Saturday Matinee

The Dressmaker

Have you ever had a childhood experience that haunted your life?

When Tilly returns to her childhood home in the secluded Australian outback, she’s changed…a lot. She’s now a successful dressmaker and the ladies in town are clamoring for her to make them a new dress. The town has little access to fashionable clothes and Tilly is their ticket to looking beautiful for their beaus.

But, Tilly is not in town to make dresses. She approaches her mom, desperate to recall the details to a murder which she’s forgotten. Perhaps being back in this God-forsaken town will jog her memory.

Tilly also connects with Teddy, a sympathetic childhood friend who develops a soft spot for her.

I really enjoyed this movie. The movie showed how rotten and unforgiving people can be, but, also you saw people jump to Tilly’s defense to help solve the details of the murder mystery. There were so many emotions packed in this movie: love, hate, fear. A tragic event happens that I was NOT expecting. It’s difficult to talk more about the emotions without giving spoilers.

This movie had me mesmerized from the beginning and the acting and the scenery was AMAZING! Such a treat to watch this film and I highly recommend it.

Kate Winslet is one of my favorite actresses – due in part to her acting in Titanic (my all-time favorite movie). Kate and the rest of the cast did great in this movie.

So, have you ever had a childhood experience that haunted your life?

You have GOT to look at the NOAH movie trailer! This movie looks awesome! I can’t wait for to be released!

NOAH Synopsis:  After visions of an apocalyptic deluge, Noah, the world’s only righteous man, is chosen to undertake a divine mission to build a massive ark to save his family and all of creation before the impending rains fall and the flood waters rise. Cast: Russell Crowe, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Can you imagine living your life backwards? What would it be like to be born an old man, and physically get younger and younger as you grow older in age?

That’s the premise of this movie. Benjamin Button is a man whose life is tied to a clock. This strange clock is created by a blind man – the clock hangs in a train station. The clock runs backwards and that’s how Benjamin’s life starts. When Benjamin is born, he’s a baby who looks like an old man. Abandoned by his father on the steps of an old folks’ home, he’s taken in by a couple who raise him as their son.

As Benjamin gets older, he starts to look younger. When he’s seven, he meets a girl named Daisy. Benjamin and Daisy remain connected during most of the movie.

When Benjamin goes out on his own at 17, he becomes the aide to a sailor on a ship. He has a mixed bag of adventures – since he looks like an old man, but he isn’t, it makes his life strange and unusual. The strangest adventure for him was being connected to Daisy – how can you love somebody as you get younger while they get older?

I liked this movie, but, it was so unusual, and weird, that I doubt I’d watch it again.

So, could you imagine living your life backwards? What would it be like to be born an old man, and physically get younger and younger as you get older in age? Can you think of any books or movies with a similar premise?

My Best Friend’s Wedding

Starring: Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney

Have you ever been in love with your best friend? If so, did you share you feelings with him/her?

I really enjoy this classic romance movie! I’ve seen it a number of times and decided to watch it again recently. Jules, a food critic, is devastated when her best friend and former beau, Michael, plans to marry the following weekend. He invites her to the wedding and she arrives and meets Michael’s fiance, Kimmy. Kimmy is a fast-driving, college-aged, daughter of a billionaire family.

Jules is determined to break up Michael and Kimmy – after all, she’s in love with Michael, but, has never had the courage to tell him. Michael loved Jules at one time, but, she never let him hug her in public, she always pulled away. Now that Michael has found somebody to love, Jules has decided that she wants him for herself.

A laughable series of events occur as Jule’s plots to steal Michael for herself.

This movie was so entertaining! If you’ve seen it, I’d like to know what you liked about it!
Have you ever been in love with your best friend? If so, did you tell him/her how you felt?

Flipped

Do you remember your childhood sweetheart? How old were you? Who was the first boy or girl that caught your eye, making you believe you were in love?

This was an endearing, sweet young adult movie about first love. Juli is just a child when Bryce moves into her neighborhood. From the moment she sees him, she realizes he’s her one and only love. The story starts when they’re around seven (like a prologue) and then it jumps forward and they’re twelve years old. Juli is still in love with Bryce, and she’s courageous. She’s mesmerized by nature and when the county threatens to chop down her favorite tree, she climbs into the tree, refusing to leave, and is disheartened when Bryce does not help her with her tree-saving cause.

Juli believes that Bryce is her true love, but, is he really the right man for her? Her love for him falters when she discovers things about him, hears him say things about her family, making her doubt her love for him.

I highly recommend this movie for those who love a good romance. Even though the kids are twelve, it’s still a story that adults can enjoy.

So, did you have a childhood crush? Do you remember your first love? How old were you and who was the first boy or girl that caught your eye, making you believe you were in love?

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe

Have you ever dealt with anybody who suffered from schizophrenia?

John Nash is brilliant math graduate student at Princeton University. He’s pressured into publishing works, however, he can’t think of a great idea for his paper. He finally comes up with a new concept which he publishes and garners him a spot at MIT. While at Princeton, he becomes friends with his roommate, Charles, and later, he meets Charles’ niece, Marcee.

He also dates his student, Alicia, and they fall in love. John also works for the secret service, trying to decipher cryptic codes in magazines and periodicals. He’s obsessed with breaking these codes and the walls of his office are covered with newspapers as he tries to decipher these messages while trying to escape from the Russians.

***SPOILER

Then, John has a breakdown and it’s discovered that he has schizophrenia. His wife, Alicia, wrongly believed that Charles and Marcee were real people since John spoke of them so often. John has to suffer through intense therapy and finally decides to stop his medication – although he still sees these “people” (Charles, Marcee, the government workers/agents, etc.) he realizes these people are not real and are figments of his imagination.

This movie really made me think about schizophrenia. I wondered about the human mind and the way it worked…how can you imagine somebody so hard that you actually see them, talk to them, think that they’re real over a number of years – not realizing that you were talking to no one? I wondered if the part of our brain that controls dreams and imaginations – well, if that part of our brain, goes haywire/wrong, then, maybe that would make your mind really “see” things/people who are not real?

John even shook hands with Charles and he hugged Marcee. He could touch these imaginary people, too?

Just knowing that you can see, touch, and feel people whom are not there blows my mind. When people witnessed John talking to his “friends” they just saw him talking to dead air.

Overall the movie was pretty good, but, I probably won’t watch it again anytime soon.

So, have you ever dealt with schizophrenia in your life – either yourself, or known someone with this illness? What happened? Did the treatment work?

If you were held in bondage by someone wicked, could you rely on a mortal man to save you?

Well, the people of Oz were waiting for a real wizard to save them from the wicked witch. This movie was entertaining, and it contains some elements from the classic Judy Garland film. Also, there were elements taken from the novel, The Wizard Of Oz.

Oscar (Oz) is a con-man/magician in Kansas. He breaks ladies’ hearts, while doing magic tricks in a carnival. He jumps into a hot air balloon to escape the wrath of the carnival’s Strongman. He’s then swept away into the land of Oz in the midst of a cyclone.

The people in Oz have been waiting for him, they see him as their savior since it’s been prophesied that he would come. Of course there are witches, both good and evil, but, the movie had an strange twist with the witches. If I told you more about them, it would spoil the story.

The Wizard had some special people to accompany him while he searched for the wicked witch. One of his companions was a China doll who had broken legs. The China doll was not in the original Wizard of Oz film, but, I do recall in The Wizard of Oz novel, that Dorothy and her friends traveled through the land of China – where everything was made of China and the people and objects were breakable. The Wizard’s other companion was a winged, talking monkey.

The special effects for this movie were amazing, and it was the perfect prequel to the The Wizard of Oz classic. The film was also laced with a small amount of humor, too.

I kind of felt like the people of Oz: The Quadlings, The Tinkers, The Munchkins, etc. viewed The Wizard as if he were God, Jesus Christ himself, coming to save them from the throes of Satan (the Wicked Witch).

Overall, a good movie. Have you seen this movie? If not, are you planning on seeing it? How do you think this movie compares to the classic?

~Cecelia Dowdy~