Just yesterday I was reading Roger Ebert's latest blog post, about some new projects, some in-progress developments...and about his recurring cancer. He was scaling back, taking what he called "a leave of presence" while tackling his illness yet again. Today, he passed away. My love of movies has been lifelong, fueled quite handily by the minds of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. Every week I would watch them on television, discussing the movies of the day and arguing over their value. From early … [Read more...] about RIP Roger Ebert
Movies
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Comedy About Magic
I love magic. Let's just establish this from the start. I love seeing something amazing and feeling that tremendous sense of wonder that comes with it, when your rational brain can't really "sync" with the information it's getting from your senses. You know you've seen something truly unbelievable, and yet, you did just see it, so it had to be real. Right? In much the same way that a good story can transport you from the drudgery of your everyday world, experiencing good magic can inspire you … [Read more...] about The Incredible Burt Wonderstone Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Comedy About Magic
Wreck-It Ralph: A Sweet Treat Rather Than An Animated Wreck
Dinosaur. Treasure Planet. Brother Bear. Home On The Range. Mostly forgettable films from the House of Mouse. I'm a huge Disney fan (not to mention a parent of three), and I didn't even bother watching that last one. So when Wreck-It Ralph came to theaters last fall--right after Brave, if I recall--I didn't even bother to go see it. I didn't know anything about the character(s), had no idea what the story was about, and I don't think I even saw the trailer, even though it would have been perfect … [Read more...] about Wreck-It Ralph: A Sweet Treat Rather Than An Animated Wreck
The Cinematic Wonder that is Les Misérables
My first big-screen film viewing for 2013 was Tom Hooper's film adaptation of Les Misérables. No, I did not go see this on Christmas Day, much to the chagrin of my husband. As much as I love movies, Christmas with the family is much more important. So, after a couple of weeks of relaxed schedules and quality hibernating, it was off to the movies! [probably spoilers in here somewhere, for those of you who don't know the story of Les Mis -- but why don't you??] I'd like to preface my review by … [Read more...] about The Cinematic Wonder that is Les Misérables
The Illusionist, Revisited
I spent a good portion of yesterday going through and cleaning up old and forgotten blogs, removing what I no longer wanted to keep, and reposting items I felt were worth keeping. Among the old posts was my review of one of my favorite movies, Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. At the end of that review, I made mention that my next planned viewing was The Illusionist, a film starring Ed Norton, which was also released at around the same time as The Prestige. I don't remember it getting nearly as … [Read more...] about The Illusionist, Revisited
Musings from the Matrix
Another post from a forgotten blog. Last one for today, but I couldn't resist since I just posted today about Cloud Atlas which was also an amazing film by the siblings Wachowski. I was reading a fascinating interpretation of the Matrix movies, specifically Matrix Reloaded (my favorite of the three), which discusses the nature of the creation of the world. We Christians are familiar with the idea that God created a Tree of Knowledge but forbade Adam and Eve to eat its fruit. The question that … [Read more...] about Musings from the Matrix