I’m such a sucker for dance movies. I like how the Step Up franchise has kind of kept character continuation throughout the three films. And it was good to see a bunch of dancers from So You Think You Can Dance. I loved the Asian guy from Team Samurai or whatever, such a great dancer.
I think the dancing at the end was nowhere near as good as all the dancing throughout the movie. I’m not sure why the big performance never seems to be as interesting as the practices. Maybe it was their outfits, they were way overboard. The neo-flies were cool though.
by Suzanne Weyn
I like how Weyn weaved fiction and real events together to create a compelling story about what could have happened on board the Titanic. It felt a little bit too much like the movie Titanic, with all the same famous characters on board. I found the LaRoche family amazing. Even a century later, mixed race couples are still not completely accepted. In interview an Elizabeth Gilbert, claimed that people used to think it was immoral for a mixed couple to wed. It was sad to think of so much love lost. Heartbreaking to think that while some of the women were safe on board the lifeboats, their husbands, boyfriends, sons and fathers were drowning in the ocean.
But the story was intriguing, how there were stories actually published that told of a great, unsinkable ship sinking. That someone who had seen it coming still chanced that he might not die. I sometimes wonder if there are people who can speak to the dead and see the future. It all makes so much sense when laid out in a story or movie, but is there really anyone who can do it? Is it for real?
It was a little disgusting to see one man profit off the passion (and talent) of so many others. I felt like the way Banksy portrayed Thierry was maybe the way his relationship with him developed. It wasn’t until hindsight that he was able to maybe see where it all went wrong.
In relation to the ‘rules’ that Thierry broke, I think the one rule he broke was that you don’t use your friends to create yourself. He used Banksy and Fairey by copying their artistic styles and shamelessly using their quotes to promote himself. He made so much money that he mocked the value of his contemporaries and never really acknowledged that he was a fake who was profiting off others and had become an overnight success based on a few choice words.
But this film really makes you stop and question, what exactly makes something art? Why shouldn’t something that Thierry ‘creates’ be valuable? Or better yet, why should it be valuable? Was it only because of a few choice words by the right people? I like Banksy’s work because he has something to say. Fairey, eh, I don’t know. He created an icon. I don’t know much about this stuff, but I like ‘art’ that resonates with people, says something and perhaps tries to change the status quo.
The best part was when one of Banksy’s friends said something along the lines, I’m not sure who the joke was on; I don’t even know if there was a joke.
Funny, laugh out loud action comedy. I thought the sudden departure of Samuel L Jackson and The Rock (one of my favorites) was great. Completely unexpected and brought a level of reality to action movies. I’m not a huge fan of Will Ferrell, but because Mark Wahlberg was there to balance him out, he turned out to be pretty funny. The best part was how Terry couldn’t believe that Allen had such a hot wife.
TPL DVD: Pretty boring stuff. It took me awhile to get into it. Reminded me a lot of The A-Team without the funny. I like movies that actually end, not set themselves up for a sequel (that usually never happens). I feel like most of these movies are a little too optimistic and hope that there’ll be enough money to warrant more.
by Cara Lockwood
I thought this book was a pretty original idea. I liked the overlaps between fiction and reality. I’m interested to read more. Kind of a crazy concept though that authors are trapped teaching kids about their own works. But I found all the teen talk annoying. I also don’t know where I’m going to find the other books in the series.
