I went with my mom to see Where'd you Go Bernadette at the Drexel. I loved the book when I read it in 2014 or whenever and talked my mom into reading it shortly after. We've been waiting for the movie for a while! Bernadette is in my top 10 of favorite fictional characters for sure and if I knew enough directors to have a favorite it would be Richard Linklater. Since the book is mostly emails or random receipts and stuff and narrated by Bee I'm sure it was really hard to make it into a movie but I thought it turned out great.
We both totally LOVED the movie! I laughed & cried more than any other time I have in a movie theater. Cate Blanchett killed it as Bernadette, she captured her personality perfectly. The movie stays pretty true to the book except Elgie doesn't have an affair with Soo-Lin which I was really happy about because that's annoying and it would've felt even more out of place in the movie because of the time constraint. My favorite lines from the book made it in too including the fight with Bernadette & Bee vs. Audrey and Bee's "Mom and I lived for each other..". The clothes Bernadette wears in the movie were really awesome and fun to watch too. Bernadette's previous life in LA was portrayed in a documentary which I thought was a really clever way to tell the audience about that essential part of the story.
If you liked the book I highly recommend the movie despite the bad rotten tomatoes reviews. I plan on seeing this again next weekend.
After seeing Lady Bird I thought the best movie of 2017 (IMO) was in the bag butttttt fast forward 5 months and I cannot stop thinking about The Florida Project. WARNING I'm giving my candid thoughts about the film so don't continue reading if you haven't seen it and don't want to know specifics about it. It's a "slice of life" film about a mom and daughter who live in the purple Magic Castle motel near Disney World. The Magic Castle is a real place btw but it looks like it is $55 a night IRL but it was $38 in the movie.
The main character is Moonee, a wild six year old. The portrayal of childhood was the most realistic and vivid that I've ever seen, it was truly magical. Specific things like water being poured over head via a cup for baths, running up and down stairs playing hide and go seek tag in hotels, wandering around outside for hours, and the seemingly unbearable boredom of waiting for your parent to be done with something were things I don't think I've thought of since experiencing them. Of course, the whole movie is about living below the poverty line and just trying to get enough money to get by each day so there are some really, really sad and raw moments too. There were several parts of the movie that I was like "why does everyone always have that reaction to that lol" like how when the old condos were on fire and everyone ran and it was like a big event watching it and Halley wanted to take Moonee's picture with it. I also loveddd when Moonee and Scooty were giving Jancey the low down on everyone in the motel pointing at all of the people's doors while walking by. That is so true how when people live close in vicinity like that and are living their separate lives simultaneously they are still intrinsically connected because of where they live.
The movie portrays the poor and marginalized by giving you a peek at what their life and struggles look like for a typical summer. It was key that the movie didn't try and get you to feel one way about the main characters or explain how they got there, it just let them live. Oh, also I thought it was cool that Sean Baker used mostly first time actors and literally found the girl who plays Halley on IG. I hope I'm not turning into a huge worrywart because in several scenes starting with the fire scene I felt tons of impending doom and was SO worried someone was going to get hurt and stuff.
The FL Project was timely for me because earlier this week I listened to the Hidden Brain on "the scarcity trap" and how when people are in the mode of trying to figure out what they need to survive the day they are very resourceful and thrifty but that prevents them from thinking and planning long term which is why if they get money they often spend it right away without thinking of trying to stretch it out etc. Your brain can also get into that mode when you're really, really desperate for sleep or friends the podcast mentioned. I totalllly thought of this in the scene when Halley & Moonee had just gotten the man to buy the wristbands and got $400 or something and were like "we're rich" and went on a little shopping spree and got plastic jewelry and stuff.
I didn't hate the ending at all, I was sad the movie was ending just because I was kinda hooked on their life and when Sean Baker switched to filming on an iphone I was like OMG is this the end this can't be the end and tried to pause the movie to see how much time was left.
Overall, HIGHLY encourage watching it's on Amazon right now for your viewing pleasure.
I feel like I have told everyone that I know multiple times that they absolutely must see this movie but really everyone NEEDS to see it. I saw it twice this past weekend and got to see an early screening of it with one of my roomies a few weeks ago. I've always wanted a movie that I can watch over and over again and enjoy it as much as a little kid loves their favorite repeat movie, like Blair Waldorf had with Breakfast at Tiffany's, well I think this could finally be my feel good movie! It is full of funny moments, Mary's (Rachel McAdams) quirky personality who is at times eerily similar to me, acts of love, selflessness, positive attitudes, Anthropologieesque clothes and home decor, and a prime soundtrack.
Have you seen this movie yet? Did you fall in love with it as much as I did?
