Written by Emma Canady. Media by Bekah Dothager. [divide]
Last week marked the beginning of the semester and with it, the idle chit chat necessary to survive 8am classes with people you swear you’ve never seen on campus before. They sit across from you, somehow more awake than you’ve ever been in your whole life, and expect you to string together a coherent conversation. The small talk typically covers the safe, easy topics (your name, year, major, and what other classes you have) within the first day. Sometimes, if you’re particularly grumpy in the mornings, you last a full week before you’ve exhausted all the basic topics with your seat neighbors. But inevitably, you get there. It’s time for more personal chit chat. If you’re anything like me, that almost exclusively goes to television or movies. I typically feel safe with those topics. After all, I watch a lot of movies. I can talk a lot about movies. Movies rock. So when my neighbor shrugged and fiddled with her pen, muttering about how she hadn’t seen any movies this summer, I realized that something: there was probably a whole slew of students who spent their summers abroad, or camping, or visiting family, or doing anything at all outside of wasting all of their free time at the movie theater, clutching a purse full of throw blankets and snacks. Which, of course, is what I did. If you happened to miss out on the theaters this summer, here are the biggest hits from each summer month!
You didn’t go see MM:FR? I’m not sure I believe you. I don’t want to believe you. Please go watch it right now. Directed by George Miller and starring the phenomenal actors Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, MM:FR perfectly mixes car chases, hero worshipping, strong women, and cinematography that makes your chest feel heavy. You can watch this casually or with all the intent of a scholastic interpretation. It’s essential for surviving a movie-themed conversation.
I’m not even sure what needs to be said for this movie. Everyone who watched the originals should watch the newest addition simply because it’s a new addition. When I asked a friend what she liked about it, she hesitated only briefly before firmly stating: “Chris Pratt. Chris Pratt. Chris Pratt. Jake Johnson. Chris Pratt.” In addition to the handsomely well acted protagonists, the movie pairs realistic graphics, a good storyline, and a generally fun aesthetic. The movie is a must see.
There’s something special about a movie that has been adapted from a John Green novel. Maybe it’s because the stories feature young adults and teenagers with valid opinions, thoughts, and reactions. Maybe it’s because I’ve read every one of his novels so many times, I can mutter most of the dialogue with the characters the first time through. Either way, Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne use their phenomenal acting skills to bring to life Q. and Margo, respectively. Although I found the directing to be a bit bland and the story sometimes lacking, the friendships and the jokes between them make the movie entirely worth seeing and entirely worth talking about.
If you don’t watch any other movies from the 2015 summer but want to be able to converse easily with those who spent their entire break glued to a theater seat, then watch these. Entertaining to say the least, these three hits will keep you looking well informed and just casual enough to slide through any conversation with quasi-strangers!
Clever title!