Thursday Movie Picks: A Discovery/Exploration
1) Everything is Illuminated
Jonathan goes to a small town in Ukraine to find a woman that helped his grandfather during WWII and learns a lot about himself and his family in the process. I really liked this, and I never stopped being amused at the dog named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.
2) Tracks
Robyn takes a 1700 mile trek across Australia with a few camels and her dog while she tries to figure things out. This is a quiet little film, but it has a great performance from Mia Wasikowska
3) Wild
Cheryl's mother has died and her marriage has crumbled, so she hikes the Pacific Crest Trail to get her head together. Everything about the plot sounds like a lame Lifetime movie but it works in every way.
I've only seen Wild of these three and liked more than loved it. Reese was very good but it took a little long in getting to where it was going.
ReplyDeleteI had every intention of seeing Everything is Illuminated when it was in the theatres, I hadn't read the book but it had such an eye catching cover I was intrigued but it was gone before I got the chance and I promptly forgot about it. I'll have to catch up.
I'm not a big fan of Mia W so I never make a point of seeing her films.
I went more with the quest aspect of exploration for my three.
The Right Stuff (1983)-Epic film of the origins, formation and realization of America’s space program with a stacked cast, Ed Harris, Sam Shepard, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Kim Stanley, Veronica Cartwright and on and on, of award level performances and a real sense of wonder and discovery. The best film of 1983 it was robbed at the Oscars where the prize went to the solid but not nearly as extraordinary Terms of Endearment.
Never Cry Wolf (1983)-Canadian biologist Tyler (Charles Martin Smith) travels on government orders to the isolated arctic wilderness to discover if the area's caribou population is declining due to wolf-pack attacks. After a harrowing flight in a bush plane piloted by "Rosie" Little (Brian Dennehy) Tyler is left in the middle of a sub-zero frozen lake until he is rescued by traveling Inuit Ootek (Zachary Ittimangnaq), who builds a shelter for him and departs. On his own he encounters a wolf family and discovers they seem as curious of him as he is of them. Establishing an observation post he learns much including ultimately that the greatest danger to the caribou is man himself. Vivid Disney film lead to the formation of the Touchstone division of Disney when there was an outcry that this was far removed from their standard family fare.
The Endless Summer (1966)-In search of the surfer's Holy Grail "The Perfect Wave" documentarian and competition-level surfer Bruce Brown embarks on an around-the-world adventure of discovery with surfers Michael Hynson and Robert August. In their quest the three visit Hawaii, Australia, South Africa and other secluded surfing spots seeking their sweet spot while Brown’s narration and an instrumental guitar-driven soundtrack by The Sandals plays over the silent footage.
I definitely recommend Everything is Illuminated. It's a very quiet film, but I like it a lot. I haven't seen any of your picks this week. The Right Stuff looks like it has a great cast.
DeleteWild is terrific. Such a gripping movie. Vallee is really becoming one of my favorite directors
ReplyDeleteI agree! He's been doing some wonderful stuff.
DeleteOooooh very good take on this theme! I haven't seen the first two but Tracks in particular looked good. It's been on my list for a while.
ReplyDeleteLOVE LOVE LOVE Wild. Such a great performance from Reese and I love the way Vallee shot and edited it.
Wild exceeded my expectations even though I had one of the worst theater experiences while watching it. lol
DeleteWild is awesome as I liked that film. Everything is Illuminated is an underrated film that I'm glad you make mention of. Tracks is a film that I do want to see as I am a fan of Mia Wasikowska.
ReplyDeleteEII is very underrated. Now that I've been thinking of it, I want to watch it again.
DeleteIt took me a while to rent Wild, yes, I still rent movies..hahahaa, because I didn’t think it would be much but I was pleasantly surprised. Although I thought it took a bit to get started, I was surprised how good it truly was. I haven’t seen the other 2 but they sound really good and maybe better than Wild??
ReplyDeleteI think Wild is better than Tracks. Everything is Illuminated is probably my favorite of the three but production wise Wild is the best.
DeleteDo you know I still haven't seen "Wild". I've heard so many talk about it yet I still haven't checked it out.
ReplyDeleteYou need to get on that!
DeleteWild - haha...I love that you said it sounds like a lame Lifetime movie, maybe that's why I haven't seen it.
ReplyDeleteIt does! But you should watch it because it's wonderful lol
DeleteWild is pretty good: not a lot of action, but the character development is interesting and I loved finding out aspects of her life and understanding her throughout the whole movie, not just through some sequences at the beginning. I think the continuous reveal of past mistakes made the movie more interesting. Regarding the theme of discovery, you're probably gonna laugh, but maybe Eat, Pray, Love? I've seen the movie when it first came out, and now I'm reading the book, and it's really her journey of "growing up", figuring herself out and just relaxing into her own personality, if you know what I mean. Again, maybe not the best idea, since I haven't re-seen the movie yet, but the overall theme is there :)
ReplyDeleteI've never seen Eat Pray Love myself but I feel like it probably fits in the self discovery route like the rest of these do.
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