2013 Movie Marathon

I've been very busy recently and that has taken away my ability to go see some movies that I've been wanting to see. Also, the Oscars are upcoming and the Golden Globes recently occured, so I knew that I had to take advantage of a Friday night in which I had nothing to do.

After looking at movie times, I saw that Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Django Unchained lined up perfectly one after the other as far as start times were concerned. So once I clocked out of work, I headed to the movie theater to commence an event that would span 8 hours and 45 minutes, including 7 hours and 16 minutes of actual movie duration time.

The idea of this blog post is to describe my experience and highlight my opinions of the movies by breaking them down into smaller categories/bullet points which will be in bold letters. I don't see myself as a purveyor of a truly insightful opinion of what should be considered "Oscar-Worthy", so I won't delve too deep into my Oscar ideas, but I will describe how the movies affected me personally. So now, my recollection of my own 2013 Movie marathon.

(By the way: shout out to Grantland.com and Robert Mays for providing a blueprint on how to do the all day movie theater excursion)

These actors are great at acting: From Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, to Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones, to Leonardo DiCaprio and Cristoph Waltz... and Samuel L. Jackson, the performances that these specific actors presented were truly wonderful. I found myself smiling incredulously as I watched these artists fully envelop themselves into these worlds that had been created. Lawrence and Cooper had a chemistry that was palpable and thoroughly enjoyable. Day-Lewis and Jones obviously did their homework on their characters and the period that they found themselves in. DiCaprio, Jackson, and Waltz made incredible choices on their characters and were willing partners for each other to play off of.

Those performances were due to great directing: David O. Russell, Steven Spielberg, and Quentin Tarentino know what the hell they are doing. The willingness to let their players be great in the worlds that they helped create is what separates these men from other renowned directors. The actors can only go as far as the creative environment in which they play, and these directors provided an incredible environment on set and it showed through on screen. Each movie had a confidence and trust in every aspect that they presented and it allowed for the viewing experience to just be enjoyed and felt by the audience.

I love Northeastern Chicks: "Tiffany" in Silver Linings Playbook (played by Lawrence) is the third character that if they were real and I met them in real life, then I'd totally be in love. The other two: Elizabeth Banks' character in Invincible and Amy Adams' character in another Russell movie, The Fighter.

My Oscar vote: I said I wouldn't delve too deep and I won't. Here are my picks with little to no explanation: Best Picture - Lincoln, Best Director - Spielberg, Best Actor - Day-Lewis (Because he is and always will be amazing. He BECAME Lincoln... it was too incredible. Great job by Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook, though), Best Actress - Lawrence (She was in the moment, every moment in that movie. This girl is scary good for how young she is... I think I'm in love...), Best Supporting Actor - Waltz (I liked DiCaprio and Jackson better, but all three of them were wonderful), Best Supporting Actress - Sally Field (Screw Les Miserbles, Field was too good as Lincoln's wife... even if she overacts at times)

My favorite movie of the three: Silver Linings Playbook is a romantic comedy that has a slightly different build up than you would usually see in a RomCom. Plus, I'm a huge fan of stories that focus more on a character's journey toward a realization that relies more on actor performances to properly relay the plot. Overall, my "personal enjoyment" grades are A+ for Silver Linings Playbook, A for Lincoln, and B+ for Django Unchained.

This was really fun: As a society we have started to move toward a higher consumption of shows and movies in a smaller period of time. A lot of people now wait until a television show finishes a season before watching the season in its entirety on Netflix or DVD in the matter of a weekend. I think the same can be done with movies in the movie theater. After waiting for these films to be out for a few weeks and then catching them all in a single night, I feel as if I really enjoyed each movie more because I was more focused on the moment and the experience. I love going to the movie theater to watch a movie on the big screen, I love enjoying a movie for its performances by all involved, and sometimes that experience is greater when I do it alone (I think of the three, only Django Unchained would have been even more enjoyable with friends). Basically, I will do this again when the opportunity presents itself.