2013: The Impossible

The Impossible

Genre: Drama

Main Players: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland

General Gist: One family's story about being caught in the 2004 tsunami that hit Thailand.

Tiff's Take: 
A personal tidbit of information about me...Since high school I've had dreams/nightmares about natural disasters on a consistent basis.  It started out with tornadoes.  I'm guessing because I was getting ready to go to college in the Midwest.  Tornadoes were foreign to this Montana girl.  Once I got used to being in the Midwest, tornado nightmares became fewer (and less nightmarish) and I started to have tsunami-ish type nightmares.  Why?  I have no clue.  I've never lived by the ocean (at least not close enough where it would affect me in any way) and most likely never will so maybe it's just the unknown factor.  Who knows.  I'm weird. 

So we decide to go to this movie.  Smart move?  Maybe not.  Sometimes I'm not sure why I do the things I do.  Nevertheless we went and boy was it a doosie.  It was so intense that I hardly had a chance to eat my popcorn!  The underwater scenes made me feel super claustrophobic.  But luckily there were a lot of after the fact scenes that didn't include water.  Lucky being a relative term. 

This movie showed you what it might be like to live out your worst nightmare.  Especially as a parent.  It really gave you a take on this kind of tragedy that I don't think we often see when we're just watching the news.  It was so fascinating in a train wreck kind of way.  You didn't want to watch but you couldn't help yourself.  All the actors did a really great job especially Tom Holland who played the oldest son.  I won't tell you if it ended bad or good or who lived or died but I really think it's worth seeing.  Just keep in mind that it's fairly graphic and not for the light of heart.                     

Tiff's Rate: Friday Night

Deb's Take:  So maybe it runs in the family.  I have dreams about natural disasters as well.  Mine started as fires, next tornadoes, and I won't lie, when I was in Hawaii I looked at the ocean with a sense of fear most of the time...waiting for the Tsunami to hit unexpectedly.  Geesh....So, again why did we pick this movie?  Maybe because it was a true story...Oh great!  Not only a "nightmare" but also factual, making it more scary.

Man, all I can say is, the news doesn't do disaster justice.  What a mess.  I sat in complete and utter shock.  Love your family everyday my friends....every single day!

The movie was very well acted.  I agree with Tiff that Tom Holland was outstanding, as well as Naomi Watts.  The story was pretty suspenseful and kept you on the edge of your seat.  I really did feel like I was watching some one's personal video at times.  An extraordinarily done movie, but be prepared for intense. 

Deb's Rate: Friday Night

Week 46: J. Edgar

We went and saw J. Edgar for week 46.  My father-in-law really wanted us to go see this one for obvious reasons being a former FBI agent and all.  He actually saw it the night it came out and was curious what my take would be.  His take wasn't very good.  I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it yet though.

First of all I should mention that if I didn't marry into the family I did I probably wouldn't be able to tell you who J. Edgar Hoover was.  That's the sad truth when it comes to my knowledge of certain US history.  I get ridiculed on a daily basis from my husband.  Can I confess something else?  Even though I have been apprised of who J. Edgar Hoover is I wouldn't bet my life on the fact that I could have told you who it was if I was put on the spot.  I'm just being honest here. 

That being said, I really had no idea what to expect with this movie.  I had no prejudices one way or the other.  Because of this I will say I was completely shocked with the turn of events.  Obviously, this is someones opinion of J. Edgar Hoover so you really don't know what is fact or fiction but wow.  This was one colorful guy.

This movie portrayed Hoover as ruthless, egotistical, paranoid, a mama's boy (almost to the point of creepy) and gay.  I had no idea.  I can't say this movie really gave an opinion one way or the other about the FBI in general.  It was more about Hoover as a person.  And I wouldn't say it was the most flattering depiction.  Leonardo DiCaprio played Hoover and he was fantastic.  I heard there was Oscar talk for his role.  I think it would be well deserved.  Judi Dench played his mom, Naomi Watts his secretary and Armie Hammer as his "second in command".  All did great. This movie was sort of dark and creepy but I would recommend it.   

To Sum it up: Well done, well acted and very fascinating.