Notes are Beneficial

Have you ever heard a quote in a movie and absolutely loved it? This happens to me quite frequently and the only times I've captured and remembered them was at Sundance. I filled a regular sized notebook about 2/3 full with notes while watching films in Park City. While they were messy and sometimes going off the page due to lack of light, it really helped me identify what parts of the movie I connected with the most. Not that I didn't connect with more than what I wrote, but it had to be something important for me to write down. For one movie, I took 6 full pages of notes. This is partly because it was just a ridiculous movie and there were so many moments I wanted to remember. There was one moment in the film when a friend and I had an incredibly difficult time keeping our laughter to a minimum. Naturally I took notes on it.

I have found notes help me register what is happening and forces me to step back from the movie for a second to write down what I saw. I once read an article about reviewing movies and the author said something to the effect of 'let yourself get wrapped up in the movie.' I have tried to apply this principle to the movies I watch. At the same time, it's helpful for me to get a partial sense of reality instead of being completely immersed in the world of cinema. I have heard some people say this happens when they watch Harry Potter and after they finish the movie or reading the books, they remember magic doesn't really exist and neither does Harry Potter. This has never happened to me, of course. Ever. I have never forgotten that Harry Potter is a fictional character concocted by the famous J.K. Rowling. (This may or may not be sarcasm).

I watched the movie The September Issue tonight and I took 3 pages of notes. It felt natural for me to do and made me think I was back at Sundance, but then I realized I was still at my desk and very far away from Park City. It was so interesting seeing the process Vogue goes through for their annual issue. The year they filmed, the magazine contained 840 pages of fashion! How do they even have enough information and material to cover that much? Apparently they found some things to include. I discovered this movie was actually at Sundance last year, which of course makes me happy. (I have quite an attachment to anything that was ever at Sundance nowadays). There were a couple good quotes throughout the film and you could really get a sense of what the environment is like while working there. It's stressful, filled with pressure, but also fun to see the outcome.

The editor, Anna Wintour, is quite similar to the character Meryl Streep plays in Devil Wears Prada. Wintour is not quite so harsh or strict, but she has that feeling of she knows she's good and her opinion matters. One major difference between her and Miranda Priestly is that Wintour gives compliments where they are deserved, which is something I appreciated about her. Overall, very good movie and never boring. It was a movie I found extremely captivating and interesting.

What a Movie Should Do

A movie should be more than a 90+ minute experience. Its affect should last beyond the credits. Most movies today are made for just the box office and DVD sales and they don't do much outside of being shown. I would argue most documentaries don't go as far as they could to get their point across and to continue their impact. I have only seen one movie that I would say does more than just has screenings. The Dry Land. A Sundance favorite and was one of the best one I saw. I would say 'liked,' but it's really hard to say I liked this movie because in reality, I really didn't. It was hard to watch, emotions were sucked out of me, and it was not a fun topic to see laid out. There were also a couple explicit scenes the audience didn't need to see (just to get that warning out there). However, this was also one of the movies that has stayed with me since seeing it.

First of all, the issue in the movie: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1981284,00.html

Even though the military has been making steps to help lower the number and save men and women from committing suicide, it's not working how they want it to. Knowing this, filmmaker Ryan Pier Williams decided to make a movie about one man and give an accurate picture of what dealing with PTSD is like.

Williams made this movie for a specific purpose. He wanted it to be seen so people can act on it, which in all fairness other documentarians and filmmakers like this want to do as well. This movie is different though. Yes it got into Sundance, but that wasn't necessarily his goal. His ultimate objective was to travel around military bases showing his movie so soldiers can talk about it. If they can see an example of what it looks like and the steps they can take to help themselves, they will be in much better hands. I've never heard of a movie that went beyond the screen like this one does. For Williams, it's more than just a movie. It's an opportunity to show soldiers, their family and friends a picture of one man with PTSD and to spur on conversation.

After the screening at Sundance, Williams said he ideally wanted to release the movies to theaters mid to late summer because that was when a lot of soldiers would come back from fighting the war. The limited release date is July 30 of this year.

This is a real topic that needs to be out to the public and out in the open so people can begin realizing the effects and ramifications it can have on a soldier and his or her family. It's a movie made to provoke real change aside from the 92 minutes you spend watching it.

A Debate of Movies

I watched Front of the Class yesterday afternoon. It was about a recent college graduate whose lifelong dream was to become a teacher, but because of his tourettes syndrome his options were limited because potential employers couldn't look past it. He finally got a job and he excelled in it, but not without his own trials. It was a heartwarming story about overcoming great personal struggles in order to pursue a dream.

The movie immediately following that movie, was Riding the Bus with My Sister. This movie was about a mentally challenged woman who had struggles her whole life, but somehow still had the ability to enjoy it. Within the first few minutes, I felt uncomfortable. I didn't want to watch a movie about this woman. But then I started thinking about how I had just finished watching a movie about a person with personal struggles, so why was this so different? It's the same basic plot: A person struggles through life, but somehow still finds joy and does what they love. The specific circumstances change from film to film, but it's basically the same. So why is it that certain movies, such as this one for me, make us uncomfortable? Is it because the specifics of a movie strike a cord in us that we don't want to think about or explore? I continued watching the movie because I didn't want to be shallow by not watching it simply because I wasn't completely comfortable. But doesn't living in comfort limit your knowledge and ability to learn? People learn most when their level of knowledge is drastically different than the situation they're in. So why don't we put ourselves in situations where we don't know much? Are we afraid of failure or is it something else?

Movies are made to ask questions, sometimes answer a couple, show a situation audiences would never have experienced otherwise, provide an escape from life, and yes, they also offer a level of entertainment. But movies are much more than that. They ask questions which we can't ask ourselves. Too many times we watch a movie purely for entertainment, which is something I am guilty of myself, but if we aren't asking questions afterwards, then we aren't getting everything we can out of the movie and then we have wasted our time and money. Why not take the time to reflect on what we spent an hour and a half to two hours (or in Lord of the Rings case 3-4 hours) watching? Granted, there are some movies where the only question you can ask is, 'why did I waste my time with it?' But more often than not, you can always ask a question applicable to life.