I’m glad to hear that JRR Tolkien was striving to make The Silmarillion his masterpiece. Unfortunately, his death derailed that dream, but his son, Christopher, fulfilled it. But now Tolkien is remembered as the dude who wrote the stories for Peter Jackson’s films. At least his son knows what the real deal is.
Did I watch a lot of movies in the theatre last year? Yes.
Here’s my best of the 12 months of 2012 as determined by the stars given at review time. It’s only the four (and five if any) star reviews. I doubt they hold up today. They’ll probably change as I realize how stupid I was or how forgiving I was. Most likely, I should revisit them in several years time to make a change.
Nah.
Skyfall (4)
Argo (4)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (4)
The Avengers (4)
The Artist (4)
What’s yours?
You know I’ve had problems with Judd Apatow in regards to the length of his movies. They always feel 45 minutes too long. This Is 40 is no exception. You sit there and watch, the plot sort of rambles on and on about married white people’s problems, and you say, “This is a long movie.” IMDb lists the run time at 134 minutes, 2 hours and 14 minutes. Again, I say that comedies should be about 100 to 115 minutes long — laugh hard, laugh for a short time, then get out. Judd Apatow likes to go on and on. Shorten it, good sir, and you just may have something.
This Is 40 focuses on a married couple whose two birthdays occur in December. The wife believes she’s still a young bird. The husband is still a kid but with kids; acting like a kid acting like an adult. They have adult problems: difficult kids, difficult parents, marriage issues, money issues. Everything white people have. Also, most other people. This is forty for real.
The plot meanders quite a bit. Felt a little bit like a french nouvelle vague. One scene to another connected by the slightest thread of following this couple through their birthdays. Sprinkled in is handling the kids, and the parents, and the jobs. It’s just too real. Now there were chuckles to be had, but no guffaws. It’s a serious comedic meditation of getting older. I think we’re not ready for that just yet.
I already know about 40. Mine is different. Would it be the same with a wife and kids? It may be more hilarious.
3 of 5 stars.
Here we are in Nassau.
Very nice.
Not much going on, because it was New Year’s Day. The island was closed. At least we had conch fritters.
Party time! Excellent!
The air was cold but the water wasn’t. Honestly. It only felt cold but was fine not like Delaware in early June.
Great final day of the year at the beach.
J.R.R. Tolkien was a genius. Not for creating the history of Middle Earth. But for creating the languages of the people of Middle Earth.
Today’s link brings you to a thorough study of all the languages Tolkien devised. All of them. Once you see what he did, you’ll understand why he created Middle Earth. He needed to hear his languages. He had to create a place for their use. Elves and men, dwarves and orcs, hobbits and ents all had their own tongue. Tolkien created one for each of them. All of them different, and yet some of them the same.
Genius.
Looking good and making me hungry.
The Guilt Trip is the kind of movie you watch with your mom on a lazy Saturday afternoon. It’s not offensive or embarrassing. It is an affirmation that we all love our mom no matter how crazy she makes us.
3 of 5 stars.
