I have no idea why on earth I never watched these before. I guess it was depending on the mood I was in. Usually the mood I'm in at any given time will determine what type of film I will watch (and what type of music I'm listening to). The 2 films I neglected in the past that I watched some days ago, were Billy Eliot (BE) and RAY.
Billy Eliot is a British film that obviously takes place in England. It's about a boy, BE, who is a son of miner. His dad would give him money to learn to box at the local boys & girls club. One day BE became intrigued with the ballet class that was going on at the same time. He later decides to join the ballet class-full--mind you full of girls. The instructor takes him under her wing and really teaches the art. As time passes, she asks BE if he would like to apply for the London Ballet School. Be figures it will be tough sell to his father, who has been picketing at the coal miners' line along with the eldest son.
BE befriends the ballet instructor's daughter and a neighbor/classmate (Michael) who both have a crush on him. Anyhoot, BE tries out for the London Ballet school and is accepted. His family are happy but are sad when he leaves for London. Fast forward about 21 years and we see BE's father and brother traveling to London to see BE perform Swan Lake with the Royal Ballet.
At the end, I was happy to see that BE succeeded and that his father supported his son's ambitions.
Verdict: Rent it and Watch it!
Ray is a biopic of famous musician Ray Charles. Jamie Foxx played Ray Charles. We see how a blind man from Atlanta during the Civil Rights movement overcomes all kinds of barriers and becomes the famous musician he came to be. Jamie portrayed Ray Charles well. After watching this film, I realized why Ray Charles seemed twitchy and uneasy all the time. Despite his short comings, he was a fabulous writer and musician.
We saw that Ray was a womanizer. He really had a way with the ladies who ended up touring with him. But like all affairs, they didn't end well. Kerry's character, Della, played Ray's wife. And she, like most women knew of the affairs, but decided to stick by him. Della and Ray had 3 children according to the film. They lived in Atlanta originally and then in L.A. and both homes were nice. I liked seeing how L.A. was during the 1960's as far as aesthetics.
Both Regina King and Kerry Washington had great performances. Jamie Foxx won many awards (BAFTA, Oscar, SAG, etc), but would've liked to have seen Kerry win some awards also. It was nice to see she received nominations, but she should have won some, to say the least.
Anyhow, Ray was such a great film, that not only would I see it again, but I definitely recommend it. Verdict: Rent It & Watch It!!
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