Movie Night with "J. Edgar"

Spoiler Alert!

As soon as this movie came out, I knew that I wanted to see it. I'm a huge history buff, so I knew that this film would be right up my alley. So, the other night, I finally rented and watched it. I have a few thoughts on it and there will be spoilers involved, so keep that in mind before you read this review.

First off, I'm going to go ahed and address the elephant in the room. I have a problem when directors and writers take artistic liberties with historical figures. It has always been a pet peeve of mine. This film sort of irritated me in that regard. They took rumor and ran with it as if it were fact. Truth is, we do not know if J. Edgar Hoover was gay. We have no idea of knowing. History can assume based on what we do know, but we have no way of confirming these rumors. Yes, Hoover was a cross dresser. Yes, he lived with his mother until her death. Yes, he didn't have a family or a wife or a girlfriend. Yes, he was really close to his assistant at the Bureau. But none of these facts can confirm Hoover's sexuality. It's just as likely that the man was asexual or was just very private. I'm not upset that Hollywood is trying to create more movies with gay leading roles. Far from it! I think that is great. I'm just a little miffed that they created a story based solely on rumor. Rumors that will now be seen as fact for future generations. I'm just a little touchy when it comes to messing with historical fact just to "spice up" a storyline.

Now, having said that, this movie was excellent! There was a great storyline, beautiful cinematography, great acting and, despite turning rumors into facts, the film was historically accurate. It was a little slow at first, but there is just enough drama, historical facts, and bits of dry, sarcastic humor to make this a wonderful film.

This is definitely a "Must See".

Movie Night with "The Ides of March"

Warning! Spoiler Alert!

I went into this movie without much to go on. I really hadn't heard anything about it. None of my friends had seen it, so I had no preconceived opinions of it. And that didn't help.

First off, this film was basically a propaganda piece for the Democratic Party. I figured that was going to be the case, as it starred and was directed by George Clooney. Most political thrillers that come out of Hollywood are the same way, so I usually I can over look the liberal bias if there is a good story at the root of the film. That was certainly NOT the case here.

There was a very clichéd storyline with nothing great going on. Basically, it's about a guy who works for a Presidential campaign during the Ohio Primary. He gets involved with an inter, she tells him that the candidate more or less raped her and got her pregnant. She has an abortion, he gets fired, she commits suicide, and he blackmails the candidate. Basically the synopsis of every political thriller ever made.

But what pissed me off the most about this film was the way it ended. After Ryan Gosling's character blackmails "the Governor", played by George Clooney, and is successful in becoming the campaign manager, he is brought into a room to be interviewed. The news people get him situated, the camera lights come on, you hear the interviewer ask a question, then Gosling looks into the camera and then.... NOTHING. The end. They didn't even finish the damn movie. Did they win? Did they loose? What the hell happened? It was like they ran out of money and they had to cut off in the middle of filming or something. It was very much like the Soprano's finale. Just pissed me off.

I was very disappointed in this film. As the political junkie I am, I could see the potential for a great political drama here. What a let down.

This film is definitely rated as a "Save Your Money"!

Just Some Random Shots

This weekend, I was going through my photos and found several that really didn't fit anywhere else. So, I decided to bunch them up into a random file and post them on here. Enjoy!

The "M" Key

Old Glory

A Musical Fruit

Glowing Beads

Zoom at 20,000 Feet

Balloons

I'm working on a few different photo projects right now, so be looking for them in the coming weeks!