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Sunday, February 1, 2009

And I'm Here to Recruit You

Why have you guys been keeping OAR from me? I don't know if we can continue being friends if you keep hiding things like this from me. 

So anyway, isn't there a game on today or something? 

I saw Milk yesterday - finally. Holy bell-bottoms, that is a good flick. About thirty seconds in, I forgot it was even Sean Penn playing the lead role. I felt so proud watching it, so convinced once again that equal rights for gay and lesbian folks is a straight issue. A black issue. A white issue. A disabled, able-bodied, vision-impaired, seeing, everyone issue. There is no difference between what Harvey Milk wanted and what I want - love, respect, acceptance, dignity. Safety. I couldn't help but crying at several parts of the movie, especially at one point when the crowd is gathering and he yells into the megaphone, "I know you're angry! I'm angry!" (Seen in the linked trailer.) This Booker T. Washington quote kept coming to mind: "You can't hold a man down without staying down with him." Incredibly humbling to watch. I loved it. 

And then I saw The Reader today. Ralph Fiennes is so absolutely magical to me. One look of his is worth twenty lines of dialogue. He has a powerful, brooding, angsty presence that draws me completely in. I adore him. The story itself is a little convoluted, but I loved the book several years ago, and I loved the movie. What's-her-face did good and he did great. Two thumbs up. 

One more best picture nom to see - Frost/Nixon. I enjoyed Benjamin Button, very original, but it didn't hold a candle to Slumdog Millionaire. It will be fun to see the Oscars this year.

5 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you got to see Milk....an amazing piece of history, no??

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  2. I seriously need to get out and see all the oscar-nominated films because I'm throwing an Oscar party!

    I've only seen Slumdog Millionaire so far. I am totally behind.

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  3. Wow, someone has been doing her Oscar research! :D

    I love "Milk" as well. Totally agree with you about not realizing I'm watching Sean Penn. This movie really changed my perspective of him as an actor.

    I think Benjamin Button was great, but there's something missing there that I don't think it's Oscar worthy enough. Brad Pitt did a great job and definitely deserved a nomination, but not enough as a winner in my mind.

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  4. I just bought Milk, Slumdog Millionaire and Benjamin Button. Must hurry up and watch them.

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  5. Loved MILK. Not sure what I think about The Reader. Interesting. It made me think about what a horrible division there must have been between the older wartime generation and their younger kids/grandkids.

    Also - Are you moving because you got laid off? Or was that first?

    And I'm so glad you didn't get cut into pieces by a Craig's list killer!

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