Country Strong

Yesterday, I went home from work early because I was so sick. I don't know what caused it, but at 4 pm, I was laying on the couch watching Sweet Home Alabama, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and finally, the movie Country Strong.

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I don't really like Gwyneth Paltrow or Tim McGraw so I was a little worried but I LOVE Leighton Meester and country music, so I definitely had to watch it. 

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There are so many things about this movie that I loved, I don't even really know where to start. 

1. The Soundtrack 

The thing I love about country music is that it can be laid back, fun, something you want to hear in a bar simply because it's lightens the mood. There are also those songs that are heartfelt and make you want to sing along, out loud in the car, volume up. This soundtrack has all of that. I did not hear one song that I did not like. I will definitely be purchasing this in the next month. 

Songs that were my favorite - 

*A Little Bit Stronger - Sara Evans

*Give Into Me - Faith Hill (that's it on the soundtrack, but in the movie, it was Beau and Chiles)

*Coming Home - Gwyneth Paltrow

*Fly Again - not on the soundtrack

2. The Story Line

The whole premise behind the story is that Gwyneth Paltrow's character is just getting out of rehab and performing a comeback tour. they need an opening act, so they find Chiles Stanton and Beau to come along. Basically it's a story about relationships, how they're mended, not mended, develop and fall apart. I'm not going to say anything more about it because if you haven't seen it, you should, and I don't want to give too much away. 

3. The Characters/Actors

*Gwyneth Paltrow - I don't typically like her but she does an excellent job of portraying an alcoholic, caught in the middle of her disease and how it can be so difficult to overcome. She was very convincing and I forgot that she ws Gwyneth immediately. I totally bought into her from the get go. 

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*Leighton Meester - I love her so much in Gossip Girl so I wasn't sure what to expect. She ended up doing such a great job and I totally bought her southern accent. One of my pet peeves in movies is when actresses try to do a southern accent and completely destroy it. She was awesome. 

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*Tim McGraw - He also did a great job of portraying someone who is completely co-dependent and although he was totally in love with Karen (gwyneth), he had been hurt by her so much over the years that he was also angry. As much as I dislike Tim McGraw, he was awesome. Much better than his role in the Blind Side. 

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*Garrett Hedlund - I didn't think I had seen him before, but according to Wiki, he was in Troy. Either way, his character, Beau, was in love with Karen (Gwyneth) and just along for the ride. He never had any desire to be a famous country singer, but enjoyed playing in the local bar wherever he was.

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I enjoyed how each of the characters impacted the other and felt they all did a really good job being who they were supposed to. 

Overall, I recommend you see this movie. It made me want to be a country singer and live in Nashville, which is a city I don't even really like. 

Into the Wild Review

This is a movie I saw before we got Black Swan. I don't know why but I love movies that have some kind of underlying social message, Blood Diamond, Inception, I can't seem to remember any now. I also tend to love an Indie film or a foreign film, Amores Perros is one of my favs. (my husband HATES this about me). One time, he and I watched Hotel Rwanda and got into a major argument just because we differ in opinions on foreign aid.

 Anyways, I don't know how I got off on that tangent, but back to the point of this post which is the movie Into the Wild

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The movie is based on the story of a young guy who graduated from Emory University and didn't know what to do with his life. He decided to live as a gypsy (that's the only word I can think of to describe it, maybe nomad would be better). He donates all of his money, around 25k, to a charity and begins to travel, by foot. His goal and last mahor venture was to travel to Alaska and live in the wilderness.

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This is a pic of the actual guy

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This is from the movie

When we first started the movie, I was a little worried that he was going to be alone because I was thinking, how boring is this movie going to be if it's just us watching him hike through the wilderness. But, I was wrong. He does interact with people and there are some very interesting, very touching personal relationships along the way. His perspective on the world is different but he is intelligent and has some insight that I related to. As I've discussed before, I have been thinking about relationships and how to be my true self in those relationships. Maybe since that is what I'm going through right now, that's what I picked up from this movie, but I felt like this was his journey through that as well. He had been hurt by so many before that he was ready to abandon them all for a lone life in the wilderness. It's interesting his perspective and how it changed towards the end.

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The movie was directed by Sean Penn and while there were some parts that I thought were just cinema trying to be indie cinema, overall, the movie was well made. The actors did a great job, especially the main character, Emile Hirsch, who played Alex McCandless.

 

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I can't really say more without giving away things in the movie but if you haven't seen it, I highly highly recommend it. The next step will be me reading the book, so as soon as I do that, I will write that review as well!

What are you favorite kinds of movies?

Have you seen Into the Wild? What did you think?

Should I read the book?

Netflix & Black Swan

First comment/question/thought:

WTF netflix? You used to be a good deal, but now, not so much. I AM DEVASTATED. As many of you know from reading my blog, I occasionally mention movies that I've seen. My hubby & I have netflix and we usually watch 1-2 movies per week. It's nice because we have date night on wednesdays and consists of us cooking dinner and a movie. But, we really only use the DVD portion of Netflix so we could just get that... but I mean, $7.99 seems kind of steep for 1-2 movies per week. We could use the streaming portion but it seems like the movies I want to see are never available for streaming. So, is it worth it to keep it or just go to Red Box? My movie choices will be limited, but Blockbuster is always available and it's only like $2 to rent a movie now... so we now have a very important decision to make.

Second thing:

The movie, Black Swan...

*pic from comingsoon.net

I have mixed feelings about this movie. The premise is right up my alley. I LOVE a dance movie, hello Centre Stage

*pic from huffingtonpost.info

AND i love a horror movie - especially something that is a psycho type thriller like American Psycho or Silence of the Lambs...

so the plot had potential. Also, I heart Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis - both some of my favs... And actually, they both did well with their performance. I truly believed Natalie was fragile, and so focused on perfection that she was a teeny bit psychotic BUT I didn't like how it played out. I am no movie expert, and maybe i'm just not smart enough to understand the metaphor, who knows.

DANGER: SPOILER ALERT - if you haven't seen it and want to see it, do not read any further

so I get that there's this whole like, inner struggle between being perfect/good and being human. And she's growing up from this 12 year old girl who has been overprotected by her crazy, obsessed mom and I guess that the black swan was the Yang to her "perfect" Yin but I don't know if the director did a good enough job making reality/metaphor distinct. I understood what he was saying, but also thought it was poorly done.

Just my opinion and opinions are like a-holes :)

A lot of people loved it. I think sometimes, a director/writer gets so caught up in trying to make it confusing/shocking, whatever, that they get lost in story and don't see that it's not clear to the viewer.

so... that's my movie review... when am I going to get a show like Siskel & Ebert?
also, I don't know if you notice, but I use a lot of these.... I don't know why. I just like them

Have you seen Black Swan?
What were your thoughts?

Flashback Friday and some news...

So......


you're waiting....

I.....

SIGNED UP FOR A TRIATHLON!! Woot Woot! This is my first, and maybe only, one :)
It's very small and I think there will be some grandma's there so I thought I could hang in that scenario. I still can't swim, so we'll see how that goes...

250m swim
10 mile bike ride
2.5 mile run

Yay!!

Now on to flashback friday... For this post, I am choosing the early 2000's.... it seems odd that would be a flashback but it is, especially for all you youngins' out there.

Movie:

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*sorry it's in german - i'm retarded
I know, I know. I'm a dork. I don't usually like comic book, hero type movies BUT I LOVE THIS SERIES! And the first one was released in 2000. How appropriate since we now have a new one, X-Men: First Class - I will be seeing it... even if it is by myself

Tv Show:

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I used to love this show. I watched it religiously until the end of the season, mainly because I got rid of HBO

Song:

I ain't notin', y'all ain't frontin', shorty comin' with me...

that's what I sing anyways. This is like our office theme song simply because we know all the words and we like to sing them.

and lastly: fashion statement from the early 2000's

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Thanks to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, we had MIDRIFF TANK TOPS!!

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Thanks Ladies. thanks....

FLASHBACK FRIDAY!!

I've decided to implement another weekly thing and I'm going to call it Flashback Friday. Now that I'm getting old, I realize how much I appreciate music, movies, fashion, etc from earlier decades.

Today, we're going to pick from the 1990's.

Song from the 90's:

The single was released in 1993 and was the first hit off of her album, janet. The hit was very successful as was her album. It's still one of my favs.

TV show from the 90's:

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Beverly Hills 90210... Who can forget Kelly's cocaine problem, Brenda's attitude problem, and Jason' drinking problem? I remember the night the last episode aired, I was a waitress in a restaurant in Columbia, SC and I kept sneaking into the bar to watch it. 

Movie of the 90's: 

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I talk about this movie all the time. Leonardo DiCaprio does such a good job playing a mentally handicapped boy. I can't IMAGINE that you haven't seen this, but if you have not: GO SEE IT RIGHT NOW. STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND WATCH THIS MOVIE

And last but not least: Fashion trend of the 90's: 

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CHUNKY SHOES!!

As terrible as these look now, I have several pair of chunky shoes. I would wear them with dresses, pants, whatever... 

Do you remember the 90's?

Have you seen What's Eating Gilbert Grape? 

Did you own any chunky shoes??