Return!

This time my absence is entirely justified! I just got finished with five of the most amazing days of my increasingly less young life: the long-awaited Godspell performances. I probably said before that this was the only show I've ever done and I don't think I could have possibly asked for a better experience. The cast became so close and all of the negatives I'd always heard about high school plays (the cattiness [is that a word?], the stress, etc.) were entirely absent from this. I can't even explain how much I'm going to miss rehearsals, performances, the crew, and the cast. Thank you to everyone who came to see me!

I think it's safe to say that I won't be hitting my 100 film quota this summer, but I am going to keep going as if I would. It's not like I want to watch movies any less now that my goal is out of reach, so I'm going to keep watching and blogging until the proverbial cows come home.

I almost couldn't think of a song I wanted to include in today's blog but then I remembered this one. It's called Last Goodbye and it's by Monsters are Waiting:



Oh and I almost forgot the daily awaited Blu-Ray release! Try this one on for size: Agent Cody Banks. BOOM!

I'm mildly concerned that the longer layoff I have between blogs the more and more I forget about these movies. Luckily the movie today's entry is about was a gem!

#15: Away We Go



I don't see this movie having much chance of getting a wide release and I'm going to have to drop a geriatric phrase on you to express my feelings about that: it's a cryin' shame. What had previously been a summer of movies ranging from ho-hum to pretty solid immediately turned the corner with this film, so congratulations readers; you get to read my first truly glittering review!

First off, know that I love John Krasinski. I used to have a man crush on Zach Braff but that has dramatically faded over the last few years so I can now safely say my sole man crush is John Krasinski. I'm not sure what his range as an actor is because I've really only seen him play a few different versions of the same charming awkward guy character, but in terms of that character one couldn't cast the part better than to choose him. With that said, John Krasinski is perfect for his role in this movie. He makes an already well-developed and well-written film even more enjoyable.

Although I wasn't familiar with Maya Rudolph prior to this movie--apparently she is/was on Saturday Night Live?--I wasn't convinced the relationship between the two main characters would be believable. I've been conditioned to see "Jim and Pam" thanks to my Office experience, so anything apart from that pairing seems strange to me. The two could not have made the spark more believable, though. The struggles they go through are tangible, the stupid arguments over minutia they get into are so incredibly real, and they play in love with each other SO well that you'd think they came into the parts already married. This is partly a testament to the writing as the snappy dialogue really helped solidify the relationship between the two characters, but it also speaks volumes about the charisma of the cast.

I'm not quite sure who to credit with the humor. I know Dave Eggers has a knack for dry humor, but I'm not especially familiar with Vendela Vida or Sam Mendes' work. Besides being incredibly emotional, the film had some honestly side-splitting comic moments that were achieved as much through verbal exchanges as through scenarios and even facial expressions. I hardly think it was coincidence so much as it seems like all parties involved found some incredible harmony working on this movie. For one of those indie films about identity discovery through a bizarre journey, I would have to rank this as the best I've seen (and yes, that includes you Garden State).

Scenery is one thing that I cannot rave about enough for this film. I thought that Summer Hours implemented scenery well, but the stark differences that can be seen between settings as the characters transition from place to place was so purposefully done. The final one, especially, complimented the scene so well that no one in the theater was quite willing to get up out of his or her seat as the credits rolled and the music started; it lingered like the last sentence of a great book.

I had to force myself to make this short since I have so much to say about what has been thus far my favorite film of the summer, but when this movie is released on DVD anyone even mildly intrigued by the trailer needs to see it immediately. I cannot advertise it positively enough. Everyone involved with it seems to have added some invaluable piece to what was ultimately a truly remarkable whole.