Knit One, Watch Two Again....

Welcome to the third installment of my intermittent movie reviews for knitters.  Instead of reporting on movies about  knitting, I like to focus on how the movie accompanies knitting.  And here we go!

Not as pointy as it sounds....

The Final Cut - 2004, starring Robin Williams

The first of my review duo is The Final Cut, starring Robbin Williams as a "cutter", one who edits the memories of people to be played back after death for their loved ones.  Although seemingly innocuous at first, it becomes clear that the Zoe chip is quite controversial regarding individual privacy (the person with the chip is recording everything, including personal interactions, with or without the knowledge or consent of others involved) as well as the way human being experience life (in the moment versus for the sake of the recording).  Alan (Robin Williams) is haunted by his own past and find a path to its resolution while being hunted by an anti-Zoe group for knowledge he holds regarding a client's implant.

All in all, this movie was not bad.  It was very moody and dark and I love Williams in more serious roles.  It was suspenseful and philosophical.  There was not as much action as I thought there would be, and the storyline with the anti-Zoe group felt a little thready, but it felt very relevant for this age of living publicly through social media and our efforts to control what parts of our lives other people see.  Knitwise, it definitely fit the bill.  Most of the movie was expressed verbally, so I could absorb a lot without dropping a stitch.  A small cast made following the who's who easy, and I did find myself thinking about the philosophical questions the movie posed.  The Final Cut gets rated as a KNIT.

An intellectual escapes in this tale of intellectual escapism!

Night Train to Lisbon  - 2013, starring Jeremy Irons, Melanie Laurent and Jack Huston

An emotionally isolated professor (Jeremy Irons) is compelled to learn about the life of a Portuguese revolutionary poet and doctor when a book lands in his hands courtesy of a mysterious suicidal young woman.  On his journey, he connects with the people who most figured in the poet's life and comes to reevaluate the meaning of his own life's path. Based on the book by Pascal Mercier.

I found this movie quite lovely.  A quiet suspense unfolded as we learn more and more about the events that defined the doctor/poet's place in history.  Betrayals and intrigues abound, but melodrama is set aside for vulnerability and sincerity.  Though literate and understated, the film does it's job well in illustrating the violence and fear that surrounded the events of the revolution against the Estado Novo regime. Though visually very appealing, the story is told mostly through conversation and brief, beautifully written philosophical passages.  The atmosphere of the film is great for when you want a quite, literate ambiance for your knitting, and I was able to follow an impossible-to-memorize lace pattern and still keep up.  Night Train to Lisbon gets a well-deserved KNIT.

Knit One, Watch Two - Scene Two

Hello, Gentle Readers (and Watchers)!  This is the second installment of Knit One, Watch Two.  I hope you find it useful!

Happy - 2011, directed by Roko Belic

This documentary travels the globe in search of the true meaning of happiness and how people define this often elusive aspect of life.  On this journey we find that, across cultures, we are more alike and interconnected than we may have thought, and these similarities could be the key to finding true happiness.

I am not usually one for documentaries, but this one was highly recommended by a friend.  And rightly so.  Just watching Happy brought a smile to my face.  The people who have found contentment and purpose in their lives sent their positive energy to me right through the screen.  Unless you are fluent in many languages, however, you will have to juggle your project and subtitles to get the full stories of some of the people featured, but not the whole time.  I loved that I was doing something that made me feel happy and fulfilled while watching a movie about achieving just such a feeling.  Initially, I thought I was going to be able to use this film as a means of justifying a lazy day of knitting, but it really became more about being in the moment and experiencing the bliss of a simple, productive activity.  I give Happy a hearty rating of KNIT.

Columbus Circle - 2012, starring Selma Blair and Amy Smart

An heiress in hiding, a mysterious death, and a detective with suspicions and questions aplenty, this movie is a nod to the film noir genre of years past.  

I had high hopes for this movie.  I love film noir.  And I love Selma Blair.  But Columbus Circle was plagued throughout with awkward writing and very disappointing acting. The latter, I suspect, is the result of the misguided efforts of a director trying too hard to stay true to the style of past decades and ignoring the sensibilities of present-day audiences.  There were also several improbable circumstances regarding identity and the assumption or erasing thereof (a main theme of the film) that completely ignores the post-9/11 world we now live in.  It was as though the script was originally written as a period piece, but was changed at the last minute to save on costume design.  The good news is, if you must watch it, the plot is mainly dialog driven, so at the very least it will not slow your knitting down too much.  Needless to say, with its overreaching direction and poor writing, I give Columbus Circle a FROG.

Knit One, Watch Two - Entry the First

This morning, I knew I needed to start thinking about my next blog entry, but all I really wanted to do was watch movies and knit Mr. Deep's socks.  Then it hit me: why not write about that?  I just need to at least minimally veil it as sharing advice and information as opposed to merely keeping my audience abreast of my slacking activities.  Ergo, "Knit one, Watch Two", in which I will share my completely uneducated and off-the-cuff well-formed and highly valid opinions of movies from a variety of genres and how these films contribute to the knitting (or crocheting) experience.  There will be two movies per entry and the reviews, which I will try to keep brief, may or may not be accompanied by details on my current project, imbibables, etc.  I would like to make this a somewhat regular feature of my blog, so I hope you enjoy it.  Therefore, without further ado......

Knit One, Watch Two - Chapter 1

The Awakening (Ooooh...A Scaaaary One....) 2011, starring Rebecca Hall and Dominic West

Despite the evident period-piecey-ness of this movie's cover (is it a cover if it's on a movie?), do not confuse it with the novel of the same name by Kate Chopin.  The Awakening is a classically Gothic ghost tale taking place in post WWI England at a boarding school for boys.  The school is plagued by the supposed phantom of a child rumored to have been murdered on the premises years ago.  Florence Cathcart, a scientist focused on disproving the supernatural, arrives on the scene (after some considerable persuasion) to shake some sense into the hysterical spirit-spiers.  If only it were that easy.... 

I found The Awakening to be wonderfully atmospheric, so much so that I had to scamper off to the kitchen to make a spot of tea. It just felt right. You will not want to miss the beautifully filmed imagery here, so I would suggest a pattern you have already memorized.  And when things get scary (and they do), you will not want to have your nose buried in a complicated chart or rows of abbreviations.  There is a lot of visual information, so let your needles pause here and there to watch the quieter moments of the film.  All in all, I really enjoyed The Awakening and found its dark, misty mood perfect for cozy knitting.  Though not the most original storyline in the world, I find I am more interested in how a tale is told than what last-minute plot twists come about in the end, and The Awakening engaged me at every turn.  I give this film a rating of KNIT.

(Speaking of last-minute plot twists, I have just now decided to rate films KNIT or FROG.  I bet you can tell which means good and which does not.)    

Jesus Henry Christ - 2011, starring Toni Collette, Michael Sheen

Henry James Herman is a freakishly intelligent 10-year-old boy (2nd highest IQ ever recorded!) and product of a sperm donation who is being raised by his understandably neurotic yet totally rockin' single mother.  As most of his family was wiped out in one form or another before he was born, the roots-hungry Henry sets out to find his biological father.  In the process, he and everybody else involved discover more about family ties than they ever expected.  Awwwww....
 
Normally, the very hint of "heartwarming" sends me running in the opposite direction, but I have to say I loved this movie.  Teetering on the edge of magical realism (my favorite kind of realism), there are some really great images and playfully bizarre (if dark) situations.  And the soundtrack is quite righteous.  For the most part, the film is dialog-driven, so you won't get lost if you have to focus your eyes on your project, but make sure you visually check in often!  Moodwise, this is the perfect film for a hip knit or some vintage-style crochet work.  I give this film a KNIT.