the groundhog day project

Last minute change of plans after a long day of gaming--four hours of D&D, a lunch break, then close to six hours of board games--and I finally got my daughter Saer to watch Sing Street . So, damn the current childhood deconstruction, damn The Villain for today, I'm watching Sing Street . By the way, I've already written a lot about this movie in this blog: day 1072 - now that the niceties are out of the way day 1073 - and everything is more real than life day 1074 - everything beautiful's fiction day 1075 - when you don't know someone day 1076 - it’s a video, robert day 1077 - i think i’m back in the dream day 1078 - you can never do anything by half day 1079 - hitch a ride on a dream day 1080 - what tyranny could stand up to that? day 1081 - start up the time machine day 1082 - you're not happy being sad day 1083 - i often wonder what she's thinking about           And then, I'm just enjoying the...

Ice Castles is almost necessarily cheesy and sentimental. This particular story cannot be told any other way. At the core, there are two threads to the story--young girl, Olympic hopeful on the rise, loses her sight, then fights through near-complete blindness to skate again; and same young girl separated from her longtime boyfriend, cheats on him and only though her own struggle with that other story thread can she get her shit together and be with that longtime boyfriend again. It's a basic romance with a Cinderella sort of sports story over the top of it. As for that basic romance, I love Roger Ebert's take on this film... Have we grown so desperate for vicarious cheap thrills that the simple love story is done for? Is it no longer possible to have a movie in which two young people meet in the first reel, smooch in the third, get married in the seventh, and disappear into the sunset as we disappear down the aisles? I must interrupt because any film out of Hollywood wor...

Sing Street --and, I think I'm about done with this film, I swear--begins with Conor playing guitar and making up lyrics on the spot, mostly basing them on the phrases he can hear his parents Robert and Penny yelling from downstairs. Then you get a news report about poor folks from Ireland migrating to England to look for something better. Then, Robert and Penny gather their three kids together to announce that they're having money troubles and Conor has to transfer schools. He was going to a Jesuit school but now he's headed to the Christian Brothers (Catholic) school, Synge Street. In passing, we also learn that Brendan has dropped out of college. In the first three minutes, we know so much about what's to come. It's a great example of how to set up the status quo quickly. Conor is a musician. His parents' marriage is coming apart. Brendan is a slacker. And, Conor is headed to a new school. The plot is in motion. That opening bit with the singing and parents ...

I was prepared to make some sort of joke about Carol relating to Christmas because, you know, Christmas Carols, and then not ten minutes into the movie I realize it's actually set around Christmas and Carol (Cate Blanchett) first meets Therese (Rooney Mara), she (Therese) is wearing a Santa hat. My actual Christmas movie for today is In Bruges --it's playing now. I didn't expect to really be arguing that Carol is a Christmas film.. Note: This blog has had a few extra views of late, probably because of my one two Star Wars The Force Awakens entries. I wanted to note for new readers that I do not generally review films. If you want a review of Carol , try NPR or the International Business Times or the Boston Herald or Screen Crush or wherever you like to find movie reviews. I don't know what to call what I do. I take a movie and maybe deconstruct it, or maybe tie it to some... other thing, or link two movies ( Carol links really well to yesterday 's Brook...