Seeing Precious

I finally went to go see Precious. I liked it, didn't love it. I'm a sucker for teacher movies, whether they are legitimately great movies (Dead Poets Society, Stand and Deliver, The Class) or even the mediocre ones (I loved Freedom Writers, get teary at Mr. Holland's Opus), and this one was interesting because it basically focused on the kid instead of the teacher. And most people know (and you can tell from the previews) that she's lived a horrible life, with a heinously abusive mother and a father who gets her pregnant twice through raping, and that getting some education helps her.

The film itself is powerful and pretty well made. I thought some of the dream sequences were overdone. But the acting is a tour-de-force. M'onique, in particular, is one of the greatest screen villains ever. Just an absolutely horrible person. Mariah Carey was also pretty awesome. So was the beautiful teacher, whose name I didn't catch.

I went to the movie alone, sort of on a spur of the moment thing. I was driving by The Charles, and thought to myself that if there were a spot out front, that it was a sign I should go see this movie, which I've wanted to see for a while. There was a spot. I went in. I was flying solo, and hoping not to run into anyone. Unfortunately, the film was being shown in one of the really small theaters there, and there were a whole row of students from my high school there. I made a big joke about it but it was still crummy.