{"id":9350,"date":"2023-05-13T23:54:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-13T22:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=9350"},"modified":"2023-05-14T00:25:59","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T23:25:59","slug":"family-film-bruce-almighty-more-at-hannahs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=9350","title":{"rendered":"FAMiLY & FiLM: Bruce Almighty (& more) at Hannah\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I\u2019m typing this in bed, just having watched Bruce Almighty<\/em>, round at Hannah\u2019s. The film wasn\u2019t the highlight of our visit, by a long shot. But it was fun, and I might as well review it here and now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carrey and Aniston work well on screen together.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have to admit that I do<\/em> love Jim Carrey, and he\u2019s pretty much the perfect actor for this role. Morgan Freeman, meanwhile, is surprisingly credible as God. And, whilst I\u2019m not a big Jenifer Aniston fan, per se, as schmaltzy as her role here is, she does it well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The titular Bruce (Carrey) is a self-obsessed narcissist, with a persecution complex, who presents the lighter side of the news for a TV station in Buffalo. It takes a brush with God (a Christian God, of sorts) to set him straight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The divine Morgan Freeman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If, like me, you\u2019re a devout rationalist and sceptic, a \u2018humanist and free-thinker\u2019, then the religious or \u2018spiritual\u2019 angles of this movie might grate somewhat. But that said, it\u2019s still damnably funny, in places, and has, at its somewhat saccharine heart, a very positive and pleasant message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you take the whole religious perspective part with a big bag of salt, as I do, then what remains is still funny, engaging, thought provoking, and well made. Ironically, perhaps, some of the best moments are also some of the least devout, as when Bruce \u2018possesses\u2019 first Evan Baxter\u2019s teleprompter, and then Evan\u2019s body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This little sequence\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u2026 is slapstick comedy gold.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What I take away from this fun and sometimes very funny movie is not anything remotely theological. I won\u2019t bother taking it apart in relation to that thread. What remains for me, after all the laughing and the tugging of heartstrings, is a reminder to be humble, grateful, thoughtful and generous, and to take personal responsibility for one\u2019s own life, as opposed to wishing for what you don\u2019t have, and taking for granted or not enjoying what you do have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, prior to this, Teresa and I enjoyed a lovely smorgasbord type dinner with Hannah, Ali and Sofi. We shared a few tipples, and there was even \u2018red velvet\u2019 birthday cake, and a bit of singing, in honour of Teresa\u2019s birthday (the day before).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mmm\u2026 yummy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The food was lovely. And Sofi put some lovely French sounding music on, which set the perfect mood: jazzy accordion, guitar and bass, mostly, in a mellow and sophisticated Parisian caf\u00e9 vibe vein. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We watched a fair few Simpsons episodes as well. What terrific fun they are! They almost always touch on themes that can be enjoyed by both big and little kids, such as peer group anxieties in childhood, or ageing in relation to being cool, and how music can be a big part of that. Very relatable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Second Base Mobile, Homerpalooza<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Treehouse of Horror<\/em> ones are particularly funny in a slightly macabre or twisted way. And in a similar (severed) vein, The Itchy & Scratchy Show<\/em> segments are delightfully and<\/em> disgustingly hilarious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s very nice to be able to get away from home, and spend some simple humble quality time with family. And it\u2019s gratifying to know that we get along so well and appreciate each others company. If only more of life could be like that! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The girls tucking in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Teresa gets ready to chow down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Happily satiated, after dinner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We hadn\u2019t planned or expected to stay the night. We probably should have. Anyroad, we are doing. And it\u2019s lovely. Thanks Hannah, Ali, Sofi and Teresa what lovely ladies y\u2019all are!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m typing this in bed, just having watched Bruce Almighty, round at Hannah\u2019s. The film wasn\u2019t the highlight of our visit, by a long shot. But it was fun, and I might as well review it here and now. I have to admit that I do love Jim Carrey, and he\u2019s pretty much the perfect … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “FAMiLY & FiLM: Bruce Almighty (& more) at Hannah\u2019s”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paGwUa-2qO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9350"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9350"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9359,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9350\/revisions\/9359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}