This post is being written just having gotten home from seeing The Call. The Call stars Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin, with Roma Maffia from Nip/Tuck.
This story needs a proper set-up to shake some of the tension and adrenalin I am feeling right now.
About two weeks ago, my girlfriends and I went to see The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. It was really funny, but this blog isn't about Steve Carrell's newest flick. While waiting for the movie, a few trailers played including one called The Call. Sarah, Kim, and I watched the trailer in suspense and fear. When it was over, we looked at one another and said things like "that would make me pee my pants," and "we are not seeing that." My girls and I don't do horror movies(our thoughts at the trailer). Flash-forward one week and five days. Plans to hang out started on Facebook and by text and, by the end of the night, we have decided to hit the theatres for a 7'o'clock showing of The Call.
So my girlfriends meet up, we buy our tickets, and discuss the weeks events. As it is getting closer to movie time Kim admits she hasn't seen a trailer for this movie and Sarah said she rewatched one and thought it looked good. That's when I point out that we saw a trailer for this movie the last time we hung out and refreshed their memories of what we saw and how we weren't going to see it. As this starts to sink in, we all get panicky. It was the three of us towards the back and one snuggly couple in the far front of the theatre.
Now, the trailers leading up to our film did not help. The first one was some action flick, I don't remember the second one, but the third one was the new Evil Dead remake. Now, like I already said, we don't do horror. I have been graced enough with exes, cousins, and friends that have gotten me to sit through a select through. One friend from college actually got me through the original Evil Dead trilogy and she was a good friend to watch it with because I felt encouraged to laugh and poke at the campy B-Movie effects...instead of cower under the sofa. The trailer holds the camera at the stairs, flies us through the woods with things moving in the distance, and takes us in and out and in and out between the cabin and the road away from the cabin. Anyways, this really got us going, as if we hadn't been before.
The movie starts and as we settle into the idea that we are doing this aren't we, things seem okay at first. We're set into an Emergency Police Call station where the magic behind 911 calls happen. We see many types of calls, earning red, yellow, or green status in order of importance. The film set me in a place I had never seen before- usually with cop films we are driving to the crime scene or we are already at the scene. So, that was kind of cool. Regardless, while things start sort of blaze, sh*t hits the fan quickly. This is something you see from the trailers, so don't worry about spoilers(I will tell you). And the mood is very tense and unsettling. Kim, Sarah, and I were not holding hands yet, but we were holding our breath. The movie progresses forward, a chase ensues, and we are hooked and scared all at once for this girl(Abigail Breslin's character). Needless to say, by the end of the movie we were making out-loud shouts and "oh f**k!" expletives.
Here is where some spoilers will occur, to skip the spoilers skim forward for the "END SPOILERS" that being said...:
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So Halle Berry loses the call and is going through all of the emotions that the previous case has made her feel when she stumbles upon a noise from the phone call that she cannot place. In all of her vase police knowledge, like you do in "horror/suspense" flicks, she drives BY HERSELF to one of the suspects houses. Here the girls and I are allowed between anxiety and focus as we realize just what the (I'm going to call him killer because of all the guys he kills to return home) killer's motivation is. And, at this point, we've only gotten a glimpse of his hideout. Exploring the grounds, Halle Berry hears the sound from the tape and, incidentally, finds his lair. From here we are held by baited breath as she 1) drops her phone 2) takes bad turns through the lair and 3) has a close encounter with the psycho- seriously, he's got a hair fetish and we've seen enough at this point to drive us up a wall. Just when the killer is about to dig his claws into Breslin, Berry smashes him with concrete and the three of us (in unison) all of "OH!" and then continue to cheer for the girls. Through much struggle and a fight scene, it's finally over. And we end the movie with validation.
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END SPOILERS
So, it was a tense movie. We thought we were going to have to go see Admission to calm us down. As we exited the theatre, we caught ourselves watching every person and every car with suspicion. We talked defense techniques, mace, and considered the potential of taking a kickboxing and/or self-defense class. Needless to say, we walked Sarah to her car(Kim and I had parked front to back) even though she was a stone's throw from the door. It really put things into a different perspective. I moved states and never once, living on two campuses, did I feel like I should watch out or be on guard. I go to my car with my keys in my pocket or my purse and sometimes I am on the phone, sometimes not. I mean really, where do you buy mace? I found myself happy to have a roommate and on what I believe is a pleasant street. When I sat down to write this blog, I was still on an adrenalin push from having to fumble for my keys; just wanting to get in the door. Like I said, I was happy to have a roommate tonight. I highly recommend The Call, it is a suspense thriller(not horror by any means). And it might be good for you, reader, to think about protection. We're so unobservant sometimes in our average day and I think, if only for a short time, this movie will be in my head. It managed to get in my head tonight and it has taught me that I would have, before tonight, been very unprepared if someone with a twisted mind thought I was for the taking. We'd like everyone to nice, but that's not the way of the world. And while we shouldn't live in fear(even though I will be on edge for the next week) it doesn't hurt to consider a plan of action and take a look at your flight/fight skills. Aaand begin running again.
And now I am going to play Dragon Age with the graphics level up, because I need to fight to chill.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
What I Have Been Watching
If you've been following along with my blog, then you know I am one busy graduate student. So, what does a 23 year old grad student do when they have time off? Let me try to answer that by telling you what I did this weekend.
Friday. After a long work week- 8hrs at Dunkin' and 13 at the CML- and a week of classes- three to be exact- I wanted nothing more than to chillax. Alas, the Student ALA was having their Welcome Back! party and, as the social media coordinator, I wanted to be there. We had pizza and Doritos and plenty of people came. I stayed until about 9-9:30, then I went home and read a bit of Cosmopolitan before I went to bed. A light read and a guilty pleasure.
Saturday I couldn't help but celebrate Groundhog's Day. After singing this a few times, I spent the entire day(9-4ish) doing homework. Okay, so that isn't free time. Free time happened at lunch, when I watched and episode of Chuck(my favorite show right now) and then began again when I played a few hours of Dragon Age. When my roommate got home, we settled in to watch Seven Psychopaths, which was freaking hilarious!, and, of course, Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. In between, we watched a few YouTube skits, including Chris Kendall and ZeFrank . Overall, comedy night was a grand success. I polished the night off by reading a few pages of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, which I am avidly trying to finish before it's due date at the library...
Then Sunday. In the morning, I caught up on The Big Bang Theory, which was probably the funniest it has been in a few weeks, and a show on the CW which I won't name ^_^ I worked at Newport today, which went smoothly, and came home to watch Dark Shadows, which I hadn't seen since it was released this past summer. Director Tim Burton and Timbur Bekmambetov and script by one of my favorite authors, Seth Grahame-Smith. I think this Burton film is one of the best he has done in a few years.(I can really only think of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and Corpse Bride here, i.e. post 2000s.) While it does contain a lot of his usual traits, and by that I mean casting and music choice( on that, see this,) it's genuinely funny and it has a balance of quirky and cheezy, which is me all over. I'm a fan of vampires, I like the TV shows that came out of the 60s-70s for their strange content, and, oh yeah, I'm from Maine. While I haven't been to Colinsport, ME I take pride in its' usage just like I do in Storybrooke and Murder She Wrote. You should probably read this article if you have no idea what I am talking about or if you are asking yourself where/when these Maine references occur. Because they do.
On a separate note, I want to get more into the groove of blogging(working up to vlogging again) and, or that reason, I think I am going to do one weekly blog about a movie and/or TV show I watch during the week. In the rare occasion I finish a book that is not a textbook, I will post a review here as well. To start off this week, I have a hard choice between three movies I loved this weekend. Instead, what I will do is compare three elements that all worked for the way the film was shaped.
1) Comedic Timing. This is the first thing I think of when I look back at these films. Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Johhny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bill Murray and on and on. I think I've been quoting Seven Psychopaths since yesterday and I always try to do Bill Murray faces. If you share my sense of humor or have done acting/improv, I think you'll find something offered in all of these.
2) Musical arrangement. In Seven Psychopaths there was usage of French music and I am always looking to expand in contemporary french music. In Groundhog Day there was, of course, Sunny and Cher with Babe and the Pennsylvania Polka- which I really want to find out if that exists at the celebration because I would spend a Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA just to dance to it. For Dark Shadows, Danny Elfman is back. His arrangement of 70s music has inspired me to research music from1972-1973 on my own. I took his choices and found some of my own; this is one of those times that it is okay to answer a reference question using Wikipedia. Someone, god love them, they spent time organizing the largest events in music history for 1972(as well as many other years and decades) for people to view. Which I did. I read all of it. My final list had Blue Oyster Cult, The Doors, Elton John, and waaay too many others to list. Thank you Spotify. And, when it comes to original composition, I was also impressed.
3) The landscape shot. These moments really make or break a film. In Seven Psychopaths, the town and the desert shots gave me a sense of where these guys were. In Groundhog Day I really did feel like Phil was in the middle of nowhere. With Dark Shadows I could feel the train-ride in and settle into the small coastal town that Maine is so full of. The color/contrast was nice too for most of these.
3a) What did these films not do? Seven Psychopaths did not close all the loops- i.e. Colin Farrell and his girlfriend's relationship really- and that was okay. The sum of its whole was much better. Groundhog Day didn't ever tell us how much time Phil spent in PA, and that's okay too. And in Dark Shadows did tease us with a sequel, but Burton and Grahame-Smith didn't establish their world's vampire enough, and that's...well...as a vampire enthusiast I keep dwelling on it. HBC had vampire teeth before she died and the way in which vampirism occurs in DS is wicked vague. One time its witch curse and the next it is by the bite itself. Not blood sharing necessarily. Weeeellll.....see what I mean?
And that's what I've got for this week! Stay tuned for the next thing!
Friday. After a long work week- 8hrs at Dunkin' and 13 at the CML- and a week of classes- three to be exact- I wanted nothing more than to chillax. Alas, the Student ALA was having their Welcome Back! party and, as the social media coordinator, I wanted to be there. We had pizza and Doritos and plenty of people came. I stayed until about 9-9:30, then I went home and read a bit of Cosmopolitan before I went to bed. A light read and a guilty pleasure.
Saturday I couldn't help but celebrate Groundhog's Day. After singing this a few times, I spent the entire day(9-4ish) doing homework. Okay, so that isn't free time. Free time happened at lunch, when I watched and episode of Chuck(my favorite show right now) and then began again when I played a few hours of Dragon Age. When my roommate got home, we settled in to watch Seven Psychopaths, which was freaking hilarious!, and, of course, Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. In between, we watched a few YouTube skits, including Chris Kendall and ZeFrank . Overall, comedy night was a grand success. I polished the night off by reading a few pages of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, which I am avidly trying to finish before it's due date at the library...
Then Sunday. In the morning, I caught up on The Big Bang Theory, which was probably the funniest it has been in a few weeks, and a show on the CW which I won't name ^_^ I worked at Newport today, which went smoothly, and came home to watch Dark Shadows, which I hadn't seen since it was released this past summer. Director Tim Burton and Timbur Bekmambetov and script by one of my favorite authors, Seth Grahame-Smith. I think this Burton film is one of the best he has done in a few years.(I can really only think of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and Corpse Bride here, i.e. post 2000s.) While it does contain a lot of his usual traits, and by that I mean casting and music choice( on that, see this,) it's genuinely funny and it has a balance of quirky and cheezy, which is me all over. I'm a fan of vampires, I like the TV shows that came out of the 60s-70s for their strange content, and, oh yeah, I'm from Maine. While I haven't been to Colinsport, ME I take pride in its' usage just like I do in Storybrooke and Murder She Wrote. You should probably read this article if you have no idea what I am talking about or if you are asking yourself where/when these Maine references occur. Because they do.
On a separate note, I want to get more into the groove of blogging(working up to vlogging again) and, or that reason, I think I am going to do one weekly blog about a movie and/or TV show I watch during the week. In the rare occasion I finish a book that is not a textbook, I will post a review here as well. To start off this week, I have a hard choice between three movies I loved this weekend. Instead, what I will do is compare three elements that all worked for the way the film was shaped.
1) Comedic Timing. This is the first thing I think of when I look back at these films. Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Johhny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bill Murray and on and on. I think I've been quoting Seven Psychopaths since yesterday and I always try to do Bill Murray faces. If you share my sense of humor or have done acting/improv, I think you'll find something offered in all of these.
2) Musical arrangement. In Seven Psychopaths there was usage of French music and I am always looking to expand in contemporary french music. In Groundhog Day there was, of course, Sunny and Cher with Babe and the Pennsylvania Polka- which I really want to find out if that exists at the celebration because I would spend a Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA just to dance to it. For Dark Shadows, Danny Elfman is back. His arrangement of 70s music has inspired me to research music from1972-1973 on my own. I took his choices and found some of my own; this is one of those times that it is okay to answer a reference question using Wikipedia. Someone, god love them, they spent time organizing the largest events in music history for 1972(as well as many other years and decades) for people to view. Which I did. I read all of it. My final list had Blue Oyster Cult, The Doors, Elton John, and waaay too many others to list. Thank you Spotify. And, when it comes to original composition, I was also impressed.
3) The landscape shot. These moments really make or break a film. In Seven Psychopaths, the town and the desert shots gave me a sense of where these guys were. In Groundhog Day I really did feel like Phil was in the middle of nowhere. With Dark Shadows I could feel the train-ride in and settle into the small coastal town that Maine is so full of. The color/contrast was nice too for most of these.
3a) What did these films not do? Seven Psychopaths did not close all the loops- i.e. Colin Farrell and his girlfriend's relationship really- and that was okay. The sum of its whole was much better. Groundhog Day didn't ever tell us how much time Phil spent in PA, and that's okay too. And in Dark Shadows did tease us with a sequel, but Burton and Grahame-Smith didn't establish their world's vampire enough, and that's...well...as a vampire enthusiast I keep dwelling on it. HBC had vampire teeth before she died and the way in which vampirism occurs in DS is wicked vague. One time its witch curse and the next it is by the bite itself. Not blood sharing necessarily. Weeeellll.....see what I mean?
And that's what I've got for this week! Stay tuned for the next thing!
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