"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." It's one of my favorite quotes and while I intended to write this directly after the Oscars aired, Life (and yes with a capital "L") had other plans. In the past three months there have been a lot of life transitions going on for me and my family. Hospitalizations, surgeries, cancer scares, moving, jobs left behind and on a happier note a wedding. Much as I enjoy writing these there just wasn't time or I didn't have the energy to do more than lose myself in a movie or a book at the end of the day.
If you've read this blog before then you know how much I love Oscar movies. However, they tend to have a certain emotional intensity and every year after the Oscars, and especially the last couple of years, I tend to need a little reprieve. So in late winter and spring I turn towards comedies or silly action movies that don't have the same emotional punch as the Oscar fare. Over the last three months, I admit, I've been escaping into pure fantasy; whether it be a brand new action adventure in a theatre or a classic on TCM in my living room. I love old movies and have been watching quite a few over the past several weeks. I grew up enjoying old Cary Grant movies, John Wayne movies, and musicals, and somehow it never dawned on me until these last weeks that what they all have in common is that they're pure fantasy. There isn't a lot of realism, even if wide scenery shots are done on location, the scenes with actors are on studio sets for the most part, and thanks to the Production Code, men and women even had to sleep in separate beds. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think this is a bad thing, and I know these are generalizations that don't apply to every classic movie or genre. I love that these movies are fantasies. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of my favorite old musicals but there's not a bit of authenticity about it and that's okay. I like escaping to a world where somehow mountain farmers are world class dancers and it's clear that all of the mountains are painted on a sound stage wall. Another favorite of mine is North By Northwest which does take place more in the real world than Seven Brides for Seven Brothers but is just as much of a fantasy. How realistic is the idea that an "every man" is mistaken for a spy and somehow manages to tame the femme fatale as well? It's a spy thriller fantasy that's a precursor to today's spy escape films like Bond and Bourne. Again, all of this is okay. I'll admit, sometimes it's hard to watch older films without seeing them through our jaded 21st century scope (pointing out plot holes and fake driving past canned backgrounds), but half the fun of watching an old movie is leaving behind our jaded present and escaping into a more idealized past.
Another way I've been escaping the present is going to see what are, arguably, action fantasies on the big screen. All have been blockbuster action movies (even if some were box office disappointments) that take place in the present but allowed me to lose myself for a couple of hours in a silly, explosion ridden, romp. I've seen several of these "action fantasies" (Jupiter Ascending, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Furious 7, Chappie, Avengers: Age of Ultron, etc) in the past few months and have truly enjoyed every one of them for their own merits.
I saw Kingsman: The Secret Service for my birthday with my husband and sisters and I think the best way to sum it up is with quotes from my sisters throughout the movie. In the first 10 minutes my 19 year old sister leaned over to me and whispered, "Uhg. This is so cheesy. They're trying too hard." Halfway through I looked over at them to see faces filled with joy and exclamations of, "This is amazing!" At the end of the movie while the credits rolled I asked them, "So what did you think?" My 14 year old sister declared, "Best. Movie. Ever."
Four years ago I had very happily never seen a Fast & Furious movie and was quite content to keep it that way. However, in the spring of 2011 Fast Five was coming out and my husband, then boyfriend, was SO excited. He insisted that I watch all of the previous four movies so I could be up to speed (pun intended) before we went to see the fifth installment of the franchise. I admittedly was not thrilled about this prospect. We had embarked on a viewing the year before of another one of his favorite franchises: Mad Max. To this day I wish I had those hours of my life back to spend watching more worthy movies. I just do not get Mad Max and doubt I ever will. (However, I love my husband--and our marital bliss--so I did see the newest installment of that franchise with him during opening week...best in the franchise just not my thing.) Needless to say, I was wary about embarking on another viewing journey of something my boyfriend held so dear because I was sure I would hate it as much I as I hate(ed) Mad Max. And I do hate the third Fast & Furious movie (Tokyo Drift or as I like to mockingly call it, 3 Fast) as much as Mad Max. Yet, when we got to the fourth film in the series I was surprised that it wasn't awful and, much as the first two are ridiculous, they were at least watchable. So when we went to see Fast Five in the theatre I actually liked it. It was a caper movie along the lines of Ocean's 11 but with cars. Now I go and watch the Fast & Furious movies with my husband without bracing myself for disaster. They are silly, over the top fun. They won't ever be my favorite movies but the series has done something rare, it's actually gotten better in the later installments. Furious 7 even had me tearing up at the end as the characters said goodbye to Paul Walker.
With Chappie and Avengers: Age of Ultron it was interesting to see two sides of the argument for artificial intelligence. Chappie presents a world where the humans are the jaded bad guys and the perky AI infused robot is the hope for a brighter future. Whereas, in Avengers: Age of Ultron the robot with AI is a maniac trying to destroy the world to "save" it and the super-for the most part-humans have to save the world from the rogue sentient robot. There have been movies exploring both sides of AI debate for years, from Terminator to Her, and there will probably be more to come as technology becomes more and more an extension of our lives every day. I hope it stays a fun device in film to explore our fears of technology rather than a reality.
My favorite movie that I saw to help me escape for a couple hours though, was Jupiter Ascending. It was not the best film and it's not without serious flaws but it was so much fun. I liked that for once it was an "every woman" who is supposed to be the Earth's savior instead of another man. Is she perfect or a super hero? Nope, just a maid who gets swept up in an alien family's war she knows nothing about. Yes, it's silly, but there are so many "guy" action movies or sci-fi movies that are more ridiculous and those don't have gorgeous costumes and a fantastical production design to distract you. Plus, there's something wonderful about a good bad movie. I can't tell you how many times my brother and I watched Flash Gordon growing up. And just like Flash Gordon, Jupiter Ascending is full of weird aliens, foreign planets, and a predictable love story; all it needs is a campy theme song by Queen. Unfortunately the critics panned this movie with the sort of vitriol it seems they save for one not good, but not god awful movie every year around Oscar season (past victims include One For the Money and The Monuments Men). I think (and hope) Jupiter Ascending will find a cult following on blu-ray and streaming.
As for The Oscars, I enjoyed this year's broadcast, almost as much as last year's, but I really missed the mark on predictions this year. I underestimated the might of Birdman but did really well in predicting the more technical awards than past years and I was so happy for all of the wins for The Grand Budapest Hotel. I liked Neil Patrick Harris as host for the most part, but the "magic" trick at the end seemed a bit superfluous. There were fabulous and touching acceptance speeches throughout the evening, including Patricia Arquette, J.K. Simmons and Graham Moore for Best Adapted Screenplay (Youtube these--they're worth a watch). Common and John Legend's performance of "Glory" was also incredibly moving and powerful bringing many in the audience and myself to tears. My very favorite moment of the night though, was when Julie Andrews came on stage after the Sound of Music tribute sung by Lady Gaga. First of all, Lady Gaga blew me away (I've never been a fan of hers and had no idea she could sing like that) and then the effervescent Dame Julie Andrews stepped on stage and I was instantly weeping. Sound of Music is my favorite musical and was my favorite movie as a child (one of the highlights of my life was seeing Julie Andrews and Christopher Plumber sing together live when I was in high school), so I can't really explain how magical it was when she appeared on the Oscar stage after that tribute. Those are the sort of wondrous moments that happen at the Oscars which make me love them so much.
Now that summer approaches and Life is calming a bit (knock on wood) I have to stop only escaping with my movie viewing and start watching more of a variety again. I started this new transition by going to see A Most Violent Year at the local dollar theatre last week and loved it. It was a dark mood piece full of great performances and a fantastic score. Jessica Chastain was mesmerizing and as my friend Pam said, Chastain should "win an award for Best Nail Acting". It's still summer movie season so I'll of course be going to see some upcoming blockbusters (Jurassic World, Ant-Man) but I'm balancing my escapist viewing by taking an online course exploring Film Noir in joint with TCM's Summer of Darkness. So hopefully I'll have plenty of new film insights to write about here in the coming months. Until next time.
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