Hathahate

Family Movie Night

By Karyn Bowman

For whatever reasons I am seeing a lot of hate for Anne Hathaway.

Why would any one hate Anne, right? I know what you are thinking, she was so cute in those Princess Diary movies. And she was great in Les Mis, she sang so beautifully in that movie. I honestly thought she was an angel in Jean’s death scene.

But there are plenty of people who hate the 33-year-old actress.

They say she grew up in the theater and therefore she has picked up a lot of ‘theater kid’ bad habits. She is always willing to give it one more try, willing to suck up to the director. She has little ticks that give away what she is thinking about as she is acting.

In fact, there are times that I wonder why she didn’t go harder in various scenes in movies such as The Intern (2015) where she could have been a more Miranda Priestly type. I always felt that character, with as much as she had to say about modern feminism, needed to be tougher in the workplace. Yes, she is cool and hip but her assistant has a meltdown worthy for a boss who is meaner.

Perhaps the problem is more that Anne Hathaway is incredibly beautiful and talented. It is true that she became known because of a Disney movie. She performed in a few other fairy tale-based movies. But Hathaway has also taken risks, such as when she was Jake Gyllenhall’s wife in Brokeback Mountain (2005). She is playing a woman who may or may not know that her husband is gay. But she went after him and their marriage is not entirely unhappy.

Another risk taking role for Hathaway is in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Here she is playing Cat Woman, not as a sexy siren but as a woman willing to do what it takes to survive. Perhaps not as seductive as Michelle Pfeifer’s turn, Hathaway brings a toughness we haven’t seen in her before. Yes, she is a criminal and she is willing to do what it takes to get the job done. In this version, Selina Kyle does not have any regret over her actions. She has her reasons and sticks to a code of her own making.

Her toughness really comes through in Rachel Getting Married (2009) as she plays a young woman released from rehab in order to attend her older sister’s wedding. While filled with one liners and heart breaking truths, it gets down to the nitty gritty about guilt and how one comes back from the worst thing they ever did in life. Hathaway does not play it safe in this movie, seldom letting her own sunny personality come through.

Anne Hathaway as Fantine in Les Miserable, image from IMDb.com

Perhaps my favorite movie with Hathaway is Les Miserables (2012). It is a long, heart breaking opera-style movie about the poor in post-revolution France. Here, Hathaway must be hopeless, downtrodden, filled with despair as she loses her job and must find other degrading ways to earn the money needed to support her daughter. And yet she is the moral center of the story, she is the one who gives us hope in the end.

Is the Hathahate true hate or is it jealousy?

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

Advertisement

Sing It, Anne, Sing It!

Family Movie Night

One of the great things about being a parent is all of the things we do with our kids.

Just this past weekend, we went to the RV and Boat Show at McCormick Place. There the kids climbed on boats, tramped through RV’s, and planned a life of camping as we looked at pop-ups.

Sara and Sam had fun jumping and running in a floating tube while David explored a Coast Guard boat. All of us marveled at beautiful wooden boats.

On Saturday, the kids insist we have a picnic outside while the weather was still warm. We watched the colder temperatures roll in with darker clouds but for that moment we ate our lunch outside. Who does that in January in a northern state?

Later that same day, I took in a movie with a girlfriend.

This was not a movie meant for small kids. And sometimes that’s OK, parents should have movies that are meant just for them. Sometimes we want adult situations, adult context and content. Some of us adults want music and soaring vocals to accompany a grand story.

Anne Hathaway as Fantine in Les Miserable, image from IMDb.com

Les Miserables is a movie about the poor in post -revolutionary France. Life is hard and unforgiving of mistakes made in your youth. Victor Hugo created conflicted characters, people who do wrong in the hope they are helping to do right.

We have characters who acknowledge their sins, characters who believe they are acting correctly in all circumstances. There is a political power struggle and love-at-first sight. We see unrequited love and a parent’s love for a child that pushes a woman to the brink.

The story starts with men working as slaves to bring in a big ship that has been damaged. But the focus goes on one prisoner who is about to go free on parole. That man is Jean Valjean, imprisoned for stealing bread and trying to escape.

His greatest moment of salvation comes when a priest forgives his sins, even after being released from jail and stealing from the church. But the greatest love of his life starts when he agrees to take care of a child left behind by a former employee.

We will have battles of will, battles of faith, battles against the harsh realities of life. Mixed in all that are horrifying moments when a woman loses her pride, a man loses his purpose, another realizes that he was only taking care of a child before she found her true love. And then they sing about how their hearts are broken and love did not go the way they had hoped.

Just when it gets too heavy, we have Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham-Carter to lighten things up as the inn keepers who are willing to lighten their customers’ pockets.

So is this movie worth your time? Is it Oscar worthy?

Yes IF you are a fan of musicals. Yes IF you do not mind sitting through a two and a half hour movie. Yes IF you do not mind going through a slow spot. Yes IF you love great singing and acting from Hugh Jackman.

If you prefer chase scenes, explosions, and fighting with weapons such as swords I am going to disappoint you and let you know those things to not happen in this movie.

If you are looking for commentary on the human condition, if you are looking for a testimony of faith, if you want to see a person die with dignity then this is the Oscar-nominated movie you have been waiting for.

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

Tingles Up and Down the Spine

Family Movie Night

 

By Karyn Bowman

 

This past weekend, our church women’s group came together for a cookie baking session.

 

Image by Cohdra

Each woman was to bring two batches or more of pre-made cookie dough along with any pans and decorations they had on hand. I made three different cookies doughs: Sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies and M&M cookie dough. At the end of the night, each woman took home a variety of cookies. Four hours of baking ended with nine different kinds of cookies that included ranger cookies and red velvet cookies.

 

The amazing thing is I still have some of those cookies as of Monday morning. I suspect they will all be gone by the end of the day.

 

At the end of the evening, we decided we needed to have another fellowship time and a movie seemed like a good idea. It was also unanimous that Les Mis should be that movie. Just the commercial with Anne Hathaway singing gave me chills up and down the spine.

 

Then again, I have always been a fan of a good musical. The first one that I remember as being life changing was Singin’ In the Rain which starred Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Conner. This movie about the change over from silent movies to talkies focuses on how one leading man is able to transition well while his abhorrent leading lady is not. To make matters worse, he has fallen in love with a chorus girl who has a great voice.

 

I believe it is universally accepted this is the best musicals of all time as well as being one of the best movies ever made. For the last ten years, however, it seems as if we are treated to a new musical every Christmas. While Les Mis has continual singing, making it more opera than musical, the songs break your heart with their beauty.

 

Poster Image from IMDb.com

One of my favorite musicals in the past few years is Mamma Mia starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. This musical featuring the songbook of ABBA is a happy, zippy movie that exists in a very adult world that might be a little hedonistic at times. I love putting this one on when I have to do housework.

 

Another musical in recent years that I love is Moulin Rouge starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. The story is a familiar one to opera fans. A young idealistic man falls in love with a beautiful woman who is a courtesan. She also has the dread disease of the early 1900s which is consumption, aka tuberculosis.

 

What I love about this movie is how director Baz Luhrmann uses modern songs in a period piece and somehow it all works out. You have a great love story, fantastic musical pieces and the sage wisdom given by tough people trying to look out for a young man who is writing his first show that must be a block buster. The sets are bright, eclectic and over-the top which matches the movie and it all works.

 

While these movies are not exactly little-kid friendly, they are something you can watch with your teens if they happen to like musicals. Otherwise, you can always join me. I am happy to have a sing-a-long at my house any time.

 

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.