Date of first viewing: Monday, January 13, 2003
Location: Lowe's Metreon Theater
and also Monday January 20, 2003 at 1000 Van Ness
The first time I saw this movie, I wept the entire way through. I think I had just seen my therapist. Plus I had just started having cramps. After the movie ended, I headed for the ladies' room, locked myself in a stall, and sobbed. There were no thoughts in my head. There was no analysis of the film or attempts to relate it to my own life in a rational way. Just this physical, aching grief.
The next day I couldn't remember a thing about the movie. People asked me if it was good, and I honestly didn't know. My reaction had been so intensely personal that I just could not deconstruct the film with any objectivity. So I had to see it again. And you know what? I think this movie is almost flawless. The music, acting, plot structure, colors, and just... I don't know. I'm not a film critic. I don't have the language. And I think trying to desribe it in any more detail would be ridiculous. Jonathan Safran Foer, describing writing his book,
Everything Is Illuminated, said that if he could have summed up what he wanted to say in a few words, he wouldn't have written the book. Like Foer's book,
The Hours is exactly as long as it needs to be and has exactly the structure it needs to have. I can't summarize it.
Date of first viewing: Saturday, January 11, 2003
Location: Home, with Michael
Format: VHS
Who can understand a woman who would have an affair with a strange book guy when she's already married to Richard Gere? Some people just don't appreciate what they have. Anyway, this movie is sexy and scary and a good lesson for anyone thinking of cheatin'!
Date of first viewing: Friday, January 10, 2003
Location: Michael's house
Format: VHS
and Friday, June 13, 2003 on VHS in SLC with Mom & Dad
I really should have seen this on a big screen when it was in theaters because it's all about the special effects. It definitely wasn't worth seeing twice on video. But Dad hadn't seen it, so I joined him.
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: I have a huge beef with the basic premise of this movie. Given the stated rules of how the precogs operate, that they only see premeditated murders in advance and that they don't see crimes of passion until right before they happen, there is no way Agatha could have seen Jon Anderton kill Leo Crow 36 hours beforehand. All Lamar Burgess does is set Leo Crow up in a hotel room with pictures of kidnapped children. Then Crow just sits there and waits. Waits for what? Waits for Agatha to see something that's not even in the mind of Anderton until Agatha sees it? It's circular. If it were an Excel formula, you'd get an error message and have to fix your mistake. Too bad there isn't logic checking software for the plotlines of movies.
Date of first viewing: Tuesday, January 07, 2003
Location: UA in Berkeley with Michael
and Sunday, January 12, 2003 at the Metreon with Mark Peters
and Saturday, January 25, 2003 at the UA in SF with Ruby, Susan F. & Tomi
This movie is the darling of my year! I could watch it a zillion times and not get tired of it! I can't wait for the DVD! The cast sparkles! Richard Gere twinkles! Renee Zellweger could be a young Shirley MacLaine! Catherine Zeta Jones -- that voice! Queen Latifah -- ditto! And oh, John C. Reilly breaks your heart! The first time I saw this -- on my birthday -- I hugged myself the whole time, I was so happy!
So, okay. Coming out of the clouds a bit... there's no way for a movie to capture the dazzle you feel watching the stage show from the 10th row. Movies break up the action with close-up shots and quick cuts -- especially if the cast includes actors for whom this is the first time dancing or singing professionally. Even still, most of the cuts are smooth, the transitions from "reality" to "stage" brilliant. My biggest disappointment, if I can really call it that, is that Rob Marshall's choreography is so different from Bob Fosse's original. I miss those knock-kneed pigeon-toed dance steps. But this complaint is truly minor. I wouldn't even bring it up if I didn't love this movie so terribly much that I wish it could be perfect.
