Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I will be honest and say that last week was really rough.  After a great first week things deteriorated rapidly with lots of schedule changes, an incredibly disorganized picture schedule (which always involves the English teachers), and spotty internet connectivity throughout the whole district.  The only thing that got me through was knowing that I had a screening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (it is being screened for a limited engagement in honor of its 40th Anniversary) to look forward to on Friday night!  I vividly remember watching this movie in the theater when I was a kid (in fact, I remember being fairly obsessed with it) so it was an absolute thrill to be able to see it again on the big screen.   I'm sure that nostalgia played a big part in my reaction but I loved this movie about a group of people who have an encounter with a UFO and the government's attempts to cover it up just as much as I did when I was an impressionable nine year old.  Most of the narrative involves a select group of people, including Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) and Jillian (Melinda Dillon) among others, who are inexplicably drawn to Devil's Tower in Wyoming after their encounter.  It turns out that Devil's Tower is a coordinate broadcast by aliens to a group of scientists, including Claude Lacombe (Francois Truffaut), after they communicate with them through musical tones (those five iconic notes).  The final encounter with the UFO at Devil's Tower is just as epic as I remember it and, in my opinion, the special effects hold up very well after 40 years.  Even after seeing so many other alien movies, I was still absolutely spellbound.  What I like best about this encounter is that almost everyone reacts with awe rather than fear.  It is just so magical!   Once again, I was fascinated by Truffaut's portrayal of Lacombe and I can't really explain why other than to say that this movie was my first introduction to him (my Dad had to tell me that he was a famous director) and I also absolutely loved Barry's (Cary Guffey) wide-eyed wonder when he looks at the UFOs.  It is an amazing movie and I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen!

Note:  I was so obsessed with this movie I actually requested that my parents take me on a road trip to Devil's Tower when I was in high school.  It is a seriously cool place!

Team Captain

I loved watching my nephew play football last year!  It was such a fun fall activity for my whole family to wake up early on a Saturday to watch Sean play and then go to breakfast afterwards.  Sean had his first game of the season last Saturday against the Tooele Buffaloes and this year he is one of the team captains!  He gets to lead the team out onto the field and he leads the team in their pre-game warmup.   He takes this responsibility very seriously!  I think Sean is a really good player and I think rugby has done a lot to boost his confidence.  Unfortunately, the Bountiful Braves lost this game.  The Buffaloes scored four unanswered touchdowns and Sean was quite frustrated; in fact, the coach pulled him out of the game (he plays both offense and defense so this was one of the only times he wasn't on the field) for a few minutes to give him some encouragement.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Braves were able to score a really pretty touchdown so they felt better about the game.  The team has a lot of potential and I think they will get better.  I am really looking forward to spending my Saturdays watching Sean and the Braves this fall!

Note:  Sean is a year older so he plays an hour later than last year!  Hooray!

Castle in the Sky

Last night I met my friend to see Castle in the Sky, the next film in the Studio Ghibli Fest, and it is absolutely amazing.  It is very different from the other films I've seen in this series because it is an epic adventure filled with imagination and emotion and I will probably be thinking about it for a long time to come.  It involves a quest for a mysterious and powerful floating island called Laputa (there is also a flying island named Laputa in Gulliver's Travels) by pirates who seek it for treasure, by a Colonel and his army who want to use its power to control the world, and by a young girl who has a glowing pendant, passed down through the generations of her family, that seems to lead to Laputa.  She is aided by a young miner who rescues her and together they must decide the fate of Laputa.  The characters go from one adventure to the next and I was simply blown away by the imaginative world-building.  It is all so fantastical and I was captivated by the storytelling.  I loved the two main characters of Sheeta and Pazu because they are very determined and resourceful and their relationship with each other is so pure.  But more than that, the two of them are so brave, especially in a powerful and emotional scene where they make a decision about Laputa.  I was quite fascinated by the unusual technology, especially all of the flying machines and the machines used in the mine.  I'll say it again.  Hayao Miyazaki has an impressive imagination.  The music used in the film is fantastic, ranging from choral pieces, to beautiful and atmospheric melodies (I loved the harp), to pulse-pounding beats to heighten the tension.  Finally, I think my very favorite aspect of this film is the color palette.  I loved the use of blue, turquoise, green, and purple to represent the power of the pendant.  I cannot recommend this film enough!  I am starting to understand why people are such fans of anime.  I never knew that cartoons could be so powerful!

The Only Living Boy in New York

I was mildly intrigued by the trailer for The Only Living Boy in New York and, since I had already seen everything else on my list, I decided that it would be the cure for a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Thomas Webb (Callum Turner) is a young man at loose ends who aspires to be a writer.  His father Ethan (Pierce Brosnan), with whom he has a distant relationship (there is a reason for this which is revealed later), is a hot-shot New York publisher who gives him little encouragement, calling his work "serviceable."  He is incredibly protective of his mother Judith (Cynthia Nixon), an emotional mess (there is a reason for this which is revealed later) who throws pretentious dinner parties as a way of dealing with her unhappiness.  He pines over Mimi (Kiersey Clemons), a girl with whom he has been in love forever but only wants to be friends with him.  One night while at a club with Mimi he sees his father out with another woman (Kate Beckinsale).  He begins following her with the intention of telling her to stop seeing his father but eventually begins an affair with her.  Thomas begins discussing all of the above with his new neighbor, the writer W.F. Gerald (Jeff Bridges), who has aggressively wormed his way into Thomas's life (there is a reason for this which is revealed later).  W.F. eventually turns these conversations into a novel about Thomas titled The Only Living Boy in New York.  The problem with this movie is that it thinks it is an edgy treatise about New York City when it is really just an run-of-the-mill family drama.  There are tons of mind-numbing speeches about how New York has lost its soul, including one by a character who exists only to give a speech at a wedding, which do nothing to advance the plot.  I was so bored that I checked my phone multiple times (the only other person in the theater with me left mid-way through).  By the time the big plot twist, which explains everyone's motivations, is revealed I didn't really care because I just wasn't that interested in any of the characters.  Turner is very handsome and appealing to watch but I didn't really buy his alienation and I thought his response to the big plot twist was way too accepting.  Brosnan is just playing another version of the judgmental father he played in Remember Me.  Bridges speaks as if he has just had major dental work done.  Everyone else is fine but largely unmemorable.  I did like the music but after listening to moody songs from Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and Procol Harum, it was a little jarring to hear a peppy song by The Head and the Heart in the final credits.  It is an entirely forgettable movie that should only be viewed on Netflix when you can't sleep.

Ingrid Goes West

Ingrid Goes West is another gem from Sundance that friends of mine have been talking about lately so I put it on my list.  Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) is sad, lonely, and desperate for a connection with someone.  When she comes into some money after her mother's death, she decides to move to California in order to befriend Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), a social media celebrity who seemingly has the perfect life.  In her pursuit of Taylor, she ironically sabotages the only real and authentic relationship she has with someone (O'Shea Jackson, Jr.) who genuinely cares about her for the sake of a fake one.  As Ingrid gets close to Taylor, she ultimately realizes that Taylor's life is just as empty and meaningless as her own.  It is a fascinating commentary on social media and I have to admit that it hit a little bit too close to home (right before the movie I checked my phone and noticed that I had two new followers on Instagram).  It is really easy to compare yourself to the people you follow on Instagram or Facebook and judge your life to be lacking and it can take up all of your time and energy creating a fake persona to make your life as exciting as everyone else's seems.  It can be really easy to determine your self-worth by the number of followers you have or likes you get on a post.  I find it incredibly ironic that Ingrid finds the notoriety that she has been craving for so long after the only real and vulnerable moment she has on social media.  Even though this movie is a cautionary tale I found it to be quite funny (probably because I recognized myself in the characters), especially in a scene where Ingrid tries to decide whether to post "ha ha ha" or "he he he."  I really liked the production design.  I read that the filmmakers used popular Instagram feeds to inform how they decorated Taylor's house and her costumes!  Too funny!  Plaza does a good job at making Ingrid into a sympathetic character, even when she makes one bad decision after another, and Olsen's portrayal of a woman obsessed with her "brand" feels very spot-on.  If you have ever taken a picture of your avocado toast to post to Instagram before eating it, you will probably enjoy this movie (or squirm in your seat).