Something Blue

Movie reviews:

Something old: (Apocalypse now)

I picked up this movie (which I've been to do since I saw the AWESOME documentary about the making of this movie, called "Heart of Darkness" which features everyone involved in the making of the movie losing their minds, and FFCoppola losing 40 (!!!) pounds. It was shot in the Philippines, (as my mom read to me "With no pesky unions or safety regulations and cheap local labor, many 1970's movies made this the go-to destination for filming") which means I can not only relate to Martin Sheen (described as "generous" by FFC, in his unstinting portrayal of drunken mirror- breaking- breakdown- crying in a Hanoi hotel room that looks a LOT like my apartment, while he was, shall we say, not quite sober in real life) but I can sort of relate to FFC and Colonel Kurtz too.

This movie is every bit the genuis it's made out to be. It's mostly wordless, and you can see a lot of where Sofia Coppola got her influences ( I HEART SFC)- her use of light, her use of music, her use of the eerie, the crowd, isolation, nature, and her lack of "sex" in any traditional sense.

It's one of the few movies I would say is a "must see" just for the experience (although I also put Death in Venice in this category too, and for similar reasons so that's how much my advice is worth).

Favorite scene/ quote: After leaving the "last American post on the river" which has descended into horrific Lord of the Flies Chaos where men act like frightened animals, Martin Sheen has been asking "who's the CO? Who's in charge?" over and over, only to be asked "Ain't you?" by the machine gun happy crazy people left on the last bridge of "civilization".

When he gets back to his ship, badly shaken, the crew asks him "Where's the CO?" and Martin answers with signature disgust and resignation "There is no CO here." It's a moment (and there were many) that resonated with me deeply.

A great, great, great movie. Scary as hell and not for the faint of heart, but great.


Something Borrowed.


I have pretty mixed feelings about this one. Kate Hudson I love, even in such stinkers as "My Best Friend's girl", but this movie really didn't sit right with me. The plot is that the main dude has been in love with the main girl for 6 (!!) years and has never said it and some how got himself engaged to party animal, lovable narcissist Darcy, main girl's bestie from like Kindergarden.

The movie's fun, sparkly, and cute, and Kate Hudson clearly has a ball playing her character, who while selfish, is not really a jerk. The "dilemma" of Rachel (main girl) being in love with Dex and it being mutual and then those two winding up together, happy ever after, kind of bothered me.

I mean, Dex is with Darcy for SIX YEARS and dumps her ass a few days before the wedding for Rachel, after they have an affair. Honestly, I really hate when movies show people that started their relationship as cheating winding up "happy". What happens when Dex's ex girlfriend from grade school turns up on Facebook wanting to "reconnect"? Doesn't she too have a prior commitment to him also?

The main justification for the movie is that Darcy "takes what she wants" and meek, mild little boyfriend stealer Rachel is somehow justified in taking Dex because she's "asking for what she wants, finally." I mean, what should have happened if Rachel was in love with Dex was separate herself from those two for a year or so, found a new man, and then reconnected with those two. Hard? Yes. But if I ever found myself in this unenviable spot (and lord knows I've fallen in love at first sight with more than a few newly introduced BFs of acquaintances), I'd be like "Let's only do girl stuff for a while, your BF just brings out the worst in me." or whatever. Other's people's P is hot, mostly because they "belong" to someone else. I mean, I am no angel, but I've been reformed recently, and I have to say that although the movie was fun and fluffy, the music was great, the costuming enjoyable, and the acting pretty good, I left the movie HATING Rachel and feeling Darcy's pain.


If you're cool with the plotline (ie, what's good for the gander--- and MANY movies have been made about the sweet guy "stealing" Miss Right from "Mr. Jerk" (one I can think of off the top of my head is "Wedding Crashers") is good for the goose), then go for it. But for those of you AHEM mom and probably Kez who believe in love, and fidelity, even when it's hard, you'll be a boiling hot cauldron of salty rage by the time the movie tinkles to a golden glow of "love".