August: Osage County

I got up late this morning, took a shower, grabbed lunch, and went to a matinee of August: Osage County. I wanted to catch it because of the previews I'd seen and I wasn't disappointed.

Due to a family crisis, three daughters (Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson, and Juliette Lewis) and their families come home to their ailing and caustic mother (Meryl Streep). What happens over the next two hours of the movie, I can only describe as the most amazing verbal smackdowns I've seen on screen. Every character is flawed, secrets are continuously revealed, and it's as though there are no filters on anyone's mouths. It's the most dreaded Thanksgiving dinner you can imagine times ten... and on acid.

It's often funny, often sad, sometimes both. I was curious and cautious, as usually anytime there are this many big-name stars in a movie, there is often a tendency for disaster. Luckily, that didn't seem to happen this round.

Needless to say, I was amazed and enthralled. I saw so much of my own family in these characters, except we're nicer to each other. I won't go into more of it, as I don't want to spoil it, but I highly recommend it.

DVD Buying Spree

I received some gift cards to Amazon for Christmas and my birthday, so I used them to buy some DVD's that I've had on my wish list for a while. I admit that I might have gone ... a little overboard, but I think I've gotten some great buys.



Most of them are horror movies from the 1970's and 1980's, with an exception for "The Innocents" (1961), a beautiful adaptation of "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James. Nevertheless, I have plenty of movies to keep me busy over the next few months.

Tonight, I sat down to watch "Child's Play" (1972). This isn't part the horror movie series starring Chucky, but a 1972 mystery film based on Tony-nominated play of the same name. It stars James Mason and Robert Preston, as dueling teachers at a boy's Catholic school, where a series of brutal assaults and questionable activities have occurred. In the midst of the growing chaos, a new physical education teacher (Beau Bridges) has come to the school (where he himself had attended as a student). He finds himself drawn into the mysteries going on and wonders who or what may be controlling the student body.

I found this movie while searching for others on Amazon that I might get and was intrigued by the synopsis and the stars. I'd not heard of the film before, but I noted that it had gotten fairly decent reviews and I love a good mystery (and potential horror flick). I also admit that Beau Bridges has long been a crush of mine and to see him as a young, furry adult was nice, despite there being no shirtless scenes in the movie. A mustachioed Robert Preston was rather nice too. I was pleasantly surprised by the movie and I enjoyed it a great deal. I can only imagine what the stage play was like.

Of the movies I've bought, I admit that I've seen most of them, or else I'd not ordered them. I look forward to catching up with some of them that I have not seen in a while.