Two Movies

On Christmas Day, my friend C and I saw Song Sung Blue. I had been looking forward to this movie for ages because I love Neil Diamond’s music, and I love Kate Hudson. It surpassed my expectations! Kate is utterly amazing, from her singing to her acting to her nailing of the Wisconsin accent. Hugh Jackman is fabulous too, and they both should win awards. The film is based on the true story of Lightning and Thunder, a married couple who were a Neil Diamond tribute band. It’s a love story as well as a family story, with jubilant highs and tragic lows. I cried a lot. Michael Imperioli from The Sopranos is also wonderful as a Buddy Holly impersonator (I still have the “Everyday” ear-worm). Who knew these peeps could sing? I want to see SSB again, though I will probably wait until it streams.

On Saturday, we saw The Housemaid, which was based on Freida McFadden’s novel of the same name. While I gave the book only three stars (not a bad rating, but not great either), I wanted to see the movie as soon as I heard it would star Amanda Seyfried because I love her. She’s such a versatile actress! From the dumb high school girl in Mean Girls to the exuberant Sophie in the Mamma Mia movies (where she sings beautifully as well) to the romcom heroine of Letters to Juliet to this psycho wife in Housemaid, she is impressive. (She also stars and sings in the new film The Testament of Ann Lee.) This movie was fun and campy, though I knew what to expect from the novel, so neither the thriller aspect nor the plot twist took me by surprise. I am glad I saw it anyway. 

More later…