"Big Fish"

I heard this movie was good when it came out, but for some reason I never got around to seeing it. Basically, it's about a 30-something American guy, living in France and about to have his first child with his French wife. His father told him fantastical stories about his own life when he was a young boy and even into his adulthood. Now as his father is dying, he doesn't know his own father and what to believe about him.

Though the movie mostly shows the events his father described, such as a town no one ever leaves, a sheep-stealing 15 foot giant, and impossible feats in war, it touches on a much more beautiful subject. I think that the real meaning of the movie is about our relationship with our parents, and the importance of having a close one even after we're out of the house and gone.

The main character, Will Bloom, goes the whole movie wanting to know the truth about his father's past, the truth behind the stories of werewolf circus leaders and catching the uncatchable giant catfish. But more than anything, he feels his father is a stranger, a close stranger. I am glad that I don't feel the same way, and I think it shows us the importance of working towards a closer relationship with our parents, not just letting them build it, but doing some of the work ourselves. He finally realizes that his father has shared his life with him the way he knew how. It was now Will's turn to accept it and work towards a closer relationship with his father.

Like I said, I loved this movie. Not just for the outward tall tales and myths, but for the poignant meaning lying underneath the main script.

"Cold Comfort Farm"

This movie stars Kate Beckinsale and Sir Ian McKellen. It's about a young society woman in the 30s whose parents die and leave her orphaned. She doesn't want to work, so she farms herself out to the relatives she has. She decides to go live on Cold Comfort Farm with some very strange relatives to turn the farm around and make them proper ladies and gentlemen. The matriarch of the family is a crazy old lady who barely comes out of her room but leads the farm with an iron fist and no one can ever leave because she "saw something nasty in the woodshed" (she can't even remember what it was she saw).

I thought this was a very sweet movie. It was a BBC production, so I had never heard of it. But the fun came in the characters. You have McKellen who plays the son-in-law of the crazy lady. He runs the farm, but doesn't care much for it because all he wants to do is preach. He's one of those crazy preachers who likes to scare everyone into submission believing that they'll all go to hell. A little intense. Then you have the sons. The quiet Ruben who cares deeply about the farm and turning it around. Seth is the younger brother who really wants to be in the talkies but has no way of doing it (he's played by one of my favorite British character actors: Rufus Sewell of "Knight's Tale" and "Tristan and Isolde"). The mother of the boys is just as crazy as her mother. And the daughter is secretly in love with a rich heir but spouts poetry all day.

Kate Beckinsale basically comes in, talks to these people, cleans them up, and helps them acheive their dreams. That's all she cares about. She wants them to go out and make something of their lives, while being proper. She also has two admirers, one of them a loon and the other a very sweet man who watches her with the cutest looks on his face.

It was great to see what she could do for these people just through small gestures and some talking. The movie was so much fun to watch, and I was sad when it ended. I highly recommend it to everyone. It really talked mostly about how change was a good thing and that sometimes we all just need to break away to make our lives better. Though it was set in the 30s, it transcends all time limitations.