You didn't get a movie weekend last week, so this week you get TWO movie weekends, one today and one tomorrow. And you get both at the same low, low price.
Today, I present for your consideration Life of Pi (2012, Rated PG, available on DVD).
A writer visits the adult Pi Patel in Canada to hear Pi's life story, which is supposed to make one believe in God. Then in flashbacks, Pi -- or as I like to call him, 3.14 -- recalls his childhood and his extremely unusual experience of being shipwrecked on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker. How did 3.14 survive? And did his experiences on the lifeboat really occur in the way he describes them?
This seems to be a pretty popular movie, and I can agree with critics who describe it as imaginative. Ang Lee won his second Best Director Academy Award for Life of Pi (his first was for Brokeback Mountain). Although I agree that 3.14 is well photographed, as a whole, it just didn't grab me the way some other movies from 2012 have. I wasn't that crazy about Brokeback Mountain, either, although The Hurricane loved it. But maybe she loved it because she had a crush on Jake Gyllenhall at the time. Anyway, she liked what she called "smokin' hot gay cowboy sex." But if she had a crush on Jake, then why did she like seeing him kiss Heath Ledger?
It's just one of the mysteries of life, I guess.
I read the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel soon after it came out several years ago. I wasn't that crazy about the book so maybe that influenced my feelings about the movie. However, I do think that the actor who plays young 3.14, Suraj Sharma, is very good, and Richard Parker is absolutely beautiful. Most of the time, Richard Parker is a computerized tiger, but a real tiger appears in the film at some points.
I wonder if I would have liked this movie better if I had seen it on a big screen. I certainly don't think it's a bad movie, though, so I give it The Janie Junebug Seal of Approval.
If you watch it with kids, especially younger ones, be prepared to answer some unusual questions. I say watch it by yourself before you watch it with children.
I'm curious: Did you like this movie? Why or why not?
I think Ang Lee has made better movies than the two for which he's won Academy Awards. I love Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Sense and Sensibility.
I'll see you tomorrow with another movie.
Infinities of love,
Janie Junebug
We just saw this yesterday. I was completely blown away by some of the twists and turns. It wasn't predictable to me at all.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I would have enjoyed it more if it had taken me by surprise. Although I didn't remember all the details from the book, I knew the basics of what would happen.
DeleteLife of Pi is a stunningly beautiful movie and I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your opinion. Did you see it on a big screen?
DeleteI, too, read the book a long time ago. As I recall, it was sort of weird. Just added this to my Netflix list.
ReplyDeleteWeird is a good word for that book. Please let me know what you think of the movie.
DeleteI actually loved it as well. Although I have not read the book so maybe I'd feel different. It was beautiful and I guess my love of tigers may have me biased.
ReplyDeleteThanks for weighing in. You seem to be with the majority.
DeleteI have not seen this movie, but if two cowboys are kissing, that is totally not cool in my book. I wouldn't care to see that!
ReplyDeleteThe cowboys are in Brokeback Mountain -- not Life of Pi. Sorry if it wasn't clear. Both were directed by Ang Lee, and he won Academy Awards for both. Although the scenery in Brokeback Mountain is gorgeous, I was not interested in kissing cowboys. I really didn't understand why The Hurricane liked it so much, but we don't agree on absolutely everything (just most stuff). You might like Life of Pi.
DeleteIt was my first 3D movie experience and after the first disorientating few minutes, I loved it. I'd just read the novel anyway because one of my students was writing about it for coursework, and then the film came out. I had a very Pi-filled week that week. (I said 'Pi', not 'pie', although ....)
ReplyDeletePie, oh yes. That's a much better idea. 3D movies are really in vogue now. I haven't seen any since I only visit a movie theater once a year.
DeleteI think you're right that big screen might've made the difference. I saw on big screen (but not 3D) and loved it. For days afterward it sparked many cool, philosophical discussions between me & my daughter, so maybe that aspect is what makes me so fond of it. But I also thought it was visually and spirituality beautiful, and I loved the connection between boy & tiger.
ReplyDeleteWhat's very strange is that I don't know if I've read the book. I don't distinctly remember reading it, but there were scenes in the movie that felt eerily familiar.
Maybe the scenes felt eerily familiar because you were on a lifeboat with a tiger in a past life. Or maybe you read the book and just don't remember the act of reading it, but some of it stuck with you.
DeleteI have to say, I am intrigued but just don't know if it will hold my attention. Most f my red box rentals lately have been turned off half way through, and the movies in the theater I'm only there for the "free" popcorn and because Tony's got the car keys.
ReplyDeleteAlthough we did catch Django Unchained the other day. REALLY good. And I am NOT a Pulp Fiction fan.
I'm a Pulp Fiction fan, and also like some of Tarantino's other movies. I have Django Unchained in my Netflix queue. Rita from Soul Comfort Corner recommended it. She and I tend to like the same movies and TV shows.
DeleteI have not seen 3.14159. It looks claustrophobic to me. I did see Brokeback Mountain, and liked it very much. It stayed in my head for quite a while. I'm cool with kissing cowboys. Like the Hurricane, I'm VERY cool with Jake G. Maybe Reese W. Should have stuck it out with him.
ReplyDelete3.14159, Miss Smarty Pants, is not claustrophobic because of the ocean that goes on forever around the boat. Part of the time Pi is not on the boat. I remember when Reese was with Jake. The Hurricane was pissed.
DeleteWell, we disagree on some movies, I guess. I really liked Life of Pi, but then I really liked the book, too. The ambiguity at the end of the book turned a lot of people off, but that's exactly why I liked the movie because they didn't avoid that aspect. It was produced beautifully! (And I seriously wondered how they were going to pull that off--LOL!)
ReplyDeleteOh, and I liked Brokeback Mountain, too. Not as much for the scenery, but just because it gave me a chance to see a point of view I would never have imagined, I guess. Talk about complicated!
We mostly do agree, though. ;)
Yes, we mostly agree. It's not that I disliked 3.14, I just don't think I liked it as much as a lot of other people seemed to.
DeleteHaven't seen the film but Richard Parker is a great name for a tiger.
ReplyDeleteThe story of how he got that name is in the movie.
DeleteHi Janie .. it's one of those where I'd have liked to have known the ending .. and then would have appreciated the film much more (much much more) - it was beautifully done ... and I'd like to see it in 3D sometime ..
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary
The end was my favorite part because it became clear that one of the themes was writing one's own life story.
Delete