New Blog

In addition to my movie obsession, I have always been quite passionate about clothing, fashion, and style.  As a way to explore Tumblr and a new format of creativity, I have created another blog where I will share my fashion inspirations with others.

If you are interested check it out here.

Hope you enjoy!

last one, I promise... for now at least

This documentary was actually already posted on my blog but I figured since I was already posting each of my documentaries in order that they were made, I might as well be orderly and chronological about the whole thing and go ahead and post this little gem as well.

As seniors in high school we made this film, sadly our last film for the NHD competition (seriously, if they allowed college grads to compete I would be there in a heart beat... but it's probably good that that is not allowed because you gotta cut the cord at some point).  After our Thomas Nast doc we returned to the familiar... Colorado history, this time focussing on the founding of National Jewish Hospital, the first free sanitarium for tuberculosis victims.








Be healthy... get a flu-shot :-)

It's Kind of A Really Good Movie

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's new film, It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010), starring Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts and newcomer, Keir Gilchrist.  The premise is rather simple: Craig (Gilchrist), a clinically depressed high-schooler, checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward in an effort to seek help for his suicidal thoughts.  During his short stint in the hospital, Craig not only meets a slew of interesting characters, but also learns much about life, love, and the pressures we all endure while growing up and finding ourselves.

The writing and directing of the film deserves recognition; it is just the right balance of seriousness, comedy, and whimsy.  However, for a film set in a mental ward it is certianly very light on the "drama" or "intensity" (i.e. this is no One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Girl, Interrupted).  In fact, the hospital and its inhabitants all seem very nice and happy, especially Bobby (Galifianakis), who becomes Craig's closest friend and mentor.  If people like this really are in psychiatric wards, I wouldn't mind checking myself in as well.

This film is entertaining and well-acted.  Galifianakis was perfectly cast; likable, funny, and characteristically quirky.  Gilchrist also delivers a solid performance and has great chemistry with his co-stars, Galifianakis and Roberts.  His lead performance was believable and he brings much charisma to the screen... I look forward to seeing him in other roles in the future.  

I recommend people check this one out.  I doubt many will be disappointed.  And if you are a fan of cheesy lip-synching there is an awesome performance of David Bowie/Queen's Under Pressure.  And now that you have that to look forward to, why would you not want to see this?

Has anyone else seen this film?  If so, what'd you think?

and then we made this one...

After posting my first two docs, I'm sure everyone wants to see how we progressed so I guess I have to share my two high school docs...which, in my opinion, are much more professional looking ;-)  As sophomores in high school my friend and I made this documentary, again for the National History Day Competition, about the political cartoons of Thomas Nast.  This film was a national finalist, as well as the only documentary we ever made that was not about Colorado history (yes, we certainly have state pride but I suppose we took a break from that for this little film).  So, without further ado, I present you with Corruption, Cartoons, and Communication (ooh, la, la... look at that alliteration)

More of My Own Movies

Since this is my blog I'm allowed to toot my own horn even more and present you guys with yet another Sarah-made documentary.  This is the second film my friend and I wrote, narrated, directed, and edited.  We were 8th graders at the time and this film, entitled Ludlow: A Massacre of Human Rights, was entered in the junior group documentary category where it received 1st place at both city and state levels and was a national finalist.

Be sure to take notes... history is important!

My First Movie

I will be writing movie reviews quite soon (YAY!!) but I also wanted to go ahead and share some of my own films.  Beginning in 7th grade, one of my best friends and I made documentaries for a national competition entitled National History Day (NHD).  The first year we decided to enter the theme for the competition was "Revolution, Reaction, Reform" and we chose to make a 10 minute documentary about women's suffrage, specially the suffrage movement in the West (Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah).  I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but NHD truly changed my life and was no doubt one of the most rewarding experiences ever.  Not only did we become little women's history experts, but making the film made me realize my passion for film, documentaries, and video editing.  We ended up competing a total of 4 times, making a 10 minute documentary each year to fit the different themes.  I even majored in Film Studies in college because of my NHD experience.  So here is the first doc my friend and I made at the wee age of 12.  The title of the film is Women's Suffrage: First the West... Then the Nation.  It received 1st place at the city level, 2nd place at the state level, and a bronze medal at nationals held in College Park Maryland.

And voting truly is a fundamental part of democracy so I hope ya'll voted!!!

Welcome Back

Hello blog-world!!!  So I have no clue if anyone ever reads this blog anymore but I am hoping to start blogging a bit again and hopefully anyone out there who reads this or read this in the past may come check it out... I promise to try to update more frequently (even though I'm pretty sure writing anything at all counts as more frequent then I have been in the last 10 months or so...).  I have seen an INSANE number of films lately.  And when I say "insane" I truly mean insane; I'm talking 2-3 movies a day.  Yes, I know, I'm a bit cuckoo.  (Hello, my name is Sarah, and I have a movie addiction.  There, I said it.)  So once I get back in the swing of it and figure out all the movies I have seen, my goal is to slowly but surely write reviews for all of them.  Most of the films I have been enjoying lately are "old" (i.e. not in theatres) but I have also seen Conviction, The Social Network, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Nowhere Boy, It's Kind of A Funny Story, and plenty of other current flicks.  So please be sure to keep coming back and I promise to actually supply content for you to enjoy!

Peace and love,
Sarah


And until I have reviews up and posted... here is my theme song now that I am back in the blogging world.  Enjoy!