Cake

I just finished watching Cake and I was so filled with emotion that I had to write about it right away. And if there's a reason to dig this old blog out of the past, it might as well be this movie.

Claire, played by Jennifer Aniston, is dealing with chronic pain due to a car accident. She copes with her pain, both physical and emotional, by using prescription pain pills. She goes to support groups, doctors visits, and physical therapy, but has no improvement. Her life is completely numb, filled with 'going-through-the-motion' type activities, and no purpose.

During a group session they discuss the recent suicide of a fellow group member, a young mother named Nina. While Claire initially seems unmoved by Nina's story, she starts seeing Nina in her dreams and in hallucination-type situations. She becomes obsessed with her story and with learning about her life and [mostly] her death.

The bizarre and erratic behavior resulting from this need to figure out Nina leads Claire into situations that force her to address her life: past and present. Claire certainly does not have her act together, but stumbles across unique situations that force meaning into her otherwise void life.

I found this movie to be alluring, unique, and emotional. It was very real and also very complex, and covered a lot of difficult topics. Claire's dismissive and flighty behavior both puzzled and enticed me. It truly drew me into the movie, where I stayed hooked throughout her magnificent character development. I thought Jennifer Aniston did an astounding job and gave more depth to this character than possibly any other she has ever played.

If you want to watch a movie that will do more than just entertain you, but also make you feel something, you need to see this movie.

A / A+

Children of Invention

hey! jess here with another indie movie. this movie was an official selection at 2009's sundance film festival. i think it was recommended to me on netflix, but i can't remember. i was intrigued though, and watched it one day while i was sewing or something of that nature. anyways, about the movie:

this movie is about a single mom with two young children who immigrated to america from asia (i forget where exactly, sorry). the father is still living out of the country, and doesn't do much to support his kids except answer the phone most sunday's when they call. the family gets evicted from their apartment because they can't pay the rent, and they end up squatting in a model apartment (they are friends with a guy in real estate). the mom is trying to find a good job so she can afford to go back to live in a real place, and to improve their life in america. the majority of the movie is about the family's struggles being immigrants, finding work, being a single parent, and the children's forced independence. it is very interesting, and the kids are absolutely charming. i love the little girl, tina.

the movie title comes about from the entrepreneurial mind of the older child, raymond. he is always inventing new products and enlisting his sister to help him. when the mom doesn't come home one night from work, the kids have to figure out what to do. it's interesting to see how the kids work through this dilemma, and what the outcome is. it's definitely an interesting movie. at times it can be a little slow, but it all works together. the ending is sort of abrupt and you almost feel like the story is unsolved, but i like it because i think it reflects their reality.

overall i was fairly impressed with this movie. like i've mentioned before, sometimes you never know with indie movies. this movie is humorous, complex, touching, and out of the ordinary.

the grade?

B-/B

TiMER

hello, jess here! so, random fact about me. i like watching random movies sometimes. like indie films or smaller known movies. before netflix i would just walk around blockbuster and look at almost every new release, especially if i hadn't heard about them before. sometimes this just results in watching duds, and other times you find some quality randoms (gigantic, love and other disasters, pheobe in wonderland, lars and the real girl, factory girl, etc). now that i have netflix i get to do this online and it's so much easier. so the other day i strolled upon the movie TiMER. it had an interesting concept so i watched it:

there is this company that produces a product/service that you get installed in your arm and it will tell you down to the day that you will meet your one true love. there's all this scientific stuff that proves that it always finds your soulmate. when you get your timer, if your "one" doesn't have a timer yet then your timer will be blank and it will be the waiting game. if your "one" does have a timer, it will tell you how long you have until you will meet them. and when you do cross paths, your timers beep. so you know.

so the main character Oona, Emma Caulfield, is turning 30 soon and is stressing that her timer is still blank. every guy she dates and feels like it could be serious: she brings to get them a timer. obviously, it always turns out that he's not the "one." her quirky step-sister (and best friend) has the attitude of dating anyone for fun, regardless of what their timer says. after a rough day oona is at the grocery store and gets hit on by a cute younger guy, and decides to take a walk on the wild side. the rest of the movie is how she deals with the problems of falling in love with someone who isn't the "one," finding the "one," and worrying how much faith she really should put in the timer. it's pretty interesting, and even delves into some ethical dilemmas and interesting social situations.

the ending is kind of abrupt, and doesn't answer every question (which some people hate), but i don't really mind that so much. i would recommend it if you want to watch an interesting and fun comedy/romance/drama. the grade?

B-

Gigantic

as most people should know by now, i love zooey deschanel. i found this movie on netflix, and i decided to see how it was. paul dano (little miss sunshine) is the main character, and he works at a mattress store. one day an interesting man (John Goodman) comes into his store, and dano sells him a top of the line mattress. before he leaves, he says that "he'll send his girl over later to do financing," and then leaves as quickly as he came in.

later, "the girl" comes in, Happy, who is goodman's daughter (deschanel). her quirky charm intrigues dano, and they start to develop a relationship of sorts. things turn sort of awkward when it comes out that dano's goal his entire life has been to adopt a baby from china. he's been saving up and going through the application process for years, but when he starts dating deschanel, it gets put on the back burner.

the only thing i didnt really like in this movie is that they would randomly show this homeless guy that would come beat up dano and hurt him pretty bad. really, i think it is just trying to symbolize some sort of mental instability, or demons in his head, because there is no real homeless man who's mission in life is to kill dano. his injuries are real though, so somehow he is really just harming himself. this whole theme is pointless, and never is resolved in the movie. it never expounds upon it except for showing him get hurt a few times, and being stalked by the homeless man.

besides these weird dillusions that occur every so often, the movie really is excellent. funny, interesting, engaging, and just plain good. i wont give away anything, but i highly reccommend it.

the grade:
B+

phoebe in wonderland

who knew dakota fanning had a younger sister, and that she was so talented?? in this movie, elle fanning plays a young girl named phoebe. she was raised to be a little different from the norm, and to also love "wonderland" (as in alice in wonderland).

as the movie goes on, phoebe's behavior becomes progressively worse and uncontrollable. after a few incidents at school (example: spitting at a classmate), she is sent to therapy.

family dynamics are very interesting, as phoebe's mother fires the therapist and blames herself for raising her daughter poorly. the mother thinks that phoebe doesnt know she loves her, which causes more angst and drama within the family.

the only place phoebe seems to thrive is at play practice. she got the role of alice, in alice in wonderland. phoebe's theater teacher, mrs hodgins (patricia clarkson), seems to be permanently living in wonderland, but her character inspires the children--especially phoebe. the principal doesnt ever seem to fully trust mrs hodgins, and questions her behavior, and her influence on phoebe.

as phoebe struggles with her actions, which she does not want to do but can't help doing, she also starts seeing characters from alice in wonderland. the red queen and alice are seen most frequently. this development concerns all parties involved (parents, principal, and therapist).

i wont spoil the movie, but seriously i really liked this film. all of the roles were well developed, had excellent acting, and were very interesting. phoebe's story will keep you entranced throughout the entire movie. there were even a few times i laughed out loud, and other times when i might have gotten a little teary. i feel that this movie has something for everyone, and is very well done.

the grade:

A-/A