Movies and Writing

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Yesterday we watched two movies. Harsh Times and The Last King of Scotland. I only got Harsh Times because it starred Christian Bale (heh) and it was by the same guy who did Training Day. It was a pretty raw movie, violent and lots of strong language with Christian playing another damaged character (but he does it so well, doesn't he?). To be honest I missed a chunk of the movie in the middle because my bestfriend called, but still I enjoyed it.

The Last King of Scotland blew me away. I was only a kid/teen when Idi Amin started hitting the headlines but I remember reading the horrific details in the papers. Forrest Whittiker did a Kick. Ass. job as Idi. He humanized him. Showed the charming side of the monster. The actor who played Idi's 'fictional' personal doctor did a fine job also portraying a very flawed human who realizes the folly of his own arrogance far too late. I think the movie is packgaged as a suspense or thriller and let me tell you, it hits the mark. I pretty much spent the whole duration of the flick 'anticipating' that one/next HORRENDOUS thing to happened. If you haven't seen this one yet, you should.

Since the boy and I tend to watch movies in genres, O.D'ing on ganster movies (Casino, Goodfellows, Godfather(s), etc) or Bruce Lee flims, etc., I'll be tracking down Hotel Rowanda (a movie I've been meaning to watch of ages) and Blood Diamonds in very short order. If anyone knows of other movies that would fit in with these selections let me know.


Speaking of od'ing, the boy has been watching entire seasons of OZ online for the past couple of weeks, since I caught most of the originally airing on HBO we've been discussing the show. In particular the incredible character arcs of the series. Which has made me think about the arcs of my own characters. It's really been liberating. Before I was more focused on the ground-level 'journey' the character(s) had to make it through the story. Now I'm contemplating a more 'bird's eye view' of the character(s) over a series of books, something that would have made my head explode even a year ago. Getting a handle on the big picture and working down to the finer details makes things a bit more manageable.
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6 comments:

Amie Stuart said...

Check out The Departed....it's fabulous but I HATED the ending which seemed like a major cop-out to me. But it's very raw and violent too. Also got Freedom Writers which made me cry more than once but was just amazing. Not the acting or anything but the overall story. I like inspirational stuff like this. Thanks for the head's up on Last King--I saw it on Friday at the store but debated getting it.

Another of my fave series is The Wire. I'm still waiting on SEason 3 from Blockbuster. I might end up buying it because there's been a long wait for months!

Anonymous said...

I looked at HArsh Times the other day but chose a movie called THE QUIET instead. It 's with Elisha Cuthbert(sp?) the duaghter from 24. Anyway, it was pretty good too. Sort of not surpriseing, as in I knew what was probably gonna happen, yet, I still was glued to t. lol

I liked THE DEPARTED, and BLOOD DIAMOND, I loved. It was very touching, and raw, and sad...but an awesomely made movie.

Unknown said...

Must get The King of Scotland as I've been interested in that er character, I could for the life of me get into BABEL with Brad Pitt. Just baffles me as to why this movie was a contender for best picture, different strokes and all that I guess...

vanessa jaye said...

Hey, Ames, thanks for the recs. Bought The Departed first day it went for sale. And still haven't watched it yet. lol. I will though, and I know I'll love it. Just not in the mood yet.

I've never heard of Freedom Writers, I'll have to check it out. But I have heard of The Wire. Only good things. I'll have to make an effort to check it out.

Seriously, The Last King of Scotland is sooo worth watching. Just fantastic!

vanessa jaye said...

Sash, I'm going to watch Harsh Times again, just because I missed that middle part. It truly is a tragedy, I felt sorry of Christian's character Jim, he was just FUBAR. Pretty intense movie.

Hmmm... I'll check out The Quiet too.

vanessa jaye said...

Keishon, I can't say I had strong opinions on Forrest's acting abilities before. I kind had the impression he was good/okay. He really shone in this role. I think you'll enjoy it. The pacing was really good, and if I had one complaint it was that they skimmed over a lot of the atrocities, just giving quick flashes/glimpses. But I know they wanted to keep the focus/tight on the characters and off of the easily distracting violence. Really a excellent movie.

I've heard good things about BABEL but for the life of me.... I'm just not that interested. If I come across it playing on tv one of these fine days I'll probably watch out of curiousity but I can't see myself renting/buying it.

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