"Life is beautiful, but it's complicated, we barely make it. We don't need to understand, there are miracles, miracles. Stand where you are, we let all these moments pass us by..." ~vega 4

I've been busy taking in entertainment this weekend. Here's a collection of some reviews of what I saw over the weekend:

Play: Our House
I read an interview with the playwright in which she called the play "a fierce satire," and I had to keep reminding myself that it was a satire because I was getting very emotional while watching it. I really, really wanted to run onstage and shoot one of the characters. I'm not even joking. I was so, so angry with him. But I think a strong emotional response is a good thing. A bad play doesn't make you feel anything, but a good play tugs at your emotions. Our House grabbed at my emotions. It is most definitely a good play. It makes you think. It is incredibly relevant. In fact, it's scary, but I wonder how much of a satire it is, because I feel like it could actually happen. At any rate, I enjoyed it very much, even though it shook me up quite a bit. It was one of those plays where you leave with not much to say besides, "Wow."

Movie: The Brothers Bloom
I enjoyed the movie. It felt like a Wes Anderson movie, and although it's been criticized for that, I don't think it's such a bad thing (I like Wes Anderson). There are lots of twists and turns, and I predicted almost all of them, which was somewhat of a letdown because I like being surprised. I'm not sure why I managed to see everything coming (maybe I just think like Rian Johnson), because some critics have called it convoluted. I thought it was predictable.

What made the film for me was the acting. First of all, I have always loved Mark Ruffalo. I've met him and he's such a nice guy. He's also a great actor. In this movie he was subtly funny. He had great chemistry with his on-screen brother, Adrian Brody, whom I don't normally like but whom I didn't mind as the younger Bloom brother.

To me, the ladies stole most of their scenes. Rinko Kikuchi really, really impressed me. Most of her performance is mime (she only speaks a few words), but she manages to communicate so much through her movements and facial expressions. I'm surprised more critics aren't singling out her performance, because I thought it was inspired. Most critics are shining the spotlight on Rachel Weisz, who really did infuse the film with life. She was charming.

Overall I liked it because I did sympathize with the characters; it was deeper than a traditional con movie.


Movie: Drag Me to Hell
I had to see this movie because I haven't seen a film get rave reviews like this in a long time. As you can see, the critics loved it. It didn't disappoint. I was alternately terrified, disgusted, and amused. I had read many reviews that called it the funniest movie of the year and wondered how that could be the case, but Sam Raimi really did an incredible job of mixing comedy and horror. It was just a really well-made, entertaining movie.


Movie: Angels and Demons
I read both The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons a long time ago and really liked them, so I decided not to see the movies because I'm always disappointed in movies that are bad adaptations of books. I'm not sure why I caved and saw this (I still haven't seen The Da Vinci Code and don't plan to). Even if I didn't already know the ending from reading the book, I'm sure I would have figured it out while watching the movie; it was painfully obvious, and Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) looked like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. That bugged me. The whole thing seemed so much more...contrived than the novel. I don't know, what was so intriguing in print just didn't work on screen. I was disappointed, just as I expected.

Random Tidbit: The trailer for My Sister's Keeper makes me cry. I know, I know, the trailer?! That Vega 4 song got me when Grey's Anatomy used it, and it still gets me. Mostly, though, the trailer for My Sister's Keeper makes me think of the book, and when I think of the book I cry. I sobbed while reading that book. I will see the movie, but I'll bring LOTS of tissues and will go alone so I won't be too embarrassed.