My 3rd-Annual Oscar Preview Post

This year I saw 7 of the 9 movies nominated for Best Picture: Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty. The two I did not see were Django Unchained and Amour. I decided about a week ago to give up on seeing Django, but today was the day I gave up on Amour. I won't go into details, but I'm really disappointed about Amour. I saw a couple of other non-best-picture movies, because of their acting award nominations, including Flight, The Impossible, and The Sessions. The Master was a movie I really wanted to see, but I couldn't. So, again this year, I am unable to weigh in on all the nominated performances, because of my incomplete viewing, but I will make some predictions.

This year I was particularly struck by the depth of the human experience. Many of the films detailed true stories and real events, while still others depicted what my college professor, Dr. Reinhard, would describe as a "truth stories". I'm not sure of the amount of hours I spent crying during this Oscar season, but I know it was many. Throughout, the messages of hope, redemption, and faith (both keeping and experiencing) maintained strong. The pastor at our church preached a sermon series, recently, on the story of Jeremiah. One line that stuck with me from one of these sermons was: "Out of the pit, you will have a powerful story to tell." Powerful stories - indeed!

*Spoiler alert - please do not read if you do not want to know major plot points of all the following movies, and possible spoilers!*

Best Picture Nominees:

Argo tells the story of 6 American near-hostages in Iran at the end of 1979, and their eventual escape under the guise of being a Canadian film crew, leaving from a location-scouting trip. The beginning of the movie shows an Iranian mob storming the American embassy, and the real terror of the people inside, who realize they are on their own. Noone is coming to rescue them. We see a display of human experience in the light of possible panic, which in my opinion, was riveting. Many Americans were taken hostage, but 6 managed to escape and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck, who directed the film, among other things) is a CIA agent, who works with some of his Hollywood friends to devise an escape plan for the hostages. I found the film fascinating, and the acting compelling (especially John Goodman, and Ben Affleck with his nerdy-hunky late 70's look), but there were a few things that bothered me. I thought the ending was over-dramatic (and according to what I read on Wikipedia, untrue), and I couldn't help but wonder about the stories of those who were killed or captured in the American embassy. I'm glad six escaped, and their story is worth telling, but what about the others?

Beasts of the Southern Wild follows the story of a 6-year-old girl named, Hushpuppy, who lives in a Louisiana bayou community called "The Bathtub" with her dying father, and a community of other poverty-stricken folks. It's a heart-breaking tale, in which Hushpuppy lives in her own trailer of sorts, where she cooks her own cat food dinners by lighting the burner with a blow torch, while loving her tough-love-giving father and missing her deceased mother. She says things like, "Kids who have no mommas...gots to live in the woods, and eat grass and steal underpants.", and mentions at one point that she can count the times she's been lifted by another (in an embrace) on two fingers. Can you imagine? Quvenzhané Wallis, who plays Hushpuppy, is absolutely amazing (and only 5 at the time of filming. The film highlights the community's fierce independence in the face of crippling poverty. I couldn't help but think about how hard it is to really help people, without truly understanding the circumstances, and grasping the people's thoughts and feelings about their own plights. 

Les Miserables is the movie version of the popular musical, with Hugh Jackman (at his best) playing Jean Valjean, a shunned paroled prisoner, who finds refuge in a monastery, and then proceeds to steal from the very bishop who took him in. The Bishop shows much mercy, though, when Valjean is caught by the police and brought back, and Valjean is able to change his life and become a successful business man. Much more story is told. It's almost hardest for me to write about this movie, because I was moved by it so deeply. The performances (all singing) were astonishing, with the filming done in such a way that the audience was drawn in so completely (even seeing the snot dripping from Anne Hathaway's nose) as to experience the emotion of the difficult story in such a significant way!

Life of Pi is the story of a teenager, Pi, who is the only member of his family to survive a shipwreck. In the life boat with him, is a bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The filming is amazing and the story is larger than life, but the themes in the film are universal. A few of my favorite lines from the movie are these, "Faith is a house with many rooms.", "Above all - don't lose hope.", and "What hurts the most is not taking a moment to say good-bye." There is also a point in the movie where Pi, who is stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger, looks at the sky, after a fish jumps into his boat, and prays aloud, "Thank you for coming in the form of a fish and saving our lives!" Sometimes in the midst of the pit, we must be thankful for the things that allow us to "survive", in order to tell our powerful story!

Lincoln was my favorite movie, and my friends know that I now have a very strong crush on Abraham Lincoln! I was so completely captivated by his compassionate intelligence! The movie chronicles the time during which Lincoln (and others) worked to get the 13th Amendment passed, which would formally abolish slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation was passed earlier, but Lincoln feared that because he had invoked his wartime powers, that it would either be reversed during peace time, or that peace would be reached with the South by allowing them to keep their slaves. Therefore, an amendment to the Constitution, was the only way to guarantee the abolishment of slavery, once the war was over. My favorite part in the movie involved an informal speech by Lincoln (of which there were many), in which he refers to a math textbook, written by Euclid, that he read as a self-taught child. 
Lincoln states, "Euclid's first common notion is this, things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other. That's a rule of mathematical reasoning. It's true because it works. Has done and always will do. In his book, Euclid says this is 'self-evident.' You see there it is, even in that 2,000-year-old book of mechanical law. It is a self-evident truth that things that are equal to the same thing are equal to each other." Thus says the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...", and Lincoln read the same concept, as a boy, and was driven to ensure the destruction of slavery based on this truth! I haven't explained this very well, but I think you may be able to see why I have a small thing for Abraham Lincoln! And Daniel Day-Lewis did a bang-up job of portraying him! Wow!

Silver Linings Playbook was a "dramedy" about Pat (Bradley Cooper) who was recently released from a mental hospital, and his relationships with his family and beautifully quirky neighbor, Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). The acting was fantastic, especially (I think) the performances by Robert De Niro and Jackie Weaver, as Pat's parents, but also including the performances of the leads. I think a person may need to see Jennifer Lawrence's other major performances (Winter's Bone and Hunger Games), to truly appreciate her creation of the character in this film. I didn't like the movie that much, though, mostly I think, because I wasn't really drawn into the story. I kind of didn't buy it. I know many people loved the film, though, so I'll just leave it at that.

Zero Dark Thirty told the story of the manhunt and murder of Osama Bin Laden. Jessica Chastain played Maya, whose life's work, thus far, had involved the search for Bin Laden. She was semi-obsessed, and was smart and resilient enough to continue on until the work was done. There were parts of this movie that were incredibly hard to watch, but the story was compelling and well-told. Jessica Chastain shines in this role (and I would say that if you saw her in The Help, you would probably further appreciate her range - similar to Jennifer Lawrence). This movie depicted the human experience on so many levels!

Non-Best Picture (acting award nominees):

In Flight, Denzel Washington plays an alcoholic pilot (with tons of baggage, haha!!) named Whip, who miraculously lands a failing plane while drunk and high! His skill at landing the plane is undeniable, but a blood test taken at the hospital reveals his secret. The story which unfolds takes Whip deep into the pit, in order to find redemption. 

The Impossible tells the true story of an Australian family who gets caught in the Tsunami in Thailand in 2004. I think I cried in this movie from beginning to end. I really don't want to say to much, because it is easy to give things majorly away for this movie. The relationship, though, between the mother and her oldest son was particularly poignant for me, because it reminded me so much of my own relationship with my 11-year-old son. This movie is painful to watch, but a valuable look at the human experience in the face of tragedy.

I've run out of time to discuss The Sessions (and kind of don't want to discuss it anyway), but I found it to be an incredibly touching story (no pun intended, haha again!!). Helen Hunt's performance was beautifully sensitive and nuanced. 

My predictions: 
Best Picture - Lincoln
Leading Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis
Leading Actress - Jessica Chastain
Supporting Actor - Robert De Niro
Supporting Actress - Helen Hunt
Directing - Steven Spielberg

I waited until the eleventh hour this year to write and post my Oscar thoughts, but let me know what you think (either before or after the awards show). I always love to discuss!! 

**as a disclaimer, I will say that I wrote this whole thing in one sitting, today, and ran out of time for much editing. I know, for example, that some paragraphs are written in the present tense and others in the past, but I don't have time to make them all consistent. Please forgive me. I think next year I will write about the movies as I see them (and not wait until I've seen them all - or most). Please remind me that I said that, if you see me next year during Oscar time!

Do What You Can, Whenever You Can

I just finished reading the book, The End of Your Life Book Club, an inspiring true story of a mother/son book club, started after the mother's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The mother, Mary Anne, has spent her life as a humanitarian, traveling the world and working in her home state of New York, to address many human rights causes, especially those of refugees. At one point in the book, after reading a particularly heart-wrenching story, Mary Anne's son, Will, tells her that he feels guilty for not doing more to help people. I was so struck by Mary Anne's response,

"Of course you could do more - you can always do more, and you should do more - but still, the important thing is to do what you can, whenever you can. You just do your best, and that's all you can do. Too many people use the excuse that they don't think they can do enough, so they decide they don't have to do anything. There's never a good excuse for not doing anything - even if it's just to sign something, or send a small contribution, or invite a newly settled refugee family over for Thanksgiving." (p. 255)

When I worked as a social worker, I had a sense of satisfaction that part of every day was spent helping people. I knew I wasn't making huge changes, or taking on worldwide causes, but each day I helped kids to hopefully feel better about themselves, and to be able to spend more time learning.

As a mom, I know the importance of this work. I know that raising loving, caring, good citizens is a daily contribution to the greater good. Unfortunately, in the trenches, it doesn't always feel that way. I definitely spend time wishing I was doing more to help people who are struggling. Mary Anne's words struck a cord with me. I definitely need to recognize and appreciate how important my children, and my care of them, is in the big picture, but I also need to do whatever else I can, whenever I can to help the people around me who may need a little something from me.

Let's do it! Let's all try to do something for someone. It doesn't matter what. It doesn't matter when. When you feel the urge, give in to it! I'll try to do the same!

Yay! It's Summer! ....Oh, Holy crap! It's summer! Part 2

Summer is half over! And I am still struggling! Yesterday I complained to Gary, and this is what I said: "I feel like ALL I've done all day is make meals and clean them up, with some laundry and picking up after kids sprinkled in there....well, besides the 3 HOURS I spent at the pool!" See? It's paradoxical! I'm not too happy with the way things are going this summer, but WOW! what a great life I have! Is anyone following me here? Of course,the guilt I feel about not savoring these precious moments of summer, just make it harder for me to enjoy them! Does this strike a chord with any of you? Please talk to me!

Yay! It's summer.... Oh, Holy Crap! It's summer!

Please tell me I'm not the only mom who has a love/hate relationship with summer! Today is our first real day of summer. I love my kids! Oh, how I love them - which I think is obvious with all the things I do for them, places I take them, amount I kiss and hug them, birthday parties I plan for them, etc... Right??  I think it's possible, though, (and I hate to admit it) that I love them most when I don't have to be with them all day, everyday!!

So, I've signed them up for some camps - scattered throughout the summer.  We just got back from the library, where we signed up for summer reading and checked out a stack of books.  We also bought our pool pass today, and I anticipate many an hour spent at the pool.  I'm sure, though, that I will have to say a little prayer every morning, asking the Lord to grant me patience, wisdom and an extra dose of good humor, to make it through this summer!

Are any of you also saying, "Yay! AND Holy Crap!"?

Please say yes!

What Moms Do

Last Friday my kids didn't have school, so we went to the IMAX theater at the Science Center and saw "To the Arctic", which is "the story of one mother polar bear’s determination to keep her cubs alive in the face of natural predators and a rapidly changing climate..."  When the movie was over, I kept thinking about that mother polar bear, and the way that her entire existence was centered around keeping her cubs healthy and safe. This is the way of nature. As moms, this is how WE are wired.   

Interestingly enough, the message that I received from "To the Arctic" was still bouncing around in my mind when I went for a much-needed long run on Saturday afternoon.  A pretty severe storm had passed through a few hours earlier, but the sky was clear when I left.  Gary was out of town, so I left the kids at home watching TV (which I sometimes do, because Gregory is a very responsible, almost-11-year-old).  The sprinkly rain started about a mile into my run, but I wasn't worried about getting wet.  It wasn't until I was 3 miles (the farthest point, of course) from home, that the thunder and lightening started.  I was nervous, but there was really nothing I could do but keep running.  Then, even though the music played loudly in my ears, I heard a siren.  I wasn't absolutely sure, and I didn't really want to think about it (I still couldn't really do anything but run faster), but then Gregory called.  Very calmly into the phone he said, "Mom, do you hear the siren?" I told him that I did, and that I was getting home as fast as I could.  A few minutes later, Ruthie called.  She also sounded surprisingly calm, and she asked if they should go to the basement.  


We live on the second floor of a brick condo building, in a neighborhood lined with nearly identical brick condo buildings. I told Ruthie that I thought they were ok, but that if the sky turned black, or it seemed extremely windy, they should go to the basement and take the phone.  About five minutes later, while I was still about 1 1/2 miles (and one HUGE hill -- southbound Skinker, for you Forest Park runners!!) away from home, the sky turned completely black and a second siren started.  The volume of this siren, especially in comparison to the first one, led me to believe that if I turned right - away from home, rather than left - toward home, I would run directly into a tornado.  I began panicking, not for myself, but for my kids.  I called them immediately, and as nonchalantly as I could muster, told them to go to the basement and take the phone.  When I hung up, my panic prompted me to start running as fast as I possibly could, straight up the hill!  It wasn't long, though, before I had to walk.  I really couldn't run that fast up the hill, and I found myself overwhelmingly anxious about my kids, and now completely out of breath! 


Because I couldn't run, and the siren was still blaring, I stopped at a church.  There were people in the basement, so I knocked on the door and someone let me in.  I tried to call the kids and I couldn't reach them.  I couldn't decide what to do.  I briefly thought that if something happened to me, while I was running through a tornado to get home to them, they would be worse off than if we'd both just stayed safe in our respective basements.  It was a fleeting thought, though, and a few minutes later, when the siren stopped, I left the basement, and started running again.  I had to get home to my babies!  Then Gregory called. (What a relief!). He thought I'd be home by then.  Again, he seemed fairly calm, and again, I told him I was hurrying! 


When the hail began, I was still about half a mile from home, and I actually laughed out loud. HAIL!  Really? (For a minute, I thought maybe the rapture had come and I'd been left behind!) Thankfully, the hail was short-lived, and surprisingly not-too-painful, but in it's place, the sky dumped rain -- tons and tons of rain.  And still I ran.  I ran and ran, through thunder, lightening, tornado sirens, hail and torrential downpours.  I'm sure I looked like a crazy woman, but all I could think about was putting one foot in front of the other and getting back to the kids.  I'd ventured out too far from home, the climate was changing rapidly, and the cubs needed me! 


When you're a mom, this is what you do.  When you're a polar bear mom, you swim hundreds of miles to find food for your cubs, you herd your cubs away from danger, and roar at your predators!  When you're a mom like me, you drive your kids to sports, make them nutritious meals, help them with homework, take parenting classes to learn how to talk to them better, and if you have to, you run!  You run as hard and as fast and through whatever you need to, in order to get back to them -- to keep them healthy and safe! 

This is What Moms Do!


**I ran though all that, and came home to find my kids making forts and eating snacks in the basement -- each wearing a brave face to keep the others calmer!
They were fine. My precious cubs.

My Oscar Thoughts - 2012

This year I saw seven of the nine films nominated for Best Picture.  The movies I saw were: The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, and The Tree of Life.  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and War Horse were also nominated, but they both left the theaters before I had a chance to see them (and are not yet available On Demand).  This blog post is my brief thoughts about these 7 movies.
 

The Artist seems to be the favorite to win Best Picture.  I loved this movie!  It's so hard to conceive of how a silent movie, about silent films, would work, but it does!! Jean Dujardin plays a silent movie actor, George Valentin, who is the king of Hollywood. However, when silent films are replaced by "talkies", George finds himself de-throned. Dujardin has a wonderful face that is so expressive and entertaining, you can't help but be drawn into his story (even though he never speaks). Berenice Bejo is a beauty, who plays an up-and-coming actress named Peppy Miller. Peppy starts as an extra in George's silent films, but moves her way up, just in time to rule the talking picture scene!  Bejo is very fun to watch. Dujardin is nominated for Best Actor and Bejo is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. I would love to see them both win, and the movie to be named Best Picture. My favorite scene in the movie takes place on set, when Peppy, as an extra, and George, as the star, bump into each other in a dance sequence, and dance together for a few minutes. The actors are required to tape the scene over and over, and it's such a joy to watch them interact differently with each take!

The Descendants is a touching story of human nature, and one man's realization that he does not have the relationships with his wife and daughters that he thought he had and that he wishes he did.  George Clooney shines in his portrayal of Matt King, a man who is dealing with the fact that (a) his wife is in a coma, (b) he has no idea how to take care of his daughters without her help, and (c) he is in charge of a multi-million dollar deal to sell family land. Clooney brilliantly shows King to be a man forced to face the tragedy before him, but also to take a good hard look at the world he has created.  Clooney could definitely win Best Actor, and that would be fine with me!

I read The Help before I saw the movie.  I loved both the book and the movie! Viola Davis is nominated for Best Actress, for her role as Abileen Clark, a maid in Mississippi in the middle of the 60's civil rights movement.  Abileen and her friend and fellow maid, Minny Jackson (played by Octavia Spencer, who is nominated for Best Supporting Actress), become involved with a young white woman who is writing a controversial book about the racism experienced by maids who are working for white families during the 60's.  The book is told from the maids' perspectives.  I felt that the story was wonderfully told in the movie, and the actors all rose to the occasion of bringing this book to life.  My favorite scene in this movie may have been when Abileen is talking with the white girl she takes care of, who is somewhat shunned by her own mother for not being pretty enough.  Abileen tells her over and over, and makes her  repeat the phrase, "You is smart, you is kind, you is important." Such a sweet, even as it is somewhat heartbreaking, interaction between this maid and her curly blond-haired little charge!

Hugo was a very pleasant surprise for me! This delightful story about a young orphan who lives in the clockworks of the Paris train station is not one I was planning to see, but I'm so glad I did.  Hugo is a difficult movie to describe, so I won't try. I will tell you, though, that I was deeply moved by it, and especially this concept from the young orphan protagonist (as paraphrased by me), "I like to imagine the world as one big machine.  Machines don't come with any spare parts.  That means I can't just be an extra part.  I must be in the world for an important reason."  Think about that!  Isn't it beautiful?

Midnight in Paris is a Woody Allen movie about an engaged couple who travel to Paris for a business trip.  Owen Wilson plays a screenwriter and would-be novelist, who explores the city at night. Each night, at midnight, he is transported back in time to rub elbows with some of his literary heros from another era.  Midnight is an enchanting movie, set in a beautiful city, with a sweet message about what is important in love and in life.  I especially enjoyed seeing the portrayals of such greats as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali, and dreaming about what life would've been like if lived among them! 

I tried to read the book, Moneyball, but I never got through it.  This true story is based on Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt (Best Actor nominee), who is the general manager of the Oakland A's.  Because his ball club is not as wealthy as some of the other teams, Beane is forced to take a different approach to building a team capable of making it to the playoffs and beyond.  He teams up with a young Yale grad, played by Jonah Hill (Best Supporting Actor nominee), who takes a more statistical approach to recruiting.  Moneyball is not one of my favorites on this list, but I am really glad I saw it, and I especially enjoyed seeing Andy from Parks and Recreation!! :) 

Tree of Life is a very difficult movie to describe, and while I didn't really enjoy every part of the movie, I was definitely moved and inspired by it.  It's a movie that is impossible for me to recap or explain, so instead I will share with you how I responded.  For me, this movie is about parenting, faith and loss.  Brad Pitt plays the father of three boys, who while trying to raise them in a way that he thinks to be right, ends up alienating them from him.  There were times when I could feel what I believed to be the father's anguish in trying to love his boys, while doing what he thought was necessary to prepare them for the world. I can also say the same for the mother. I watched her love her children, and heard her whisper (in voice-over), the things she felt they really must know. Tree of Life included expressions of deep grief, and statements of deep faith. The story in this movie was, for me, profound, even as it was told in a somewhat disjointed and circuitous way.  My favorite mother's voice-over quote is this: "Help each other. Love everyone, every leaf, every ray of light. Forgive. Learn." 

I didn't really make predictions this year.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movies and the Oscars!!  If you've seen Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and/or War Horse, I'd love to hear what you thought of those movies, too, and how you think they stack up to these seven.

Blessing Bags

Thanks to amanda94 for commenting on my homeless post, and directing me to a blog page which describes blessing bags (please read about them here). Tonight the kids and I put together our own blessing bags. 

Making (and eventually handing out) these blessing bags definitely doesn't feel like enough, but it feels like we're doing something.  This is a place to start, not only for me, but also for my kids.