Day 56.
The Help
Despite the excessive (and unnecessary) controversy surrounding this movie, I was excited to see it. I did have some hesitation, but I decided to put my feelings aside since the book and the movie garnered rave reviews. I enjoyed the movie and the acting, even from the young actresses, is excellent. I was surprised that they didn’t advertise that legendary actresses Sissy Spacek and Cicely Tyson are also in this movie. Spacek is great in her comedic role and Tyson‘s superb turn as an elderly maid almost got me teary-eyed. While Viola Davis embodies Aibileen, an older quiet maid, Octavia Spencer steals the show as feisty Minny.
Even though the acting is terrific, the movie itself isn’t groundbreaking to me. It was a little slow at times and the white women that “the help” worked for seemed a bit cartoonish at times. I liked that the women are the main focus of the film, but the film was a bit unrealistic. I won’t ruin the movie, but Minny definitely wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale about her pie. Instead of only talking about the violence that the maids faced for talking about their employers, I wish it would have been shown. The film would have been less cookie-cutter if it addressed black nannies true feelings about the white kids they raise. It is more likely that they didn’t love the children because they knew that they would grow up to become racist like their parents.
Nevertheless, The Help teaches an important message and illuminates the stories of an often voiceless group, even though it may not be as authentic as I would have hoped. One of the most touching scenes is at the end when Aibileen tells Mae Mobley, her employer’s daughter, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” This film definitely shows me that it is essential to teach my children their own worth and love them unconditionally.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
I’m not usually into action movies, but the trailer looked good so I went to see it. I was expecting an intense takeover from the apes, and was excited because of the cool technology that allowed the apes to have human facial expressions. However, there was no action until the last 30 minutes of the movie and the technology wasn’t put to good use. The movie dragged on, failing at making me feel bad for Caesar, the super intelligent ape raised by scientist Will Rodman, played by James Franco. It was fake that no one called the police even though they knew Rodman was raising a chimp in his suburban home. Caesar took forever to stage his rebellion, and when he finally did, all he and his other ape buddies do is chill in a national forest. That definitely doesn’t explain how the apes came to rule over humans. The city police definitely could have thrown a couple of grenades into that park. Simply put, this movie was lame.
(92) Days of Movies 
Yo friend! Lemme just say, it was hard for me to get into the movie with James Franco as the scientist. I just saw him as J. Franco until the end. Same with Freida Pinto. Kudos on the IR relationship though. The apes come to rule over humans because of the virus that gets spread. Remember the scientist who died? He died from a virus due to the serum, not because of the apes. Also, about the lack of action. I actually liked how it showed Caesar’s gradual mistrust and resentment of man. He experienced his own “evolution”. I also like how it shows how he became the leader of the movement, not necessarily because he was the first “smart” ape, but because she commanded their respect, treated them better than the humans, and gave them a hopeful future. That was some powerful stuff. I admit, it felt very comic-y, and I found myself slightly embarrassed at times to be watching this movie, and feeling sorry for a fake chimp, but I think it turned out well. It never took itself too seriously, but it still had some serious/interesting implications. My favorites were the director/president of Gensys as a black man, Caesar taking care not to truly harm humans, and them chilling in the forest. They burned a bridge but haven’t made it through the forest! hahahaha love the play on idioms here.
When I finally go to see an action movie, I would appreciate it if it actually had some action. I got the whole virus thing, but I feel like they just added that at the end b/c they realized the way it ended didn’t explain the takeover. They definitely could have quarantined that pilot and everyone he came into contact with in 2 seconds, especially if the original guy told someone he was sneezing blood. Not to mention the fact that his mask inexplicably fell off during the experiment.
Okay, so it was a bit of a Deus Ex Machina in that the virus begins killing people off. But I like that it was anti-climatic. I like to think of the Rise of Apes as something that happens slowly and silently at first, and then when its too late, as a very loud, disturbing and complete destruction. The apes making it to the park was only one part of the takeover. I’ll also defend not quarantining the pilot because of the dead guy because they didn’t really pay attention. I thought that part was the most intelligent aspect of the film. They are so worried about these apes escaping, they forget about the dead guy. And he started the biggest chain reaction.