Aug 18, 2014

Going "Into the Storm"


I went to see "Into the Storm"
over the weekend.


This is what I looked like:
Armed with a Mountain Dew and giant tub of popcorn...
giddy with the sense of freedom that going out in public without
a bunch of tiny hooligans gives me.  Hooraaay!!!


Plus I was going to see 
you-know-who.
I know, Richard... I was excited too!



First of all, I just have to say that
Principals/Vice-Principals normally look like this:


But then they throw THIS at us!?
Send me back to high school
if this guy is in charge!


I wasn't intending to fangirl at all.
(I mean, HELLO, I am completely over my obsessive ways, remember!?)


Then Richard appeared on screen 
and I was like this:


Stop it, Richard!
I just wasn't prepared for BROODING.
Not romantic Mr. Thornton brooding, mind you...
more like "There's destruction everywhere and I don't
know where my son is and I told my other kid he can't
carry a knife around but he did anyway, though it has
turned out pretty handy" kind of brood.


Okay, enough of the gushing!


It's time to have a real discussion about very important,
very serious "Into the Storm" matters.  Such as...
Did anyone else notice the actor triangle?


Just thought I'd point it out.


This brief moment reminded me of Lucas North.
(That could be rubble from a bomb rather than a tornado.)
Hey- what if Lucas faked his own death, moved to
the States 
and adopted another identity!?


I felt anxiety every time a tornado came and the characters stopped
to stare in awe of the view. I wanted to shout "Fly you fools!!!" like Gandalf.
Side story:  Growing up, my family would make the 2-3 day drive to visit my Grandma in Illinois for a few weeks each summer.  While watching this movie I was reminded of the time we were quickly leaving Six Flags in Chicago because of a tornado warning. The sky had turned dark in a matter of minutes and crowds of people were exiting the amusement park on the brink of panic. My sweet Grandmother stopped in the middle of the chaos to bend over and pick up a penny she saw in the parking lot. A penny!  She was like, "La, la la... what's the big deal?" and we were ready to pee our pants! I guess some Mid-Westerners are hardcore and used to this kind of stuff, but I'm from the West and a wuss at the thought of twisters. I loved visiting Grandma, but each summer I was convinced a tornado would come along and sweep me up in her little pink house, just like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz."  To this day, when I see a random penny on the ground, I have to stop and pick it up in honor of Grandma and it makes me smile to think of her. :)


Moments like these had me on the edge of my seat!



I liked Allison, played by Sarah Wayne Callies.

Matt Walsh as Pete really annoyed me...
but that's the intention, so he did his job well.

 I think we all know
someone like these fellows, don't we?

The entire cast was wonderful.

However...

 Hear me out, Richard, everyone 
is entitled to their own opinion, ya know.

Although I enjoyed the movie, it left me a bit unsatisfied,
wanting to 
know MORE about each character.

The "found footage" style of filming didn't give a very personal, 
in-depth look at Gary and his two sons and what they've been through. Or why
Allison is a single mother.  Or what really 
drives Pete to be an obsessive storm-chaser.
They just sort of grazed the surface where that was concerned and
went for the nail-biting action instead.  (One of the exceptions
being Donnie-films-his-goodbye scene.)

Having said that, I'd like to watch "Into the Storm" again
and WOULD recommend it to others.


The moral of the story is...
we should all invest in one of these, just in case!

And we should all have this guy around,
on the off-chance we need CPR.
Always be prepared, right? ;)

16 comments:

Servetus said...

Yeah, not enough Armitage was my feeling, too -- but then again I was happy he wasn't killed :)

Trudy said...

Can't stop laughing at the fan-excitement gif. And the opening picture of you enjoying an actual alone date! I totally understand.
This was the most fun review yet. Thanks, I've yet to go see it.

Nat at RA FanBlog said...

Serv, I agree. There needed to be more RA screen time!

Trudy, go see it! Then tell us if you have a mini freak-out like the gif. :) To be honest, I managed to keep my composure on the outside, but on the inside I was like, "OHMYGOSH! There he is! Richaaaaard!"

Awkward Celebrity Encounters said...

Best. Review. EVER.

Guylty said...

Brilliant review. And I say that without knowing what I am talking about. (Not seen this masterpiece yet.) But this was just so enjoyable to read while still getting across what you critically thought about it. Can't wait to see it now. (Two more sleeps.)
Thanks for making this so entertaining!!!

Twinkling Moon said...

oh Nat, Nat, Nat!

My sentiments exactly! I thought I'd be all cool during the film, but I had a huge smile on my face when Mr.A popped up on the big screen, and was recognizable! No prosthetic face :)

Movie-wise, special effects were good, script-wise, it was blah. And yes, in my day we had the likes of Principal Belding.
RA magically kept his coat on throughout all that wind blowing until near the end. Hey, the guys' gotta look good :)

I also thought Donnie's scene speaking to the camera was the most revealing and moving. Max Deacon has done well! Had no idea what the kids were doing having gym class and turning in assignments on graduation day, hunh?

But hey, RA related projects, I try to support them all :)

NatPalmer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Peggy Kincaid said...

Yes, I think we all liked the cast and of course seeing Richard any time is great. The special effects were great but the script wasn't. Originally this was to be a film about school kids doing this video and such. Then Richard's part may have been even smaller but then they came back and put him in a bit more but none of it was in depth. It was obvious that the storm was the thing and I'm sorry but how many students, teachers etc., would not recognize some of the storm signs? Maybe everyone in Oklahoma hasn't been in a tornado before but they know the warnings and all but it was like nobody knew what was going on. Richard had said there was a lot of silly stuff in this film. I thought the last part with the boys was closer to what he wanted to convey.

Nat at RA FanBlog said...

Thank you, ACE and Guylty! :)

Yo, Twinks! Long time, no chat. Yes, we have to support RA projects. Some we may like better than others and it's okay to say so.

Hi, Peggy! I liked the last part with the boys too. (At the end when they're all smiles and hugging and stuff.) That's a screencap I'd like to see!

Faboamanto said...

Shhh...don't tell anyone, but Lucas is undercover vice principal in an undisclosed HS location, how did you know? :)

Fabulous review and I agree.

Liz said...

Hi Nat - glad you enjoyed it! We are going to see it tomorrow, on what was the original UK release date of 22nd August, before they moved it forward 2 days (though not before Richard had mentioned in several interviews that it was out on his birthday!)

Liz

Phylly3 said...

I haven't done a review of ITS yet, I hate doing reviews! But I couldn't possibly compete with this one anyway! :)

Nat at RA FanBlog said...

Phylly, any post of yours would be worth reading... no competition needed. :)

Mulubinba said...

The Storm hasn't hit Oz yet ,,, will need to wait for a while yet :) It startes on Thursday.

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