My Week at the Movies

It's been miserably hot here the past few days (we'd had a pretty cool summer up to this point) and I'm a little embarrassed to admit I've been to the theater three times already! All three films were winners, though, so I figured I'd share them with you.

Monday I went to see Winter's Bone. Nicole read and really loved this book and so I've been hoping it would come near where I live. Unfortunately, the one theater that sometimes showed indie or foreign films closed abruptly earlier this summer. But then it reopened managed by a new company and with more indies than ever! Yay! So when I saw Winter's Bone was playing I had to go...especially since I'd seen nothing but rave reviews. This is an intense film, very dark, but not without a glimmer of...something..hope? A seventeen year old girl who is essentially raising her younger siblings in the Missouri Ozarks. She finds out her dad put up their house and property for his bond and if he doesn't show up for court they'll lose everything..so she sets out to look for him, a dangerous quest considering the kind of company he kept. The acting is outstanding, and there are some pretty chilling scenes throughout.

And I had to go see Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World of course! This is the kind of fun summer movie heavy on stylistic elements that make it a lot of fun to watch. And funny. It's really funny. And no I don't think it's anti-feminist and personally I think that's a rather shallow viewing of the film, but that's just me. There's a lot of ridiculousness about Scott Pilgrim to love. Recommended for when you want to go see a fun summer flick.


And lastly, I finally saw The Kids are All Right, which I was surprised by just how much I loved. I should warn there's a ton of sex in this one, and human sexuality is rather a large theme in the film. I just loved these all too real characters and how they tried to navigate the circumstances of their family. It's about a lesbian couple with two kids, who both have the same sperm donor. They want to meet him, and when they do it complicates things as he wants to have a relationship with them. At first I felt annoyed by some of the turns the film took, but then I realized just how likely they were. Everything felt so authentic in this movie--I found myself emotionally invested in the fate of the characters. But also, it was heartwarming and funny and I just felt...good after watching it.

Have you seen any movies lately? Anything you're looking forward to coming out this year?