Thursday, November 18, 2010

Kristen was great in Welcome to the Riley's

I haven't posted in forever. Sorry. But today I am doing this short one and another longer one.

I saw Welcome to the Riley's Tuesday night. I had read enough about the movie going
in that I knew what to expect. The first thing I noticed was: Wow. They did a good job of giving the prettiest girl in Hollywood oily skin. And greasy hair. I knew that was Kristen in there, so I wasn't fooled, but they did a good job of making a beautiful girl not so pretty.

There is nothing sexy about this movie despite the 1.5 seconds they show Kristen's
bare butt. You see her bruises right away and its obvious she
is too young and probably a runaway. I am allot younger than James Gandolfini, but
my reaction to Mallory was also somewhat paternal.

Kristen was very impressive. I expected this. Seeing her break down got to me.
And it was touching that Doug's motives with Mallory were about feeding his need
to nurture. He wasn't phased by Mallory's sexual advances. But we know in real life there are 50 year old men who do take advantage of teenage runaways. Yes, that's creepy. Kristen's character was a person who has to put up with these creeps.

As for award season, I am far from an expert, but it seems to me that performances
not as strong as Kristen's have won Academy Awards. I hear the competition
is really stiff and I don't want to set myself up for disappointment, but the performance was there.

I have not seen Speak, but I know that WTTR is Kristen's 2nd film with regards
to young woman and abuse.

That topic is apparently very important to Kristen.

Briefly I wanted to add this thought because I have never spoken about her being
being criticized for using the word "rape" last spring.

Did she need to apologize? After seeing the footage of Kristen being literally attacked as she was leaving Sydney last June, the word seemed applicable. Dictionary.com has many definitions, including these.
#4.an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse; despoliation; violation.
#7.to plunder (a place); despoil.
#8.to seize, take, or carry off by force.
These definitions easily could apply to what she was describing, which was having a group of 20 guys intimidate and take, by force, her privacy and/or dignity. She knows how it feels. Most of us don't so who are we to judge. As a man I should not and will not ever use that word when describing anything that has happened to me. Its not politically correct. But for a woman? If she hadn't apologized, then it would have dragged on forever, but I call bullshit on the whole deal.

6 comments:

  1. Thank you!!! As always great post!!!

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  2. I feel like everyone has seen this movie but me!!!! And I'll have to wait until it comes out on DVD because it's not showing anywhere near me. I need to move to a big city LOL

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  3. Glad you finally get to see WTTR. Kristen is brilliant in Speak too. I admitted that I saw Speak on Youtube but I plan to order a DVD soon. Oh, don't remind me the "rape" incident. I'm still pissed about the whole thing. That was definitly a tough week for Kristen and us fans.

    Monica from Asia

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  4. So glad you got to see WTTR. Great observations and comments. I agree with you that Kristen's performance is award worthy. In fact, all three, Kristen, James Gandolfini, and Melissa Leo were phenomenal in this dark, emotional, and moving tale of loneliness. The isolation each character deals with slowly begins to wash away with each individual's steps toward reconnection with humanity in general and each other. The ending was not what I expected, but I liked it because it seemed to be the most real and fit the characters, allowing for the hope of continued growth in all of them, each at their own pace.
    Always love your posts Opy. Take care.

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  5. Thanks for your post.

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  6. thank you for the last paragraph. as usually you say what I feel but better :)

    Im not sure when I will be able to see WTTR but I most definitely will.

    and it would be definitely nice to see Kris recognized for her acting. Oscar is maybe aiming a bit high but why not. Golden Globe nomination would be enough for me ;)

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