Quick Hits

The Blind Side

An entertaining film filled with schmaltzy scenes of compassion and moving characters. I was left with the feeling that had this been a Spike Lee film we may have gotten a grittier feel to the streets of Memphis and the true aura of Michael Oher would have filled the screen, however we get an above average rising from the ashes movie. All credit in this movie belongs to Sandra Bullock who plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, the woman who took in the lost soul of Michael Oher and helped transform him into a premier NFL lineman. This movie felt unexplored especially the illegal recruiting scandal that followed Oher to Ole Miss. This was a good movie with a great performance, but as a sport enthusiast, I felt there is a better movie there than was put on screen.

Avatar

Seeing this in 3D was like being on a three hour ride at Disney World. The story is sometimes lacking and uneven, but the visceral overload that hits your senses carries the movie. Cameron's message of environmental conciousness is clearly heard. The tree of life was reminder of the old tales of Sidhartha becoming one with a fig tree as he contemplated his spirtual being. Although this movie is not quite a spiritual epiphany it is beautifully shot and inspiring as far as fantasy films go. As Cameron cashes in on this billion dollar film, he is also planning its sequel which will explore the sea of Pandora. Now that sounds entertaining.

Twilight: New Moon

It is hard to embrace vampires and werewolves when they are so EMO. The books are meant to be romantic and the movies are love stories. I respect the material on the level that there are no vampire rules. There aren't wooden stakes and garlic littering the landscape, but the love story between Bella and Edward just isn't portrayed with enough angst. I will admit to being creeped out a bit by his stalkerish behavior. Bella should run at every possible chance, but her love for pasty white dudes keeps her around. New Moon is a far better effort than Twilight, but I'm left wondering if glossing these movies over was a good choice for its legions of devoted fans. Bill Condon has signed on to direct Breaking Dawn and I believe they have found a director who should have been there from the beginning.

Precious

There have been very few movies in my lifetime that have had evoked an emotional response as powerful as the one felt after viewing Precious. I saw Precious several weeks ago and its lasting memory is nearly impossible to shake. Precious isn’t a movie about sexual abuse, alcoholism, socio-economics, or trapped urbanites struggling for their piece of the pie(although all elements are present). It is a movie basted and boiled in ignorance. Do not expect a climax where all problems are solved and hope glimmers as the credits roll. This story, this movie is painfully intimate.

Clareece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a character that is rarely seen or heard. She is for all purposes, a survivor. A survivor of her abusive mother, a survivor of her sexually abusive father, and a survivor of her own ignorance. When we first meet her she has yet to realize the weight of her life thus far and why would she realize such a thing when her own mother (Mo’nique) tells her she is of no consequence? At 16 she has lived many lifetimes and endured pain that most directors (Lee Daniels) would not even touch on screen. There are times in life when we hear of places like the places depicted in this movie, but we think they do not exist until we are standing in them. This is one of those cases. Every minute spent with Precious is painful and scary. The thought that cruelty exists on this level is unsettling. The thought that compassion and love doesn’t exist is just disheartening. The thought that ignorance is a prevailing intellectual response in Precious’s world, well that is just the work of the demented and demonic mind of her parental upbringing. Precious does escape into her mind from time to time and imagines herself a model or movie star. Through these scenes we get the message of hope and the realization that the mind goes into deep protective mode when faced with a great amount of trauma. However, as a viewer hope is fleeting from the first 20 minutes of the film, but we are forced to hang on because if Precious can, we can. We know from the opening scenes that we are going to be led somewhere overwrought with sadness and fear. We know that by the end, this is going to hurt like hell.

Ms. Jones (Mo’nique) isn’t the type of villain you are accustomed to seeing. Her entire life is based on her own ignorance. It is ignorance that will be her undoing and ignorance that has diseased her daughter. She isn’t Darth Vader, Freddy Krueger, or Satan. She is worse because her purpose is to inflict as much emotional torment upon Precious as humanly possible. She is so utterly “fucked up”(pardon the language, but there is no other way to convey her character) as a reality based character that it turns my stomach to think about her. She manipulates at every opportunity. She is a dream stealer and hopeless as a human. Can she be saved? No. There is no religion, self-help group or pill that can change ignorance in its purest form. She is the old cliché, “hurt people, hurt people.” It is, in all honesty, the most disturbed I have ever been watching a character on screen. Her performance will never to be forgotten.

In all great movies there is “THE SCENE” that puts the movie over the top. In Precious it involves a social worker played by Mariah Carey, Ms. Jones, and Precious. The now stronger Precious and her mother are to talk about the abuse and for once put all the cards on the table. The tale of the sexual abuse and subsequent stories that ensue are mind-shattering, heartbreaking tales that seem hard to hear, but had to be impossible to survive. Mo’nique’s performance in this one scene solidify her as an actual accomplished actress. She talks of dreams and redemption and for a split second she shows to be human, but her transgressions cannot be forgiven by viewers and will not be forgiven by Precious.

This is not a movie to be watched because you are looking for escapists fantasies. This isn’t a love story or drama with a sweeping soundtrack featuring Taylor Swift love songs. This movie is the boiling down of raw emotions. It’s shaking hands with emotional pain and it is a damn exhausting film. Precious has an imprint on my mind that I’m sure will become fossilized. Watching Precious walk away with her two children at the end was a story in itself. Like Precious Jones, I believe I am ignorant enough to have hope.