Movie Reviews

I recently flew from Istanbul to Los Angeles--twelve hours--and that meant I watched some movies and read a book. (I'll save the book for another blog post.)
So the movies...
Me and Ear and the Dying Girl
I loved this movie so, so much. I could relate to every character, even though each was unique. (Although maybe not the drug dealer, or Earl's thug brother, but I saw a piece of myself in everyone else--the moms, the teens, the dad, the goofy high school teacher). And you think it's a movie about Greg and Rachel, but it's really about so much more. It's about how Greg relates to his best friend (co-worker) his parents, and the rest of his universe. And maybe because I also had someone close to me die while I was in high school, I cried. But don't skip it because you don't want a weepy movie. This never once sunk into cliche or melodrama. It was fresh, funny, and oh so human.
Money Monster
I liked this one, too, although it was supposedly edited and the F-bombs were flying. Maybe because it was a Turkish Airline and they thought the F bombs didn't need to be edited. Anyway, this movie made me think about money, how hard we work, and how often our money seems to have little to do with our daily efforts. On my grandparents' farm, if you didn't work, you didn't eat. If you didn't milk a cow you had dry corn flakes. Today, I write a book and someone else may buy it or not. I didn't think about my books, work on them, or promote them while I was traveling and yet people still bought them. (It's very cool when you think about it). But this is a movie about how money moves and how it's easily lost through no fault of our own.
Joy
This is a classic rags to riches story, but even though I didn't enjoy it as much as the other two movies, it did make me think. I'm sure they demonized the dad and half-sister, but I found it interesting that even though they were awful, Joy put up with them. And it made me think about family and community. Since this needs it's own blog post, so I'll leave it for another day and post a link when I write about the importance of community and how it's a lot like government.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, 2
Very silly. Sweet. Glad I didn't pay for it, or make my husband see it, but it wasn't a waste of time, It also made me think about community, families, and why they're important. Or maybe I was just focusing on that since I was returning home after an extended stay and I was anxious to be surrounded by my own loved ones.