I used to look forward to them, before I grew up and the boys started blowing things up in real time then in CGI. I used to like girl films but now am more diverse. Today we saw Iron Man 2 and I liked it. It didn’t blow me away but the actors and some of the witty dialogue kept me awake. As always, the main characters were spot on, and I must give kudos to the butler and valet (director). Hey, you’ve made it a long way since Rudy!
So I enjoyed this first blockbuster and am not looking to Shrek but maybe Robin Hood. My movie cycle is usually pre-Oscar season when they break out the movies for people who don’t need to have things blown up to enjoy a movie.
A dream awakened me before 6:00 this morning and I went downstairs so I wouldn’t wake my husband. I found a movie called “Away From Her” that I watched, and was haunted by the memory of my mother, who didn’t have Alzheimers. The inveterate Julie Christie and Olympia Dukakis, and new to me Gordon Pinset, set a scene that may happen to any of us.
I don’t see anyone donning Iron Man suits but it’s nice that Tony did. Gordon Pinset, in his role of husband of a wife put into private care with Alzheimers, was as much a prisoner as his wife, hers psychologically and his physically and with much mental distress.
Both movies ended with hope. The blockbuster has material for sequels, and the one-off is just that, one of a kind.
As we enter Mothers’ Day, a Hallmark holiday, perhaps florists delight on the other, my mother is gone but there was a Landmark Theatre near where she lived and she used to see all the independent films. I don’t know if she saw this one but she used to work for Alzheimers homes and would have liked it.
Many people don’t want to understand movies with a message, or think they won’t get the message. That’s how I felt years ago. Like going to foreign films with subtitles. You can overcome that. And usually, if it’s an off-beat theatre they may have specialty coffees and German chocolate cake instead of jujubees.
You’ll get the message, no matter what language. The message from “Away From Her” is one of hope and despair, something any of us may encounter as we age. No, we don’t have a metal suit or artificial heart, we live and have real hearts that break on occasion. Hug your spouse and kids, Dee
ps If you’re single, find the right one.
Cooking with Dee 