Name:Stephanie Country:United States State:California Birthday:3/20/1983 Gender:Female
Interests:Playing the piano and violin, writing, reading, watching movies, reading/watching Detective Conan, EATING, DDR, daydreaming... Expertise:Business Major Occupation:Other Industry:Other
The Soloist is one of the most amazing movies I have seen this year. The storyline, the characters, and the cinematography were so moving and impressive that I really don't have any criticisms to give. I know that to a lot of people, movies like this may seem slow and long (and maybe even boring), and I was expecting that too, but once the movie started, I was completely hooked from the beginning to the end.
First off, there were no actors more perfect for the roles of Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers than Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, respectively. The interaction between the two, the dialogue, and the emotional expressions and character development were so well done and touching, that I found myself mesmerized by everything happening on the big screen. And I was very surprised to see the deep emotions displayed in Robert Downey Jr.'s eyes in various scenes - the feelings of awe, disillusionment, dispair, determination, and empathy.
The story of the friendship between two people from two different worlds may seem familiar already, but I felt that there was something refreshing to The Soloist. I don't want to spoil anything, but the movie does present a more realistic and plausible plotline that, I guess, shouldn't be a surprise to begin with since it is based on a true story. However, the way the movie portrays pivotal scenes and the dialogue (the dialogue is so well written!) is so admirable that it still felt refreshing watching a movie that Hollywood was lacking lately - a seemingly simple story that goes beyond just being simple. The Soloist also delves into the darker sides of LA, showing the streets of the homeless and those who are unfortunate enough to inhabit them.
As for the music, I applaud the movie for its expression of music. As a music lover myself who enjoys playing different instruments, I was thoroughly impressed by how they expressed those scenes throughout the movie, from the way they closed in on the shots of the bow moving across the strings of the cello, to the feeling of being the only one in the world at that very moment when the beautiful melodic sounds of an orchestra reach your ears.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it, as The Soloist is extremely moving and touching, and the characters will definitely leave their marks in your heart.
I don’t recall ever having such a chilling feeling from any of the comic book based movies I’ve ever seen – until now.
The Dark Knight lives up to its hype and trailers, and successfully makes the audience feel the fear the fellow citizens of Gotham feel when they encounter The Joker. If there was ever a comic book movie that was able to make one feel such darkness, it would be this.
Throughout the movie, I felt like I was constantly on the edge of my seat, getting thrown off by every action of The Joker. Heath Ledger definitely does a good job playing this notorious villain, his character so unpredictable and so chaotic, but at the same time so mesmerizing. Actually, I’d say his version of The Joker even surpasses the original comic version in terms of how truly psychotic this villain can be. Even as a once avid reader of the Batman comic book series myself, I still found this movie’s version of The Joker so unpredictable and surprising. No one knows what The Joker would do next – doesn’t matter if you were ever a comic book nerd or not.
As you’ve noticed, my review of the movie seems to mainly revolve around The Joker. That’s because in The Dark Knight, The Joker definitely takes the spotlight. Even though Batman is the main character, it felt like The Joker was always there, on screen or off. And perhaps that was the movie’s intent. He was everywhere, continuously creating madness and sending the city into chaos.
All the main actors played their parts well, and there was even one character I didn't expect to appear in the movie (talk about a twist). Christian Bale pulls off a pretty good Batman as well. Although I admit I haven’t watched the first Batman movie he was in, I can already see that he does a good Bruce Wayne and is great at subtly showing how this early Batman is slowly becoming the Batman that everyone knows so well in the comic books and cartoons we have seen.
The acting is superb, and the plot is engaging and deep. With themes on hope and chaos, the thin line between black and white, and the shades of grey that a hero may find himself treading upon, this movie takes the meaning of The Dark Knight to a whole new level.
She called the Subways that screwed up my sandwich and complained for me, and so I ended up with another sandwich to make up for the other one that was slobbered with like a half bottle of mustard!
Me very happy now with my new (no mustard) sandwich.
Claim: When a Nebraska church exploded in 1950, no one was injured because every member of the choir was late arriving for practice that evening.
Origins: As unbelievable as this story is, it did happen. Despite the explosion's taking place five minutes after choir practice was scheduled to begin, not one of the fifteen people who should have been present had yet arrived when the building collapsed:
Choir practice at the West Side Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska, always began at 7:20 on Wednesday evening. At 7:25 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1, 1950, an explosion demolished the church. The blast forced a nearby radio station off the air and shattered windows in surrounding homes.
But every one of the choir's fifteen members escaped injury, saved by a fortuitous coincidence: All were late for practice that night. Considering the sanctified site of the explosion, it was not surprising that some attributed the near miss to divine intervention.
They supposed rightly that the odds of unanimous tardiness were slim indeed, especially when the reasons were examined. Car trouble delayed two women. The minister and his wife and daughter were delayed by a dress that needed ironing at the last minute. Others were late because they paused to complete homework, finish a letter, or hear the end of a favorite radio show. One awoke late from a nap. Some could think of no special reason; they were just late.
It is impossible to calculate precise odds for all these events occurring at once. But past performance indicated that each person would be late for practice one time in four - producing a one-in-a-million chance that the entire choir would be late that night.
As to what those reasons were, whether they were of the garden variety or divine intervention ilk, judge for yourself:
It happened on the evening of March 1 in the town of Beatrice, Nebraska. In the afternoon the Reverend Walter Klempel had gone to the West Side Baptist Chruch to get things ready for choir practice. He lit the furnace -- most of the singers were in the habit of arriving around 7:15, and it was chilly in the church - and went home to dinner. But at 7:10, when it was time for him to go back to the church with his wife and daughter Marilyn Ruth, it turned out that Marilyn Ruth's dress was soiled. They waited while Mrs. Klempel ironed another and thus were still at home when it happened.
Ladona Vandergrift, a high school sophomore, was having trouble with a geometry problem. She knew practice began promptly and always came early. But she stayed to finish the problem.
Royena Estes was ready, but the car would not start. So she and her sister called Ladona Vandergrift, and asked her to pick them up. But Ladona was the girl with the geometry problem, and the Estes sisters had to wait.
Sadie Estes' story was the same as Royena's. All day they had been having trouble with the car; it just refused to start.
Mrs. Leonard Schuster would ordinarily have arrived at 7:20 with her small daughter Susan. But on this particular evening Mrs. Schuster had to go to her mother's house to help her get ready for a missionary meeting.
Herbert Kipf, lathe operator, would have been ahead of time but had put off an important letter. "I can't think why," he said. He lingered over it and was late.
It was a cold evening. Stenographer Joyce Black, feeling "just plain lazy," stayed in her warm house until the last possible moment. She was almost ready to leave when it happened.
Because his wife was away, Machinist Harvey Ahl was taking care of his two boys. He was going to take them to practice with him but somehow he got wound up talking. When he looked at his watch, he saw he was already late.
Marilyn Paul, the pianist, had planned to arrive half an hour early. However she fell asleep after dinner, and when her mother awakened her at 7:15 she had time only to tidy up and start out.
Mrs. F.E. Paul, choir director and mother of the pianist, was late simply because her daughter was. She had tried unsuccessfully to awaken the girl earlier.
High school girls Lucille Jones and Dorothy Wood are neighbors and customarily go to practice together. Lucille was listening to a 7-to-7:30 radio program and broke her habit of promptness because she wanted to hear the end. Dorothy waited for her.
At 7:25, with a roar heard in almost every corner of Beatrice, the West Side Baptist Church blew up. The walls fell outward, the heavy wooden roof crashed straight down like a weight in a deadfall. But because of such matters as a soiled dress, a catnap, an unfinished letter, a geometry problem and a stalled car, all of the members of the choir were late - something which had never occurred before.
Firemen thought the explosion had been caused by natural gas, which may have leaked into the church from a broken pipe outside and been ignited by the fire in the furnace. The Beatrice choir members had no particular theory about the fire's cause, but each of them began to reflect on the heretofore inconsequential details of his life, wondering at exactly what point it is that one can say, "This is an act of God."
