Listening to Stillness

The next Oscar-nominated Best Picture film I watched was "Sound of Metal", which I viewed on Amazon Prime. 

• Scary how rapidly the hearing loss progressed.  You know when someone asks which of the 5 senses you would least like to lose?  Hearing is my choice, mostly because I'm a musician and I know I'd get very depressed if I couldn't hear it the same way anymore.
• I wonder if a lot of people that are not familiar with a neighborhood go to a pharmacist for help when they don't know how to get to a doctor.
• I was, like, "Hey, that's Art3mis from 'Ready Player One'!" I almost didn't recognize her when her eyebrows were blonde, though.
• Riz Ahmed is quite deserving of his Best Actor nomination.  I enjoyed seeing his growth as he learned how to communicate with the rest of the people at the facility, and totally understood why he would want to get his surgery anyway.
• Loved seeing them race to complete the alphabet in ASL, as well as seeing him teach them to play the drums.
• When Joe said, "You sound like an addict", that was exactly what I was thinking.  i really liked Paul Raci's portrayal of Joe.
• I really liked the way the audience was allowed to hear the progression of the sound loss, even though it was scary to me.  After he had the implant surgery and started to hear again, I had tears in my eyes.
• I wish more people could enjoy moments of stillness.  Me included, yes, but also most people I know.

Great film.  If it doesn't get an award for sound, then I don't understand that category at all.

One, Two, Eighteen

 I'm watching a lot of sports this weekend, what with the World Figure Skating Championships (Yes, Nathan Chen!!!) and March Madness to view.  It gives me a chance to pay my Disney Emoji Blitz game.  I love the game not only because it's fun and because of all of the cute emojis, but also because I get to watch ads when I'm waiting for my free spin for power ups.  That's right.  I GET to watch ads.  Because lately, I get to watch Rockapella sell Built Bars.  I even click on links so that my phone knows that I want to see more of them.  There are other Built Bars ads, but I don't click on those.  Today, I've probably watched the Rockapella Built Bars ad at least 10 times.  

I don't ever get to watch the full 90-second ad during these times, but at least I can go to the YouTube channel and watch it there.  I'm also posting it here for your viewing pleasure if you haven't seen it yet, and also for posterity.

My boys have done it again with a catchy tune and all of their humor and cuteness.  I miss them sooooo much!  Bonus:  a vocal percussion solo from demi-god JT!

In case you're wondering, I've tried 3 of the flavors:  Caramel Brownie, Salted Caramel, and Peanut Butter.  My favorite is peanut butter.  If you ever get to come into my house again, you'll probably see that I have a sufficient stock of Built Bars.  You're welcome to have some!  I know where I can get more.  :) 

Credit where Credit is Due

 It's Oscar season!  I've already watched a couple of the films nominated for Best Picture, so once the nominations were announced, I had 7 left to watch before the big night.  First to watch: "Mank".

• I like the way they did this in black and white, like it would have been done in the days of "Citizen Kane".
• Victorville sure looked a lot different back then.
• At first, I was a little bit confused about what was going on because of the jumps in the timeline, but I got used to it quickly.  
• I get that he called his wife "Poor Sara", but why did everyone else call her that?
• I've been to Hearst Castle, but I forgot how huge it was.  Seeing people sitting in the dining room made it seem even bigger somehow, because now we can see the comparison of the room to the people in it.  
• Gary Oldman is very much in his element here, and I like it!  He plays the drunk, issues-filled guy well.
• I also liked Amanda Seyfried in her role as Marion, because she was outspoken in a time when it wasn't very much accepted.  She was apologetic about it, which in these days she wouldn't have to be so much.  I especially liked her final line.
• Interesting to see the politics of that day, and the opinions about Hitler on the rise.
• I realized that I don't know my California history well because all I knew was that Upton Sinclair does not become governor, not who actually won the election.
• Who says "give me the gun", and then is OK with walking away with just the bullets?
• "If I go to the electric chair, I'd like him to be sitting in my lap."
• I need to see "Citizen Kane" soon.  I don't think I've seen more than the last scene.

Good movie, wish I had seen it on the big screen to get the full effect.  I know it was made for Netflix, but I still would like to see San Simeon as huge.

Burden of Proof

 I started to watch "The Little Things" on HBO Max one evening, and the opening scene frightened me, so I turned it off in order to watch it in the daytime instead.  So I watched it during the day and it turns out the scene wasn't actually that scary.  Oh, well.

• I like the way era was set by showing the old phones on the desks at the police station, and all of the older model vehicles, instead of hitting you in the face with a "1990!!!".  
• I kept thinking to myself, "This would have been a lot easier if he could just text Denzel's character to warn him that he was leaving" (the stakeout point).
• Jared Leto is very good at being creepy.
• I mean, that whole thing with them kind of playing cat and mouse on the freeway?  That was creepy.
• I much prefer this cop Denzel over "Training Day" cop Denzel.
• Pretty sure I wasn't the only one who wondered why the heck Rami Malek's character had his back to Jared Leto's character while he was digging and his gun was clearly exposed.  Dude, he's too close to you!  (I'm sensitive to personal space anyway, but even more so due to the pandemic.)
• I miss when the freeways had so few cars on them.
• All three of the main actors in this film had great performances, and I wouldn't expect anything less.
• So he just left all of those photos on the wall of his motel room?

I liked the psychological theme of this movie, highlighting how detectives can become obsessed with cases.  And now I'm thinking (SPOILER!!!)..."Oh, they left me unresolved so that I could be like them!"  Ohhhh, I get it now.