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Category Archives: Movies

Amélie

02 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by Loree2e in Inspiration, Movies, Relationships, Travel

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amelie

Yesterday, for New Years, the Facebook page for the movie Amélie posted a video of the scene where Amélie anonymously reconnects Bretodeau with his childhood treasure box. Upon seeing his emotional reaction, she decides to devote her life to helping the people around her. The quote with the post was, “New Year’s Resolution Amélie style – change the lives of those around you for the better.”

It’s one of my favorite scenes from the movie, and Amélie is one of my all-time favorite movies. It brings me to tears every time I watch it. I love the beautiful piano soundtrack, the scenery (Paris-sigh!), the characters’ quirkiness, the editing, the cinematography…I could go on and on.

My favorite scene is towards the end, when she’s in the kitchen, fantasizing that her love is about to surprise her. She imagines him sneaking in, and gently rustling the beaded entrance to her kitchen, when suddenly, she actually hears the beads rustle, so she turns around but it’s only the cat. She begins to cry, feeling devastated and sad, thinking that love is just a fantasy for her and it won’t happen. And then she hears her door buzzer – her love really has come for her.

I adore that scene because it reminds me to not give up on finding love. I am hopeful that my love will gently rustle those beads and my dream of finding my partner will come true. Until then, I’ll be baking in the kitchen, singing along to my Awesome 80s Songs playlist on Spotify.

 

Hope

29 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by Loree2e in love, Movies, Relationships

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heartache, hope, love

ingvild-deila-as-princess-leia-in-rogue-one-lucas-film

I saw the latest Star Wars movie, Rogue One, this past Tuesday. I loved it and felt it stood on its own as great entertainment, and even better as the prologue to Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope. I felt all tingly when I saw the X-wing Starfighters onscreen. I remember watching the original Star Wars movie in theaters in 1977 and thinking the X-wings were the coolest things ever. That was probably my first exposure to “aviation” (is there a space version of that term? Spaciation?) and it certainly planted the seeds for my career as a pilot.

The movie also struck me in a different, non-nostalgic way. In the last scene of Rogue One, a CGI-enhanced Princess Leia receives the plans for the Death Star, thanks to the sacrifices of the rebellion:
Captain Raymus Antilles: [after handing Princess Leia the Death Star schematics] What is it they’ve sent us?
Princess Leia Organa: Hope.

I choked up at this scene – Carrie Fisher had died that morning. I felt like she was speaking directly to me through the completely coincidental timing of my viewing of this scene.

Let me back up…I’ve been recovering from a broken heart…from repeated heartbreak at the hands of someone I was deeply in love with but who had strung me along, who wouldn’t commit to a monogamous relationship with me. I’d been feeling down lately; wondering if I’ll ever find a similarly deep connection with another person, if I will be able to trust someone with my heart again. And then, unexpectedly, this scene in Rogue One reminded me about Hope.

Hope is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” For a long time, I had hoped my former love would choose to build a life with me. He gave me every expectation that it would happen…”eventually.” He asked me to respect “his process” and give him time.  I certainly desired a partnership with him, and I thought he wanted one with me, too. He told me he had never loved a woman as much as he loved me, but after years of waiting for him to choose a life with me, I realized those were just words, and the love I had hoped for with him was never going to happen, even though he would tell me he loved me “always.”

For a while, I made the mistake of giving up hope on finding love, not just with this one person, but with any partner. I didn’t think I could ever be so lucky again. But fortunately, by getting back on the dating circuit and some pep talks from friends and family, I’m feeling better. I’d like to believe the scene with Princess Leia was another nudge from the Universe to not give up. I find inspiration in many places, from Instagram to music to art. All these serendipitous reminders help to convince me that hope is not lost.  I know that I will find love again, and this time with someone who is ready to be loved and treasured. I have hope, and I’m happy to live with that until I have love.

 

My first movie review blog post: Les Miserables

28 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by Loree2e in Movies

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movies

You should know, I’ve seen the stage production of Les Miserables 4 times and listened to the soundtrack about 537 times, so I consider myself qualified to write this review.

This must not have been an easy production to adapt to the screen, and I thought Tom Hooper, the director, did an amazing job. Much ado has been made of the fact that he had the actors sing live on camera, rather than the traditional method of lip-synching to a pre-recorded soundtrack. His approach paid off in the acting performances – the emotions are fully expressed and the performances feel much more intimate than those experienced by an audience watching the musical on stage.

Unfortunately, the singing takes a small hit.  I would imagine it’s more difficult to deliver a technically strong *singing* performance while hauling in a naval vessel with a rope as a slave (hello, Jean Valjean) or running through the streets of Paris, chasing after aforementioned slave (bon jour, Inspector Javert).

Speaking of Javert, I take issue with with the casting of Russell Crowe in that part. While Mr. Crowe looks great in a uniform and possesses a surprisingly lovely singing voice, it is not the powerful baritone one has come to expect from a Javert. It’s like getting a chocolate easter bunny then biting into it and realizing it’s hollow – wtf? and what’s with all that air?

I loved the actor who played Marius, although in his early numbers his head would start shaking like it was about to explode a là Scanners and his freckles were a bit distracting (when I think of French revolutionaries, I don’t think of them as having freckles). However, he more than made up for that with his performance of Empty Chairs, which broke my heart.

Amanda Seyfried as Cossette? She has the largest pupils, ever. She also has a pretty voice, but it felt too closed and fluttery during her high notes.

Les Miz fanatics will recognize the Bishop as Colm Wilkinson, who originated the role of Jean Valjean on Broadway and in the London stage production. He was excellent, although he constantly had a bemused expression that seemed to say, “I can’t believe my part is being played by Wolverine!”

Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were well-cast as Monsieur and Madame  Thenardier, but a lot of the slapstick humor that plays well on stage for those characters is lost on screen, and the quick editing makes it tough to follow all their shenanigans.

I’ve never heard of the actress, Samantha Barks, who played Eponine but I loved her, even though it looked like her waist had been carved out by CGI.

Image

Anne Hathaway. O.m.g. (which stands for Oscar, My God.) She was amazing. I heard people in the theater sobbing during her scenes. I managed to suppress the ugly cry, but it was tough.

And finally, Hugh Jackman. He really was excellent, even though I thought his voice was a little nasally. But when he tore up his parole paper and nailed the high notes on “2…4…6…oh…ONE!” and the two veins on his forehead popped into 3-D, I knew he had that Oscar nomination locked.

Finally, I’d like to know if there’s a makeup category for dental special effects because the teeth on those actors were gnarly. You could even see the bloody stump from Fantine’s missing tooth. Every actor looked like espresso grains had been painstakingly applied to their gums. If there is a category for Best Tooth Grime, Anne Hathaway won’t be the only one from Les Miz walking away with gold on Oscar night.

With the minor dings for some of the singing, I would give Les Miz an 8 out of 10….stars? I don’t know what my rating system is. If I were you, I’d go see it.

And bring kleenex.

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