The Zookeeper's Wife

"You can never tell who your enemies are, or who to trust. Maybe that's why I love animals so much. You look in their eyes, and you know exactly what's in their hearts. They're not like people."

Ever since I found out about this movie, I have wanted to see it and now I can finally saw that I have. I mean it's not all that old, it came out last year, but still. I love movies that are based on true stories and this was one of those. The story of Antonina and Jan Zabinski who ran a zoo in Warsaw, Poland and used the basement and areas of their zoo to hide Jews during the war. It was so inspiring, but also sad because of the content.

Jessica Chastain gave an amazing performance and she even got the Polish accent down, which I imagine was difficult. One of the things I really loved about her character was how she didn't want to leave. She didn't want her son to be moved around anytime things got dangerous. Yes they were taking a risk by staying, but they were able to help all these people because of it and I loved her determination in staying and keep people save despite the circumstances.

The Holocaust wiped about most of the population of Warsaw, Poland. Only 6 percent remained, but the Zabinski's rebuilt their zoo. All the people they saved survived. I love that there were people during the war who did what they could to save the Jews. The story of determination and heroism in a time in history that was anything but beautiful, they demonstrated beauty through their passion for animals and people and using their resources to help the ones who were suffering. It was as good as I expected it to be, if not better. It gets a 5 star rating from me. Now, I just need to read the book...

Grease 40th Anniversary

"Danny, is this end?" "Of course not, it's only the beginning." 

And what a beginning it was. Since it is the 40th anniversary of Grease this year, I thought it would be appropriate to write a post about why I love this movie and why it's still so popular 40 years later...

I can't tell you the age I was when I was first introduced, I think I was 7 or 8 and so most of the innuendos went over my head, but I loved it for the music. I have loved musicals since I was a child and ever since I first saw it, I liked it and it becomes even more awesome every time I see it.

Now, I know many people have opinions about this movie (especially the ending) and while I see where they are coming from, I have my own opinion of how I interpret it. Here we have this girl who thought she was going to move to another country after having the best summer of her life and then plans change and she goes to the same high school as Danny. He acts differently around his friends when they do reunite causing Sandy to respond with: "You're a fake and a phony and I wish I never laid eyes on you." Which of course is completely understandable and I would probably react the same way, but then Danny wants to get her back and she wants him back, so the majority of the film is spent on just that. Changing for each other. Not in the sense that I have to change so the other person likes you better because Danny already liked Sandy the way she is. I mean they wouldn't have been together all summer if he hadn't. He is trying to show that he can be the kind of guy she met during the summer and she wants to shed her wholesome image and be more confident and bold. I don't see it as, 'I have to change my appearance for the guy and then we live happily ever after.' No, they did those things for each other. Not one person having to conform to what the other wanted and I think that's actually really sweet because like Danny told the guys, "I'm gonna whatever I can to get her." and he did. So did she. That's why I think it's so iconic. I mean, everyone is going to take it however they want to, but ulitmately it's a story about finding yourself. All of these characters were trying to figure out what was going to happen after graduation and were just trying to make the most of their senior year.

Now, I know people have issues with certain things in the movie and I understand that. Everyone has their own perspective, but it's really not supposed to be taken that seriously. Yes, we can learn from situations in the movie, but mainly it's supposed to be fun and silly and predictable. Most musicals are, and there is nothing wrong with that. For everyone that enjoys musicals, whether they are theatre musicals or movie musicals, let's all unite and keep Grease alive for another 40 years. GREASE IS THE WORD!

Best Picture Winners: Million Dollar Baby

"If there's magic in boxing, it's the magic of fighting battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you."

I went into this movie thinking it was going to be a typical film about boxing, the underdog goes the distance and faces adversity to achieve the title, and this was sort of like that, but a little different. When I think of movies like this I think of the Rocky movies, since there are so many of them and they have the typical plot that I am familiar with. Well, when it came to Million Dollar Baby, I was surprised. It was about boxing, but it was a different story than the Rocky films. As it should be. They both have raw, emontional, relatable stories, just told and portrayed differently. For one thing, Million Dollar Baby is about a girl boxer and a hardended trainer who doesn't want to help her. 

So, why would a boxing movie win Best Picture? Well, this isn't your typical boxing movie...or maybe it is and Rocky did win Best Picture in 1976. So, what makes movies like this so good and relatable for people? Well, it's about going after a dream. Even if it's a dream you have all by yourself and no one else believes in you and you want that dream more than anything. It's about proving yourself. Showing how through determination and adversity we can succeed and yeah, we will almost always have obstacles that get in our way, but we get there one way or another. 

In Maggie Fitzgerald's (Hilary Swank) case, she got there, but then almost lost it all when she did. And Frankie (Clint Eastwood) learned how to be the father he never could be to his own daughter. 

The acting in this movie was phenomenal and I personally loved how Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman) narrated the film and how it was all basically told through his perspective. Then in the end we find out he is writing to Frankie's daughter and showing her how great of a man he truly was. That was some cool symbolism right there and I wonder if he knew where she was and whether he would also get the same "Return to Sender" notice on the letter. 

What was so emotional about this movie was not only the fact that Frankie warmed up to Maggie and grew to care about her as his own, but that Maggie ended up the way she did. At least she got a shot. Not the title, but a shot and that is what she wanted. That's why she was so persistent and determined to have Frankie train her because she believed that he could get her there. She didn't want to continue living the way she was, just existing. Not being able to move. Then Frankie having to do it. I also love that he loved what "mo cuishle" meant right before he gave her the shot to make her go to sleep. It was a heartbreakingly beautiful moment. 

This film was exceptional well acted by everyone involved and it deserved to win Best Picture of the year for 2004. It touches us, makes us cry, makes us think and relate. That's what a good movie does and this one hit all of those things. 

I wonder if Frankie ever reconnected with his daughter Katy again...I guess we'll never know. 

Best Picture Winners: The Deer Hunter

A movie that starts out with a wedding and then goes into the intensity and tragedy of war. 

The next film in my Best Picture Winner series is, The Deer Hunter directed by Michael Cimino is a story about humanity in a sense. It's basically about the lives of these men and their familes in a small town. We see them working in a refinery in the beginning and it's all leading up to a wedding of Steve and Angela and all of his buddies are in the wedding. At the wedding, which takes up the first 45 minutes of the film, it is annouced that they are going to war. 

Michael (Robert DeNiro) who is the strong one of the guys, he hunts deer, he doesn't like how fast things are changing, he is there for Steve and Nick when they are on the front lines, he shows incredible courage and tries to help his fellow comrads through the horror and violence going on around them. 

When he comes home, he has to deal with the aftermath of what we went through and he holds a lot of in and when he does go hunting again, he can't bring himself to shoot a deer. I love the symbolism in that and it shows that what he endured during the war means that he can't bring himself to take anymore life, or that is watch it die. Earlier in the film, we saw Nick shoot a deer and when the deer was falling down and dying, they focused on its eyes, which even though it was hard for me to watch, showed that he was essentially taking a life, even if it was for hunting puproses and an animal. It's still life and I think we see that throughout the whole film. 

At the end of the day, the movie is about humans and existence and survival and the realism that goes with that. This was the 1970s, these men lived this way then, they talked like that, they did those things, movies during that time were about the gritty, realism of life. That's why they tended to be filmed in more muted colors and the streets were more run down looking and things like that. It's about the trials that they faced, going to war, dealing with that experience and coming home and never completely feeling like who they once were. 

Maybe this movie didn't have a blantant message to it and maybe it was just supposed to be about existence and humanity, I don't know, but we all take something different away from films that we watch and for me, this is what I got out of it. 

While, the film was very slow paced, overall I think it was as good film. For being the type of film that it was, it deserved to win Best Picture. 

Best Picture Winners: Terms of Endearment

I'm sure that a lot of women have a tumultuous relationship with their mothers, and this movie is no different. In fact, it is the epitome of that, in the case of Aurora and Emma, the mother and daughter of the movie in question.

That movie is Terms of Endearment, Best Picture of 1983, starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, and Jeff Daniels. It spans 30 years of their relationship as Emma gets married and has her own life, she always talks to her mother and Aurora can be very difficult, but she just cares so passionately that it can be overwhelming. 

We see Emma (played by Debra Winger) go through marital problems with her husband Flap (Jeff Daniels) and thinking that he is cheating, so she becomes close with Sam Burns (played by John Lithgow) only to find out that her husband is actually not doing anything. 

So as the movie goes on, we just see Aurora and Garrett (who is the next door neighbor played by Nicholson) start a relationship and while he is someone who isn't really the commitment type, he commits to Aurora and is there for her when Emma is in the hopsital with cancer. Who ends up dying and Flap says that Aurora can take care of the kids. 

In the end, while it is sad because she dies, we see the joy and the love for Emma and for the family shown in different ways. That is what makes the movie so special I think. 

Best Picture Winners: Driving Miss Daisy

When we think of an unlikely pairing, what comes to mind? I don't think a 72 year old Jewish woman and a 60 year old colored man, would be our first thought. Well, that is the pairing in this movie, which won Best Picture of 1989. 

The name is Driving Miss Daisy and it stars Jessica Tandy as Daisy, Morgan Freeman as her kind chauffeur Hoke and Dan Aykroyd as her son Boolie. 

Daisy is very stubborn and when she isn't able to drive anymore, her son hires a driver, Hoke and during this time, the 1950s, blacks did this kind of work. So Hoke tries to help out around the house, but Daisy won't have it, but eventually she lets him drive her to where she needs to go. The film spans about a 20 year period from 1948 to about 1967 or 68, so we see how their friendship grows and changes through the years. 

What I like most about the movie was the fact that this woman didn't really treat Hoke the best at first, but he was always gracious and kind and he never gave up and I think if more people were like that, this world would be a better place. In a time, when race relations were a big issue and blacks weren't that excepted, this shows that you can find friendship and kindness in just about anyone. I think this was deserving of the Best Picture award and I would give the movie a 4 out of 5. :)

Time After Time

When I think of the title "Time After Time" I'm reminded of the 80's song sung by the eccentric Cyndi Lauper. However, the movie of the same name is about H.G. Wells and his time machine that uses to go after Jack the Ripper. 

The year is 1893 and H.G. Wells is talking with his buddies, one of whom is Stevenson (played by the amazing David Warner) about his predictions for the future and then finding out that Stevenson was Jack the Ripper and took the time machine, using it to go to 1979. So Wells gets in the time machine and follows him to the future. When he gets there he discovers that it is not the Utopia he predicted. However, he meets a woman named Amy (played by Mary Steenburgen) and they both try to search for Jack the Ripper. While Wells is after Jack, Jack is after Wells to obtain a master key to the machine. He continues his murderous ways and will stop at nothing to achieve his desires which puts Amy in danger. 

What I liked about the movie is that it deals with time travel and that is always interesting and fun for me. Also, how it was Jack the Ripper that was the villain of the story and he went by Stevenson, I liked that 'Jack the Ripper' aspect because I think it mirrored a lot of what is going on in the present just like what was going on in 1979. Overall, I would give this movie a 4 out of 5.