This movie is about an American suburban family, the Burnhams. Lester (Kevin Spacey), the dad, is a writer who quit his job and is going through a mid-life crisis. Lester's wife Carolyn, is a real estate agent and is competing against Buddy Kane the King of Real Estate. Lester and Carolyn's teenage daughter Jane is a quiet, awkward, and somewhat disturbed teenager. Lester and Carolyn seem to basically hate each other, barely speak to each other, and never have sex. Jane hangs out with the most popular girl in school, Angela Hayes, both of whom are on the high school cheerleading squad. A new set of neighbors, Colonel Frank Fitts, his demented wife, and his super creepy son Ricky Fitts, have moved in next door to the Burnhams.
After Lester quits his job, he realizes how much his daughter hates him and how absent he's been in her life. He tries to make amends by going to watch her cheerlead at the high school boys basketball game. This is when Lester sees Angela Hayes for the first time and is absolutely obsessed with her. Every time Angela comes over he makes a fool of himself. He overhears her say that she would sleep with him if he was in better shape. Lester decides it's definitely time to get in shape.
Jane develops a crush on super creepy Ricky next door and they end up sleeping together. They seem to understand each other. Ricky is a drug dealer, something that he has to hide from father, who beats him when he suspects Ricky's been dealing again. Ricky gets Lester hooked on drugs, and Lester pays him a ton of money for the "good stuff". Frank Fitts is a real tough army guy who punishes his son with a heavy hand.
Carolyn is trying her best to compete with Buddy Kane for her share of the real estate market in the neighborhood. When she meets up with Buddy at a work social event, she is in awe of him. They end up becoming lovers. She despises her husband even more so now that she has a lover.
The key moment in the movie comes when a number of events are occurring around the same time. 1) Jane invites Angela to spend the night, 2) Carolyn has had enough of Lester and contemplates killing him, she has a gun, and she listens to "inspirational" tapes, telling her she shouldn't be a victim anymore, 3) Lester calls Ricky for some drugs, and Frank sees Ricky giving Lester the drugs, only it looks to Frank like Ricky is actually giving Lester a blow job and getting paid for it, 4) Frank beats Ricky for selling sex... , 5) Ricky runs over to Jane's house and they decide to run away together 6) Jane and Angela get in a fight because Jane wants to run away with Ricky, 7) Lester tries to seduce Angela, but he stops from having sex with her when he finds out she's a virgin, 8) Frank comes over to Lester's house, and tries to kiss him... ?? What, Frank is gay???, 9) Carolyn decides to kill Lester, 10) Frank comes back over to Lester's and actually does kill him, 11) Carolyn comes home, with gun in hand, and finds Lester is already murdered.
This was a strange and really terrible movie. It's like everything that could possibly be wrong with the typical American family amplified. I have to say I thought it was pretty awful. The only good point in the movie was that Lester was probably an ok guy. At least we knew he loved his wife and daughter, and he didn't end up sleeping with Angela. Everybody just wanted to kill him. The material, selfish, do-what-ever-you-feel-like attitudes of all the characters in the movie is really depressing. I get that the movie is calling attention to how screwed up American families can be and that is probably much more prevalent than we imagine, but I have to say I didn't enjoy the movie at all.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Schindler's List (1993)
Schindler's List is about the German entrepreneur Oscar Schindler (Liam Neeson) who was a member of Nazi party. Schindler was living in Czechoslovakia but moved to Poland to try to make a fortune by exploiting Jewish prisoners during World War II. Schindler enlists the help of Itzhak Stern (a Jewish accountant and one of the select members of the Jewish council) to help him run a business making pots and pans to sell during the war. Itzhak takes care of hiring highly skilled laborers deemed "essential" for the war effort. In reality, Itzhak was trying to save as many Polish Jews as possible by giving them jobs at Schindler's factory.
Schindler's workers lived in the forced housing of the Krakow Ghetto. At one point there is a huge massacre in the Krakow Ghetto by the German army. Jews who were not murdered were sent to the Plaszow concentration camp. The Plaszow camp was overseen by Amon Goeth, a German officer. Schindler was really upset when all of his workers were either killed or sent to the camp. While working with the Jews in his factory, Schindler develops a regard for the prisoners. At first you believe he's mostly upset about losing his cheap labor, but we find out that he really has the best interest of the people at heart. Schindler gets to be good buddies with Goeth and pays him off in order to save 1100 Jewish prisoners on his famous list from going to the Auschwitz concentration camp where they would definitely be murdered. He takes them back to his home town of Zwittau-Brinnlitz in Czechoslovakia to open a weapons factory.
Schindler decides to make faulty weapons in order to thwart the German/Nazi war effort. In the end, when the war is over and the Germans surrender, Schindler is riddled with guilt that he wasn't able to save more prisoners. His former slaves grant him pardon due to his efforts to save as many Jews as he was able.
I thought this movie was really well done but it was really difficult to watch. It makes you wonder how people could have so little regard for the lives of other human beings. A few points in the movie were especially disturbing: 1) When Amon Goeth shoots the prisoners in the Plaszow camp from his balcony like it was a sport, 2) Goeth hires a pretty Jewish maid to work in his mansion, he's very attracted to her, but he can't understand his attraction because as he states, she's barely human, little more than a rat, 3) At both Plaszow and Auschwitz, when they burned the bodies of the murdered Jews, the ashes fell like snow in the cities, children played in the ashes like it was a holiday. Overall, this movie makes you pretty disgusted with human nature. How could it be possible that over 6 million people were slaughtered simply because they were Jewish or of Jewish decent? It really doesn't make any sense to me. Again, I thought the movie was great, quite realistic, and very disturbing.
Schindler's workers lived in the forced housing of the Krakow Ghetto. At one point there is a huge massacre in the Krakow Ghetto by the German army. Jews who were not murdered were sent to the Plaszow concentration camp. The Plaszow camp was overseen by Amon Goeth, a German officer. Schindler was really upset when all of his workers were either killed or sent to the camp. While working with the Jews in his factory, Schindler develops a regard for the prisoners. At first you believe he's mostly upset about losing his cheap labor, but we find out that he really has the best interest of the people at heart. Schindler gets to be good buddies with Goeth and pays him off in order to save 1100 Jewish prisoners on his famous list from going to the Auschwitz concentration camp where they would definitely be murdered. He takes them back to his home town of Zwittau-Brinnlitz in Czechoslovakia to open a weapons factory.
Schindler decides to make faulty weapons in order to thwart the German/Nazi war effort. In the end, when the war is over and the Germans surrender, Schindler is riddled with guilt that he wasn't able to save more prisoners. His former slaves grant him pardon due to his efforts to save as many Jews as he was able.
I thought this movie was really well done but it was really difficult to watch. It makes you wonder how people could have so little regard for the lives of other human beings. A few points in the movie were especially disturbing: 1) When Amon Goeth shoots the prisoners in the Plaszow camp from his balcony like it was a sport, 2) Goeth hires a pretty Jewish maid to work in his mansion, he's very attracted to her, but he can't understand his attraction because as he states, she's barely human, little more than a rat, 3) At both Plaszow and Auschwitz, when they burned the bodies of the murdered Jews, the ashes fell like snow in the cities, children played in the ashes like it was a holiday. Overall, this movie makes you pretty disgusted with human nature. How could it be possible that over 6 million people were slaughtered simply because they were Jewish or of Jewish decent? It really doesn't make any sense to me. Again, I thought the movie was great, quite realistic, and very disturbing.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is an average guy living in South Boston. He has a long train commute every day, working as a janitor at MIT. He lives in a pretty run down neighborhood in a small apartment. He has three buddies that he hangs out with, his best friend Chuckie Sullivan (Ben Affleck), Billy McBride, and Morgan O'Mally. They go out and get drunk regularly, often getting into trouble and picking fights. One particular night, they get into a fight with a group of guys Will went to school with. Will really beats his kindergarten rival "Carmine" to a pulp and he is arrested for the violence and faces jail time.
We're next introduced to professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard), a highly skilled mathematician (he's won the Fields medal) teaching advanced mathematical theory at MIT. He poses a very difficult theoretical proof to his students which he writes on the blackboard in the hall and asks his students to try to solve the proof by the end of the semester. Within a day or two a flawless answer to the proof is written on the blackboard (done by Will the janitor, who happens to be a mathematical genius). Everyone is very anxious to discover who solved the proof, including professor Lambeau himself. When Lambeau asks the class who did it, no one steps forward. Lambeau and the rest of the math department pose a new theory to the class, again written on the blackboard in the hall, stating that this question is significantly more difficult than the first.
Will and his buddies decide to go to a "Harvard bar". Chuckie starts hitting on a pretty girl, Skylar (Minnie Driver), saying that his thinks he remembers her from a Harvard history class. A snobbish Harvard prep boy calls out Chuckie and makes him look like a fool in front of Skylar. Will comes to the rescue and puts the Harvard boy's history knowledge to shame. In the end Will gets Skylar's phone number.
When the second theory is posted, Will is writing down the answer on the blackboard in the hall as professor Lambeau comes around the corner. Lambeau yells at Will for scribbling graffiti on the blackboard and chases him off. Meanwhile, Lambeau's assistant stares dumbfounded at the perfect answer. Lambeau is amazed at Will's gifted mind and seeks him out during his jail trial. Lambeau arranges for Will to be released under his guardianship providing that Will meets with him every week, does public service, and sees a psychologist. Lambeau and Will have a great time doing theory together and Lambeau compares Will to the greatest mathematicians of all time.
Will calls Skylar and she agrees to go out with him. She can also see that he's a genius and they hit it off immediately. Skylar falls in love with Will and tries to become a part of his life (she wants to know why they can't go over to his apartment or why she can't meet the 12 bothers he supposedly has). Will tries to hide the fact that he was abused as a child and leads a pretty miserable life. Skylar is about to graduate and is moving to California for medical school, she asks Will to come with her. Will says he doesn't love her (even though he obviously does) and they break up because he won't let her into his trust/won't allow himself to be vulnerable to her.
Unfortunately, Will does not want to see a psychologist (part of his jail release agreement). Lambeau runs through all of his psychologist friends and no one is able to outsmart Will. As a last resort, Lambeau turns to his old college roommate and psychologist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams). It's a rough start, but Sean finally cracks Will's shell and they end up helping each other. Sean helps Will overcome his guilt/fear of being abused as a child and orphaned, Will helps Sean move on with life after the death of his beloved wife.
Lambeau pushes Will to excel. He sets him up for interviews at very prestigious institutions. Sean thinks Will just needs to get his life straight and doesn't think he's ready for the stress of a high-powered job. In the end, Will decides against taking the jobs and goes off to California to win Skylar back. Sean sets off for a trip around the world and the start to his life without his wife.
I really liked the movie. Of course I'm pretty jealous of Will's amazing mind... I often feel limited by my own brain power. I think the movie points out that we're all given a special set of gifts/talents, but we have to overcome our own fears/reservations in order to excel. I really liked the ending of the movie because you just knew that Will was going to win Skylar back and become a famous mathematician while he's at it.
We're next introduced to professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard), a highly skilled mathematician (he's won the Fields medal) teaching advanced mathematical theory at MIT. He poses a very difficult theoretical proof to his students which he writes on the blackboard in the hall and asks his students to try to solve the proof by the end of the semester. Within a day or two a flawless answer to the proof is written on the blackboard (done by Will the janitor, who happens to be a mathematical genius). Everyone is very anxious to discover who solved the proof, including professor Lambeau himself. When Lambeau asks the class who did it, no one steps forward. Lambeau and the rest of the math department pose a new theory to the class, again written on the blackboard in the hall, stating that this question is significantly more difficult than the first.
Will and his buddies decide to go to a "Harvard bar". Chuckie starts hitting on a pretty girl, Skylar (Minnie Driver), saying that his thinks he remembers her from a Harvard history class. A snobbish Harvard prep boy calls out Chuckie and makes him look like a fool in front of Skylar. Will comes to the rescue and puts the Harvard boy's history knowledge to shame. In the end Will gets Skylar's phone number.
When the second theory is posted, Will is writing down the answer on the blackboard in the hall as professor Lambeau comes around the corner. Lambeau yells at Will for scribbling graffiti on the blackboard and chases him off. Meanwhile, Lambeau's assistant stares dumbfounded at the perfect answer. Lambeau is amazed at Will's gifted mind and seeks him out during his jail trial. Lambeau arranges for Will to be released under his guardianship providing that Will meets with him every week, does public service, and sees a psychologist. Lambeau and Will have a great time doing theory together and Lambeau compares Will to the greatest mathematicians of all time.
Will calls Skylar and she agrees to go out with him. She can also see that he's a genius and they hit it off immediately. Skylar falls in love with Will and tries to become a part of his life (she wants to know why they can't go over to his apartment or why she can't meet the 12 bothers he supposedly has). Will tries to hide the fact that he was abused as a child and leads a pretty miserable life. Skylar is about to graduate and is moving to California for medical school, she asks Will to come with her. Will says he doesn't love her (even though he obviously does) and they break up because he won't let her into his trust/won't allow himself to be vulnerable to her.
Unfortunately, Will does not want to see a psychologist (part of his jail release agreement). Lambeau runs through all of his psychologist friends and no one is able to outsmart Will. As a last resort, Lambeau turns to his old college roommate and psychologist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams). It's a rough start, but Sean finally cracks Will's shell and they end up helping each other. Sean helps Will overcome his guilt/fear of being abused as a child and orphaned, Will helps Sean move on with life after the death of his beloved wife.
Lambeau pushes Will to excel. He sets him up for interviews at very prestigious institutions. Sean thinks Will just needs to get his life straight and doesn't think he's ready for the stress of a high-powered job. In the end, Will decides against taking the jobs and goes off to California to win Skylar back. Sean sets off for a trip around the world and the start to his life without his wife.
I really liked the movie. Of course I'm pretty jealous of Will's amazing mind... I often feel limited by my own brain power. I think the movie points out that we're all given a special set of gifts/talents, but we have to overcome our own fears/reservations in order to excel. I really liked the ending of the movie because you just knew that Will was going to win Skylar back and become a famous mathematician while he's at it.
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