ACK! Another movie!

I cannot believe I have seen four movies in the last four or five weeks.  It is so unlike me. But yes, after work yesterday Steve and I saw yet another movie, and at the end of this one I said "OK, the next movie we see must have something funny in it."

We saw "All Is Lost" with Robert Redford.  You have all no doubt read about it, there is no one in the film except him and absolutely no dialogue.  At the very beginning he reads a sort of farewell letter for about 20 seconds, but that's it.  Him and his boat and the open ocean and more bad luck and trauma than any one person ever deserves.  You get to where you say things to yourself like "... oh great, now we get sharks!"  And "..oh, sure, more dehydration and starvation!" And "....oh, great, another leak in the boat!"  It's like a Biblical parable, one bad thing after another.  (Although I am not well versed on the Bible, as we all know.  The movie is like the story of Job, more and more terrible things happening to one man.  But honestly, other than Job and the guy with the Ark and the story of Jesus turning tap water into zinfandel, there are few stories I remember.)  Oddly, there is little emotional connection in the film, which is another reason why it feels like a morality tale.  (Of course, morality tales to me are like those Bible stories that I have conveniently forgotten, since my moral compass is always skewed.) 

I can't say I liked "All Is Lost" but I did respect it. It is finely made, the relentlessness of the ocean is truly depicted, Redford is the perfect guy to play this role.  His craggy face, crusted with dried salt, speaks to us in a way that reaches into the depths of our souls and gives little meaning to the word hope and great meaning to the word fear.  I was glad when the movie ended (perfect ending, too, by the way) and I can't really recommend seeing it unless you love stories about being stranded at sea with no rescue in sight.  But again, it is so finely crafted that it almost deserves to be viewed just for that fact alone.

We also saw previews of some new movies, one by the Coen Brothers and one from Wes Anderson, both of which made us laugh out loud.  I promise the next film I see will not make me sad or exhausted.  

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