December... A month of movies for the holidays
It's been awhile since we last posted but we've been very busy making our new place a home. Days have been filled with unpacking boxes and arranging furniture. As busy as it's been, it's taking a toll on me. After all the many boxes I've unpacked, I can't seem to stomach unpacking more. But, it is a necessary evil. We are expecting our first guests at the end of the month. So, it's crunch time.
But, back to the topic at hand. Movies! It seems to me that this holiday season brought on many movies that I would LOVE to watch (but, have had not the chance to).
Here the movies in no chronological order and why:
1. Black Swan
It is a psychological thriller that features Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. It is directed by Darren Aronofsky about ballet dancers doing a production of Swan Lake. Portman plays innocent Nina, who has been selected to play the White Swan in the production. Kunis plays Lily, who plays the sensual Black Swan. But, the production asks for a ballerina that is able to play both parts: the innocent white swan and the sensual black swan. Nina finds herself in competition with Lily and slowly finds darker side to herself. Several other prominent actors are in the movie as well. Vincent Cassel, a French actor, plays the director, Thomas Leroy, of the Swan Lake production who replaces Winona Ryder's prima ballerina character with that of Portman's. Barbara Hershey plays Portman's overbearing mother. You can probably remember Cassel most notably from Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen.
2. The Tourist
Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. Enough said. Just kidding. This movie is a remake of the French film Anthony Zimmer. Depp plays an American tourist whose path is deliberately crossed by Jolie's character Elise. Frank played by Depp is in Venice to mend a broken heart and meets Elise. Both characters are caught in a whirlwind of intrigue and danger and realize that they are merely pawns in a game played by an unseen mastermind.
My personal reason for wanting to watch this movie is the setting in Venice. We got engaged in Venice when we went for our Italian vacation. It holds a special place in my heart.
3. TRON Legacy
My husband and I both saw TRON when we were younger. Since the trailers and ads came out for this sequel, my husband has been excited ever since. It has Jeff Bridges, who reprises his role as Kevin Flynn while Garrett Hedlund plays his Sam, his son. The character of Alan Bradley and Tron is reprised by Bruce Boxleitner. Other actors featured in the movie are Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen and John Hurt. The movie basically follows Sam who is haunted by the disappearance of his father Kevin. It turns out that Kevin has been trapped in the digital world of twenty years. Bradley tells Sam to check out the mysterious signal coming from Kevin's arcade. Sam gets transported to the digital world, where he meets Quorra, Wilde's character. He eventually meets his father and plots their escape but is hindered by CLU 2, a program who will stop at nothing to prevent them escaping.
Childhood remembered.
4. Love and Other Drugs
It has both Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway in it. The movie is a comedy drama directed by Edward Zwick. It is basically a story of the being under the influence of the ultimate drug: love. Maggie played by Hathaway plays a free spirit who won't let anything tie her down but suffers from Parkinson's Disease. Gyllenhaal plays a pharmaceutical sales representative. The two meet and their relationship evolves after having a one-night stand. This movie is based on a book by Jamie Reidy Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.
Love.
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
We've all been fans of the books. I've grown up reading The Chronicles of Narnia while my brother grew up with Harry Potter. We've all used our imagination as we read each chapter and now we get to see if the movie adaptation rings true to the books.
