There wasn’t
a battery strong enough to jolt Martha from her chair and out into her workshop.
Over the years, age had taken a big bitefrom her youth and left
her as drooped as wilted lettuce in a garden.
Each year Criticswould award ribbons to Martha's garden that somehow remained lovelyyear after year. Martha smirked as the fellow gardeners gave
her the evil eye.
They have
no idea about the evil eye. I could mow them over, like that.
This week's words come from wisewebwoman.blogspot.com who manages to give bloggers hard words to manage. Please hop on over and see if she can stump you.
Aquaman is in theaters now!! Sooo excited. This one is part of the Comic Movies, Critic reviews are ripping it My preferred movies are ones that hold me, amuse me, have adventure and conflict, that can be resolved with fast cars, guns, big fights and friendship. Like Fast and Furious, every single one have those with humor.
Jumanji has me telling our granddaughters, who are early teens, that Dwayne Johnson : He's so hot. They were shocked at first; now they roll their eyes and say "Oh, Grandma!" Movie critics absolutely hate many of these movies. Their words they employ describe such as: absurd, simple, shallow, cloying, pervy, trivial, schmaltz, absurd, silly, cheesy, cliche, vomit, and more utterly insulting words. These movies usually receive C- ratings, or at best B-.
About the meaningful movies, ones that will be up on the Oscar list, movie critics wax euphorically with words that mean something to movie critics: bleak, unflinching, stellar, hectic, self-actualizing, apocalyptic, cryptic, raw, blatant, repellent, bombastic of society, trivialization, aversion, porn, heartbreaking, tantalizing, sexual abandon, meaningful, smartly engaging, superb, engrossing and more. These movies receive B, B+, or even A.
Some that include above movies are Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Master, Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Agree with me or not. When my husband and I go to the movies, we want to be entertained and have a sense of closure, finding characters we can admire or hate. Another measurement of a good movie: How many times do I go to the restroom? For Aquaman, I will stay. For Three Billboards, I headed out to the toilet 2+ times. For The Master, we left after the first 15 minutes. Both received multiple Academy Award nominations.
Aquaman with Jason Momoa
about 40 seconds
The Master with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix
The Master
About 3 minutes
Why do we go to movies? Why do you go to movies, if you do go?
Movie reviews are supposed to help movie goers decide
what to see. Most of those who write
these reviews seem to have forgotten why people go to see movies.
We go to escape.
To enjoy. To be part of something bigger than ourselves.
We do not go to examine the plot line, seek to deride director
errors, editing decisions, actor choices or screen writer inadequacies.
Right now in theaters is “In the Heart of the Sea”
which is story about a story. Herman
Melville, author of “Moby Dick”, sought out the one of the survivors, Tom Holland who had been the youngest of the crew on the
whaler ship, Essex. It was a bloody,
horrible story, and this survivor needed to wrench the images of memories from his tortured mind.
Author Nathaniel Philbrick researched Melville, the painful consequences of the Essex and the greed of the company who owned the ship. With this incredible history, Philbrook wrote "In the Heart of the Sea".
Interview and relating the story was therapeutic for both
the story teller (Tom Holland) and the writer, Melville. Even
so, film reviewers turned their noses, criticizing it for lacking “stuff”. At This Site every amateur critic had not read "Moby Dick". One such critic said this.
"Nobody gives a crap about Moby Dick. Just THINKING about the idea of a movie about the friggin' story that inspired the story of Moby Dick puts you to sleep. How did he (Chris Hemsworth) get paid $80 million to make that?!"
For us, the movie was riveting. The actors were strong and skillful. The director was Ron Howard. The setting was true to the times. The interaction between Melville and the
survivor was emotional and bonding. Knowing the story of the Essex and its
demise hung over the audience, hoping “No, not that!”
Engrossing, hope, loss and gain, greed, a dirty
industry, eminent death, and finally redemption—all make for a movie that rises
above “Krampus” or “Trumbo”.
Please see what the whaling industry became before its demise.
More than that, see what the current intelligentsia reads or has not read.
