Movie Notes

We've seen several movies in the last several days, and I'd like to comment on some of the ones I didn't sleep through. Some of my comments will be impartial, but more of them will be very self-centered, or alternatively self-revealing.

1. Ratatouille

I very much enjoyed this movie, partially because of the cooking, because while I often do not enjoy cooking myself, I do enjoy reading about and seeing people (and in this case, rats) who do. But the main reason I enjoyed the film was because of the food critic, Ego, played by Peter O'Toole. Late in the film Ego describes the work of the critic:

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."

Why do I like Ego (the character, not the Freudian term) so much? Confession: my husband will not be surprised to learn that inside myself I covet the role of the critic. I've always wanted to be one of those people with authority who declaim quality, those aspect of movies, music, and books that are good and those that are bad. I pride myself on resisting popular opinion and having my own criteria for what is and is not art. I wish that others would read what I write and be convinced that I am brilliant. I simultaneously am and am not proud of this aspect of my nature.

2. The Astronaut Farmer

I found the first two thirds of this film very stressful, while the last third of it was quite enjoyable. I may have actually dozed off during some important parts of the film, which I think led me to certain misinterpretations that hindered my enjoyment of it.

Michael and I are doing a marriage class right now that is based on a couple of William Harley's books. This movie convinced me that I should have ranked the need for financial support higher on my list of important marital needs. The film begins with a family that is $600 thousand dollars in debt while the husband builds a rocket in his barn that he intends to fly once around the earth. They were about to lose everything, while seeming rather complacent about it, which made me incredibly uncomfortable. There is a Deus Ex Machina midway through the film which, by definition, brings a great deal of relief, but this increased my objection to the film because I felt that it brought with it a false sense of hope to those who might be influenced by the film to make increasingly bad choices in real life.

Like I said, I believe I have misinterpreted this film. They handle the stress of the situation, and the consequences of bad choices in positive ways that I totally missed because I was so sleepy. The movie is actually about dreams. The poorly written description of the movie on the back of the DVD case had set me off on the wrong foot.

Michael said something to me at one point about pursuing those activities that you really enjoy in life, and I responded that all I really want to do is read and write--a lot, but that doesn't put dinner on the table. He thought I meant figuratively, not literally, and so said that I could feed my family this way eventually, but I can't figure out how.

3. Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End

I have really enjoyed this trilogy, and all I will say here is that I think Disney has handled the whole concept of fantasy with this series quite well, although each of the films is probably a bit too long. The series winds up with a true storybook ending, instead of the Hollywood storybook ending most of us have come to expect from film.

4. Lady in the Water

We watched this last night. I wasn't particularly interested in seeing this movie, even though I have enjoyed most of M. Night Shyamalan's other films. The movie wasn't perfect, but by the time we made it to the end I was in love. I commented to Michael that I don't think this movie could possibly have done very well in the box office, but that I don't think Shyamalan particularly cares. I think he is much more interested in making an interesting film. This movie won my heart because of its emphasis on the elements of storytelling. It's one that we will have to add to our DVD collection in time.

That's it, and now Parker is awake and ready to get out of bed.