Day 193: Deep Impact

A comet is found to be heading directly for Earth and its impact will have devastating consequences unless it can be diverted away.

We experience the events through different characters. There’s the journalist who wants to make it big but then is shaken by what’s going to happen. There’s the kid who was the person to actually discover the comet. There is the shuttle crew who are attempting to destroy the comet before it reaches Earth. In these films, the crew who are trying to stop the comet (or whatever it happens to be) are always really brave. They accept that they have to sacrifice themselves (spoiler! The film was out in 1998 though, there’s no excuse for having not seen it) to save their families and everyone else and they do it without any fuss. When they’re saying goodbye to their families it just breaks my heart. How do you even begin to say goodbye to the person you love? Nothing would seem like enough. But I suppose it would spur you on because you'd know that they were going to be safe.

I really love this film. And all disaster films, really. I know they’re cheesy and whatever but I just don’t care. They make me sad. Partly because of the sadness of what’s happening but also because people can end up being so lovely and it’s sad that it’ll end. I had more to say about the film but all the crying has kind of knackered me.

9/10

Day 58: To Kill A Mockingbird

While attempting to defend a wrongfully accused man, Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), is faced with ignorance and violence from the Useless White Men™ of the town. He abides by a strong moral code and will not stand by and let Tom Robinson (Brock Peters) be imprisoned for something he did not do. Of course, this takes place in the ‘30s so there’s no chance of them winning the case but he tries to fight for what is right.

I might have accidentally fallen in love with Gregory Peck. His voice is so pleasing, I can't even talk about it. And his character is just the best father, reading to Scout and teaching both of the children to be kind and considerate. And he’s a great man, staying true to what he believes in despite the hassle he gets for it. Can somebody invent a time machine, I would like to go back and marry Gregory Peck, thank you.

Can’t seem to find much to write about, probably because I’m so distracted by Gregory Peck. Such a babe.

8/10

Day 55: The Godfather

The head of one of the major Mafia families in New York, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), is shot after he refuses to help another of the families sell drugs. His sons attempt to deal with this and there’s quite a lot of murdering. Eventually, Michael (Al Pacino), steps up and restores a sense of balance, becoming the new Don Corleone.

The change in Michael’s character was brilliant. He starts off as this sweet guy who doesn’t want to get involved in his family’s business but as people come to rely on him he ends up being a total badass and sets everything right. I didn’t like how he was just replacing the women in his life though; first he’s with Kay (Diane Keaton) then he has to go away so he shacks up with Apollonia (Simonetta Stefanelli), then she dies and he goes back to Kay again. Women aren’t interchangeable, I don’t like the idea of just dropping one and picking up another. Kay isn’t even a good choice for what you’d need in a wife when you’re head of a mafia family, she asks way too many questions. And then he had to lie to her at the end, I just can’t see it going well. I can't believe I'm saying Diane Keaton isn't a good choice for a wife, my brain must be broken.

When Carlo (Gianni Russo) was beating Connie (Talia Shire), I was so angry I can’t even describe it properly. I’m not even sure I understand how he thought he would get away with hitting her. She is the daughter of Vito Corleone, are you just out of your idiot mind? My notes just basically consist of lots of swearing and rage for any scene that he is in. I’m glad Sonny (James Caan) beat him but he should’ve murdered him, I was just hollering at the screen for him to kill him during that fight scene. Then when Michael was letting him be part of the family, I was confused for a while but then I realised what was going to happen and I literally could not wait. So glad they strangled him, shooting would’ve been too quick. I’m the least violent person but I just can’t handle it when people think it’s acceptable to hit their spouses.

I was dreading watching this film (a gangster film that’s 3 hours long? Aah) but it turns out that I actually loved it. So brilliant, I never once checked to see how long was left because I wasn’t sure I even wanted it to end. The feeling of family running through each relationship was lovely, and the suspicion of almost everyone kept everything nice and tense. Loved it.

9/10