Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Lets talk about movies!

Like all great things that happen to me, i just got off the treadmill, and it seems when i am on there and the music is tearing my ear drums apart, my brain fires like no other time.  I fear if i even want to become a real writer that i may just have to work out, alot. Uffda.

Lately i have been watching alot of good movies. I'm sure you're super surprised to hear this!

For a weekend we had free HBO and Cinemax and all that glorious jazz. So as usual, Jeromy and i scan through the channels and record the heck out of it until we lose it.

I recorded a few goodies...and a few i regret.

Here's the beginning of this thought bubble.

I would say that until i was 30, i didn't really "know" myself.

There is a particular time i can look back on and specifically remember that that is when i had to take inventory of my life and who i was and who i wanted to be and what i was doing and either make changes, or embrace it.

Its when i finally put my stake in the ground for what i was. Who i was. And its when i decided that i was going to fight for it.

I think about that alot and i realize that alot of the foundational things that i believe in life--more social life--stem from that time.

I look at it and i smile now. Cause i made it out alive and i grew into who i am.  Even if it felt uncomfortable and forced.

One thing that i didn't abandon is my love for all things cinema.  I know people are rolling their eyes at this part. And honestly, i don't care any more, because if you're rolling your eyes, you're only getting the surface of my point and not understanding the depth of my love and the learning that we can take from it.

Ever since i was a kid, i can remember watching shows and wanting to transform into those characters. Man, woman, child--it didn't matter. If i thought someone was "cool", i wanted to emulate it.

I'm talking i went through a major "Charlies Angels" stage where i was pretty certain i could, and possibly would, be one of them.

I would literally put on daisy dukes, these boots i got from Germany, a bandanna and crank up Sir Mix-a-lots "Baby got back" and i would sweat it out in front of my mirror. (please don't try to picture that though, okay?)

Ya, know--I was in "training."

I thought those girls were kick booty and i wanted to be strong like them.

Insert Kill Bill and that killer yellow suit--Awwwww-some!

It wasn't until my recent years that i found my deep love of comedy.

I would waver in the wind as i watched movies, wanting to be a character from each one. Certain my calling was of the same.

I still feel that feeling. Except now it is with a bit of age and an understanding of the opportunities missed and the potential of a young persons life.

I have discovered as i ponder--with great depth--the value and importance of each roll that i want to be.

If i were a famous athlete, would that be enough?

 Is it a musician that i want to be?

Can i still be part of the Armed forces?

Film is my true passion?

Could i write a book?

And it all comes down to this.  No matter what you do--athlete, writer, NAVY, author--What is it that makes all of that even more glorious and palpable???

Its when its put to music and on the big (or small) screen. That's when it becomes electric. When movement is unmatched.

My basketball career is one thing in my mind--but to see the footage set to music with a few random slow mo passes from Julia???

You'd think i was better than Michael Jordan--alright!!

Music and movies are my passion.

And that really means nothing.

Except that i appreciate them and i learn from them and i love them.

Heck, i borderline obsess about them...

I mean,, i was so enamored by Rocky that we would have named Ruby "Rocky" if she would have been a boy......seriously.....i know, right?


(But COME ON, you can't watch this clip and NOT drool and be inspired!!!)

And as i have aged i have learned to look so much deeper into a movie. Its not just surface. Boy meets girl and falls in love. Alien lands on earth and conquers.  Boxer goes against a Russian and wins.

The layers of a movie--are earthshattering--at times.

Now, before you go rolling your eyes and getting all "too good for TV" on me, LISTEN, would ya?!

When my brother started talking to me about music and really talking it out and pointing things out to me and describing the imagery that he was seeing when he heard a song, i suddenly saw it too. It may be why i love the written word so much now. The power it possesses is beyond.... well..... words!!

And it changed the way i listen to music. There is so much more to it--if you just listen.

And if he had never taught me how to hear, to really hear it, and to talk about it --then i never would have even known. And i would have missed alot of beautiful things.

If we don't talk deep, we can't talk deep.

Ya know?

Depth and actually seeing the unseen--is a joy that i can't describe.

To watch the last 30 minutes of Warrior and to see the layer upon layer being exposed and revealed is why i love the movies.  Its not just a fight--Oooooh, no--its so much more.  Its about a relationship. About brokenness and healing. About brothers. Siblings. Family. Loss. Strength and weakness. Possibilities. Overcoming the impossible. Perseverance.....

Get my drift?

If you only see one layer--you are missing so much.

If we never talk about it--we never learn. We never see it. And we miss it. And so much is lost--without us even realizing it was there for the taking.

Yes, dramatic. I know.

But its what gets me through some days.

Sometimes i think, i love movies so much because it allows me to feel. To escape reality. I can feel in movies what i am unable to feel on a daily basis...

And then i immediately think that's probably what crazy people in looney bins are telling them selves every day, too....

And then i cringe--and smile a bit.

Cause they are probably pretty happy if they are so lost in their own brains...

But i digress.....

My binge movies this past week have been 1.) Battleship  2.) We bought a Zoo 3.) Warrior 4.)What to expect when expecting

Now, if you know anything about these movies, you know they are very much not the same.  And that shows you my great depth and love for all things cinema.

Don't get me started on the life lessons that i demand my kids listen to as i describe the role that everyone can play in life, while i make them watch Battleship.

                                   
(this is my favorite scene. Old and new coming together. The teamwork and dedication that transcends all ages. The NAVY. It gets me every time. Plus it doesn't hurt that its set to the greatest song of all time )

Everything has value. That is my main point.

You can find it everywhere.

I am a self proclaimed "real idealist"  I believe its really possibly to live in an ideal world.

I believe that at some point i can fully achieve those characteristics that i admire in others if i try. I believe that someday i can have just the right amount of humor, strength, silence, power, wit and sheer awesomeness that i desire.

That's not my point of this blog though.

My point is to tell people to watch movies. Don't be distracted while doing it (phones, pads, screens)  Just allow yourself to be transformed. Read between the lines and feel what the director is trying to say.

You won't regret it. And you're not too good or busy to try it, believe me--i know you.

Again, i know its alot of movie talk.

But i love it. And it brings me joy.

Watch Battleship,watch Warrior, watch the Longest Yard, watch We bought a zoo, and just try to tell me there isn't so much more than just the story. The plot.

There's life lessons about togetherness, perseverance, teamwork, faith, optimism, family, hope, dreams, mixed in with a little failure, despair, sidesteps, hurdles, and brokenness.

Listen to this clip, hear the music as it comes on, try to feel what thy would feel. Put yourselves in their shoes. Imagine if it was you....who would you be? Which brother are you like? Why is it happening?

(isn't this FUN!!!!  I LOVE it!)
                                           

And thats what i love about the movies.

...me an all the other crazy people in this padded room.....













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