Netflix Pick: Arrival

"And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance....."

(The Dance, Garth Brooks, 1989)

There are lots of movies about aliens and making contact. Some are violent. Some are scary. Some are complicated. The best ones, to my mind, are the ones that make you think well beyond aliens.

Who are we? What do we want from each other? What are we afraid of? How do we handle people and ideas that are different from us? Would we hurt them? Would we try to learn from them? Would we be afraid or curious? What chances would we take? Now take all of these questions directed toward alien contact and direct them toward yourself and your life. Do that, and you have Arrival.

There were a lot of similarities to Contact, one of my all-time favorite films. There's a strong, brilliant female lead. There's end-of-world perception. There's loss. I think Carl Sagan would be okay with this film being compared to his book-turned-movie of Contact. Interstellar could also be compared to this film and was also not a let-down. All of these films are deep and thinky and will stay with you well after the movie ends.

To me, each of these movies used connections to aliens as a means of talking about something much bigger. In Contact, it was mainly religion. In Interstellar, it was mainly family. In Arrival, it was about choices. Would you take the risk for learning? Would you do it all again if you knew how it would end? If you're interested in expanding your mind and have ever considered any of these questions, all of these movies are for you.

Reclaiming Your Childhood: Priceless

This story might take a minute to tell. Bear with me. When my sister and I were little girls, my mother took us to a large baptist church in town. Even as a child, I never remember feeling welcome there. But I do remember the lovely older couple that kept my Sunday School class. They gave us saltines and kool-aid, and I remember thinking they would be nice grandparents to have. At Christmastime, the Sunday School class was set to have a random gift exchange. Every child was supposed to bring a gift that could be exchanged with any other child.....no specific gift designations. I received the gift of an Avon 7 bead necklace which was very popular at the time. I loved it so much and was thrilled to have it! I was somewhere between 5 and 7 at the time. (Back in the 1970's and 80's, Avon was a cosmetic company that was also known for it's inexpensive jewelry. I couldn't find a price on what this necklace would have cost back then, but apparently there is ...

My Week with Rumor

My dog Rumor was an experiment. A trial offer. And all parties knew that going in. Except for maybe Rumor. Rumor was an outdoor country dog. His given name was Ruger (named after a firearm if you don't know, I didn't) which made sense for a dog raised in hunting country. He was a stray that came to live with a loving family at about the age of 1. He lived outdoors, slept in a garage crate at night, frolicked with an older dog pack and had a lovely life. We think he was about 4 years old. He had been neutered, had vet care and was by no means a "rescue". His dad offered Ruger to me on a give-it-a-try basis. He knew I wanted a dog. He told me Ruger would be sweet to me and also be my protector. He was right on both counts. He told me if it didn't work out, I could bring Ruger back to him and his wife. I could tell they were a little sad when they dropped him off. It made me glad to see that Ruger came from such ...

NYE for $200, Alex

Can we all just agree that New Year's Eve is the worst of the string of winter holidays? I would even go so far as saying it's THE WORST of all the holidays. I loved when Stanford Blatch defined a party as feeling very "forced festive". To me, most NYE parties feel that way. The idea that this is a big year-end blow-out and we'd all damn well better make it awesome! The reason I hate NYE is because it combines two of things I most hate about celebrations: cold weather and crowds. Plus it's during a time of year when everyone has already spent all their money. AND you usually have to the leave the house. ADDITIONALLY, you have to stay up late. It's a big F.U. from me on all this. I would dare say that some of my happiest New Year's memories have been spent at home in my pajamas with either my child, an S.O. or happily alone. I remember one unforgettable year of moving into a 3rd floor apartment on NYE. I rememb...

Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

Search This Blog