Today I want to share a review I read recently - Raja Sen's review of Nebraska.
I heard about this movie around the same time that I heard about Her. Both movies were playing at the little local cinema that shows mostly art house and independent films. I chose to see Her first as its premise appealed to me more and figured I'd watch Nebraska later that same weekend. That wasn't to be. I don't regret that choice at all, obviously.
Now until this point I only had a hazy idea of what Nebraska was about. I knew the performances were almost universally praised and that's basically why I wanted to check it out. Then I started coming across some criticism of the movie for being too American-centric. This gave me pause. Living in the heartland of the US tends to make one tired of hearing/seeing things that are solely from the American perspective. I was left wondering if I really wanted to take the trouble to go see this movie after all.
You must understand that I rarely go to the cinema anyway (I probably see an average of 2-3 films a year in the theater). So to make time for a movie that I would probably not like seemed pointless. I could always watch it on DVD or Netflix later on.
But then something strange happened. I started coming across rave reviews for this movie from Indian critics. Why would it appeal to them if it was all about the American way of life? Well, I guess it could, but so unanimously? I was now second guessing myself. And that's when I read this particular review.
It made me want to go see the movie right away. If the film was half as good as the review, it would be worth it. Even if it wasn't, it would still be worth it as a tribute to the power of those words.
So in a few hours I'm going to try to go watch Nebraska. I say try because, as luck would have it, we've been struck with another winter storm. I am hoping the roads will be clear enough and the weather not too forbidding for me to drive downtown to catch the matinee, which is the only showing of Nebraska today. Fingers crossed.
I heard about this movie around the same time that I heard about Her. Both movies were playing at the little local cinema that shows mostly art house and independent films. I chose to see Her first as its premise appealed to me more and figured I'd watch Nebraska later that same weekend. That wasn't to be. I don't regret that choice at all, obviously.
Now until this point I only had a hazy idea of what Nebraska was about. I knew the performances were almost universally praised and that's basically why I wanted to check it out. Then I started coming across some criticism of the movie for being too American-centric. This gave me pause. Living in the heartland of the US tends to make one tired of hearing/seeing things that are solely from the American perspective. I was left wondering if I really wanted to take the trouble to go see this movie after all.
You must understand that I rarely go to the cinema anyway (I probably see an average of 2-3 films a year in the theater). So to make time for a movie that I would probably not like seemed pointless. I could always watch it on DVD or Netflix later on.
But then something strange happened. I started coming across rave reviews for this movie from Indian critics. Why would it appeal to them if it was all about the American way of life? Well, I guess it could, but so unanimously? I was now second guessing myself. And that's when I read this particular review.
It made me want to go see the movie right away. If the film was half as good as the review, it would be worth it. Even if it wasn't, it would still be worth it as a tribute to the power of those words.
So in a few hours I'm going to try to go watch Nebraska. I say try because, as luck would have it, we've been struck with another winter storm. I am hoping the roads will be clear enough and the weather not too forbidding for me to drive downtown to catch the matinee, which is the only showing of Nebraska today. Fingers crossed.
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