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Saturday, January 31, 2009

Milk


Milk is probably the most inspirational movie I've ever seen. Definitely the most moving story I've seen in a long time, and also the best thing I've ever seen Sean Penn in. He is transformed in this. It's remarkable to see such a famous and recognizable actor disappear so completely into a role (and without the aid of scary clown makeup).

A lot of people are going to avoid this movie because of the subject matter, and that's a shame. Because this isn't a glorification of homosexuality, as I've heard some people complain. This is a celebration of a brave individual who wanted equal rights for ALL people.

This is the first of the five Best Picture nominated films that I've seen, so it's too early for me to have a favorite. But it's easy to see why this would be Ebert's pick.

6 comments:

jeannieo said...

I really want to see that, but of course it's not playing here in Libertyburg, oops I mean Lynchburg.

Is it worth an hour's drive to go see it?

Sharkbear said...

Tough call. This is a great movie, but I'm not sure if it necessarily demands to be seen on the big screen (except for the final shots, perhaps).
I once drove to Nashville to see Superman Returns on Imax. The movie was a pretty big disappointment, but the trip and the company I kept was worthwhile.
At least in this case you know you'd be seeing a good movie, too.
I guess you just need to decide if you can wait to see it on video.

rachel. said...

GO SEE THE READER.

Treegreen said...

I'm really disappointed I won't be able to see this in theaters. Anything that even sniffs homosexuality is summarily banned in Utah. Although I did get to see Slumdog Millionaire in our one screen art cinema.

Zhubin said...

I gotta say, I was pretty disappointed with it. Penn is good, but it felt like the movie was just running down a checklist of "Inspirational Story Points." Nothing that really said anything deeper.

Movies last year sucked in general, I have to say.

Sharkbear said...

That's kind of how I felt for the first third of the movie, but I ended up being completely sucked into it.
And by the end I had tears streaming down my face.

Are you made of stone?

I think there were some great movies this year, although maybe not as many as last year. Many of them were ignored by the Academy though.