"You are a lazy, self-indulgent, little girl, who is making herself crazy."

Lisa: Hey Torch.

Polly: Hey Lisa.

Lisa: Did you miss me?

Polly: Not much.

I have a habit of watching good movies. If they are recommended, I watch them. This movie just happened to blow a few of them out of the park. Girl, Interrupted starring Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder gives its viewers a special take on a 1960s private mental hospital. Claymoore is full of patients that may or may not be dangerous to each other but there is one character that is not dangerous to anyone except herself. Susanna, after attempting suicide with aspirin washed down with vodka, lives with the other girls in her ward and sees what it’s like to be legally crazy. She can’t help but get attached to Lisa, the wards only sociopath because of her sane presence. Lisa Rowe is the only one who is comfortable with who she is and she lets everyone know it. After many runaways and shock therapy sessions Lisa hasn’t changed a bit. Susanna faces the question of sanity more than once. Is she crazy or is she just unhappy? Can she get better? Is the choice to deteriorate solely her own? She is having a hard time deciding if she wants to live in the ward forever or force herself to get better. Find out in this stunning movie if Susanna and Lisa can get past their illness or if they will always be Girl, Interrupted.

Angelina Jolie has to be talked about…

Jolie plays Lisa Rowe in this film and it is her best performance yet.

Lisa: Playing the villain, baby, just like you want. I try to give you everything you want.

Susanna: No you don't.

Lisa: You wanted your file, I found you your file. You wanted out, I got you out. You needed *money*, *I* found you some. I'm f****** consistent-I told you the truth-I didn't write it down in a *f******book*! I told you to your *face*. And I told Daisy to her face - what everybody knew and wouldn't say, and she killed herself. And I played the f******villain, just like you wanted.

Susanna: Why would I want that?

Lisa: Because it makes you the good guy, sweet pea.

Angelina showed a seriously beautiful performance in this film. Her role as a sociopath was not easy but she made it look seamless. In my research I found out that Jolie wanted no communication with Winona Ryder (Susanna) outside of filming because she felt that if she saw anything human about Ryder it would have caused problems in her acting like a sociopath. She won as Oscar and a Golden Globe and six others for Best Supporting Actress in Girl, Interrupted.

Victorian Era

If I could go back in time I would go to London during the Victorian era. I have always been interested in the upper class members of society during this time. The thought of being able to go to one of their fancy and elaborate parties has always been a dream of mine. Times have changed of course but I am forever interested in the beautiful gowns that they wore. Corsets must have been terrible but they made for a truly beautiful woman. In 1652 the coffee houses began because of the introduction of coffee to England and Turkey. Coffee houses eventually turned into clubs where the fashionable and military style came into play. I have always enjoyed the thought of dressing up to dance elegantly with friends or even eventually meeting new people through the forever changing sequences during one song.

The romantic influence on women in this society is another reason I love the Victorian era. In a novel I love to read about the emotions that pass between a man and a woman during this time. I haven’t figured out yet if people back then loved harder than we do now or if it’s just the writing styles (lol). Every time I read a book from this era I want to experience what they see every time they go to a party or hang out in a club. Sex scandals were very common in the literature during this era and I won’t go into the details here but you can Google that yourself if you’d like. The women of this time period were required to support themselves and that included making their own dresses. Lower, Middle, and Upper class women or “distressed gentlewomen” had the job of making their clothes themselves or paying for someone to do it themselves. I am interested, wholeheartedly, in the Victorian Era and if I had a time machine I’d go there. J

Privilege. Ambition. Desire. At Brideshead Everything Comes at a Price.

Brideshead Revisited. When I think back on this film I think about my journey while visiting…and I’ve never been.

I watched this film and was sucked in to England during 1920’s. I saw Brideshead, one of the most beautiful mansions I have ever seen on screen. I met Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) and I watched him start his everlasting and impactful relationship with Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw). The two of them embark on an emotional journey together through falling in love with each other’s company, drinking a little too much wine, and providing a sense of stability in each crazy lives. Charles then meets Julia Flyte (Hayley Atwell ) and the three of them spin out of control. Enter jealousy, corruption, forbidden love, alcoholism, a world of privilege, and Catholicism. Charles is an atheist and he is content until he enters the world of Brideshead. Suddenly it becomes more important to the Flyte family that they find his true intentions, his motives, and his persona. Charles no longer acts without being seen by someone and his feelings come out lopsided.

Sebastian’s unhappiness hinders Charles’s responsibility to himself. The mother of Julia and Sebastian, Lady Marchmain is looking to ruin the relationship between her children and Charles while at the same time asking him to take care of them both. The most intimate mystery unfolds in this film. Is Brideshead the problem? Does the house draw people in and convince them to change their morals or is it the person who was like that all along and it came out when introduced to the beauty of it all?

A gay bestfriend and a catholic lover, Charles is forced to make a decision.

Sebastian Flyte: I asked too much of you. I knew it all along, really. Only God can give you that sort of love…It was my fault for bringing you to Brideshead. Run away. Run far away and don't ever look back.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

There is no evidence. There are no witnesses. But for one, there is no doubt.

If you didn’t know before you will know after this blog. Philip Seymour Hoffman is my favorite actor and I am a huge fan of his work. It is usually very difficult for me to pick favorites but I never have a doubt about him (pun intended). I am always surprised by his ability to envelop himself in a character. You believe that he is the person you see on screen.

Doubt is just another example. This movie gets inside your head and makes a home. You aren’t sure who you should side with but you’ll make a decision before the end; some to be disappointed.

Father Flynn: Where is your compassion?

Sister Aloysius: Nowhere you can get at it.

Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) is so sure of herself and so animated about her feelings that you find yourself wondering if she really is the good one. Then you watch Father Flynn (Hoffman) and you see his true intentions and you fall in love with his character. You want there to be a court case so that you can testify to his innocence. Philip Seymour Hoffman is Father Flynn and Father Flynn is Philip Seymour Hoffman. You are not confused by the two characters because Hoffman dives into his script and becomes the character.

There are actors out there that are clearly acting and it takes me out of the film and I leave knowing that it was staged. This film I wondered if this ever happened to Hoffman. As well as Streep, she was absolutely brilliant in this film. Hoffman has been in many films including Capote, Along Came Polly, Magnolia, and many more.

Watch Doubt. See Hoffman.

Sister Aloysius: Sister James...

Sister James: What is it, Sister?

Sister Aloysius: [crying] I have doubts. I have such doubts.

White Nights (The Movie)

Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, two of the best Ballet and tap dancers America has seen. They are together in one movie and both of them shed light on the life of a Russian dancer. Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov), a ballet dancer, wants to dance for himself not because someone is telling him to dance, and if he doesn’t he goes to jail. Raymond Greenwood (Gregory Hines), a black tap dancer, wants to get out of the Apollo and to a place where his art is appreciated. Gregory thinks that places is Russia but little does he know, the freedom America offers is a no brainer compared to the hell Russia puts its citizens through. Nikolai is in a plane crash and it lands him in a Russian hospital, where he defected and remains a hated criminal. Getting out of the country is going to be next to impossible and through his journey he lives with Raymond who doesn’t agree with his view on America until the Russians take advantage of him. The two grow to love each other through scandals and escape routes.

Enough with the plot, I want to talk about Mikhail’s dance ability and flawlessness of it. He did 11 pirouettes in a row after a bet was made that he couldn’t do 10. Mikhail knows his body, he knows what he can do and he knows the impact he has on people. His center is perfect and his fluidity is unbelievable. For a ballerina like me, it inspires me to be the very best ballerina I can be. I want to be my best because he worked to get to his best. Only one thing will get me there; God. I have become a level 7 ballerina in 5 classes. I can only thank the person who created me, the one who helped me become who I am to this day. Watching Mikhail dance I only think about how impactful he is on the dancers who watch him. He wouldn’t dance because he was told; he danced when he wanted too, when he felt like it. He danced for himself. I will dance for God.

You're Really Asking Me to Pick One?

This is going to be one of the hardest blogs to write. Not because I don’t like music, not because I can’t think of anything, not because music is hard to write about. It’s simply because I don’t know how I am going to pick one, keep it around 300 words, and eventually stop talking about it. I don’t have a favorite genre; I honestly can’t say I have even a favorite artist because I like so many different artists from different genres. Hip hop, R&B, Christian, Gospel, Soul, Alternative, Ballet Piano, Jazz, Pop, Singer-Songwriter, and A cappella, are my favorite genres. I have a few artists that I like outside of these genres because of lyrical reliability and sound quality. My favorites from each genre are: Drake (hip hop), Kelly Price (R&B), Audrey Assad (Christian), Tonéx (Gospel), Jill Scott & Erykah Badu (Soul), Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Ballet), Afro-blue (Jazz), Greyson Chance (Pop), The Ready Set (Alternative), Sleeping At Last (Singer-Songwriter), and Pentatonix (A cappella).

Music is how I express myself and the lyrics of a song help me relax. Someone else is going through something similar to me? Why wouldn’t I listen to a story that comes from such a beautiful voice? I have always liked music but it wasn’t until this past year that I found out how much truly I love it and how much I was missing. There isn’t anything like making a classy dinner with Yo-Yo Ma playing in the back ground. I can’t take credit for my education on music. A family friend of mine has been on radio and in theater so his music education is way above mine but I am frequently learning more and more about what is available. I have heard notes that I never even knew were possible. Not just Mariah Carey style (though she is phenomenal) but higher. Erykah Badu sings in Stay (live) with her back up singer, she hits such a high note that it sounds like there is a third singer and a whole new note is formed. I will continue to listen and educate myself on the talent that the radio isn’t hearing.

Cinematic Adventures

Law Abiding Citizen (2009): 

Clyde Shelton: I don't think you have any idea who's helping me, or what I'm doing.

Nick Rice: It's a matter of time.

Clyde Shelton: You see the bodies, you see the smoke. But the larger picture still eludes you.

This movie takes a Thriller to the next level. Only a man like Gerald Butler could pull of a character like Clyde Shelton. When a man watches his family die and the law lets the killer go, he is going to do whatever he can to set the law straight. A tricky plan includes getting the killer, the district attorney and many other people involved in the case, to face death. This entails many murders and many warning signs. It all happens from a jail cell in federal prison.

Capote (2005):

Truman Capote: Ever since I was a child, folks have thought they had me pegged, because of the way I am, the way I talk. And they're always wrong.

A representation of Truman Capote’s journey to write a book called In Cold Blood, this movie is phenomenal. Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of the most talented actors I’ve ever seen. This film produces questions the integrity and morality of the intelligent. An unusual relationship, a dangerous situation, a brutal murder, only one man would want to write a book about the truth of the situation. “There is not a word or a sentence or a concept that you can illuminate for me.”

Truman Capote is very well represented in this film.

Away We Go (2009):

Verona De Tessant: I mean, we're 34...

Burt Farlander: I'm 33.

Verona De Tessant: ...and we don't even have this basic stuff figured out.

Burt Farlander: Basic, like how?

Verona De Tessant: Basic, like how to live.

Maya Rudolph…enough said. In this film a young, quirky, and very pregnant couple, travel around in search of a place to start their family. Very much in love, this couple is going to battle out every uncomfortable and strange situation together. Finding a home is not easy but it is possible. Infused with many laughs, a few tears, and a lot of experimenting, this movie is a beautiful look on life. A lovely pregnancy, the excitement of being a father for the first time, and the laughs of things not working out in their favor, all of these things sum up Away We Go.