Monday 12 December 2011

Films and shit

Hello to the very few people that read this. To start, after a very long absence I apologise. Life got in the way, work is a bitch, I was busy, yadda yadda yadda. Anywho I hereby pledge to blog at least once a month from now on. I wouldn't blame you if you have got bored and pissed off to do much more interesting things, but for now let me keep the dream of many many people hanging on my every word. So let us begin ;-)
Films
Just watched 'Larry Crowne'. I didnt see this at the cinema and was put off watching it by listening to 'film critics' who gave it a pasting (silly me). It was FUN. It was well written and gentle and had some laugh out loud moments. I believed in the characters and wanted them to have a happy ending (which they do). Tom Hanks plays the title character, a ex navy cook who has got a divorce and has been landed with a huge house to pay off and gets laid off from the job he loves at a local hardware store. The reason given is that he does not have a college education, therefore cannot progress in his job, therefore has to be let go. The scene where they tell him this is painful to watch as in only the first few moments the director has set Larry up as a 'good guy'.
After a fruitless search for a new job (unspoken commentary on the financial problems of every country at the present time) he at last decides to go to college and get the education that will give him the edge. He enrolls in a Economics class (George Takei in a wonderful cameo as the teacher) and a public speaking class run by Julia Roberts.. It is this class that he meets the people who will change his life for the better.
It is well writen, the characters are beautifully realised and it is a very nice way to pass a couple of hours. I heatily reccomend it.
Also watched ,The Beaver'.....ok ok I was put off by the tile and the fact that Mel Gibson had a mental breakdown, during, after, before...not sure when, but anyhow it was not on the top of my list to watch.
It's amazing! Mel Gibson plays the main character, having a nervous breakdown, who, in an attempt to cope, picks up an abandoned beaver hand puppet and speaks through it. This confuses his wife (Jodie Foster) who is struggling to understand and keep the family together. He leaves the family home and starts out on a new life, with the beaver as his spokesperson. His financial and work life get better, but his personal life is just too much for him to cope with without the interface of the hand puppet.
The denoument is very cleverly set up, and has an awful sense of inevitability. If you want to see a master class in completely losing it then watch this film. It may be the best thing Mel has done. It is a small window into the mind of one person suffering from depression. It sounds depressing to watch, but I very much reccommend it.
I will post again soon, so in the words of Elmer Fudd.....'Th th thats All Folks!'