Watching Movies

I do not go to watch movies in movie theaters often, but I went January 1, 2014 to see Saving Mr Banks http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140373/.  This is the story of Walt Disney negotiating with Mrs. P J Travis for the rights to do Mary Poppins http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058331/.  It has its sad moments, but over all, I thought it was a very good feel good movie.  And Tom Hanks, as usual, was amazingly wonderful, this time as Walt Disney.

While I am familiar with the movie Mary Poppins I was not familiar with the books, nor with the story of creating the movie.

I loved "the culture" of the Disney Enterprises:  first names, lots of comfort food, and informal working conditions, as well as showering Mrs. Travis with all kinds of Disney memorabilia.  It was great.

My favorite character in the movie was Ralph, the chauffeur, played by Paul Giamatti http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0316079/?ref_=tt_cl_t6. 

I loved the hairstyles of the women, the clothes, the glasses, the Disney "stuff."  These are the trappings of my childhood and brought back wonderful warm memories for me. 

I cried through much of the movie. Some tears of sadness, but mostly tears of connectedness.  I suspect some people will think this movie was hokey or corny, but I really enjoyed it.  From the sniffles I heard, I was not the only one who cried. 

And interestingly enough, most people sat through most of the credits.  The credits were interesting.  This was based on a totally true story. So, the credits showed a picture of the "real" person, and the name of the actor who played that person. What a great way to show credits!

Before the feature started, as I watched the previews for upcoming movies, I was struck by the movie Heaven is For Real http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1929263/.  A coworker recently told me about this book, Heaven is For Real http://heavenisforreal.net/ which is a true story about a small boy who has a near death experience.  I had sort of put this book on the back burner of my "want to read list" but did not make it a priority. That has changed.

I was talking to a friend today, and told her about this book and movie.  She told me her husband has the book, and thought it was a really good read.  So it is now definitely on my must read list.

In the mid 1970's, there was a priest who filled in at our parish and his sermon was about Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' work On Death and Dying http://www.ekrfoundation.org/.   This was before I decided to become a social worker. But I read her book, and read many other books about death and dying.  I already had decided that when people died, there was an afterlife which was a better place so while we miss our loved ones, we would see them in the next world, in a better state.  I still firmly believe this.  So, dealing with death and dying of humans was something that I have had a peace with.  This has helped me with my social work career.  Most recently, that discussion has come up with my co-workers, and we have shared stories that re-enforce our belief in life after life.

I still have death and dying issues regarding pet animals, although those have lessened over the years, mostly because I have decided that our pets also have an after life in Heaven, as do our beloved humans.

Anyway, Heaven is For Real is on my list to see as a movie and read as a book. 

I am also waiting for Labor Day http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1967545/ to be released on January 31, 2014. This movie, filmed in 2012, in part in communities close to my home town, is based on a book Labor Day by Joyce Maynard.  I followed the news clips about the filming and read the book.  I do not understand why they did not target national opening for the Labor Day holiday weekend.  But they did not.  However, it has been released at various film festivals.

I am so not a movie goer.  Over the years, there have been movies that I have thought I wanted to see, but did not go to the movie theater to see, and then never followed up with. For a while, I had a Netflix https://signup.netflix.com/ subscription.  But, because I did not watch the movies sent to me in a timely way, I decided I did not get my money's worth by having a Netflix subscription. Someday, I may want to reconsider this, but for now, I can access movies and books through the library, and I do not feel I need to access Netflix,or any other movie service.

Movies are good.  Introspection indicates to me that I have a preference for movies that are based on a true story, while I know that even those movies take a lot of "artistic license."

I have, however, started going to the movie theater more:  If there is a movie I really want to see, I do not rely on the library to make it available. I just go to watch the movie.

I am thankful I have so many options regarding watching movies.