Bläeckfisk is the Swedish translation for the word octopus. I am not Swedish, but I do own a lot of furniture from Sweden and I like octopuses while admiring their multi-tasking ability. I would like to travel to Sweden at some point, plus I think it is a pretty cool looking word. Anyhow, speaking of words, I guess you could say that is why we are here. Words are the foundation for way we try to wrap our thoughts around everything in the galaxy. The tendrils that lead to emotions and curiosity. I am not here to solve the mysteries of the universe, just to discuss words in general. Specifically words written by other people and have been printed off and slapped between two slices of thin card stock. Many of these sandwiches go on to bigger and better things, some bigger and better than others. So, I guess we will be talking about those as well. If you share an interest in words or enjoi seeing what they can look like in action....välkommen! (Swedish for welcome.)

Saturday, July 9, 2011

F3: Beginners-Directed by Mike Mills

We saw this flick last night and both my fiance and I loved it. For all the blow em up, high speed chase-animated-sequel based films that roll out of production studios for the summer, this film showcases all that is missing from movies today. While lacking exotic locations and CGI, this movie more than makes up for it in good old fashioned in depth storytelling. Less effects and better acting. Smaller budget and raw emotion. By stripping away all the bells and whistles that are so commonplace in movies today, Mills creates a beautiful, touching film that ambitiously takes on more than its share of historical and modern issues.

We follow the life of Oliver; a dry humored, quirky graphic design artist of sorts (most likely a reflection of director Mike Mills) and his spiderweb of relationships. His father Hal, played by the legendary Christopher Plummer, has revealed to him that after 44 years of being married that he in fact has always been gay. Just as Hal (75 years old now) begins to pursue this uncharted aspect of life, he get diagnosed with cancer. The outlook for Hal is grim and Oliver moves in with his father to help him pen his final chapter with the help of Hal's new boyfriend, Andy. With this backdrop, the rest of the film follows Oliver's new found struggles to connect to the rest of world following Hal's transition into the next plane of existence.

Flashing ahead to at a Halloween party that he has been dragged to, Oliver meets the equally idiosyncratic Anna-someone he is able to find comfort with along with that spark of passion that his life has been missing since his father's death. This movie is about relationships big and small, but along the way reminds us of how delicate life can be while at the same time lending focus to how prodigious life on the planet Earth really is. Mills masterly combines love, attachment, sadness, vandalization, reinvention and history in his best work to date. A marvelously vintage soundtrack rounds out what will probably be the best movie you will see all summer. The dry humor will make you laugh, the tender portrayal of Olivier's relationships might make you cry, but all in all this movie is not one that you should miss.

2 comments:

  1. Terry is checking times on Beginnings right now! We found a theater in Plano that carries newly released films so there is a chance we'll see it this weekend.

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