One of the Good Guys

So on The Office, Michael Scott once said that he thought the saddest day of his life would be when Steve Martin died. I totally get it. Ever since I was a little girl I have thought that Steve Martin was so awesome. Whether it was watching him play his banjo on the Muppet show, going on a great adventure with the amigos, or living life as a "Jerk", he always made me laugh and smile. My appreciation for Steve Martin has only grown as his career has grown. When I was in college I bought a copy of his book Shop Girl at a used book sale and I read the book in a day and was mesmerized at how good the book was. Is there anything he can't do? Then when Steve Martin released The Crow, his banjo album from 2009 I was so smitten with his music. I love the banjo and the album has been on my Ipod since it first came out. He had albums in the past that I wasn't really aware of but The Crow just added another level to my appreciation for this great artist. I know follow all of his music releases with great anticipation and I hope one day to see him in concert. I've read his fiction and non fiction and I am just amazed at how diverse he really is. I love that he knows when to be serious and he knows when to be funny. His tweets can make my day better and the sound of the banjo is pure happiness, just daisies and sunshine. In 2013 he won and honary Academy Award and his speech made me cry. His dedication to art, music, comedy, and his love for his family make him one of the true good guys in Hollywood.

The Sacrament

May contain spoilers. I just recently watched Ti West's The Sacrament and I have been meaning to blog about it. I really enjoy Ti West and after watching the trailer I was super stoked to see this film. I find religion to be quite terrifying and cults also. I was prepared to be super scared by this movie. Well....I have watched lots of documentaries on cults, so this movie ended up being a lot more predictable than I expected. Don't get me wrong, the movie was very entertaining and I would recommend it to anyone that loves horror movies or thrillers. The movie ran about an hour and a half. I think that if maybe there was just 30 minutes more the audience could have been given more behind the scenes of why the cult members were so terrified and desperate to leave. The religious followers built their parish Eden Parish from the ground up with their own hands and their own money too. The movie just felt to me like a movie version of the massacre at Jonestown. The character of Father had a deep hold of its followers and he was charismatic and powerful. He also had a drug problem, a problem with sleeping with members of the congregation, and worst of all a death wish should his power ever be threatened or compromised. I am trying so hard not to be critical of the movie because I really did find it entertaining but it was just too much of a play by play of the events of Jonestown. If you have ever listened to the chilling recordings of Jim Jones as he orders his followers to drink the poison and you can hear screams and crying children...you will still be shocked seeing the pain that the followers go through as they slowly die. Families cling to one another and it is a truly scary scene to watch. I liked the end of the movie and that 2 of the filmmakers successfully made it to the helicopter and were flown away to safety by the wounded pilot. Ti West did an awesome job making you care about the people in the film and even though you may have known where the story was headed it was still an amazing ride.