Another Welcome and Yet Another Visitor Review

Hello potentially faithful new readers!

To start, I want to address the title of the blog. Yes, it’s a cliché but sometimes the cliché works better than creating a new phrase. It’s comfortable. It’s homely and familiar. It allows you, the new reader, to become more at ease with the blog as we go on a wonderful, wacky journey down the deep trenches of film and food. There may be some things on here that may fly over your heads or things you don’t quite get. However, like a cliché, we’ll keep coming up again and again. So, (as long as we’re using similes) like a great serialized TV show, it’s probably best that you start now before you get totally lost.

Also, yes, there was a show on TBS called Dinner and a Movie a while ago before they decided to put on crappy sitcoms and endless Family Guy repeats. The gist of it was that TBS would play a film with the wraparound segments consisting of this guy and girl (who were always vaguely hitting on each other without it becoming completely uncomfortable between them or the family-oriented audience) making food based on the film that would be on that night. Our blog isn’t about making food and film complimentary to each other. Each one encompasses its own sphere of sensual delight. You can’t watch food and get the same pleasure as eating it. And if you eat a film, you will either A) die or B) get horrible indigestion. There will be no Silence of the Lambs “Fava Beans With Chianti Reduction” or Pulp Fiction “Gimp Casserole Surprise.” Just film and food. Okay, maybe some other stuff too, but that’s pretty much the theme here.

We made this blog because we both share a unique passion for film and food. Personally, whenever I go to the movies, I never get disappointed with anything during the experience. The film may blow but it’s that feeling of going into a cinema that has been so endearing to many others and me for generations. One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to go to the cinema. In fact, some of the happiest moments of my life have been at movie theaters. True, I can always find a terrific film I haven’t seen in the theaters and enjoy it just as much on DVD or television. Nevertheless, I can never remember where I would watch a film if it wasn’t at the theater. It could’ve been on my laptop. It could’ve been on at a friend’s place. When I was younger, I moved around a lot so I can never pinpoint at what home I watched a film I loved. Maybe I’m just a romantic for those sorts of things…but I always feel at home at a movie theater.

The same is true for restaurants but only certain ones have a similar aura of mystique. Some of them are forgettable. Some can linger in your memory for a while. Not just because of the food but also because of the experience. A birthday. A memorable get together. The terrific food. There are restaurants that will always linger in my mind like a good theater going experience. However, like I said earlier, it cannot replicate the feeling of going to the movies as the movies cannot replicate the feeling of going to an amazing restaurant.

So, to sum up: don’t panic, stay awhile, and make yourself at home.

Now to my review of…

THE VISITOR

I think Andrea covered most of the bases with her review but I want to add my two cents. BEWARE! SPOILERS FROM HERE OUT!

When I started watching this movie, the first thought that came into my head was “Oh, great, another dull, pretentious indie flick about how genius is a curse.” Then something magical happened. After the first thirty minutes, Tarek gets arrested. From here out, the film shoots out like a bullet train and never stops chugging.

This film’s brilliance is how it walks the thin line like a trained acrobat into cliché territory but never crosses it. At times, the film could have been a message film about immigration issues in this country. Other times, it could have been a film about troubled genius. Also, it could’ve been like Gran Torino, the tale of bigot that comes to love the people he so ignorantly dislikes. Instead, like all good filmworks, it focuses on making a good story first with real stakes. We see this develop as we follow Richard Jenkins’ character, Walter, as he grows from a withdrawn, down-on-his luck professor to a man of true passion.

Richard Jenkins’ work on this film is something truly marvelous to behold. Like the film, he plays a character that, under a lesser actor’s hands, could just be a figure of pity but, instead, he turns Walter into a multi-dimensional human being that feels love, anger and resentment. Jenkins’ best skill he brings to this film is restraint. The whole film is a slow burn as all these terrible things happen to this man’s life and how he reacts in a soft-spoken way. It makes his final, angry outburst at the immigration officer that much more poignant. Walter has had everything in his life taken away from him. When they take Tarek away, it’s the last straw.

And, yes, Andrea, I will talk about the love story that develops. What’s interesting is that it’s not really a love story as it is a reflection of Walter. The main flaw of Walter is that he can’t let go. Even though he knows he cannot play the piano, he still plays it because his departed wife wanted him too. Tarek, his mom, and his wife are the ones that finally help let go (as seen visually the piano getting sold). What’s an interesting departure from other films is that, even though he learns to let go throughout the film, he becomes exactly like he was in the beginning of the film by the time the film ends.

In a way, it comes full circle at the end as he plays the drums fiercely in the subway. He has found something new that he cannot let go of. He no longer has his girlfriend. He could not save Tarek. He’s back at square one: alone. Nevertheless, he has a drive now, which makes it even more tragic. Playing the piano, he was withdrawn but, with the drums, he shows his burning passion…that has no place now to go. Yes, it’s sad but not all movies are supposed to be happy things. I learned that the first time I saw Arlington Road.

I highly recommend this film but you need to be in the right mood for it. If you’re incredibly depressed, it would probably be better to watch The Naked Gun. If you want a great character study, check this out. It’s currently on Watch Instantly on Netflix so watch it before it gets taken down.

Score: 9