What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Powerful Film About Family

Before watching this movie, all I knew was that Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio were in this movie together.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape tells the story of the Grape family in a small town world, where

The opening scene features Arnie Grape trapped in his own little world under the shadow of a tree with Gilbert Grape under it. Arnie gets excited when a team of vehicles comes up over the horizon, and Gilbert tries to keep Arnie under control. There is a really close-knit relationship between Arnie and Gilbert, brotherly and almost fatherly. Arnie could be having a good time then crying the next, but Gilbert is under control. This sort of juxtaposition of characters doesn't seem compatible, but they love each other like any set of siblings would.

I guess that divides are a big deal. The divide between the little sister and the brothers. The divide between Food Town and the small shop where Gilbert works. The divide between Gilbert and Ken Carver, played by Kevin Tighe.

The symbols and foreshadowing of certain things doesn't really sit well. There are looming things that happen around Arnie: the hearse the cricket: that mean that death is near, but we just don't know exactly when. I guess this isn't a spoiler since 5 minutes in, Gilbert tells you that sooner or later Arnie will die, but I guess the anticipation of this death is what drives the movie.

Arnie has this routine mindset of getting himself in trouble because of his condition that forces Gilbert into a more fatherly role. Gilbert gets really defensive whenever someone tries to pick on Arnie. The connection between Gilbert and Arnie makes me wonder about how their relationship will change throughout the movie.

After watching the movie, I have to say that this movie surprised me by the turn that it was taking. It's really powerful. Really emotional. Intense. I love this movie. It's great.

Everything from the character development to the symbols really got me in the end. I feel that you have to see the entire movie to feel the sense of closure. There is so many things that hit in the end that truly make this a cinematic masterpiece.

I give this movie a 5/5.

The Lone Ranger - Stop Gloating, Villains!

So I didn't know what to think about this movie. Surely, I did have this sort of Pirates of the Caribbean vibe coming from the movie, especially since Johnny Depp is yet again in another live action movie of Disney's. 

Anywho, The Lone Ranger tells the story of John Reid, played by Armie Hammer, a young lawyer who gets tied up with a rowdy gang of rogue cowboys led by the infamous Butch Cavendish, played by William Fichtner. When a group of rangers go out to try to put a stop to Cavendish, Butch responds by killing every single one of the rangers, or so he thought. Tonto, played by Johnny Depp, is a Comanche Indian who revives John Reid and accompanies him in his quest to stop the infamous Butch Cavendish.

First off, I'd just like to say that whoever came up with these names: (Butch Cavendish John Reid) really had their heart set out on making this film as Western as possible. Butch is the typical villain name. Oh my gosh. I could not stop laughing when I got introduced to this villainous character. 

I'm not too comfortable with the idea of John Reid automatically being able to do something at the end of the movie, if you catch my drift. Again, this is a spoiler-free zone, so I'll try not to be specific. But, really? Like if this happened in my family, I would rather just leave things as they are and not take advantage of the moment like John Reid does at the end of the movie. 

Another thing that bothered me a bit was the gloating that Butch Cavendish and the other villain (again with the spoiler-free zone thing) kept doing. When you have Tonto or John Reid on the other side of the gun, you shoot! You don't wait until some other force of the universe stops you from achieving your goal. Every Disney villain freakin' gloats. It's a ridiculous thing that ticks me off sometimes.

Yet another thing that gets me ticked off is the stupid thing that Disney does at the end of every other movie with the whole "believe what you want to believe" kind of ideology. That is not a spoiler because this is true for every other Disney movie. There is a bit more that also ticks me off at the end of the movie, but alas I'll say no more.

I liked the action. I liked the visual effects. I liked Johnny Depp. The comedy. The ties to actual historical events that occurred. Armie Hammer was alright; he provided that awkward sort of comedic style  that drove the movie forward as well. 

I give this movie a 4/5.