizens of that uncouth whistle-stop with the respect due to true champions.
;-)
That was my dad's fault. We were talking about the movie, and I said it was at Cambridge. He corrected me and said it was Oxford. Naturally, I bow to my dad's superior knowledge. ;)
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