I saw the movie before I read the book, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie. I actually liked that I saw the film before I read this book because I was able to picture the characters in my head as I read the story. I didn’t remember specific differences from the movie after I read the book, so I wasn’t expecting anything drastically different to happen. For the most part the movie follows the book pretty well. This might be one of my favorite movies that started out as a book (that I’ve read). The story is heartwarming, yet terribly sad. Noah Calhoun is the narrator in both the book and movie. It flips back and forth between present and past as Noah tells the story of how he met his wife and fell in love after the magical summer they shared together. In the present, Noah comes in everyday to see his wife, Allie Nelson, who suffers from a severe case of dementia and he reads this story of their lives to her. Sometimes a miracle will happen and she’ll remember who she is and who Noah is, but it never lasts very long. Even though they are short remembrances of her old life the doctors can’t seem to figure out how it’s possible with the level of her dementia. Noah and some of the nurses at the assisted living believe that there is no science to why she can remember her past life, it’s because of the undying love the couple share and it has the strength to pull her through sometimes.
There were a few details that changed in the making of the movie, but one wouldn’t pick up on them unless they read the book only a few days before. A character was left out which in turn changed a few events for the movie. The biggest difference I noticed was the added conflicts to bring more drama into the film. After they share a wonderful summer together, Allie’s family doesn’t think Noah is suitable for their upper class daughter to be seeing. When Allie is out late with Noah, her family calls the police to find her because she hadn’t come home yet. Her parents take Allie into the other room while Noah sits waiting for her, but what he hears doesn’t make him feel very wanted. Her parents scream at her saying he isn’t good enough for you; he’ll never amount to anything. At this point he walks out of the house, she runs after him once she pulls away from her parents. After this fight they break up because it seems their lives are on different paths. In the book there isn’t a huge fight scene where they both blow up at each other. It’s much calmer in the book, but the director had to add some drama to spice it up. Besides added fights like this one the relationship between Allie and Noah is a rockier one. They fight over everything “but the one thing they had in common was, they were crazy for each other”. In the book they didn’t fight, and the reader is made to think they have a seemingly perfect relationship, which in essence they do since they are so madly in love with each other.
Allie came to visit Noah after seeing his photograph in the newspaper next to his finished house and they fall in love with each other all over again. The second time she comes to see him he brings her out on a boat to see the swans, a huge thunderstorm begins and once they are on the dock she’s asking him why he never wrote and he explains that he wrote everyday for a year (two according to the book), and after a little bit more dialogue, he kisses her passionately. This classic kiss in the rain never happens in the book, but it needs to be in the movie because that’s what the audience wants to see. Movies today are bolder and more in-your-face rather than slower paced film, it doesn’t sell as well. In the movie Noah is the one who initiates the kiss in the rain and then one things leads to another and they spend the day laying in front of the fireplace. It’s interesting that he was one to lead the kiss, because in the movie after they come inside and put on dry clothes Allie kisses him. A possible reason why the movie makers have Noah lead this is because Allie is engaged and supposed to be getting married in a few weeks (this doesn’t happen since she ends up marring Noah). Even though she didn’t initiate this scene she didn’t back away from it either. That scene was pretty different from the book, but I think it was justified.
In the book Nicholas Sparks is able to describe events in great detail, which I loved. For example, when Allie goes over to see Noah for the first time Sparks depicts everything that happens and talks about the lobsters he’s making and the fresh vegetables so the reader can picture it perfectly. In the movie this scene was much shorter and didn’t show him preparing the decadent meal, instead it was just them finishing up. I loved the very beginning of the movie when Noah and Allie first met at the fair and he asked her out on the Ferris wheel. The first encounter with Noah showed off his bold and flirty side. The movie was able to take liberties when presenting what happened during the summer. The outfits were colorful, fun music was playing and it flashed upon the different scene with the couple and their friends. There isn’t any way the book would have been able to do the same thing.
It’s hard to choose which one I liked better because they both have different strong points: the movie has actors, music and visuals, whereas the book has more details and lets the imagination do more work. All things considered, I liked the movie better than the book partly because of being able to put a name to a face with the actors (who did a wonderful job playing their roles) and also the whole movie experience. In most cases I usually like the book better because in a movie it’s impossible to incorporate everything the author does in the novel, but I thought the director, Nick Cassavetes, did a great job sticking to the storyline and didn’t add too much extra drama to the film. I liked being able to see the house Noah works on, the sunrises and the inlet full of gorgeous white swans. It brings a little extra to the story. Both were very well done, and it will continue to remain one of my favorite movies.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
AVATAR
Avatar was one of the most visually captivating films I’ve ever seen. I didn’t expect to be o blown away by the 3D effects, but this movie actually made it worth wearing the goofy 3D glasses for close to 3 hours. Like most of Director James Cameron’s other films, it is epic in size and scale, and will go down on record as being one of the most expensive to make. It took four years to make, but it was worth the wait. The main character, Jake Sully is a paraplegic and he’s come Pandora to take part in the Avatar program because his twin brother died. The scientists believe that his DNA/genes would be similar enough that he would be able to get into the avatar body that originally belonged to his brother. It did work, and Jake was able to walk again, at least as a Na’vi. The goal was to befriend the Na’vi people, learn their ways and basically enforce our ways on them. Schools were built, and it really looked like the humans were doing a good thing by being there. The only thing the humans were there for was a precious mineral which would bring in ridiculous amounts of money. Once the diplomatic negotiations seemed to be failing, the violence loving Colonel Quaritch announced it was time for fire power. The greedy corporate leader, Parker Selfridge gave him the okay to move the Na’vi people and blow up Hometree, which is where the largest deposit of the minerals are located.
Many people have compared this movie to Dances with Wolves, but I would say it’s incredibly similar to the story of Pocahontas. The European’s are coming in to rape and destroy the land for “gold” without a concern of how it may affect the native people. Jake Sully is John Smith (the even have the same JS initials), and Neytiri is Pocahontas. They are both daughters of the leaders of the tribes and the European’s/Human’s main explorers fall in love with them. Pocahontas and Neytiri are both tuned into Mother Nature and want to see it preserved rather than destroyed. The women both teach their men about Nature, explain her secrets so they can begin to see and love Nature as both Pocahontas and Neytiri do. In the end it works and John and Jake realize they shouldn’t be there demolishing their homeland.
Once these men have fallen in love with both their ladies and the land, they have to make an important choice of what to do. Both try to stop the one in command from coming in and wiping everything out, but it doesn’t do much so they fight against their original side to try to save the land and the native people. Pocahontas and Neytiri get angry when they find out why they came here in the first place, but eventually forgive them since in the end they tried to help. Jake chooses to stay in his avatar form to be with Neytiri and not return to Earth.
This tried and true story is found in many places, and will probably be continued to be used. There is also a bit of colonialism interlaced in these stories; a group of people (usually from a country, or in this case, humans from Earth) come over to help the other “inferior” people by introducing them to a new religion and culture. The religion of the explorers is then forced upon the native people. I couldn’t help but think of the novella The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad as the perfect example of colonialism taking over. That’s essentially what’s happening in the planet Pandora where the Na’vi live, the humans are using whatever means necessary to move the people and harvest the precious materials.
The story may be cliché, but this movie is incredible to watch, from the intense 3-D to the bright, neon colors and dramatic creatures, it’s quite a spectacle. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie, and thought it was very cool that Jake was able to get his legs back. I would give it thumbs up.
Many people have compared this movie to Dances with Wolves, but I would say it’s incredibly similar to the story of Pocahontas. The European’s are coming in to rape and destroy the land for “gold” without a concern of how it may affect the native people. Jake Sully is John Smith (the even have the same JS initials), and Neytiri is Pocahontas. They are both daughters of the leaders of the tribes and the European’s/Human’s main explorers fall in love with them. Pocahontas and Neytiri are both tuned into Mother Nature and want to see it preserved rather than destroyed. The women both teach their men about Nature, explain her secrets so they can begin to see and love Nature as both Pocahontas and Neytiri do. In the end it works and John and Jake realize they shouldn’t be there demolishing their homeland.
Once these men have fallen in love with both their ladies and the land, they have to make an important choice of what to do. Both try to stop the one in command from coming in and wiping everything out, but it doesn’t do much so they fight against their original side to try to save the land and the native people. Pocahontas and Neytiri get angry when they find out why they came here in the first place, but eventually forgive them since in the end they tried to help. Jake chooses to stay in his avatar form to be with Neytiri and not return to Earth.
This tried and true story is found in many places, and will probably be continued to be used. There is also a bit of colonialism interlaced in these stories; a group of people (usually from a country, or in this case, humans from Earth) come over to help the other “inferior” people by introducing them to a new religion and culture. The religion of the explorers is then forced upon the native people. I couldn’t help but think of the novella The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad as the perfect example of colonialism taking over. That’s essentially what’s happening in the planet Pandora where the Na’vi live, the humans are using whatever means necessary to move the people and harvest the precious materials.
The story may be cliché, but this movie is incredible to watch, from the intense 3-D to the bright, neon colors and dramatic creatures, it’s quite a spectacle. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie, and thought it was very cool that Jake was able to get his legs back. I would give it thumbs up.
The Blind Side
The Blind Side is based on the true story of Michael Oher’s (Quinton Aaron) life and also on the book, “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game” by Michael Lewis. It’s a touching film about how Oher’s life is changed and the impact he has on Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock) and the rest of her family. Leigh Anne is a hardworking interior decorator who lives in her Memphis McMansion with her loving husband and two children. When Leigh Anne sees Oher walking home alone on a rainy night she invites him to stay with them.
Sandra Bullock does an outstanding job playing the tough loving Leigh Anne. After a few days Leigh Anne sets up a room for Oher to stay in and she finds out that this is the first time he’s ever had a bed. She quickly ducks into her room to save face. It’s obvious that as much as she is doing for this boy, he is changing her too. One example of this is on Thanksgiving Day, Oher takes his food into the dining room as the rest of the family gathers round the television to watch football, Leigh Anne seeing this calls the family into to join Michael. In essence, Michael who has spent much of his life alone brings the family closer together. All of the family members undergo a change by the time he goes off to college. Leigh Anne’s daughter Collins at first doesn’t want to be seen in school with Michael, but later in the movie she leaves her friends to go study with him at the other table. The father (Tim McGraw) signed off as an emergency contact on the school forms. And their son, SJ, is almost like Oher’s personal trainer. SJ get’s him working out so when he joins the football team he’ll be in shape. He helps to teach him the game and more importantly, SJ is filming Oher’s playing all the time. SJ creates a DVD of Oher’s superb playing and sends it to the big colleges around that area, which is how Oher gets his scholarship. SJ is probably my favorite character in this movie. He sort of steals the stage. He is an incredibly funny kid with huge love for attention.
Quinton Aaron, who plays Oher, may not have many lines in this movie but it doesn’t seem to matter. His facial expressions are more meaningful then any words. When he’s walking home alone and Leigh Anne stops him, the sadness in his eyes is excruciatingly real. He was able to make the audience believe what they were seeing. It takes real talent to make these fake feelings come through that well and seem so genuine. The lines that he does have are well chosen. For instance, when the family is thinking of becoming his legal guardians and they ask Oher if he wants to be a part of this family he simply replies: “I thought I already was.” The movie is full of great lines like that, and it helps to keep it light and funny. Oher is a gentle giant whose main goal is to protect his family at all costs. This really holds true when Oher gets in a crash with SJ sitting in the passenger seat next to him. Oher puts his arm in front of SJ’s little body and saved him from the air bag. This was a very intense scene and it shows how strong his instincts really are.
The scene that stuck with me and still bothers me is when Leigh Anne is having her 18$ salad with her haughty girlfriends and she tells them about how she’s thinking of adopting Oher. Their reactions are shameful. One of the ladies asked, “Aren’t you worried about Collins, having a black boy living in your house?” (not exact quote). Leigh Anne is appalled at their thoughts on her becoming the legal guardian of this boy. It unfortunately didn’t surprise me much, especially with it taking place in the south. I’m glad this scene was in the movie though because it shows how big of a problem racism still is. On the flip side though, when Oher goes back to where he used to live, one of the first questions he is asked is if he had “gotten some mother/daughter action”. Oher get’s extremely angry at that comment and a fight breaks out. They were both powerful scenes and even though Michael’s old neighbors and Leigh Anne’s circle of socialites are polar opposites, their prejudices are surprisingly similar.
The end of this movie is a little bittersweet. It’s great because Oher goes off to college and eventually goes to play for the NFL. Then a newspaper article flashes on the screen that talks about the death of an athletic African American teenager who lived in the same neighborhood as Oher did. That man could have just as easily been Oher if Leigh Anne hadn’t picked him up that night. It’s truly amazing how one event can cause a domino effect and change the outcome of a young person’s life.
Sandra Bullock does an outstanding job playing the tough loving Leigh Anne. After a few days Leigh Anne sets up a room for Oher to stay in and she finds out that this is the first time he’s ever had a bed. She quickly ducks into her room to save face. It’s obvious that as much as she is doing for this boy, he is changing her too. One example of this is on Thanksgiving Day, Oher takes his food into the dining room as the rest of the family gathers round the television to watch football, Leigh Anne seeing this calls the family into to join Michael. In essence, Michael who has spent much of his life alone brings the family closer together. All of the family members undergo a change by the time he goes off to college. Leigh Anne’s daughter Collins at first doesn’t want to be seen in school with Michael, but later in the movie she leaves her friends to go study with him at the other table. The father (Tim McGraw) signed off as an emergency contact on the school forms. And their son, SJ, is almost like Oher’s personal trainer. SJ get’s him working out so when he joins the football team he’ll be in shape. He helps to teach him the game and more importantly, SJ is filming Oher’s playing all the time. SJ creates a DVD of Oher’s superb playing and sends it to the big colleges around that area, which is how Oher gets his scholarship. SJ is probably my favorite character in this movie. He sort of steals the stage. He is an incredibly funny kid with huge love for attention.
Quinton Aaron, who plays Oher, may not have many lines in this movie but it doesn’t seem to matter. His facial expressions are more meaningful then any words. When he’s walking home alone and Leigh Anne stops him, the sadness in his eyes is excruciatingly real. He was able to make the audience believe what they were seeing. It takes real talent to make these fake feelings come through that well and seem so genuine. The lines that he does have are well chosen. For instance, when the family is thinking of becoming his legal guardians and they ask Oher if he wants to be a part of this family he simply replies: “I thought I already was.” The movie is full of great lines like that, and it helps to keep it light and funny. Oher is a gentle giant whose main goal is to protect his family at all costs. This really holds true when Oher gets in a crash with SJ sitting in the passenger seat next to him. Oher puts his arm in front of SJ’s little body and saved him from the air bag. This was a very intense scene and it shows how strong his instincts really are.
The scene that stuck with me and still bothers me is when Leigh Anne is having her 18$ salad with her haughty girlfriends and she tells them about how she’s thinking of adopting Oher. Their reactions are shameful. One of the ladies asked, “Aren’t you worried about Collins, having a black boy living in your house?” (not exact quote). Leigh Anne is appalled at their thoughts on her becoming the legal guardian of this boy. It unfortunately didn’t surprise me much, especially with it taking place in the south. I’m glad this scene was in the movie though because it shows how big of a problem racism still is. On the flip side though, when Oher goes back to where he used to live, one of the first questions he is asked is if he had “gotten some mother/daughter action”. Oher get’s extremely angry at that comment and a fight breaks out. They were both powerful scenes and even though Michael’s old neighbors and Leigh Anne’s circle of socialites are polar opposites, their prejudices are surprisingly similar.
The end of this movie is a little bittersweet. It’s great because Oher goes off to college and eventually goes to play for the NFL. Then a newspaper article flashes on the screen that talks about the death of an athletic African American teenager who lived in the same neighborhood as Oher did. That man could have just as easily been Oher if Leigh Anne hadn’t picked him up that night. It’s truly amazing how one event can cause a domino effect and change the outcome of a young person’s life.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Conclusion of Heart of Darkness
In the end of Heart of Darkness Marlow does finally meet Kurtz, just before he dies from an unknown disease. Marlow believed that Kurtz was the answer to all the madness surrounding them in Africa because he was living with the natives and actually accomplishing tasks, Marlow also wanted to journey to Africa to get away from England and from the bureaucracy where everyone is only thinking about themselves. Marlow was hoping it would be different here, but it wasn't. The managers are really only looking out for themselves rather than the others and definitely not for the natives. It seems that Marlow comes to the realization that if one wants to get anything done they might have to use force or coerce people into doing things.
When Kurtz was dying and tried to escape from the Station Marlow went out to find him and dragged him back in. Marlow was there when Kurtz died and heard his last words, "The horror! The horror!" Kurtz had been in Africa for a long time collecting as much ivory as he possibly could and suffered from diseases while he there also. Marlow later says that Kurtz's last words summed up the state of Africa, from the killings to the diseases to the destroying of the land, it was a horrible place to be during that time.
A year later Marlow is back in England and goes to see Kurtz's wife. She is still in mourning and has to know what Kurtz's last words were. Throughout this novella it's clear that Marlow hates lying and claims that one of the many problems in this world we live in. Everyone is telling people what they want to hear or they're telling them something to help themselves. Marlow is looking for truth, but in ends up lying himself. It's arguable that what he lied about was justifiable because he was trying to keep up Kurtz's reputation in England since they don't know that he had a mistress and killed anyone who got in his way. When she asks what his last words were, Marlow tells her that it was her name he said right before he died. The reader of course knows this isn't true and that his last words were about Africa and the horror. Marlow changes over this journey to and from Africa. In the beginning of this story I don't think Marlow would have lied to her since it would have gone against everything he believed in. Now that he had experienced all of these different things he can see some lies as justifiable.
When Kurtz was dying and tried to escape from the Station Marlow went out to find him and dragged him back in. Marlow was there when Kurtz died and heard his last words, "The horror! The horror!" Kurtz had been in Africa for a long time collecting as much ivory as he possibly could and suffered from diseases while he there also. Marlow later says that Kurtz's last words summed up the state of Africa, from the killings to the diseases to the destroying of the land, it was a horrible place to be during that time.
A year later Marlow is back in England and goes to see Kurtz's wife. She is still in mourning and has to know what Kurtz's last words were. Throughout this novella it's clear that Marlow hates lying and claims that one of the many problems in this world we live in. Everyone is telling people what they want to hear or they're telling them something to help themselves. Marlow is looking for truth, but in ends up lying himself. It's arguable that what he lied about was justifiable because he was trying to keep up Kurtz's reputation in England since they don't know that he had a mistress and killed anyone who got in his way. When she asks what his last words were, Marlow tells her that it was her name he said right before he died. The reader of course knows this isn't true and that his last words were about Africa and the horror. Marlow changes over this journey to and from Africa. In the beginning of this story I don't think Marlow would have lied to her since it would have gone against everything he believed in. Now that he had experienced all of these different things he can see some lies as justifiable.
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