"The Tree of Life" - Unusual Movie

"The Tree of Life" - Wow!  I am not sure what to think about this movie.  Visually, it is spectacular, sort of a kaleidascope of beautiful images.  The story is of a family with three sons growing up in Waco, Texas in the 1940's.  There are many scenes that struck me as perfect images of the time: the bright colored aluminum glasses the milkman delivered in the summertime, filled with cottage cheese; the boys haircuts; the clothesline filled with gently blowing clothes.  Brad Pitt is wonderful as a father of that time, part tough, part gentle.  The mother is idealized and fun.  The three boys ring true to the period also.  I am not sure of much else...what exactly was the point?  In some ways, watching this movie was like meditation, my mind kept flicking through the images, going off on thoughts of my own, refocusing.  I count any movie a success that causes me to think about it and wonder what it all means.  Sean Penn moved through the movie but I am not sure what he was projecting.  I may have to see it again.

BEGINNERS - A Beautiful Movie

BEGINNERS tells the story of a young cartoonist (Ewen McGregor) who has first learned that his father (Christopher Plummer) is gay and has come out of the closet at the age of 75, and then that his father is dying of cancer.  This is a lovely movie that gently and humorously touches on the changes that have occurred since the mid fifties in gay rights, womens' roles, and the treatment of Jews.  His mother was someone I would love to have known.  But even more it is about the different kinds of love that make up this complicated world.  It was funny and innovative in the camera work, and I have been contentedly thinking about various scenes many times since I saw it.  It's a very good movie.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS - Like Woody's Early Funnier Ones

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS -  A love song to Paris.  Reminiscent of his earlier (funny) ones that made us all wish we lived in New York, this latest Woody Allen movie shows us a sparkling Paris.  A screen writer who wishes he were writing novels visiting Paris with his fiance and her parents, falls in love with Paris and wants to stary there.  His adventures in the city, during the night while his fiance sleeps, include run ins with the intellectuals he admires so from the past.  This is a frothy summer movie, a comedy without reference to the raunchy comedies more common today.  I enjoyed it.

SUPER 8 - Great Summer Movie

SUPER 8

Went to see Super 8 this weekend.  This was vintage Stephen Spielberg with charming children living a normal life in some idyllic suburb near Cleveland, OH.  One of the boys is making a movie with his super 8 camera and the rest are cast and crew.  Having snuck out to film at night, they are witness to a shocking train crash that doesn't make sense.  The whole town is thrown into chaos and naturally, the children are the only ones who have a clue.  It's a great summer movie, with heroic children, imperfect parents, good guys vs bad guys and something unseen through most of the movie that keeps us on the edge of our seat.  I wouldn't take young children, but everyone over ten would probably be fine with it.