Escape, Enchantment & Ewan McGregor
Movies are a treasure chest brimming with soulful jewels. They can stir deep emotion, challenge your intellect and tear at your empathy. Sometimes, though, you just want to fall in love and have a good time. These are some of the most precious baubles of them all, and often the rarest too.
Quality comedies, adventure films and romances are hard to come by. Plenty of efforts are made in these genres, as exemplified by the Summer blockbuster releases, but finding a movie that steals my heart in this particular way is tricky.
My recent batch of movies has included more “escapist” fare. I have been looking to have my heart stolen, my mind distracted, my laughter triggered. Yes, I have continued to watch some all-important nominated films, but there are also a delightful sampling of movies that have made me smile and clap my hands.
Among my favorites are three films starring Ewan McGregor, my current Hollywood boyfriend. He is not aware of this relationship, but that does not diminish my feelings in the least. Such is the beauty of Hollywood boyfriends!
Our tryst began with my viewing of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. It provides a very unusual backdrop to a rather familiar (perhaps formulaic?) tale. The story enchanted me, as did he. Our romance continued the next day with Beginners starring Ewan and Christopher Plummer in his Oscar winning role. I LOVED this film. It had everything I look for: slice-of-life, unique characters that grow and an honest look at an individual’s life. Specificity can be universal. This plays out in The Impossible, as well. The story of one family’s experience of the tragic Tsunami of 2004 brought home the enormity of this disaster. It was raw and traumatic, rightfully so. Ewan was remarkable in this film, though his accent did confuse me at first. Every relationship has it’s bumps.
I was downright gleeful during two movies that the film-snob within me would ordinarily scoff at: Tower Heist and Here Comes the Boom. Neither are films of great acclaim but who cares? I watched them next to my Sister and my Dad and we had a blast. Jackpot! My sister writes in depth about those moments here and here.
For the romantic in me, there was Celeste and Jesse Forever, Friends with Kids and Think Like a Man. Celeste and Jesse Forever is a great little film, actually, about a couple who is separating but whose friendship remains solid and strong. This proves more complicated than it sounds. The other two films are easy, breezy and predictable and I appreciated every bit of them!
Speaking of Romance, Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love is truly that. A Valentine to the city, who was my favorite character in the film. Must add a visit to Rome to my to-do list.
Movies have, once again, come through for me. I have a distinct memory of sitting in a theatre as a teenage girl watching Peggy Sue Got Married. For whatever reason, during the opening credits I was overcome by an acute awareness that life would, at some point, bring about great hardship. In that moment I had this thought: no matter what happens, I will always have movies. And so it is. Movies are a lifelong, all-weather friend. It is love.
For those interested here is the list of movies viewed since my Movie Reviews: The First 10 Days post which was a follow-up to my 31 Days, 31 Movies Challenge, which was delayed by incidents described on Day 18. Certainly more information than you ever wanted. 🙂
11. The Deep Blue Sea
12. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
13. Beginners
14. The Lady
15. To Rome with Love
16. The Impossible
17. Queen of Versailles
18. Arbitrage
19. Looper
20. Friends with Kids
21. The Seven-Ups
22. Think Like a Man
23. Tower Heist
24. Flight
25. Tiny Furniture
26. Celeste and Jesse Forever
27. Here Comes the Boom
Four more to go to get to 31!
2 Responses to “Escape, Enchantment & Ewan McGregor”
Thanks, Luisa. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a wonderful book, too – worth the read.
Dearest Luisa,
looking forward to hitting your movie list.
Miss you lots, xo Elizabeth
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