The Hours
Boycott Sierra Mist soda! Boycott! The reason why I am calling for a boycott of Sierra Mist is because of the ads they ran before this movie. I realize that fighting advertising before movies is a losing battle. But what I can insist on is a certain quality to the ads that are acceptable to theaters. If the ad is of a certain quality- if it seems made for the movies- entertaining- I will grow to accept it. What I refuse accept is some crappy tv spot that they throw up vomity on the screen. This is what Sierra Mist did. And they ran two of them back to back. One involved a dog who kicks open a hydrant blasting his owner with water. So refreshing! The next involved some baboon jumping into a polar bear tank or something. Despicable ads. Cheap. Never buy Sierra Mist. I'm sure it sucks. And until they get some frickin respect for where they're advertising I say never buy their bubbily piss water.
OK now that that is out of the way. I wandered out of my apartment tonite and finally finally saw The Hours (it was either that or Willard. it actually could have gone either way). I brought with me a Deer Park water and some wasabi peas. I wasn't in a drinking mood. Good thing too as alcohol is a depressant and this movie covered all the bases there.
I read The Hours a couple years back and remember being surprised that I read it at all. At this point I read like two maybe three books a year. I used to read alot when I worked and traveled but somehow tv always overrules reading when I'm in my apartment. Shame I know. But I just can't seem to read in here anymore. Anyway, I remember sort of liking The Hours "The Book" . But I remember it being sort of a boring page turner that carried on the quality of the writing. I feel the same way about the book as I did this movie. The acting was primo. All three of these leading chicks carried their characters at a level I haven't seen in a chick flick since.... Steel Magnolias (just kidding. never saw it.) But whatever.
I know I'm late to seeing this movie so I won't bother with a real recap here. Here's the fake one. Virginia Woolf (cool name still) somehow overlaps through other chicks lives in various ways all literarily and depressingly whatevery. All three stars seem trapped in their lives and trapped in themselves. It's almost like every interaction they have is distracted by something gnawing at them. Blah blah. One issue I had with this whole dilly is I couldn't really identify. I have my own particular brand of crazy and somehow my craziness didn't click in with their craziness. Maybe it's a chick thing I guess. Ok i'll stop using the word 'chick' all you chicks that don't like that I say chicks so much.
As for Julianne Moore she now officially has a lock on playing a women on the verge and welling up with tears and emotionally torn shakey. The Meryl Streep character was a bit more difficult to nail down in terms of what her problem was. You got that she was unsatisifed. But not exactly sure with what and why. Nicole Kidman's Woolf had her issues. She pretty much nailed that whole mix. They were all great actressying. For reals. Now that I'm rambling. I'll sum up.
Sorry. I got bored one too many times in this movie. It was so weighted that it became stuffy. For a movie so 'deep'... where was the depth? I found myself distracted by Nicole Kidman's nose. I wanted to see the lines where they pasted it on. It was a good nose. No lines. And Nicole Kidman for the first time came across as an actress and not just a pretty fish. She should wear the nose more often or something. I guess the bottom line was either I'm becoming emotionally shallow because movies are not hitting me as hard as they used to OR the movies aren't hitting me as hard as they used to because they just haven't been all that great. I chalk this flick up to another emotional wash. Bathed me in it's 'beauty' and class and music and technique. But never getting inside my head and heart. Just showed me what it they were trying to do... as opposed to schooling me in it.
Three Good Things About This Movie
- The actresses were all tres so good and I think I have a crush on Meryl
Streep.
- The Philip Glass score which I was 100% sure would bother me. Didn't. It was
the most eloborate front and center score in a long time that didn't make me
nuts. Even though it was alot of up and down the keys stuff. Whee!
- It wasn't too long. They could have decided to make this movie three Hours.
And I'm glad they at least had some sense there.
Three Bad Things About This Movie
- For a movie so filled with emotion I was always much closer to rolling my
eyes than putting my hand to my chest.
- The only time light was let into the room of this movie was when Ed Harris
decided to go free.
- No teeth. No humor. Unavoidably took itself too seriously. Screamed gimme
gimme the golden boy.
All in all it's another video rental in my opinion. The overlap of the Virginia Woolf stuff didn't seem to work in the movie as I remember it working in the book. But then again it was only the experience of the book that was memorable for me- opposed to the story. Same goes for this flick.