An Education of The Men Who Stared at Goats

welcome to syigim's movie review bit, coming to you LIVE from ipoh.

an academy award nominee, and a recent blockbuster hit. one is a movie about life, love and the difference between being intelligent, and being smart. another movie is about a group of military men who believe in weird stuff; like killing a goat by staring at it.

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you're one of the most intelligent girls in your high school class. you have great potential, destined for oxford university. your parents have high hopes. and as a plus, you're pretty cute too.

then a man came in your life.

he was charming, apologetic, persistent. and he's a man, way beyond your age - none of those 'boys' you used to date. he makes sure he gets to your parents first. he respects your father and charms his way into your mother's heart with compliments. he sends flowers to your front door.

he takes you to classy concertos. he lavishes you with fancy dinners at luxurious restaurants and clubs. he flies you to paris.

would you throw away your education for such a man? or was this man too good to be true?

pretty young girls who are easily swayed by charming older man should be made to watch 'an education' - for it will give them exactly that - an education; a warning of sorts, or at least a reminder or a word of caution - that there's a difference between being straight-As intelligent, and being 'smart'.

oh, and not only young girls - PARENTS of pretty young girls might also walk away with a bit of education after watching this movie!

when carey mulligan (who played the young school girl) was nominated alongside the wonderful meryl streep in the best actress category, i wonder - was her performance so good to deserve an oscar nomination? yes, her transition from giddy schoolgirl, to charmed-lovesick teen commanded attention. she looks like a young mrs. cruise - with talent!

i'd recommend this movie. oh, and i think emma thompson steals every scene she's in as the principal. real class!

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movies with weird titles intrigues me. 'what's eating gilbert grape'. 'purple rose of cairo'. 'dude where's my car' - haha. they're not necessarily great movies, but they make me wonder what it's really about.

'the men who stare at goats' - is about THAT. exactly. about men. men who stare. at goats. they're in a special unit of the military - comprises of men with extraordinary powers; able to walk through walls, able to see beyond metal drawers, and able to stare at goats to kill them.

but you hear 'powers' and you might think 'x-men' or 'heroes'. this is NOT an x-men type of movie. rather, it's a quirky comedy.

george clooney plays one of these special soldiers, while ewan mcgregor plays a journalist following him to write a story about that. the two paired up well, and with kevin spacey thrown into the mix - surprisingly hillarious.

not the laugh-out-loud kind, but very funny nonetheless, right from the first few scenes; with the man who claimed he killed his hamster by staring at it for 3 hours.

man. i hope no goats were harmed during the making of this movie! hihi.

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more movie reviews comin - watch this space.