Believe it or not...

I'm actually a bit sick of watching movies. Been watching far too many lately and my brain is a bit fried.

Macbeth
We finally hired this one. I did like it, mainly for the visual splendour and atmosphere (the same reasons I love Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet), but some parts felt a bit forced and complicated. The leading performances were really wonderful but there were a few smaller players that looked a bit out of place amongst the leading talent.
The witches - I know this was a bold artistic choice and all that (they were made into teen witches who pretty much seduce Macbeth with their bodies as well as words), but I just didn't think it worked. The nudity felt gratuitous to me. I think it would have worked better if it had've been an implied or almost-seduction rather than some full-on naked orgy-esque revelations. (Oh ok, and I was just jealous of the three actress's perfect beautiful boobs!)
Anyway, definitely worth seeing. It is a little bit hard to follow if you don't know the story all that well, but my Noel (who doesn't like to read anything, let alone Shakespeare) still understood and really liked it, so it works well enough.

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Little Miss Sunshine.
This film deserved all the attention it got, and more. (well, ok, I'm not sure Abigail Breslin really earned the Oscar nom, but still...) A beautiful little portrait of a really fascinating family dealing with a bunch of pretty odd (and yet pretty standard) issues. I particularly loved Paul Dano's performance as the teen who has taken a vow of silence until he achieves his goal of joining the Air Force. He played the role so naturally and beautifully, and the moment where he finally snaps, in his own way, just left me agape with shock and awe.
The portrayal of all of the characters' weak points or difficulties was so gently and kindly done that I really felt like they were real people, not just movie-people, and it was really eays and comfortable to join each of them on their own journey.
As for Breslin's character, Olive, I thought she was wonderful. She was an awkward, slightly chubby young beauty-pageant wannabe. She's had the idea of being a "winner" drilled into her head by her motivational-speaker dad, and is just dealing with all the usual kid stuff. I was so pleased with the way she was written and the fact that, in the end, she didn't suddenly become the super-mature kid that teaches all the adults a lesson. So many films do that and it's nice, but eh, sometimes kids just stay kids. Olive never had that big "beauty pageants are so stupid and I am above that" moment, which would have been an easy trap for the writer/s to fall in to. She stayed the hopeful, young girl with slight delusions about her own talent, while the adults around her were the ones learning the lessons. It was just very nice to see a more realistic treatment of a kid being a kid.

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The Namesake.
I escaped all by myself last night and saw a movie I knew Noel wouldn't be very interested in. I'd heard lots of good reports of The Namesake, and they were right. It's wonderful. Very long, but very watchable all the way through, and a story that's quite heart-wrenching and beautiful. All of the actors play beautifully. The story moves from one section to the next very cleanly and draws the audience into the very intersting lives of these characters.
It's about a young Indian girl, wrenched from her home and family when she is married to an Indian man who now lives in the US. They have children and grow as a family and the story unfolds as the children grow up etc, dealing with the cultural differences and all the issues that immigrants deal with. It really is a very compelling picture.

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I really wish I had some interesting news to tell.

I'll be getting my hew headshots done in a couple of weeks (if I ever remember to call and make an appointment!).
Still crossing my fingers to hear back about the film extra work in May.
If I can figure a way to manage rehearsal times etc, I'm planning to audition for a local profit-share acting group's play. I'm really hankering for a good bit of acting, and getting back on stage would be a wonderful feeling.
There are also, hopefully, a few more short film auditions coming up.

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My Pop gave me a Lotto ticket for my birthday. Let's hope I win!