Remember Me

*Photo Courtesy of Summit Entertainment TM (All Rights Reserved)

As the theater darkened, The Sex and the City 2 trailer, with the help of Alicia Keys, glorified New York. As the Eclipse trailer rolled next, the dusky light deified Rob Pattinson's eyes and sculpted body.

Then Remember Me started. First, two men mug and murder a mother on a Brooklyn subway platform. Then Tyler, Pattinson's character, smokes on his emergency exit stairs--drunkenly hating himself and the world. In two minutes, New York the Glamorous and Rob Pattinson the Greek god disappear.

There is no room for fantasy in Remember Me. Tyler, a 21-year-old college student, longs for his deceased brother, direction in his life, and his father's love (though he would not admit to the last one). Ally, the girl Tyler falls in love with, wants to get her life back to the way it was before her mom's murder and her dad's withdrawal. Caroline, Tyler's eleven-year-old, brilliantly artistic sister, wants her dad's love and the bullies' acceptance. The two dads aren't happy with the way their lives have turned out, but are unwilling to change. They are distant from their children, and lost in their own worlds.

The characters deserved a better plot. This should have been a memorable, thought-provoking drama, but Remember Me trips over itself by overestimating its strength. In an early scene, Ally tells Tyler that she eats dessert first--she never knows when an asteroid will fall out of the sky. As the movie progresses, her philosophy gets more and more credible. An asteroid falls every other scene. Sudden deaths are unlikely, but not here. Eventually, death becomes a gimmick, which makes the audience lose all respect for the characters.

Another mistake is the overly-obvious symbols and foreshadowing tactics. Every scene seems to be shot in slow motion. All the music is too loud, and too suspenseful. Finally, Remember Me rushes headlong toward an overblown ending, which prevents the movie from achieving greatness and renders it merely watchable.

Robert Pattinson (Tyler Hawkins): 4 Stars
Emilie de Ravin (Ally Craig): 4 Stars
Pierce Brosnan (Charles Hawkins): 3 Stars
Chris Copper (Neil Craig): 4 Stars
Ruby Jerins (Caroline Hawkins): 5 Stars
Tate Ellington (Aidan Hall): 3 Stars
Allen Coulter (Director): 3 Stars
Will Fetters (Screenplay): 3 Stars

Movie: 3.5 Stars; best to rent it on DVD

Academy Award Nominations:

They just announced the Oscar nominees for 2010:

My picks are:
Avatar for Best Picture

Morgan Freeman for Actor in a Leading role
Stanley Tucci for Actor in a Supporting Role
Sandra Bullock for Actress in a Leading Role (of course--although I do love Meryl Streep as Julia Child)
Mo'nique for Actress in a Supporting Role
Up for Best Animated Feature
James Cameron for Best Director
Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air
Original Screenplay: Up

Avatar's Fantasy World

World Mag on Avatar

Do people watch fantasy movies to escape a dreary day to day life? Where do the creators get their ideas for a beautiful world?

Fantasy should point to our need for fulfillment beyond this world at the same time showing us the value f the world and the people around us.

Sandra Bullock Blindside

"Sandra Bullock lifts Golden Globe for best Actress"

"Many women do noble things but you surpass them all...give her the reward she deserves and let her work bring her praise at the city gates" An ancient proverb.
http://sify.com/movies/hollywood/fullstory.php?id=14927778

I fall in love with movies with a good storyline and a strong leading lady. Sandra Bullock has earned the "Best Actress in a leading role" award at both the Critics' Choice Awards and the Golden Globes for her role in the Blind Side. Bullock played a "steel magnolia", Christian woman named Leigh Anne Tuohy. Tuohy is a mom and a professional interior decorator who loves her career and loves her family more. She's tough as nails and fashionable as can be. She and her husband invite a kind but cautious teenager, Michael Oher to be a part of their family. Their love and support call Michael to a far greater life than he could have imagined. Over time, their encouragement strengthens his athletic abilities as well as his compassion and protective instincts.

Sandra Bullock was not nominated for a best supporting actress but best leading actress. Bullock shows that a great woman can be both virtuous and tough. Leigh Anne, the real life woman whom Bullock's role is modeled after, shows that a Christian woman need not be only a cheerleader but can be at the forefront life's diverse battles. Throughout Tuohy's journey onscreen we see her self-sacrifice, her femininity, and her faith in both her family and God increase. She is willing to sacrifice shallow friendships, a reputation, finances, and a grudge against a college to support her son. Although she is not willing to give up her fashion sense--at one point she tells Michael, her son, that she will always support him even if he goes to a school she dislikes, but will never wear orange, the school's color, because it's "not her color."

The role is Bullock's most affecting (although I would argue that her role in Prince of Egypt as Miriam is tied with the Blind Side). She deserves all the acclaim. The strongest women I know are those for whom faith is the supreme dynamic in their life. Leigh Anne Tuohy is a woman who serves as a wonderful example of faith lived out--Bullock said that when she spent time with Leigh Anne and her husband, it was the first time she had seen people walking the walk as well as talking the talk (worldmag.com). Her life touched Sandra Bullock's and now Bullock's stellar performance allows Tuohy's life to touch millions of others.

Here's hoping she gets the Oscar glory this year as well.