Today was a Friday. I woke up still not feeling well, but after some warm beverage and some food, I started to feel better. Not great, but better. I couldn't sit around and do nothing again for another day though, so I cleaned, did some laundry, filled out some forms, looked for jobs and took Frankie for a walk. In an effort to focus on the good in life and on what made me happy, today's photo is of some flowers I received last week after one of my shows. The colors and textures of them today just really helped to brighten my day.
Then Curtis and I met up to go buy Frankie some food and then head into a busy night.
We saw the movie "The Blindside". Curtis's blog about this seems to imply that he didn't like it that much, but, for the record, he laughed his ass off at several parts and seemed to enjoy it just fine until he started to think about it too much afterward. ;-) I really enjoyed it both during and after. It did seem over simplified at certain points, and a little too good to be true in other points, but overall, it was uplifting, hopeful and yeah, it was pretty "feel good". I feel like "feel good" movies get a really bad rap. They are not usually "Oscar Contenders" and the actors in them frequently get accused of not being "REAL" or "Serious" actors. I take offense to that. Movies are entertainment. If they have a message that's great too, and if they explore some dark, weird, or sick human faults as well, then so be it. But in recent years SO MANY Oscar contenders have been so very dark. I didn't care that they mostly nominated art house, very small independent movies that a lot of people hadn't seen, what I cared about was how if a movie was dark and depressing it was more likely to be considered Oscar Worthy big or small.
As someone who likes to see as many Oscar Nominated films as she can before the ceremony, I find this to be kind of silly. Yes, dark, deep movies without happy endings often showcase great acting and directing. But let's not forget that there is an art to comedy and comedic timing as well. Some very well respected "serious" actors might not be able to hang comically. I have a huge respect of how hard it can be to be funny. It might look easy but that doesn't mean it is. And for actors both drama and comedy require a refinement of skill. I find it actually easier to sink into heavier, darker roles than I do to do comedy. Most acting teachers will tell you the same. Let's not forget the great ying and yang in entertainment: you can't have bad without good, hero without villain, funny without sad, drama without comedy. Both light and dark deserve respect.
My point is, a lot of people don't think that Sandra Bullock deserves an Oscar because she normally does feel good movies and comedies and not "serious stuff". Well, I call bullshit on that. Why shouldn't an actress who has made millions of people laugh and feel happy and forget their own icky life problems for a bit not be given an award? Especially such a subjective award for a very, very subjective subject like acting? Sandra Bullock made a lot of people a lot of money this past year. The business deserves to award her for that if they want to.
In any case, I hate that people look down their noses at movies that make us happy. Or that show us the GOOD side of humanity. Movies that showcase how bad we can be as humans are necessary to remind of this in poignant, powerful ways. I feel like we are somewhat desensitized to the news these days as dark and real and awful as it is and sometimes these message movies have a good impact on people. But for me, they just make me more sad. So, it was kind of nice to end my Oscar quest to see as many nominated movies as possible on the nice, hopeful bright side of The Blindside. And also, it's not like it was all sunshine and rainbows in "The Blindside" because they do show how poverty, drugs and racism can affect the world and the people in the world. But it didn't feel preachy. Which was another reason I liked it.
I am still one movie short of seeing all ten though. I did not see "A Serious Man". I just didn't care that much and I heard nothing good about it. I'm not even sure why it was nominated. I know ten is a lot of slots to fill but I heard such good things about other films. Moon comes to mind. Why wasn't that nominated? I'd still like to see that film. Or the movie Colin Firth is nominated for "A Single Man"? I heard that was great too. Why "A Serious Man"?
Anyway, sorry for the rant. I just really liked The Blindside and I feel that it and Sandra Bullock got a bad rap. After so many movies about struggles and strife, it was nice to see a happy ending in an Oscar Nominated Film. I also really enjoyed "Up In The Air", "An Education" and "Crazy Heart". And I appreciated "District 9" and "The Hurt Locker" but I have no desire to see them again because they just made me too sad. So, don't think I am totally unsophisticated, I do like more complex themes in movies as well. ;-) I've also liked a lot of dark, depressing movies. But my point is just that "feel good" movies get a bad rap for not being real "films" but a lot of films from the "Golden Age of Hollywood" are happy go lucky, sappy and wonderful movie musicals and we consider them "Real films". And many of them won lots of awards in their day!
Life is hard. Very hard right now for a lot of people. There's a lot of darkness and strife. Sometimes it's just nice to see a happy story and forget my own problems and the problems of the world for a bit and leave feeling happy and hopeful.
Today we also stopped by Oui's birthday party at The Slidebar in Fullerton. We got there early enough to avoid too much douche baggery and left when it started to get loud and annoying and full of douche baggy guys. Since I wasn't feeling great I didn't have the energy to deal with the loudness and the crowds that come with being in a bar after 10 pm on a Friday or Saturday.
And that was the day!
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