At The Movies With JunieB

I took the opportunity this holiday break (I am still off work until Wednesday) to see a few movies that I desperately wanted to see, so I thought I would share my thoughts on those for any avid movie go'ers out there.

Yesterday was True Grit.  I had a free pass so I used that which is always good to see a movie for free!

• As a fan of the original John Wayne version and a huge fan of westerns in general, AND a huge Coen Brothers fan I had high expectations for this film.  I would need to see the original again (its been a long time) to figure out what was changed, but the plot was the same:  a young girl hires a drunken US Marshall to go out, find the bad guy to avenge her fathers murder.  While the movie was undeniably good, I was left a bit disappointed.  Its still a very good movie, but not one I would see again, even for free :(.  To see it free once was enough for me.  It did get very good at the end, and there were some tears.  I thought Jeff Bridges did an excellent job of playing Rooster Cogburn, and Matt Damon was good as well as the Texas Ranger, but again...I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Today I had made plans to meet up with one of my dearest friends for a movie double header.  Since we live quite a bit apart from each other, we decided to meet in the middle at an AMC movie theatre.  Now it just so happens that a few months back I found an AMC gift card on the ground.  I picked it up, called the number on the back and sure enough there was $10.50 on it!!!  So basically I got another movie free today as well!  I picked True Grit for yesterday since we opted for Black Swan and The Fighter.  We looked at the times and it worked in our favor with those two.  First up was Black Swan.

• This movie was OFF. THE. CHAIN.  I knew a bit about it, not much, but I was not prepared for the intellect that is needed to see and understand this film.  I think if you are OCD or have any level of addiction (personality or background) you will get it...others maybe not so much without a lot of thought.  Natalie and Mila were unbelievable as the 2 main characters, and the lady (whose name escapes me) who played the mother was also so convincing as the crazed overbearing mother channeling her lost dreams through her daughter kind of character.  There were so many WTF moments in this movie ... along with just pure open mouth cause you cant believe whats happening before your eyes...seriously this movie was amazing!!!  I would definitely say that one should not go see it with anyone you might find yourself uncomfortable with in what I can only say were very, very convincing sex scenes.  Do not go with your mother, your dad or your kids.  I was glad that they didnt focus so much on her obsession to be 'perfect' as it pertains to abusing her body with obvious signs of an eating disorder.  There were a few times you saw that, but it was never after she ate (which you never really saw her do anyway).  I also did not realize that Wynona Ryder was in this movie, although her part was only small, she did well with the 'you're too old now' 'washed up' prima ballerina part very well.  I would DEFINITELY go see this again, would buy it on DVD, the whole nine yards.  I give this movie 1000 stars out of 5.  :)

The second movie we picked was The Fighter.

• Now I am a huge fan of Mark Wahlburg, but knowing I was going to see him half naked for almost 2 hours was not my initial draw to this movie, although it didnt hurt.  :)  I was intrigued by the (true) story behind this film, and I had seen interviews with Walhburg on his vision for it, being very personal to his own life; plus I just like true story kind of movies, and I like movies that involve sports.  I was also intrigued by the story of his older brother, once the 'pride of Lowell' who fell to addictions as well in the form of a crack pipe, and how he overcame them when you think all is lost.  This movie was done so 'real' its not even funny.  Where they found the actresses (who play the 6 sisters), not to mention the mother is beyond me.  The clothes for that time period were spot on and Amy Adams was unbelievable in it.  It was funny as hell in a weird sort of way mostly because this family was so damn dysfunctional and 'real' that the dialogue was just funny.  When there is clapping by the audience either during or at the end of a movie, you know it was a) good and that b) it resonated with them in some way.  Its hard at times in the movie not to just want to knock the hell out of Christian Bale (who played Dicky, the older crackhead brother), but given that I have done some of the same things he did while under the 'spell', I couldnt get mad, I could only say 'yep.' 'yep.'  'been there, done that.'  Definitely a must see in my opinion.  I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.   I dont know why I took off a point to be honest...maybe because I dont know that everyone would love it, like in the Secretariat kind of everyone would love it movie (which everyone should see Secretariat!!!)...yeah, I will stick with 4.5 out of 5 stars.

*****************************************************

Short COLD run this morning (5 miles)!  Temps were again below freezing, but a much better run today than yesterday as I ran in my new Triax kicks which of course are what I am use to and everything just seemed to click today.  Was going to do hot yoga this evening, but getting back into town and rushing to the studio just wasnt in the cards.  Tomorrow is a run/hot yoga day though fo sho!

And how cool that I won a blog giveaway!  I never ever win anything!  25 Gu gels over at SkinnyRunner who is one of my blog addictions, and honestly the only one I read over the weekends and holidays...the others I just never have time to see!  She even has a Favorites link on my phone... Anyway I won and so happy!  I am down to my last couple of gels and I havent bought any for whatever reason...and honestly had forgotten I entered!  So Merry (late) Christmas to me!  Thanks SR!