Blog Archives
…celebrate the movies in all of us
It’s finally here, Oscar Sunday. In a few short hours the winners will be announced, discussed and dissected. Then it will be all anyone talks about for the next few days, until we move on to the next big story.
Sure we could spend hours debating the true importance of this kind of awards show. How important are the movies? They do their part to influence and reflect the society in which they are created. The ideas and values they present can effect our thinking even if we don’t realize it. And when you really think about it, competition in artistry is kind of ridiculous since art is subjective.
However, that being said, isn’t it fun to guess who will win? Here’s who 2WC (respectively) want to win and think will win: Read the rest of this entry
…Make A Statement
Why make a silent, black and white film in the age of 3D and CG animation?
It’s a fair question. Afterall, the modern audience has come to expect a certain amount of spectacle in their story telling.
Don’t be fooled by its old school appearance, “The Artist,” has plenty of spectacle, just maybe not the kind we’re use to.
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius, this fun comedy may stray from the modern norm of film making, but it’s nothing new.
The film harkens back to a simpler time when movie stars were just a little less human, and a little more perfect.
George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is the star of the silent silver screen, but Hollywood is changing quickly. Audiences are no longer settling for seeing their favorite stars on the screen, they want to hear them too.
Read the rest of this entry
…perceive the illusion
To us, the outside observer, the world of Hugo Cabret appears a magical one–a train station in Paris of the 1930′s filled with interesting people and interesting stories.
As we follow our young guide through the literal clock-work of his life we see vignettes as he passes them by: a would be encounter prevented by a dog, a station inspector in love with the girl from the flower shop, and many more…
Hugo sees, notices, and moves on, because while his world may look magical for him it is a timetable, a machine, sometimes a maze (used to his advantage), and quite literally a clock.
An orphan left by his drunkard uncle to run the station’s clocks , Hugo (Asa Butterfield) the title character of Martin Scorsese’s aptly named “Hugo,” is a mechanically minded, incredibly clever child who must keep the clocks running, or be discovered. Read the rest of this entry
…Pass It On
It’s hard to imagine life in the Hawaiian Islands being anything but paradise.
Of course, reality exists everywhere, and in “The Descendants,” (directed by Alexander Payne, and based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings) we get a glimpse into the reality of the King family.
Matt King (George Clooney) has been entrusted with a lot: his two daughters; carrying out the wishes of his comatose wife’s (Patricia Hastie) living will; and the fate of his family’s legacy—25 thousand acres of paradise on the island of Kaua’i.
Things get even more complicated when King discovers that his wife was having an affair; every single one of the cousins has an opinion on what to do with the family land; and his daughters are, well, young.
…get on base
Baseball, the great American pastime, it’s an object of affection and admiration for many, not to mention the subject matter of oh so many films.
It’s a nearly perfect vessel for almost any story arc: Rags to riches, overcoming hardship, achieving greatness, falling from grace, hitting bottom, then overcoming your self-inflicted hardships in order to once again achieve greatness. It’s the American dream.
Of course, usually these stories are told through the players, with a heavy curtain hiding the harsh reality of major league baseball, a necessary evil which we romantics choose not to think about–the money.
Zer
Stephanie
The2Women
