Movie Review - "Newlyweds" 12/26/11

Third movie review of the weekend!  "Newlyweds", released December 26, 2011.

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.



Newlyweds
This is a movie that makes one think about what marriage really is, since there are five marriages in this movie.  Buzzy and Katie are newlywed, both on their second marriage [marriages #1, 2, 3].  Katie's sister Marsha is married to Max (one of Buzzy's fitness workout clients) [#4].

Buzzy made a comment to Marsha and Max that 18 years married is a successful marriage, since many marriages do not last that long nowadays.  Marsha and Max had married because they were expecting a child {married 4 months pregnant} and since their kid was in college, both Marsha and Max started doubting and mistrusting each other.

Buzzy's half sister Linda flies in from L.A. to visit Buzzy (living with him and Katie while she stays, much to Katie's dismay).  She finds out that her ex has already married [#5], though they've been separated for only 10 months.  On top of that, he still loves her but his now-wife is expecting their first child.  Of course, Linda needs company so she goes for a one night stand with Katie's ex named Dara.

The emotions fly and the questions are asked.  What is a marriage and how should it be?  How can a couple survive together?  Should one marry just because a child is coming in to the world and, if so, should they divorce and move on once the kid is on to college?  What should be told between a husband and wife?  What should be kept secret and what should be told right up front?

I think this was a very good movie.  Very thought provoking and insightful.  It was a comedy drama movie but it was not very "comedial" since they constantly had the characters talking to the camera telling what they thought about situations and people.


5/5  - Highly recommended, especially for those who want to eventually get married.  Marriage is a hard thing to do and hard thing to keep together in this world - one needs to think thoroughly about it before jumping into wedlock.  This movie helps one think about marriage and what it should be.

Movie Review - "Pariah" 12/28/11

Another movie review this weekend!  This time it is the movie "Pariah" released December 28, 2011.

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful moving all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

Pariah

This is a very interesting movie.  It is about an African American high school female named Alike "Lee" , set in New York (Brooklyn).  She is the oldest child of her parents.  The main issue in the movie is the fact that she is a lesbian.  Her mother tries to force her to wear frilly feminine clothes (including a skirt for church), get different friends, and stay away from clubs.  Her father doesn't say much as he is typically at work for the police or drinking a little bit with his food [seen with beer multiple times as he eats].  One attempt to get Lee to get different friends ends up hurting Lee emotionally because she gets attached to this gal and the gal rejects her eventually.  Her family then learns that she is actually a lesbian and her mother snaps.

We also see different parts of the lesbian life as Lee's friend Laura is rejected and disavowed by her parents.  No matter what she does to try to earn their respect and love, they still turn her out.  So through this the audience might have expected what was to come of Lee's situation with her parents and why another lesbian friend doesn't want anyone to know that she might (potentially) be lesbian.

Watching this movie made me realize that I am so glad that I am no longer in high school (due to the groups and whatnot).  I did not approve of Lee's mother because she made me furious - why would you put your child through so much torment to become someone you approve of when he/she does not want to be that person?  Why would you make someone do something, wear something, or be something they are not?  Even without talking about homosexuality, I still think that people [especially parents] should let people be who they are.  Don't deny someone the right to be their self!

4/5 - Good movie, well presented.  The mother was a b**ch and I despised her but the characters were all well thought out.  I didn't like some of the music but then again, that's not my culture and it did a very good job portraying her culture.

Movie Review - "A Separation" 12/30/2011

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the long wait but I have a full time job now (one that I love) and I haven't been able to get over here to critique or blog at all since the last post.  [Duh.]  Anyways, here's another review!  Going along with the trend, this critique is for "A Separation", released December 30, 2011.

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful moving all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

A Separation

This is a foreign-language film.  Set in "modern Iran" (according to the description of the movie).  I did not know this right away when I started watching this, since it does not say it in the subtitles though it is implied through references to Arabic, the Qu'aran, and the Middle Eastern culture of women's attire.

I watched the movie in the original language - Persian?!  That's what Wikipedia says that it was.  Huh.  Anyways, Persian with English subtitles.  I like the language and how it flows out of the characters' mouths [linguistic at heart].  It kinda hurt my eyes to watch the subtitles and the movie at the same time, especially since it was not a language that I am familiar with, but I liked the language.

It was about two Iranians getting a divorce (Simin [female] and Nader [male]).  Nader didn't want to leave the country because he had to take care of his father with Alzheimer's though Simin wanted to take their daughter Termeh away from there.  With Simin out of the house, Nader finds a caretaker for his father.  However, things go downhill when grandpa goes out for a walk (without remembering what was going on and almost getting hit by a car!), the caretaker starts feeling unwell, Nader finding the caretaker tied grandpa to a bed so she could step out for a bit, Nader and the caretaker getting into a heated debate, and the caretaker miscarrying her second child.  Charges of murder, lying, theft, etcetera occur after this fiasco and it really heats up from there.

It was a very interesting movie and I'm glad I got to hear that language (Persian, really?) through the video.  It was a slow starter, esp for nowadays, but after the first hour, it picks up.  After trying four times to watch this movie, I finally was able to sit down and finish it.  I cried at times, I cringed, I gasped, and all that.  The ending was a let down because it didn't tie things off but then again, it was a realistic movie with realistic situations.

I give this movie a 3.5/5 - had a hard time catching my attention; didn't give the conclusive ending I was hoping for.  A decent movie.  I guess I didn't like it as much as the big-time critiques liked it :-P.

{Viewed 10/13/12}

Movie Review - "Angels Crest" 12/30/2011

·    Another review of a movie, this time Angels Crest.  Released December 30, 2011.

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful moving all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

    Angels Crest

            “Based on the book”.  I have never read the book and had never heard of the movie until I started this quest of reviewing movies.  Anyways, this was a sad and depressing movie.  In a small town called Angels Crest, a three year old boy Nathan Denton goes missing and *spoiler* is discovered frozen to death.  So the question is whether or not his father, Ethan Denton, is guilty or not for negligence and ultimately the boy’s death.  Along the path of the movie, we find Nate’s drunkard slutty mother Cindy, a few of Ethan’s friends, the local diner owner Angie and her daughter Rosie, a District Attorney, and a few other characters.  Long story short – it kept my attention and made me cry a few times, especially to see the loss of the young boy.  The ending was abrupt but to be expected.

            4/5 – Kept my attention, made me cry a few times.  Story was very good and made me very glad not to be living in a small town.  Recommended.

            {Viewed 3/3/2012}

Movie Review - "The Iron Lady" 12/30/2011

As I am currently unemployed and have gotten a bit bored silly searching, I have decided to work on my blog during my spare time (when I'm not job searching).  So, what I have decided to do is to watch released movies and review them for you.  What a treat, I bet you're thinking, to hear Margem rant and rave about whatever she watches.  Well, thanks to free streaming movies online, that's exactly what I'm going to give you.


My rating system may change but maybe not.  We'll see...  Here is the standard rating system that I came up with (tonight) so it might work out for the long haul:


My rating system:

0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.

1/5 – Barely worth any time.

2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.

3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.

4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful moving all around – characters, music, theme, storyline, etc.

For knowing what movies were released and when, I am going to use www.movieinsider.com, which tells what was released and when they were released.  (Yes, that "sentence" was repetitive.  Sorry.... But I'm not changing it.)  The first date that I will focus on is December 30, 2011, which includes: The Iron Lady, Angels Crest, A Separation

I may have links to the other day's reviews once I have finished reviewing the day's movies, but we'll see about that.  Anyways, let's start off with "The Iron Lady", released December 30, 2011.  :-D

·        The Iron Lady

            Good “documentary” styled film about the first female prime minister of Britain.  I had never really heard about Margaret Thatcher until this movie came out.  Of course, once I saw it, I understood why she was so ‘popular’ because she was able to show that women can do an important job just like men can.  Eleven years in office though there were wars, union strikes, and economic downturn.  A few things can be learned from this movie, like standing one’s ground and doing what is right even when it is the harder of the things to do.  The ending, however, was lacking.  It just had her washing a teacup and coming to terms with the fact that she was not the Prime Minister anymore and that her husband was actually dead.  A very disappointing ending.

            Meryl Streep was a very good actress, though she seemed to only do reflective work (remembering the past and dealing with her “ghosts”).   Her co-actor was Jim Broadbent whom, I found out, plays an excellent part as Zidler in “Moulin Rouge”.  He did a good job also, though he was a ghost of her husband – died of cancer, I think they said. 

 

            3/5 – needs better ending, a few “bland” parts where I ended up playing a game on the side while I listened.

     {viewed 3/2/2012}

SUBNORMALITY

I found this website via the blog "The Beauty of Life" ( http://ladystiles.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog ).  You might like it.  I'm going to watch that blog.  ;-)


Anyways!  The website found via that blog is this: Subnormality!.  I find it hilarious!  Especially check out #21, #39, #40, #46 (SO TRUE!!), #50 [I've always wondered about this...].  :-D

More to add to the ones to check out: #73, #82

I'm on #85 now....  1/27/12

~R/Margem

Rise from the "Dead"

Hello, peoples.
Again, I rise from the dead silence. It's been like three months since I've posted anything up here.  Well, not much has happened since then but then again, a bit has changed.

Changes:
- lost job with USB Lending Support Services [as I said in the post a while ago]
- lost housing in Maplewood (due to lack of funds and difference in viewpoints)
- found a job working in the Receiving department at a different bank, dealing with mortgages [from my Wednesday interview mentioned in the post a while ago]
- found and moved to a place {townhouse} which happens to be closer to my family and a lot of my friends, though I still haven't gotten in touch with many of my acquaintences
- my boyfriend went down to visit his family and to see if he could find a way to start off our future down there but push came to shove and he said 'screw this' and came back up here to MN
- had Thanksgiving with my family while my boyfriend spent it with his family down in GA
- had Christmas Eve with my family and spent Christmas Day with my boyfriend
- went to Old Country Buffet for my birthday with my family and spent the evening with my boyfriend [best birthday ever!].  I irsh 25 now. :-P
- I attempted NaNoWriMo this last November but keyed about 35,000 words, instead of the 50,000 word goal.  Oh well. It was a good experience and I really would LOVE to finish this story!  Here is the link to my blog with that story: http://graciemae-nanowrimo-2011.blogspot.com/   Enjoy the little bits that I have up there!



That's pretty much my life as of the last few months.  I am looking for a computer monitor that isn't expensive or heavy because I don't have one... Once I can get one, I hope to type some more so you can see my stories.  :-P  Who knows, eh?
~M