Double Feature

My husband, Eric, owns a film production company, which pretty much automatically means we watch a lot of movies, especially this time of the year.  Between November and December, a lot of movies are released that are considered Oscar contenders.  So between November and the Academy Awards (February 26), most every date night is spent at the movie theatre.  And let me tell you, there are a lot of movies to see.  So many, that we decided to get a little crazy this past weekend and see two movies in one night.  I know, you'd think we were 20 year-olds without any kids to get up with in the morning or something.

The movies of choice this round were Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Take Shelter.  First up was Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a mystery movie set within the British intelligence.  It's a movie that hasn't gotten a ton of publicity despite it's cast (Gary Oldman, and Colin Firth).  There's a lot to discover as Gary Oldman's character investigates a potential mole at the head of British intelligence.  The movie was a little difficult to follow, particularly at the beginning when you're not prepared to follow along so closely, but neither Eric nor I had trouble understanding the story.  Personally, I like movies like this, which require you to pay attention to detail.  I always grew up paying attention to foreshadowing in the story, so this movie was right up my alley.  Although the story is very interesting, the movie itself isn't very action packed and lacks a lot of emotion.  But that's not surprising since every character is a secret service agent. 



Second on the queue was Take Shelter, a very small movie about a man who struggles with a developing mental illness.  Because of vivid dreams, he believes he needs to expand and prepare the storm shelter in his backyard.  These dreams and resulting actions create tension at work, with friends and also in his family.  Eric and I were both very impressed with the acting on the part of the main character and his wife (Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain).  I really think that movies which require someone to portray an average person dealing with a real life situation is harder than acting as a larger-than-life character.  But however you feel about that, the job these actors did was incredible.  Intermingled in this story about a family are brief scary moments as we witness his nightmares.  I would definitely consider this film a psychological thriller.  Although this film made me jump a couple of times, it is probably one of the better movies I've seen all year.  I've always loved movies, but since marrying Eric, I have developed a love for movies that really get you thinking.  We seriously spent the entire drive home and then some talking about the film, trying to analyze and understand the story fully.  We didn't have any luck, because we both interpreted the film a little differently and I don't think there's a "right" answer.