The Bourne Legacy is a treadmill. It goes and goes and goes, and no matter how long you've been watching it, you never get any closer to the ending. I'm not entirely sure I'm not still watching it.
Lauren seemed to like it a lot (though she was disappointed that Edward Norton didn't get punched in the dick (her words, not mine)) but she likes Jeremy Renner and she might even like the Bourne movies in general. I didn't have that draw; I went to see it because she wanted to see it. Which is fine. I was entertained enough. It had action sequences, a plot I could barely follow and about thirty seconds of David Strathairn. I just felt like I was watching it forever and I didn't care enough to spend that much time with it.
It's kind of sad that, of the two movies I saw tonight, I think I preferred The Watch. 'Cause The Watch really wasn't very good. But that at least had an actor I like in it. And a funny line. And it didn't feel hideously long.
Also, there's a scene in The Bourne Legacy where Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz are in a car and he's trying to get her to tell him something that she doesn't know the answer to and they're both shouting at each other the same things over and over at the same time, trying to drown each other out, and it took every ounce of willpower I had to not stand up and scream "STOP IT!" I have a horrible feeling that's going to be the part of this movie I remember the most.
End of line.
-Sally
Friday, August 10, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Being Elmo
It's weird because I can remember being very young (six or seven) and knowing exactly who Kevin Clash was. I don't really know why I knew that; I was certainly not an Elmo fan (I found Elmo highly irritating for a great long time; my nieces love Elmo, though, and their love of the character helped me develop an appreciation for him I'd never had before) but that didn't matter because I knew Kevin Clash was awesome anyway.
How I knew that, I have no idea. Especially since I didn't really know anything about the guy beyond "he's a Muppeteer and he's awesome" until just now when I watched this movie.
If there was ever any doubt in my mind about the guy, it's gone now.
I tend not to like documentaries that jerk you around. I honestly don't want to see the pitfalls and low points in someone's career most of the time, especially if I know that everything works out in the end. I mean, I guess sometimes it's necessary but I don't like documentaries that wallow in self pity or worse, only to end with "and now everything is wonderful."
Luckily, Being Elmo doesn't do that. It just tells you the story of Kevin Clash, how he started making puppets when he was a child, how he worked on a local television station, how he got to meet Kermit Love and how that led to him working with Jim Henson and Sesame Street. They talk about how he really found Elmo's voice and character when he realized Elmo was all about love, how he won't let anybody else take over Elmo when he's overworked.
There are plenty of crying moments in the movie; obviously they have to talk about when Jim Henson died and they show Elmo meeting with a little girl whose Make A Wish wish was to meet Elmo. Every time Kevin Clash talked about his daughter I got a little weepy, and they show him giving a tour of the Muppet workshop to a boy who, just like him, has been making puppets since he was a little kid.
There's nothing overly dramatic about Being Elmo. It's just one guy's life story. It just happens that the guy is Kevin Clash, who is a kind and lovable person. And that makes his life story interesting to watch.
End of line.
-Sally
How I knew that, I have no idea. Especially since I didn't really know anything about the guy beyond "he's a Muppeteer and he's awesome" until just now when I watched this movie.
If there was ever any doubt in my mind about the guy, it's gone now.
I tend not to like documentaries that jerk you around. I honestly don't want to see the pitfalls and low points in someone's career most of the time, especially if I know that everything works out in the end. I mean, I guess sometimes it's necessary but I don't like documentaries that wallow in self pity or worse, only to end with "and now everything is wonderful."
Luckily, Being Elmo doesn't do that. It just tells you the story of Kevin Clash, how he started making puppets when he was a child, how he worked on a local television station, how he got to meet Kermit Love and how that led to him working with Jim Henson and Sesame Street. They talk about how he really found Elmo's voice and character when he realized Elmo was all about love, how he won't let anybody else take over Elmo when he's overworked.
There are plenty of crying moments in the movie; obviously they have to talk about when Jim Henson died and they show Elmo meeting with a little girl whose Make A Wish wish was to meet Elmo. Every time Kevin Clash talked about his daughter I got a little weepy, and they show him giving a tour of the Muppet workshop to a boy who, just like him, has been making puppets since he was a little kid.
There's nothing overly dramatic about Being Elmo. It's just one guy's life story. It just happens that the guy is Kevin Clash, who is a kind and lovable person. And that makes his life story interesting to watch.
End of line.
-Sally
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