I've been curious how a movie about a horse garnered so much Oscar attention. Tonight I ran out to a theatre on a Navy base to take it in. Watching a movie on base is generally like watching anywhere else, with two notable exceptions. First, the National Anthem is played prior to the start of the film while everyone stands at attention. Second, when you're watching scenes of the carnage of war, you know there are people in the next row who've actually been there. Different feel.
Now this is the first of this year's Oscar lineup that I've actually seen and I'm disappointed. I won't put it down, it was a fine film it just felt fragmented. But, it was incredibly beautiful to see. The landscape actually brought tears to my eyes simply because those panoramas now hold not just my imagination but my memories.
I can't wait to see the remaining nominees-- especially The Artist and Moneyball. The 1920s have always haunted me while a baseball movie is, well, a movie about baseball! What could be more exciting?! But there's another film in my sights-- Red Tails. I would never have heard of it excepting that The View, a show I never watch, was on at the coffee shop and Cuba Gooding Jr. was that day's guest. I learned from that interview that getting a major studio to back the project was difficult because-- get this-- nobody believed audiences would pay to go see an all black cast. I guess I naively thought all that was behind us. I'm buying a ticket. I will pay full price and bring a friend and probably go twice. Seriously? America?
I'm finding that being out of the country has consequences. Maybe I just didn't notice such things before I left, but there are surprises everywhere. Talk/text/data plan but you have to buy a data plan on top of that? (Plus T-Mobile is now 'letting' us pay full price for their phones?) Obama's rating's in the toilet, gas is over $4 a gallon, America's obsessed with Jersey Shore, we blew through the debt ceiling and black actors are meeting with raised eyebrows. I left less than two years ago-- what the hell happened to my country?
Now this is the first of this year's Oscar lineup that I've actually seen and I'm disappointed. I won't put it down, it was a fine film it just felt fragmented. But, it was incredibly beautiful to see. The landscape actually brought tears to my eyes simply because those panoramas now hold not just my imagination but my memories.
I can't wait to see the remaining nominees-- especially The Artist and Moneyball. The 1920s have always haunted me while a baseball movie is, well, a movie about baseball! What could be more exciting?! But there's another film in my sights-- Red Tails. I would never have heard of it excepting that The View, a show I never watch, was on at the coffee shop and Cuba Gooding Jr. was that day's guest. I learned from that interview that getting a major studio to back the project was difficult because-- get this-- nobody believed audiences would pay to go see an all black cast. I guess I naively thought all that was behind us. I'm buying a ticket. I will pay full price and bring a friend and probably go twice. Seriously? America?
I'm finding that being out of the country has consequences. Maybe I just didn't notice such things before I left, but there are surprises everywhere. Talk/text/data plan but you have to buy a data plan on top of that? (Plus T-Mobile is now 'letting' us pay full price for their phones?) Obama's rating's in the toilet, gas is over $4 a gallon, America's obsessed with Jersey Shore, we blew through the debt ceiling and black actors are meeting with raised eyebrows. I left less than two years ago-- what the hell happened to my country?
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