"An Education"

Mmmm--eating brownies and writing a review--what can be better?

Well, first of all, I want to vent about Up.  Cute?  Yes.  Disappointing?  Yes!  I heard so much about how great Up was and I was disappointed.  Nothing I haven't seen before.  Perhaps I am becoming entirely too jaded but I really have trouble enjoying a film, despite how wonderful it looks, if it does not do anything new and innovative!  I love Pixar--Toy Story, Monsters, Inc, Finding Nemo (probably my all-time favorite Pixar film)--great, creative, new stories.  Wall-E?  I guess.  It was cute, as well, but robots taking over the earth?  People getting lazy and fat?  Nothing new.  Up?  Ok, so the guy flew in his house by balloon(s), the dogs can talk, kind-of...But I was nonetheless disappointed by a film that I felt followed every cliche' in the film book.  Cranky, sad old man meets young boy (and talking dog) who make him feel young and happy again despite losing his wife.  Yawn! 

Ok, so on to what I did like:

An Education.  Old story with a new twist--try this on for size--young girl meets and falls for (much!) older man and, what?  Mom and Pop are okay with it?  Now, we're talking 1960s London and her parents are totally fine with her dating this man who is at least twice her age!  However, I like it.  I knew there was something fishy going on but I didn't pick up on it right away and I thoroughly enjoyed the film which presents an interesting look into a young girl learning about life the hard way--and a relationship between a young girl and a man.  Also interesting to think about is another recent film dealing with a similar topic, relationship between an older woman and a young boy, and how each film deals with the subject...

I am very upset that I did not manage to see Monsters vs. Aliens (yes, I was on a cartoon kick) but I will see it!  I promise!  And a review will follow for sure.  That one looks good--we'll see if it can impress me more than Up.  Also up?  Away We Go with John Krasinski (I have recently fallen in love with The Office) and, dare I say it?  Possibly Twilight.  I feel as though I must see what all the ridiculousness is all about.   And, yea, well, the preview for New Moon looks pretty interesting so I feel as though I should see the first before the second...

Also looking forward to Precious which was at Sundance last year but I was unable to catch it but heard it was really good--as well as Sherlock Holmes.  I may even go see it on Christmas!  Or maybe the day after but I want to be there--it looks really good.

Two other films of note that I saw previews for yesterday--Alice in Wonderland (thank you Tim Burton for your eccentric, crazy visions) and From Paris with Love (can we say: John Travolta?  Is that YOU??)  They look very intriguing.

As always, thanks for reading and be sure to check out the daily movie preview at the top of the blog!