The School of Life

The other non-football related movie that I watched on Super Bowl Sunday was "An Education".

• I'm still trying to find out why Jenny was alone, standing out  in the rain with her cello and no umbrella in the first place.  Nobody else needed a bus ride home?
• I liked the score.  Lovely.  I want the soundtrack.
• Ah, the things we overlook for love when we're young.  Part of me wishes that I was that innocent again.  Part of me is really glad that I'm not. ;)
• Let this be a listen to all of you young gals out there:  if your boyfriend is a con artist, you are probably being conned, too. 
• So does everyone mature when they go to France?  Or do they only mature when they lose their virginity there? 
• Nice car, David.
• I felt sorry for the kid who played in the orchestra with Jenny.  So innocent and adoring of her, he just had no chance whatsoever against the sophistication of the Dude With The Great Car.
• Great performances throughout by all of the cast.  Carey Mulligan is awesome, as were Peter Sarsgaard and Alfred Molina.
• I was annoyed by Helen because she so willingly accepted things the way they were, and never bothered to tell Jenny the truth about David.  I mean, at least Danny got upset about the whole thing.  But I guess they were used to David fooling around by the time they met Jenny. 
• I knew that I had seen Olivia Williams (Ms. Stubbs) before, but couldn't place her until I actually looked at the movie's website today.  DUH.  She was on "Dollhouse"!

This was an excellent movie.  I'm still listening to the music on the website.  I really need to go get that soundtrack.

A Little Bit of Football on Super Bowl Sunday

I'm not a big NFL fan, so instead of watching the Super Bowl, I opted to make a movie day for myself.  I kept in the spirit of the day, though, and chose "The Blind Side" as one of the movies.

• I've always liked Sandra Bullock, though I don't enjoy every single one of her movies.  This one has gone right up there as one of my favorite Sandy movies.  I'm glad that she took up the challenge for this part, as she's done a great job with it.
• Having been one of the lucky people in the world that doesn't know what it's like to live in the projects, I'm always amazed by the people that are able to succeed despite the time that they live there.  It's interesting to me that Mr. Oher went through all of the foster homes and just kept trying to stay in places that were away from his original home.  That is, at least between the times that he needed to be with his mother.
• I was moved by Michael's mother wanting the best for him, even though she hadn't been able to give any of that to him  herself.  She had plenty of kids, and a drug habit, but, at least in the movie, she didn't want him to see or hear anything that was bad for him.  She'd rather that he stayed away.  Understandable, and totally opposite of the mother in "Precious".  
• I'm an idiot, and didn't recognize Tim McGraw without his beard and cowboy hat.  I knew from the opening credits that he was in the movie, but by the end of the film, I thought, "Where was he in the movie?"  Duh, Sherry.  He played Sean, the dad.  
• One of my favorite lines of the movie was Sean Touhy saying, "Who would have thought that we'd have a black son before meeting a Democrat?"  Kathy Bates, the Democrat, was awesome as usual.
• I really enjoyed the scenes with the recruiters coming to the Touhy home, mainly because I liked seeing what they had to offer to SJ as part of their promise to Michael.
• Actually, I pretty much loved all the scenes that featured SJ.  Jae Head was hilarious.
• I liked the sweet sibling relationship that developed between Michael and Collins.  She could have been one of those rich girls that shunned her very different family, as other movies portray.  Yet she was just like the rest of the Tuohys: accepting of Michael as a family member, and not really caring about what the other girls thought.
• I like how Leigh Ann Tuohy never wanted anyone to see her get emotional, so she would just walk away whenever it seemed like tears were surfacing.  So I cried *for* her, naturally.
• This is a movie more about family than anything, which is probably why I liked it so much.  I like sports movies, too, and this movie was a nice blend of both for me.

Watching the movie was a great way to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday...and the Saints won!  That's me!  And they have a fleur-de-lis as their helmet symbol!  But I wouldn't have been disappointed if the Colts had won, since they have a nice,albeit concessions-challenged, stadium. ;)

DLR LotD 02/15/10

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day


Monday, February 15, 2010


"No response?  I'll take that as an Okie Dokie." -- Billy, to Sherry, at the Golden Horseshoe

A Light in the Darkness

I had been wanting to see "Precious" for a long time, ever since I saw a couple of the actors being interviewed on "The Ellen Degeneres Show".  I knew that it would be an emotional movie, though, so I put it off during the holidays,  not really wanting to deal with all of the crying that I knew would happen.  Awards season had started, though, so it was time for me to start seeing the "serious" movies that I had put off until now.   Tissues for tears at the ready, I finally went.

• Precious' fantasy segments were cute.  Once I understood what was happening, I would get a smile on my face every time she daydreamed, especially when she was imagining herself as a star.
• I didn't know that alternative schools like Each One/Teach One existed.  How totally neat.  I'm glad that those schools are there to give students a chance at getting an education outside of the systems that have failed them.
• Wow, Mo'Nique.  I was amazed by her performance.  I hated her character, and when she's talking to the social worker at the end of the movie, I was just ... floored.  Her accolades are well-deserved. 
• Gabby Sidibe was amazing, too. You wouldn't think, seeing her performance, that she is actually such a bubbly person in real life (as evidenced in the video link above).  And to think that this was her first movie role EVER?!  Wow.
• Mariah Carey was great, too.  Funny how it takes her being almost unrecognizable for her to garner the respect from the acting community that she has now received. 
• I wish that all teachers were like Paula Patton's character, Ms. Rain.
• The food just all looked gross to me.  Except for the fruit that the nurse (Lenny Kravitz) was eating.
• Loved Sherri Shepherd's look when she met Lenny Kravitz.
• Yes, the tissues were needed. 
• Amazing film.  I love that feeling of hope that I had after watching it.  There was so much that was disturbing, yet, through it all, there can still be a light in a person's life.

A must-see movie.  Just remember to bring your hankies. ;)