Hollywood raises profile of ALS with two new films

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-als-movies-20141023-story.html#page=1

After the Ice Bucket Challenge mania, $115 million dollars was raised in awareness for ALS. But still, we don't know much about the disease and the seriousness to it. Hollywood has decided to take it on. There are two films that are centered on this illness to come out soon. One of them is "The Theory of Everything" and the other is "You're Not You." This caught my eye because they both sound like really interesting films. And it's true, we still don't know much about ALS and what it does. From this article alone, I learned about how ALS can affect the brain and spinal cord nerve cells. It can lead to paralysis while one's mind is still completely alert. In "The Theory of Everything," we have Eddie Redmayne playing Stephen Hawking, a theoretical physicist who has been living with ALS for more than 50 years. With an average life expectancy of 2 to 5 years, this is amazing. It's a great story to tell. As a filmmaker. it's insane to see how much one must prepare for a film. In this situation, the actors had to spent months figuring out how to physically portray these characters. Redmayne spent 4 months before production working with a dance coach on movement and even had a voice coach. Hilary Swank, who stars in "You're Not You," worked alongside a nurse and ALS patients for months. As a student, it's good to learn about how you can get your story from anywhere and turn it into something powerful. ALS by itself is already such a strong topic but when film brings it to life with the actual visuals of what it's like to go through this illness, it will lead on a greater path of awareness and truth. As a consumer, it's great to learn about these different type of films with such great stories that I would love to watch. I hadn't heard about either of these films before now and I'm definitely interested in watching them. It also raises my awareness of ALS. A question I do have is how well will the director and actors work together to portray this difficult disease on the big screen? And which of the two will be better or will they both exceed my expectations?