Movie Buffs

We are such movie buffs that we saw a whopping 2 movies last year, 2 the year before, 6 the year before that, and 2 in 2012 (yes, I keep a database).

Starting a roll this year with one movie seen already, Walt and I went to see Room yesterday. I was so happy to see it had returned.  I read the book last year and was eager to see the movie but it came and went in Davis so quickly that I never had the chance. But with Oscar nominations under its belt, they have brought it back for another run.  There were about 10 of us (if that) in the theater, so I doubt it will be here long!)

As a general rule, movies made from books don't live up to the book, if you loved it.  This was that rare occasion where I thought the movie was actually better than the book.  The book spent a lot more time in "room" than the movie did, but I thought it covered pretty much everything it needed to cover.  My problem with the book was the last section of it.

For those who don't know, Room is the story of a young woman, abducted at age 17, and kept prisoner in a shed behind her captor's house, where she is raped on a regular basis and brought food and other basic supplies once a week.  Two years into her captivity, she is pregnant and gives birth to Jack.  The story starts on Jack's 5th birthday.

It's interesting to think of a child whose whole world is one tiny room with a skylight, but no windows, and one human being (he is shut in a wardrobe when "Old Nick" arrives so he doesn't have to see what his mother goes through).

The bond between them is beautiful and his mother does as much as she can to keep him healthy, active and intellectually stimulated.

She devises a plan to escape, and it works, Old Nick is captured and Joy and Jack begin their life back in the world.  

I hated that part of the book because after the initial excitement of her return, everyone seemed to cruel to both of them.  They didn't seem to understand that everything in the world was new and sometimes scary for Jack (even something so simple as going up and down stairs was something he had to learn).  Her mother had a lot of criticisms of how Jack was being raised (still nursing at age 5, hair tumbling down his back--she had no scissors, of course!).  In the book, Jack is enrolled in school and the administrators are ridiculously judgmental and cruel toward him.

However, in the movie, everyone was much more understanding and the gradual return to normal for Joy and learning about the world for Jack seemed much more realistic.  So I was quite pleased and glad we had the chance to see it before the Acadamy Awards rolls around (Brie Larson is up for a best actress award).

But when we got home, I just wanted to go to sleep, and I did, for a couple of hours, waking feeling "not quite right" in the digestive area.

I cooked a Blue Apron meal for dinner, but as I cooked, I knew that was no way I could eat it--or anything, and as soon as I got it on the plate for Walt, I took to the recliner and eventually went back to sleep. At 10, I staggered into the living room and flopped on the couch, where i slept until 1 a.m., after which I moved to the recliner again and slept an other 3 hours, during which time i seemed to be dreaming about various scenes from Room.

Whatever was wrong last night seems to have righted itself and I feel OK this morning, very happy that Walt set up coffee to start by timer so that I could wake up to freshly brewed coffee!