Monday, February 4, 2013

Fundy Does the Movies: "Silver Linings Playbook"

We did again!  
In spite of our best intentions, 
we found ourselves scrambling 
to make it to see Silver Linings Playbook
at the AMC theaters at Southlands Saturday morning.


Check Out That Four Corners Colorado Blue Sky!


I mean, what's with a movie starting 
at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning?
Siri informed us of this disconcerting fact at 9:03 a.m.
I hadn't even finished my first cup of coffee.

I suppose a little more advance planning
would be in order; but,
we passionate people are too often
blind to the world when lost in our passions!

So it was the mad gallop to the theater, again;


Galloping Beauty
I was looking for an image of galloping people, 
but I saw this beauty, and I couldn't pass him by!
Pretty boy!

but this time at least, 
Terry had swallowed a few Cheerios,
and I had stuffed a left over chicken sandwich 
into my purse, along with my camera.
Strictly popcorn and cola - 
no $16.00 pair of movie hotdogs w/cola,
even if they are very good hotdogs!



And we were both in our seats
as the previews began to roll!
I have learned to run flat out 
up the stairs in the darkened theater
without dropping a kernel of popped corn
or spilling a splash of cola.
This is the way Terry likes it -
no wait time!


Silver Linings Playbook

Movie magic again!
From start to finish, this movie did not disappoint!

For starters, Silver Linings Playbook
has an excellent cast:
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, 
with Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, 
Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher and Julia Stiles in supporting roles.
The cast has been showered in accolades.
Not since 1981 has a single movie been nominated for
Academy Awards in the four acting categories (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Linings_Playbook)

Best Actor             Bradley Cooper
Best Actress                   Jennifer Lawrence
Best Supporting Actor             Robert De Niro
Best Supporting Actress             Jacki Weaver

(Do not ask me what those funny white vertical bars are; I have no clue, nor do I know how to get rid of them!)

The characters in the movie are compellingly real.
  
When Bradley Cooper looks you in the eye and tells you 
that he has things under control,
you believe him!

When Jennifer Lawrence looks you in the eye, 
you can look nowhere else, 
because her eyes smolder and trap yours!

When Robert De Niro sits on the bed beside his son,
and speaks to him of football and family, 
you can feel his pain as he tries 
to understand and to communicate with his son;
and, in his pain you can feel, 
the struggles of all fathers and sons.

When Jacki Weaver tries to hold her family together
and roll with the craziness,
you feel the struggle of women everywhere 
as they fight to maintain sense and sanity in their lives.


 Major and Minor Arcana
                         Credits:  Bradley Cooper  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bradley_Cooper_2011.jpg)
                                       Jennifer Lawrence  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jennifer_Lawrence_TIFF_2,_2012.jpg)
                                                    Robert De Niro  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_De_Niro_TFF_2011_Shankbone.JPG)
                                                    Jacki Weaver  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jacki_Weaver.jpg)
                                       Chris Tucker  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chucky_and_Chris_Tucker.jpg)
                                                    Julia Stiles  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Julia_Stiles_by_David_Shankbone_cropped.jpg)
                                                    Anupam Kher  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anupam_Kher_%28cropped_from_Bhairavi_Goswami
                                                                   Anupam_Kher_From_The_Audio_release_of_%27Mr._Bhatti_On_Chutti%27_%284%29.jpg%29.jpg)
                                                                   and  (http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/index/searchphotos/q/ANUPAM%20KHER/day/0/page/1)

The plot is pretty straight forward, 
but I don't want to give away any delicious details!

Suffice to say that it begins 
with Patrizio Solitano's release from a mental health facility 
into the care of his mother and father, 
a pair that has its own zany issues.
  
Patrizio's father has lost his job, 
and he has become a bookmaker 
to support his family and 
to earn money to open a restaurant.

Patrizio's mother Dolores is a loving and supportive 
mother and wife 
who just wants to wrangle her family 
into happiness and success.

And Pat, who suffers with bipolar disorder,
just wants to get his life back
after an eight month stint in the mental health facility.
He is determined to win back 
his wife Nikki who left him
after a violent event that landed him in the facility.

With this, the plot thickens 
into a romantic comedy that
is stirred repeatedly by Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour."

No offense to Stevie Wonder or My Cherie Amour,
(I love them both); but, for me,
for perfectly selfish reasons, 
the musical piece de resistance in the movie
was a duet by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash,
a cut from the album Nashville Skyline:
"Girl from the North Country."

If you've been following my blog, 
you'll know why this song is a major favorite of mine!
Just saying, I think Nashville Skyline 
is one of the best albums ever!


Nashville Skyline Jacket


Dylan and Cash:  Girl from the North Country

Bottom line:  Just see this movie!  It's great, 
                       and it deserves every award it garners!


Girl from the North Country
with Rip
Portree, Margaree Valley, 1969

24 comments:

  1. Oh, I love that last photograph! It really speaks for itself.

    This movie sounds great. I do like the cast. Robert De Niro is one of my favourite actors. And Bradley Cooper? Oh my...isn't he a handsome dude? Those eyes...that dazzling smile...dreamy.

    I'll have to look into this movie. It's been ages since we've gone to the theater to watch something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Martha!
      I love the last photo, too.

      It's one of my most favorite of me - and the copy I scanned, I printed in the geology darkroom at Acadia when I was learning how to develop film. One of my professors, unknown to anyone but me and him (outside my family) had self-appointed himself as my godfather when I was about six weeks old. He gave me some old expired photo paper to practice on since I couldn't afford to buy any. I had such a blast, but the hues are all muted because the paper was old.

      I hope you get a chance to see SLP. Bradley Cooper is to die for, even if he ran around half the movie in a gray hoodie and garbage bag.

      Have a :) day!

      Delete
  2. I love the picture of you in Maragree - Wow you were so young! ... and when you were there you seemed so old (to your little sister:-D)
    Cheers,
    Barb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks little sister!
      I WAS young, and pretty, and somewhat skinny! All those years I ran around worrying about my body and feeling unpretty! I never really saw what was looking back at me in the mirror. I do hope all our lovely and unique nieces see the magnificent young women they are looking back at them in their mirrors.

      I do so miss Rip! He was the sweetest dog, even if he wasn't mine. He belonged to the McCallums. But as you can see, we loved each other! Don't tell me dogs don't have souls. This dog was like Daxie, and he had been terribly mistreated before the Mcs got him. And horribly after, but not because of the McCallums. Some yahoo poured gasoline on his hindquarters and set him on fire. But he managed to run into the river and survive. Kuddos to the Mcs for saving him. But even after all he had been through, Rip welcomed me into his great big heart.

      I hope that you are having a good day!

      Delete
  3. Nashville Skyline is my most fave album too....I played it until the cows came home...Lay Lady Lay!! I can hear it all now. I thought this was his BEST album...I really do!
    The Margaree Valley pic reminds me of a picture I have of a bunch of us cycling to the Swinging Bridge in White Rock...Did I say I was going to find that picture? Ah yes Ron...get your act together!
    Thanks for the lowdown on the movie...we used to tear to movies too...but not that early in the morn. Hearts pounding and feet just a stepping...oh how I remember!

    Ron

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Ron!
      Lay Lady Lay! If I had a dollar for every time I played that cut, I could have retired years ago!
      When GFTNC came out of the theater speakers in gorgeous whatever~the~latest~movie~stereo~thingie is,
      I thought I had died and gone to heaven!
      I've been playing it over and over since then.
      Love You Tube!
      And the person who put together the video of Cash and Dylan to accompany the You Tube song did a great job -
      even though I didn't realize until I had played it several times after posting it,
      that Johnny Cash was not giving a thumbs up in the last photo!
      Oh well, such is life!
      Have a good day, my friend! And, of course, belly rubs to Soph!

      Delete
  4. Wow, our movies never start before noon here in Canada!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Debra!
      Welcome to my blog, and thank you for becoming a follower!
      It's always such a thrill for me to get a comment or a new follower!

      Noon seems like a much more reasonable time to go to a movie,
      but the early show tickets are $5.00 apiece. So that's when Terry and I go - early!

      I am looking forward to viewing your posts. I am fascinated with Tarot cards among other things. My sister Barb is pretty good Tarot card reader, and I have a friend in California who is a serious reader.

      "She Who Seeks" really caught my eye - It's catchy, but also a good way to move through life.
      I'm always seeking, and I hope I never reach a time that I stop!
      Have a happy day!

      Delete
  5. North Country Girl was always a Dylan favorite of mine too from Nashville Skyline! I remember the fresh air of those golden days of youth well. For me, when his New Morning album was released it was a kind of transporter, a window into a new transcendence from youth to independence, all possibilities of the universe within grasp. Thanks for the movie tip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mark!
      You really summed up that time: the fresh air of those golden days of youth ... all possibilities of the universe within grasp. I don't think I've heard it stated better! My heart felt expansive with possibility then. I've felt a touch of those emotions since, but never with that sense of transcendence.
      I think you must also be a poet as well as a photographer and scientist!
      Have a good day!

      Delete
  6. I have been DYING to see this movie for so long it seems. I hope I get the chance because I really want to see it in the theater (the bigger Bradley is the better). Thanks for your review! And love that bottom photo ~ priceless!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Audrey!
      You must see Bradley! His eyes, and the openness and sincerity of his face in this movie - wow! He was so funny in the Hangover movies which is where I first became aware of him.

      I love movies, and now that I have more time, I've been going to more. I could go to a movie every day. SLP is so real that the theater around me disappeared. And it's funny! Terry was giving me elbow pokes for laughing too much and too loud. I'm afraid that I embarrass him sometimes.

      Have a good day! I'm thinking of your doggie and hoping that H. is improving.

      Delete
  7. A movie at 9am? Wow. It's been awhile since I've been to the cinema; I shall have to check this out! My husband just recently mentioned Bradley Cooper to me; I'd never heard of him before -- I said he looks a little like a cross between Ralph Fiennes and Hugh Jackman haha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi B&R!
      Bradley Cooper is definitely a cutie! And he has just recently gotten on my radar. My husband had to remind me I had seen him in the two Hangover movies. I was so fascinated with, repulsed by, and doubled over laughing at the other characters from the Hangover movies that I barely noticed someone so cute and normal.
      I hope you are having an enjoyable day!

      Delete
  8. Louise, I always so enjoy the 'gallop' you have in your step! I am so glad you have found 'blogging' as a channel to share your enthusiasm for life.
    Now I see what you mean about that 'four corners Colorado blue sky'! Stunning!
    The movie sounds good...thanks for the review. We haven't been to a movie in.....?
    Dylan and Cash...can't get better than that!
    What a wonderful photo of you and Rip......can feel the special bond you had.
    Another great post Louise. I love 'your story'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the warm and encouraging comments, Jim!
      I am having so much fun blogging! I worry that I'm being too much about me and my life, but then, what comes out, comes out.

      Most times when I start a post, I have no idea where it will go. I was certainly not planning to put the photo of Rip and me in; I didn't even think of it until I uploaded the Dylan/Cash video. Then I was tearing into photo album after photo album looking for the photo. Finally I remembered it was in my classroom file for the All About Me bulletin board I put up at the beginning of each year to let my students know a little about me as a person.

      As for Rip, he was the sweetest dog! He belonged to the family I boarded with for two summers when I was working as a student geologist in Cape Breton. Their daughter worked with me and went through geology with me. I just loved Rip so much!

      Delete
    2. Don't worry! Keep it coming! I am sure we all love it!

      Delete
  9. Excellent!
    I haven't seen yet but it's in my drawers for a near future!
    Thanks for sharing your feeling about that movie!
    I like the lively way you chose to present it! ;-)
    Cheers, Fundy!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks Nouska! Do see "Silver Linings Playbook!" It's fun and thought provoking. Have a good evening!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I hadn't even heard of this movie :P Sounds really good though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi IA! Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment! The movie is great. I hadn't heard anything about it until my husband chose it for us to go to last Saturday. I so loved it! Perhaps you'll get a chance to go. Have a good day!

      Delete
  12. What a super review! I also hadn't heard of the movie, but that is no surprise since Mr. Dreamy stopped taking me on movie dates some time in 1971! Marriage will do that!
    I love going to the movies - and every time I do (rare instances) I get all excited by the previews.
    Thanks for the thorough review and great pictures.... especially galloping to the theater!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Dreaming! Thank you for the comment. I was hoping that maybe you, MR Terry, or others would appreciate that image of equine power and beauty. I get excited by previews, too. My Terry has learned not to pay any attention to my comments during previews, otherwise his wallet might suffer an anxiety attack! I hope you are experiencing safe and fun travels!

    ReplyDelete
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