The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

This bittersweet sequel tells as charming a story as the first movie. All the characters returned with the addition of Guy Chambers, played by Richard Gere. He plays a character with a mysterious reason for coming to the hotel. Sonny, played by Dev Patel, claims to have "a nose that knows". His intuition is telling him that Guy is "the guy" being sent by the San Diego-based company Sonny and Muriel (Maggie Smith) solicited for funding to expand their business with a second hotel. Their partnership is much more than a business relationship. They genuinely care for one another, and the chemistry between them is very sweet.

Sonny has big dreams of success, but continues to be threatened by his perceived nemisis, Kushal (Shazad Latif). He sees the ever-charming Kushal as much more charismatic and successful, and when Kushal tries to interject himself into Sonny's dreams and plans, Sonny becomes threatened. He also sees Kushal as someone who can threaten his impending marriage to Sunaina (Tina Desai).

Evelyn (Judi Dench) continues to grow and thrive in Jaipur as the temporary buyer for a fabric company. She is so successful at it, in fact, that she is offered a permanent job with the company, which includes travel. "But I'm seventy-nine years old", she exclaims when offered the position. "We don't care if you don't", is the employer's reply. Not something we would hear in America I think. Her continuing (non)relationship with Douglas (Bill Nighy) is comfortable as is for her, but Douglas has a different perception of it. He sees them as a couple, and genuinely wants their relationship to move forward. He wants her to meet his daughter, for example, but she always finds reasons to avoid commitment with him.

Guy becomes interested in Sonny's mother (Lillete Dubey), and thereby creates a different threat to Sonny's comfort zone of family. He claims to be at the hotel because his wife left him and he decided to write a book about an aging man heading towards the abyss of old age and loneliness. His interest in Mrs. Kapoor also sparks the strong matriarch to question her own life plan, and softens her heart to new possibilities never before considered.

One thing this movie does, as does its predecessor, is demonstrate that getting older provides opportunities for new chapters and beginnings, not endings and the inevitable finale. Getting older breathes new life into lives that if they had not chosen an adventure in India, would certainly have ended in loneliness and misery before death took its grip on each one. It is a sweet story, with rich characters, wonderful acting, and great music. It is not a fast-paced adventure, but a slow and steady portrait of living live to the fullest at any age.

Larry and I gave it "two thumbs up". I hope you see it and enjoy it as much as we did.

Are you coming to the tree?

This movie is Part 1 of the last book in the trilogy. It is the best, according to Larry. He liked it better than the second movie: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire. I liked all three Hunger Games movies, but I agree with Larry: this one has something special. The emotion portrayed is phenomenal. Jennifer Lawrence proves her acting prowess here for sure. In my mind, this series is where her career began. She has done other wonderful characters like Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook, but Katniss Everdeen is by far the character she will become most famous for. She was wonderful in this movie.

It has been some time since I read all the books, so I didn't remember much of the story. I'm sure the Director, Francis Lawrence (I am Legend and Constantine), took some artistic license with the story, because I don't remember several of the scenes portrayed in the movie as being in the book. That fact didn't matter to me. I said to Larry as we were walking out of the theater, "I think that anyone, even if they haven't read the books or seen the other movies, could appreciate this movie in and of itself." It was that good. It was emotional, as I said, but also exciting, and suspenseful. It had great special effects and scenery. The devastation in District 12, for example, was amazing. Jennifer's acting really carried it.

Now, that said, I am not demeaning the subtle portrayal by Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, who was both believable and relatable. Of course, Peeta Mellark played by Josh Hutcherson was also very good. I love an actor who can cry what looks like real tears. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy and Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket were also very good. Julianne Moore as President Alma Coin of District 13 was also good. Philip Seymour Hoffman was his usual great character as Plutarch Heavensbee. There was a special memorial tribute to him in the credits, so I am assuming this was one if not the last role of his career. The acting throughout the movie was great. It is a VERY entertaining movie, and its two hours flew by. It ended in a very good place and set us up nicely for Part 2. I cannot wait for the last movie of the series. I know what happens, but that doesn't matter. I love seeing what Hollywood does with a story.

Ah, by far the biggest surprise of this movie was discovering that Jennifer Lawrence can SING! She sang "The Hanging Tree" anthem, and did a wonderful job of it. Her voice is a bit gritty, but right on note. I was very impressed. And, the movie's theme song by Lorde, Yellow Flicker Beat, was really, really good.

By all means, go see this movie! You will want to go read the books or see the other movies if you haven't imbibed in the series yet. It's not just for tweens. The premise insights my rebel self. I love that.

Oh, before I forget (and last but not by any means least), Donald Sutherland plays a great evil dictator as President Snow. Love the white rose motif. He has come so far from the movie, Mash, as Hawkeye Pearce. My oh my.

"The Hanging Tree"

This song was taught to Katniss Everdeen by her father, Mr. Everdeen, when she was young. Her mother, Mrs. Everdeen heard her singing the song and watched Prim making necklaces of rope to go with it with Katniss. Fearful, Mrs. Everdeen yelled at Mr. Everdeen, who told Katniss to forget the song lyrics. This caused Katniss to run into the meadow under a tree crying, and of course remembered every word of the song. After Mr. Everdeen's death, the song played itself over and over in Katniss's head. When she was younger she didn't know what it meant, but eventually she understood that the person singing the song was a dead man calling for his lover to come join him in death. Before her mother banned it, Katniss and Prim made rope necklaces like in the song. It meant that a life of torture must have not been worth living. At one point in revelation, Katniss really understands what this means, because she knows that being tortured by the Capitol is a much worse fate than death. Katniss sings this to Pollux after she plays with the mockingjays, which brought him to tears. This song is mentioned many times throughout Mockingjay. An official version has been recorded for Mockingjay Part 1.
Are you, Are you
Coming to the tree
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree
Are you, Are you
Coming to the tree
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree
Are you, Are you
Coming to the tree
Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.
Are you, Are you
Coming to the tree
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.
Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it be,
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

"It's the best job I ever had."

If you want to see how gritty, dirty and painful war is, Fury is the movie to see. It is the most realistic war movie since Saving Private Ryan, and is the first movie I've seen that portrays tank warfare. It did not glorify or romanticize war, but in a way the latter was depicted through soldier comradery. The quote I used as my title was said by each soldier in turn with a sweet smile of contentment. It is a deeply disturbing movie. The acting is impeccable. Is there any part Brad Pitt cannot nail?

Portraying a tough, seasoned Sargent and leader of the tank named, Fury, who began WWII in Africa, "Wardaddy" Collier snuck off regularly to feel the pain war brought to his heart and mind. He only took a minute or so each time, but I was impressed that Director, David Ayer (Training Day and Fast and Furious), brought this painful reflection to his character. Sargent Collier was a proven leader, who was tough as nails and a survivor.

Everybody got a "war name". The youngest recruit to join Fury's team, Norman played by Logan Lerman, was "trained to type 60wpm", not mow down Nazis. He was thrown from the frying pan into the fire, as the young kid only in the Army eight weeks before finding himself replacing a killed Fury gunner. He finally got his war name after we watched him transform from that sweet, idyllic kid into a killing "Machine". He could have been anybody's son nowadays. His transformation was so painful to witness.

Shia LaBeouf played "Bible" Swan. He was a southern boy who was raised with his Bible. He quoted from it often, and prayed with dying soldiers on the field. God was on his side and protected them all. He was the proverbial "Soldier for God". He did a great job with this role. I read in People magazine recently that Mr. LaBeouf has been experiencing emotional and psychological problems of late, so this very emotional role seemed perfect. Either that or it threw him over the edge.

I thought of men I knew who experienced war while watching this film: my father, my grandfather, my son's father and friends, and realized why those men rarely talked about their experiences. I met returning Vietnam solders who were purported to wear necklaces of enemy ears over there, and this movie helped show me how that happens to a person. A seemingly normal person enters the military, and war brings out the animal that lies within. I somehow understood their need to damage nice things; steal, victimize weaker personalities, abuse one another and yell a lot. That animal can get out of control in an environment without any controls. There are regulations, but in this movie everybody was always on their own.

This is a very well acted movie that I am having a hard time shaking off. Nobody needs to become the war machine we call "soldier", but in this movie, soldiers create a bond with one another that is almost enviable. I just wish that bond could once and for all be created around some activity that did not involve killing.

This is definitely a big screen movie. It is intense and fast paced from the get go. One saving grace is the mild interlude in the middle. You'll just have to see it to find out what I'm talking about.

Unbroken

On Christmas Day, Unbroken will be released. It is a new movie, directed by Angelina Jolie, about the book of the same title authored by Laura Hillenbrand. Larry and I listened to the audio book on our most recent trip down to SC. We often listen to audio books on our long road trips now. These books turn the mundane driving into something else entirely. Unbroken is a true, but heart-wrenching story of Louis Zamparini, an Olympic runner turned POW.

It is a story of survival and resilience. It will make a great movie. I think with Angelina Jolie directing it, she will likely graphically depict the truth of what happened to Zamparini. It will be as difficult to watch as it was to hear, I am sure. But, it is a story well worth telling, and we can't wait to go see it.

The Hundred Foot Journey

My mouth is still watering a day after viewing this lovely film. I felt like I was insulting the gift of food with the dinner Larry and I ate out last night after this movie. The cinematography was just beautiful, as were the people in it. I want to go to France and visit this restaurant in the beautiful village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, Tarn-et-Garonne, France. Realistically, Larry and I couldn't figure out how a restaurant so far outside the village could be such a success, but that's what going to the movies is all about: leaving reality. I'd love to know if the property depicted in the film really exists.

After leaving their beloved India, the Kadam family find themselves outside a lovely village in France. They luckily avoid a potentially fatal car accident after brakes in the family car fail, and Papa (lovingly played by Om Puri) swerves to avoid hitting a large tractor on a one-lane dirt road. The road lay above the picturesque village in a valley nestled in the Pyrenees mountains of southern France. As the family engages with people they meet there, words of Papa's deceased wife come back, "Brakes break for a reason." Destiny, and Mama, brought them to this village.

As they are being towed into the village, Papa spies a run-down property for sale. At dawn the next morning, he walks back to look at the property with his now grown son stalking behind him. This son is "just a cook", according to his own definition of himself. He learned flavors from his Mama, who was the cook in the family's restaurant in Mumbai, India. One of my favorite opening scenes, is Mama pulling her young son along a very crowded market street chasing a man carrying a basket of sea urchins on his head. She, along with many other people, are shoving money in the man's face to buy his entire supply of urchins. While they are all yelling in his face, the scene quiets down as he watches the young boy pick one up, smell it lovingly, then tastes the fruit of the urchin like it was manna from Heaven. The boy's face is so at peace with his eyes closed and his mouth savoring the delicacy before him. The man yells for everyone to be quiet and says, "For the boy who has it." He meant "it" to be the gift of food appreciation. And so, our cook in time becomes a chef.

The property he insists he will buy when his children think he's crazy (because it is his and Mama's money; not the childrens') , sits across the road from a very upscale restaurant run by the widowed Madame Mallory, played by none other than Helen Mirren. Who doesn't love her? The previous property owners, who also ran a restaurant, left town because they were intimidated by Madame Mallory's single Michelin Star rating. "A single star means you are good. Two stars means you are excellent. But attaining three stars means you are one with the gods."(I am paraphrasing a line from the movie here.) The goal of every French restaurant is to receive at least two stars. Madame Mallory's restaurant serves fine French traditional cuisine.

The Kadam family opens an Indian restaurant across the road, but finds it difficult to bring in customers. Papa's children are always embarrassed at his behavior. "This is not India. You can't stand out front and coax people in!" they yell at him. But, Papa, knows theatrics help with marketing, so after creating a wooden entrance feature that looks like a palace in India, he decides to dress in traditional golden clothes, complete with turbin, and captures his first customers by scooping up their little dog, talking sweetly, and acting like he was bringing them into his home. This tactic became successful, and in a short time, the restaurant was getting customers. His success was much to the dismay of Madame Mallory, who made it her mission to find every ordinance violation he was making and filing formal complaints against him and the restaurant.

Meanwhile, her head chef was getting more and more angry at "the curry smell everywhere. It is an insult to the senses!" he yells as he slams the kitchen window. Madame Mallory called her chef a soldier, and I think he took this as a "hint" to take matters into his own hands to get those rabble out of town. She finds out what he has instigated and fires him on the spot. Her heart softens towards the Indians across the road, and in the rain walks over to wash off the graffiti painted on their stone wall. Papa comes out and sees her. Their eyes meet, and he hands her an umbrella. Thus begins a most unlikely friendship.

Love and compatibility of cultures, food and personalities is what this movie depicts in a gorgeous setting. The young son, Hassan (played by the incredibly handsome, Manish Dayal. His eyes just kill me. What a face!), befriends Madame Mallory's Sous-Chef, the beautiful Marguerite, played by Charlotte Le Bon. He asks her advice about softening hard corn, and how she became professionally trained as a chef. He asks her if there is a book he can read, and she gifts him some, which he studies every night. Cooking is his passion, and eventually his true gift is revealed. But, "be careful what you wish for" is another theme of the movie. There is loneliness at the top, as Hassan discovers. Being the best is not enough in life if you have no one to share it with.

We loved this movie. It was a sweet love story, that was beautifully shot. The food introduced made my mouth water, and also made me want to follow a recipe once in a while, just to shake things up.
I think it is the perfect date move. This was also the first collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey. They should do more of this. Great job.

Gravity

Opening scene: beautiful view of earth from space and....silence. Slowly, from the side you think you hear something, then it gets louder and a littler louder and...

This is a wild ride of a movie. It is chock full of excitement, suspense and beauty. IMAX makes you feel like you are floating outside the Hubble Space Telescope while Dr. Ryan Stone, played by Sandra Bullock tries to figure out why NASA isn't receiving her data downloads. Matt Kowalski (the ever-cool George Clooney) is on his last mission and is trying to beat the space walk record using a new jet pack and shows how fun it would be to fly around in space with the Earth as his backdrop. Soon, all hell breaks looks and off we go!

Larry had fun picking on the technical impossibilities or improbabilities, but we quickly decided picking it apart isn't worth it because the experience is so well done anyway. I could feel the desperation in Dr. Stone's voice as she tumbles helplessly ass over tea kettle off towards the stars. The umpf's heard as she hits and misses grabbing onto something to attach to space vehicles and keeping from reaching for that bar myself with 3D believability was great. I particularly loved watching tear drops float off her face toward mine and flames floating inside the Soyuz space shuttle as wiring catches fire. This film has humor, fear, sadness and acceptance of one's doomed fate all wrapped up in a beautiful package that leaves me wondering how they did that.

One thing I could have done without are the crotch shots of Ms. Bullock. Really? She's skinny, but we didn't need those...at all.

It is so fun, you just have to go see it. Don't miss the opportunity to watch in 3D IMAX either. You'll be glad you did.

Elysium

Before I say anything about this action-packed futurama portraying the seeming inevitable human destruction of planet earth, once again, I have to state, "I am getting sick of these stories!" Human beings have been fighting for centuries to make this planet a better place to live, right? Tree huggers of every generation have fought our most greedy selves to keep forests green and the oceans blue-green. Haven't we? New age gurus keep proselytizing about "living our best lives" and "being our highest selves", but film makers and television producers keep making films and programs about earth's destruction and the human will to survive it. I guess "peace, love and joy" don't sell tickets. That's our fault. 'Nuf said.

Elysium is just that: action packed, and portrays humans at their most selfish and most courageous. Matt Damon plays Max, a "bad boy" with a reputation in 2154 Los Angeles, trying to go straight and make a better life for himself. He grew up in an orphanage run by nuns, and was told by one nun that he was born for something very special. There he meets Frey, played by Alice Braga, and the two become fast friends and life-long "soul mates". Frey draws M+F with a circle over it on Max's hand before she leaves the orphanage. Max, we find out, has that drawing tatooed on his arm to remind him of his only love for the rest of his life. The best part of this movie for me was Matt Damon's abs and the tattoos all over his buff body. Sweat is forming on my top lip just thinking about it.

Jodi Foster plays Delacourt, head of security on the space station, Elysium, that sits majestically over Los Angeles as a symbol of the rich and privileged. On Elysium, the future 1% live in complete luxury with every disease easily curable. Ms. Foster is ruthless and lusts for power to control the station, like a mother wolf protects her young: with stealth and viciousness. She shoots down any shuttle from earth trying to invade Elysium's air space without blinking an eye, while kissing babies and "holding court". The President is just in her way, and after being threatened and shown her "place", she aptly shows him his.

But, Delacourt cavorts with depravity as a means to her greedy and powerful end by purchasing the services of Kruger, a sick and dangerous man, who will kill anything for a buck. Kruger is not stupid, and he is very powerful. He is a match for both the have's and have-not characters in this dark film.

But, the light comes in Max, who ultimately sacrifices himself for love, and brings about a happy ending. I love happy endings, but this movie left me wanting. It was a disappointment, and unless you have to see fights and on the big screen, I'd wait to see it free in the comfort of your living room.