With a Heart Full of Mess and Lore

It has been roughly eight months since I hit up the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, getting to see Margin Call and Like Crazy before almost anyone else and absolutely loving the whole experience. But for some reason, while I was able to hit out a Margin Call review in short order―well, short for me anyway―I never got my Like Crazy review polished and posted.

Which might lead you to believe that I loved Margin Call, and was so blah about Like Crazy that I couldn't be bothered to even pen a review, when the exact opposite has turned out to be true. Margin Call was a good film, with some very magnificent and even Oscar worthy performances. But as the months have passed I've found myself to be kind of one-and-done with it. I'm glad I saw it, no regets on that score, but I don't feel any pressing need to revisit that world and those characters again, unless significant edits were made to the film after it premiered at the festival. (Yes, I know, BLASPHEMY that I could never see it again and be fine, but it is what it is. YMMV.)

Conversely, Like Crazy has only grown in my esteem over the passing months. Something about that film, a little sleeper indie hit that could, has stuck with me all this time; like the two main characters' emotions, there is something there that will not let me go. (Trust me, there is a reason it won top prizes at Sundance, and deservedly so.) So I am very excited that this weekend, after months of waiting, I finally get the chance to revisit a film that, like an old love, has haunted me for the better part of a year.

The rest of my review will be breaking down the film into pieces and analyzing those, so there will be MANY SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.




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Want a look at my strange, infrequent rantings and squeeings? You are in the right place, my friend. Sit back and prepare to be. . . well, underwhelmed, really. But hopefully entertained.

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The older I get, the more important true theatricality is to me when I see a stage production. If I am going to invest my hard earned money on a show, it had better be worth the ticket price. I'm too old now to be instantly smitten with bubbly adolescent glee over pop singers, thank heavens (except for everything Trek cast related, but Trek is special snowflake always.) And I'm too young to be so set in my music tastes that I reject anything new offhand. So I veer between fangirl squeeing over new artists and crankily telling them to get off my lawn.

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"why arent you continuing your blog i like your blog a lot please continue updating"

I want to thank this wonderful anon, whomever they are! I honestly assumed no one reads my LJ, hah, so I haven't been updating it like I should. Plus I got a bit sucked into Tumblr; a lot of posts I would have (or probably should have) been making over here, I've been doing there instead. If you want to check out my interests and obsessions on a daily basis, I would suggest heading over there:

http://reezoo.tumblr.com/

But trust me, my LJ is still alive and well! I'm not comfortable with posting uber personal info over there; the few times I have I kind of got squicked out. And for travelogues and reviews and things I really think that LJ is the way to go for me. I still have AiA recaps and Sundance summaries to write up, plus other goings ons to report. And I have all the photos from the Monster Ball concert sorted into useful albums, which I will be posting in parts later here tonight. (Anon spurred me into posting those ASAP, so thanks!)

I promise to neglect my LJ less in the future! Poke me with sticks if I do not get my act together and get my posts up!

So adoorhasopened posted a lovely summary of our epically epic Sundance weekend! I can't top hers but here is my contribution, a definitely longer tl;dr review of Margin Call to add to the discussion, hah.




I’ve kind of divided the review into three parts: A summary of the plot for those dying to know, my critique, and then the JC Chandor/Neal Dobson Q&A that took place afterwords. Lots of stuff but hopefully enough red meat in there for everyone. And at the end of all the text there is Sundance picspam, which I hope you enjoy!

_{(By the way, I am so sorry all my reviews/notes from Sundance are taking so long to get out, for anyone who cares. I started reading a new book last week, which is always a mistake because it sucked up my non-braindead free time, and then real life work was a thorn in my side. I am blaming failure of life, basically, for my laziness, hah.)}

(SPOILER ALERT: I didn't know how much of the plot people would want to know, so I wrote down what I could remember and what I had written in my notes. If you really do not want to be spoiled, avoid the whole review pretty much, hah, but especially the plot summary. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Also, in the summary section I’m referencing scenes you can watch on the preview vid that was released. The vid on ontd_pinto was taken down, but here is another one I scrounged up: http://www.alltrailers.net/margin-call.html#

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(  MY REVIEW Collapse )

(  Q&A Collapse )

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( 10. EatingCollapse )



( Extra Fun Time: Getting a Stranded in the BronxCollapse )



( Extra Extra Fun Time Part 2: Random PhotosCollapse )

And thus, my report of NY draws to end. Congrats I you made it this far; my hats off to you. I'm on my way to NY again now; so, perhaps, even more pics in the near future, hah. TREMBLE AND WEEP AT THE SHEER NUMBER OF PHOTOS I WILL TAKE. I GUARANTEE IT. :)

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( 8. Flatiron BuildingCollapse )



( 9. City ShoppingCollapse )

ON TO PART 4 (the last one hooray!): http://reezoo.livejournal.com/14099.html

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( 4. Angels in AmericaCollapse )



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I have seen NYC at many different times in my life: a wide eyed kid seeing her first Broadway shows (Cats and The Secret Garden) and running around FAO Schwartz; a gangly teen driving across the George Washington Bridge on her way to Thanksgiving festivities; a broke, dream-filled college student eating up the art museums and Gray's Papaya hot dogs with equal amounts of relish. But I have to say that the times I've spent in the city now, in my late twenties, have far and away been the most exciting and gratifying yet. The child-like magic of the city had not yet dissipated for me—hopefully it never will—yet I'm now old enough to enjoy the more grown up delights, with enough money in my pocket to have a fun, though somewhat frugal, time.

So when I was planning my annual Thanksgiving trip to see family, and Nyu suggested I come out early and maybe we could have some fun in the city for a few days (apparently even students in the boonies of Connecticut call it The City, hah), how on Earth am I supposed to turn that down?

So, without further ado, in no real order because they are all wonderful, the top ten things we did in NYC this time around:



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( 2. Rickshaw Ride in Central ParkCollapse )

I HAVE GOLDEN TICKETS SWEETIES. Well, silver, they are silver this year, but I have lovely lovely silver foiled tickets for Sundance!

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Here is the full list of Sundance films I have tickets for. My only concern is getting from the panel in Park City to the Ogden theatre in two hours, but unless there is an intense snowstorm I do not see this being a problem, huzzah. But it will be worth it; to see these creators in person, these films on the screen, you can't ask for much more excitement than that (well, unless Zach or Anton decides to nonchalantly stroll into our movie palace for the screening...) And yes, full reviews (with plot spoilers galore) and a typing up of my notes will be in full order. Like I would do anything else, hah.

Power of Story: The Big Idea
http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/powerofstorythebigidea_sundance2011

<sup>When we talk about the magic of movies, what are the mechanics of that magic? There are few things as mystifying as the creative process. Ideas are the building blocks of any creative endeavor, but where do they come from? How do we shape them using process and craft? And how do many creative minds come together to form a singular vision? In gathering a writer, editor, director, and composer together, we hope to peer behind the curtain of creativity and see the way to get from good idea to great film.

Jill Bilcock is a frequent collaborator with directors Baz Luhrmann, Sam Mendes, and Fred Schepisi. She has edited more than 25 feature films, including Moulin Rouge!, Elizabeth, Road to Perdition, and Muriel’s Wedding.
Thomas Newman is an award-winning composer and conductor who has scored more than 50 films, including American Beauty, The Shawshank Redemption, and Finding Nemo.
Sam Shepard is one of the most celebrated playwrights, screenwriters, and actors of our time. His work includes the screenplay for Paris, Texas, and his plays True West, A Lie of the Mind, and Buried Child, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. He is a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame.
Julie Taymor [I do not have her bio from the site but it was in the program; I'll add it later. Hopefully she is still coming, despite Spider-Man delays? That had not occurred to me when I bought the tickets. We'll see; it will be amazing no matter what, that is for sure.]</sup>


Like Crazy
http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/likecrazy_sundance2011

<sup>Like Crazy is a film from and about the heart. Jacob, an American, and Anna, who is British, meet at college in Los Angeles and fall madly in love. It’s the purest kind of romance—they’re each other’s first significant attachment. When Anna returns to London, the couple is forced into a long-distance relationship. Their perfect love is tested, and youth, trust, and geography become their biggest enemies.

Taking a complete tonal departure from his last film, Douchebag, which screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, cowriter/director Drake Doremus poetically reveals the intimate details and daily struggles of Jacob and Anna’s love affair as it stretches between time and distance and changes course. Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones are enthralling in their sweetness and honesty as the young couple. An original, contemplative look at first love, Like Crazy strikes a universal chord as it explores the bittersweet beauty and impermanence of relationships.</sup>


Margin Call
http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/margincall_sundance2011

<sup>Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Expanding the parameters of genre, Margin Call is a riveting examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white.

Propelled by a stellar cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, and Demi Moore, writer/director J. C. Chandor’s enthralling first feature is a stark and bravely authentic portrayal of the financial industry and its denizens as they confront the decisions that shape our global future.</sup>