'The Adjustment Bureau' A Review

Matt Damon plays a New York politician with hopes of becoming Senator. On the night of his crushing defeat he meets the woman of his dreams(Emily Blunt) in the men's bathroom. She inspires him to give a rousing speech that sets him up for another Senate bid a couple years down the line. The thing is it wasn't a chance meeting it was arranged by...THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU!

The main thrust of the movie is that 'The Chairman' has a plan for everyone on earth. Insert whatever personification of God you'd like. S/he has a government-esk organization, with certain powers, that police the human population and make sure they stay 'on plan.' After Blunt inspires Damon they're never to meet again because they're not meant to be together. The rest of the movie is pretty much in two parts. Damon trying to find Blunt and once they are together, trying to avoid The Adjustment Bureau.

The premise or idea of the movie is fascinating but the film makes a conscious choice to get away from some of the bigger issues or implications i.e. Fate vs. Free Will. And that's OK. The chemistry between the characters is great, it's fast paced, and overall a fun journey with a happy ending. I guess, when it comes down to it, there's not a whole lot to the movie. It's a classic love story with bureaucratic fate angles.

I won't go in to the peaks and valley's of Damon and Blunt's relationship or the different attempts by the Bureau to keep them apart. Only because that's the entire movie. The movie briefly sets up the idea of the Bureau and then follows the relatively predictable plot arc of Damon trying to connect with Blunt.

Damon and Blunt's chemistry carry the movie. Their attraction is nice and warming and we as audience members are comfortable when they're on screen together. The big surprise in the movie is Damon's best friend and campaign manager played by Michael Kelly. He's the perfect supporting character and foil for action of the story. He's earnest, motivated, cares about Damon but is totally clueless of the action going on behind the curtain. Anthony Mackie and John Slattery were both kind of uninspired as agents of fate but it didn't overly detract from the piece as a whole.

Generally I say the movie was good. It could have been great. The film gave itself fascinating complex themes and moral issues to play with. It only had the guts to turn it into one long protracted chase scene. But hey...

I like chase scenes.

Graffiti 5

Signs from the Universe...

Graffiti 4

Walking home from Rick rehearsal again.

"The dice of Zeus always fall luckily." -Sophocles

The Oscars: Rights And Wrongs

Subtitle: The Big Five

Best Supporting Actor
Who Won: Christian Bale. His performance by far was the most moving of the year. Of course I'm biased as I've stated before because I'm such a huge Bale fan. But you can't argue with how powerful and deep his performance ran. When Bale commits you really believe on some level he's actually experiencing what the character is. Bale has said he's a method actor only because he never went to acting school.
Who Should Have Won: Christian Bale
Close Second: John Hawkes. For whatever reason Hawkes got no love this year for his dynamic performance. He beat the pants off Geoffery Rush playing Geoffery Rush. Not that I didn't like Geoffery Rush but I've seen it. No stretch, no risk. Hawkes as Teardrop was all risk, pedal to the metal, danger, unpredictability.

Best Supporting Actress

Who Won: Melissa Leo. Woof. How boring and predictable. Leo's performance was unaffected and boarder line unwatchable. Whenever she was on the screen I wanted her off. She went through no transformation. She did not change. She did not learn. She was merely a self absorbed, self deluded mother. Doing the same thing over the course of two hours doesn't deserve an award.

Who Should Have Won: Amy Adams. Her performance was layered and tough and powerful. She had palpable chemistry with all of the other characters in the movie. Most importantly she was effected by the action of the movie. She grew, changed, developed.

Close second: Hailee Steinfeld. But seriously she was the lead anyway.

Best Actress

Who Won: Natalie Portman. Her performance was a flat line. I honestly don't understand why people thought she was so good. Natalie Portman always plays Natalie Portman and in this she didn't even change. There was no switch. She was just anxious, anxious, anxious. If they gave it to Annette Benning at least I could understand, but Portman. Woof.

Who Should Have Won: Jennifer Lawrence. Hands down the most dynamic performance of the year. Multi-layered, driven, powerful, vulnerable. I can't say enough about Lawrence's performance other than it was woefully overlooked.

Best Actor

Who Won: Colin Firth. Good not great. This just seemed like an obvious choice for the Academy. Firth has been around, he deserves it, lets give it to him. Sure I liked the end. But it didn't strike me as a particularly hard part to play. This award felt very much like "Oh it's Colin Firth's 'time' to win."

Who Should Have Won: James Franco. How could he not get best actor. He carried an entire movie by himself and he couldn't move! Funny and heartbreaking, we lived this harrowing experience with Franco. So much more effecting than a period piece.

Best Picture

Who Won: The King's Speech. Obvious and safe. Good but not great. Lets reward and recognize a movie that could have been made at any point during the last thirty years.

Who Should Have Won: Winter's Bone. Interesting and fresh. Engaging and mysterious. All around the only movie of the year I could watch many, many times.

Overall Oscars, You Suck.

LM Restaurant: French Cusine

My mom and my sister are in town for the weekend. My mom took us out to LM Restaurant which is participating in Chicago Restaurant Week. It was a three course meal. I started with the Crab Bisque which was OK but bland. It needed salt. Or maybe it just needed something. It didn't taste like much of anything. For the second course I had the Pork Belly on a bed of cabbage with carrots.Again it was OK. There was flavor but it was overly sweet. The glaze was so overpowering it was the only thing I could taste. Surprisingly my favorite part of the dish was the cabbage. I don't think I've ever enjoyed cabbage before in my life. So at the very least that was worth the trip. The last course was dessert. I ordered the only chocolate option not really knowing what it was. I was thinking it was going to be some kind of cake but it was a mousse. Same song third verse. It was OK. Nothing inspiring, nothing surprising. It was a decent mousse with a decent short bread cookie. They could have dumbed down or modified the menu in preparation for Restaurant Week, I don't know. Overall I was kind of disappointed. Would I go again? No. But...

Always great to share a meal with Mom and Marta.

Dust And Snow

Many people have gone before us
Life is a wheel that turns
Within us our hearts burn

The secret highways extend on and on
Whose path do we walk upon
Our own, we hope, but do not know

There are many things that can be said for snow.

One Day At A Time

Subtitle: The Title Drop
In movies when a character has a line that states the title its called 'The Title Drop.' This is The Title Drop post.

I think it's common knowledge that 'One Day At A Time' is a phrase used in recovery programs like A.A. It's said because not drinking forever can seem impossible to someone with a problem. But not drinking today is something manageable, something that can be achieved. I started this blog a year ago and gave it this title. I did that because I have a problem with alcohol. I thought the title would make it obvious I had a problem. If not this is my attempt to clarify that. My intention initially was to give myself something to focus on, something daily I had to check in with that would constantly remind myself to take it one day at a time. To not drink today. Although I am proud of the content and the frequency of my blog I have been unable to stay clean.

Today The Album and Devin reached out a hand to me and I am taking it. I am making this post to make my problem known to anyone, those I know and those I don't, that I have a problem. If it is an open fact, I have no where to hide, no excuses to make. My intention is to make myself accountable.

My grandfather was an alcoholic. That is something I've known my whole life. Something my father always talked to me about. I started drinking, like many kids, during college. Even from the start I knew I could drink more than other people. I knew I didn't drink like other people. I always wanted to stay up longer and drink more when others were satisfied and wanted to go to bed. I didn't realize I had a problem until after I graduated and moved to Chicago the first time. I had to move back home because my life had become unmanageable. When I moved back to Chicago I got the most amount of time together I've had since college, 27 days, but I fell off. Since then things have been getting slowly worse. Now is the time to stop.

Be the change you desire to see in the world.

Day 1