tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-244777042024-03-06T22:46:58.700-05:00They Might Be CriticsThe only Web site dedicated to reviewing and rating entertainment media with the vaunted "22 Scale." The 22 Scale, unlike most conventional scales, rates movies with both postive and negative numbers (with a low of -22 and a high of 22), so you know instantly whether a movie is good, bad, or just plain "meh." If there's anything you'd like to suggest for a review, send an email to theymightbecritics@gmail.com.Wicked Little Crittahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01938877040028652321noreply@blogger.comBlogger239125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-68873088425148216372010-02-17T10:31:00.002-05:002010-02-17T10:33:32.340-05:00Avatar<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLxgnrL8Khw1BbxrW9_3Vy9wlpK09R_0Sg_14ryp1f5KA5rjBdQO3ksiDIVUe6NVRBNPBcO77IaxCstsLtiKCGIjNjRjPxlW2fyluUqco9snrmmqtAGu-jU5d9Jhq5jj1LJym_/s1600-h/avatar-movie-poster-500x748.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLxgnrL8Khw1BbxrW9_3Vy9wlpK09R_0Sg_14ryp1f5KA5rjBdQO3ksiDIVUe6NVRBNPBcO77IaxCstsLtiKCGIjNjRjPxlW2fyluUqco9snrmmqtAGu-jU5d9Jhq5jj1LJym_/s200/avatar-movie-poster-500x748.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439235653606183794" /></a><div>People were making a big deal about this movie. And I had no idea why. I mean, when <i>Titanic</i> came out and people are making a big deal about it, you could kinda figure out why. But this? Aside from the name James Cameron, I hadn’t a clue. I thought, “Huh, looks weird. What’s with the blue people?”</div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently, <i>Avatar</i> made and spent a ton of money. After seeing it, I understand. Now, weeding your way through the hype and publicity and Cameron-sized expectations, can you get an honest review from WLC? Absolutely.</div><div><br /></div><div>The opening scenes introduce us to Jake Sully. It’s all a vague recollection to me, mostly because it wasn’t developed very much, but he’s in the military and currently a paraplegic. He signs up for a program on a different planet to take the place of his brother who died—I assume—recently. The program is on the planet (er, moon) Pandora, and centers around the fact that a resource mine of something called “Unobtanium” (ha, ha) is located in a place where Pandorian natives live. The age old question arises: how do we get what we want from those savages?</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank god for Sigourney Weaver. She heads up the project to tackle this problem as the no-nonsense Grace Augustine, leading a team of scientists which formerly included Jake’s brother in the Avatar program. Basically, they climb into futuristic coffins and get their brains connected to a Pandorian avatar. Leading up to this process, Jake is criticized for his lack of background and study in the area. He hasn’t learned the language, doesn’t know the culture or landscape, and is ::shudder:: a former marine. Philistine.</div><div><br /></div><div>Basically, humans are split on the issue: the scientists, including Augustine, believe in a diplomatic solution to obtaining Unobtanium. The special interest (translated: selfish) group, led by Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) and helped along by Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) just wants to get the stuff, and get it fast. Then there are the Pandorians, who want nothing to do with the humans and would love nothing better than to see them catch the next train out of town. Sully gets caught in the middle of all this. He ends up being accepted by the Na’vi (the Pandorian natives) and learns their way of life. He even develops a relationship with a woman named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), and seems to forget about the world of humans when he inhabits his Avatar.</div><div><br /></div><div>As is to be expected, humans grow impatient with the amount of time being spent with the Pandorians with no real progress being made toward getting the resource they want. A deadline is made, and Sully is removed from the project just as he realizes how important the Pandorian ways of life (as well as Neytiri) are to him.</div><div><br /></div><div>In short, conflict arises between humans and Na’vi about the land, as well as inside of Jake Sully regarding where his loyalties lie.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bravo to James Cameron for effectively helping me internalize conflict about this movie as well. However, probably not in the way he would like. The problem is, we’ve seen this movie before. More than once. We know what’s going to happen, and who is going to turn into what, down to the cheesy cliché one-liners that get thrown around way more than they should have been. And so, I’m torn between the beautiful scenes with fantastic imagery and the basically lame and uninspired plot. Creativity rose up in places it shouldn’t have (gravity-repellent land masses and lizards that spin like a top when flying) and was absent when desperately needed (natives called “savages” who wear loincloths and war paint.) Col. Quaritch evolves into a ridiculous caricature of evil. And you know, almost from the get-go, exactly what is going to happen to Jake.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rating: 9</div><div><br /></div><div>A feast for the eyes and ears, a famine for the mind. Does that even make sense? I don’t know, but it feels right: not much in the substance department, but oh, so pretty!!!</div>Wicked Little Crittahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01938877040028652321noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-54852165252440554102010-01-23T22:31:00.005-05:002010-02-04T14:37:53.004-05:00Julie & Julia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJvVTeL8Kw-rkcXPoMYpgpoBfRb3SJiTqMQtlD9VaTz4bBScXZy1gcgGS2HHKXXdIDW7Of6wkfCJSz8rLwUfI8CyOneIqfee5I4Wj12jZdYdcO5SrFKWtNyWr-R3EIyPMbduJ/s1600-h/julieandjuliaposter.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJvVTeL8Kw-rkcXPoMYpgpoBfRb3SJiTqMQtlD9VaTz4bBScXZy1gcgGS2HHKXXdIDW7Of6wkfCJSz8rLwUfI8CyOneIqfee5I4Wj12jZdYdcO5SrFKWtNyWr-R3EIyPMbduJ/s200/julieandjuliaposter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430155784850351394" border="0" /></a><div>You can<i> </i>keep your <span style="font-style: italic;">Transformers</span> and your <span style="font-style: italic;">District 9</span>s and your <span style="font-style: italic;">Legion</span>s and all your movies wherein what hangs in the balances is nothing less than the fate of the planet or the universe or the multiverse or whatever. Robots, aliens, demons stand down -- I still say that for my money, the best drama comes from pitting a character against him- or herself.<br /><br />So it is with<i><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Julie & Julia</i>, the parallel story of Julie Powell and Julia Child. Julie's quest was to make all 524 recipes in Julia Child's iconic <i>Mastering the Art of French Cooking</i>. Julia's quest was to write the sort of cookbook that would inspire someone like Julie to think it worthwhile to undertake such a task. The movie hops back and forth between Julie and Julia as they face similar struggles--while outside forces do sometimes stand in the way, the real tension in this movie is between reality and the characters' lofty ambitions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, the filmmakers only trust that iconic man (or woman, or in this case women) vs. self (herselves) drama so much, and so two thirds of this movie ends up being fairly average. For example, about halfway through the movie, Julie's husband, Eric, leaves following a big fight about Julie's obsession with cooking. Maybe that really happened. Maybe it even happened in real life exactly as the movie portrayed it. But you knew, as soon as you had the vaguest inkling of the plot, that it was going to happen. And while it didn't have to be, it came off as cliché. It seemed to happen because a film requires something like that to happen in the second act--some sort of interpersonal, rather than intrapersonal, drama. It didn't happen, in other words, because it revealed any truth about the human condition. It just satisfies the filmmakers' conception (and the audiences') of what the shape of a movie is. It also sets up and justifies the catharsis of the third act.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's fine. Doing these things isn't really a bad thing, per se. It's just something all movies do, and so it's average. And I may not even have noticed it if the first 30 minutes of the movie weren't so surprisingly spectacular.</div><div><br /></div><div>As the movie opens, both Julie and Julia are discontented government workers looking for something to give meaning to their daily routine. Julia settles on taking a cooking class; Julie gives herself the aforementioned task of cooking (and blogging) her way through Julia Child's book.</div><div><br /></div><div>And it's here--and not toward the end, as is typical--where the movie is revelatory. It beautifully captures the breathless dizzy joy that comes from taking a pastime and turning into an avocation. <i>Julie & Julia</i> is a fine enough story, but where it does its finest work is in understanding and recreating that odd alchemical reaction that results from taking something you do because it's kinda fun and turning it into a project that defines you. Both Meryl Streep and Amy Adams skillfully conjure the surprised nervous giddiness that results when you tell yourself that you're going to do something that you don't know that you can do.</div><div><br /></div><div>Adams does a fine job in the movie, but she was always going to be outshined by Streep, who, not content with merely doing an impersonation of Julia Child, somehow also manages to harness her soul. She's not just doing Child's odd vocal register shifts and dogged straight-ahead delivery; she's also managed to help us re-see the ebullient liveliness and stubborn goodheartedness that helped make Julia Child into "Julia Child." She's completely hilarious because she's not trying at all to be funny.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, <i>Julie & Julia</i> (which drags just a bit at a little over 2 hours long) is worth seeing for that rich intrapersonal struggle of the first 30 minutes and for Streep's embodiment of Child. The rest is pretty standard fare but, at the same time, you could do much worse with a movie. The first acts clocks in at a 17; the second and third acts hum along at a 4. Average it all together, and you're left with a comfortably competent 9.</div>Dr. Wormhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15429458634269198354noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-88020287073434229792009-10-28T09:13:00.005-04:002009-10-28T09:27:36.937-04:00Bones, Season 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1afD-H6MlkzgYsyGORfHqFURrX6Ce9zKJJQIp_2PEPz58xh1hs2vwZqoHBEyMX6VSxgzWBaslO3h5verEJmt83F1V9YfP7vduRGbMuWC36AE_cFyPkpAwNMAhu4Nuv_kqBfM/s1600-h/bones.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 228px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1afD-H6MlkzgYsyGORfHqFURrX6Ce9zKJJQIp_2PEPz58xh1hs2vwZqoHBEyMX6VSxgzWBaslO3h5verEJmt83F1V9YfP7vduRGbMuWC36AE_cFyPkpAwNMAhu4Nuv_kqBfM/s320/bones.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397640365096514962" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">There aren’t a whole lot of things on TV I watch regularly.</span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >The Office</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> would be top of the list, but if DW didn’t ensure it was a part of our routine I might even skip that. The ones that I do really like I either buy on DVD or rent. The most recent of these includes the show </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Bones</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">, created by Hart Hanson and currently in its 5</span><sup style="font-family: georgia;">th</sup><span style="font-family:georgia;"> season. “Oh no!” you say, “Not another procedural/forensics show!” As much as I’ve avoided these up until now, I happened to catch a glimpse of </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Bones</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> somewhere along the way and was drawn in. </span></span><p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Bones</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> is loosely based on the real life of Kathy Reichs, a forensic anthropologist, professor and author. The character in the show that is based on her is named Dr. Temperance Brennan nicknamed “Bones” by her partner, Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI. She earns her name because she deals entirely with human bones to help Agent Booth and the FBI to solve murders. She’s the best in her field, and as a result ends up partnering with Booth to give him information about murder victims that ends up being evidence pointing to their killers: from a skeleton she can determine age, gender, illnesses, hobbies, manner of death, and favorite color. Well, ok, maybe not the last one, but pretty darn close. </span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The reason why this show appealed to me when others didn’t is because from my experience, most of these shows revolve around some tough guy cop/agent who always comes out on top and his adventures with his female sidekick. In </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Bones</span><span style="font-size:100%;">, Dr. Brennan is the central figure who drives the story and more frequently, Agent Booth defers to her.</span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The characters in this show are a lot of fun. Dr. Brennan is a brilliant anthropologist with a good heart but a brain that often overrides the good that heart could experience. She lives, eats, and breaths science and has great difficulty functioning outside of its method. Booth, in contrast, leads with his gut and is good at his job because of his instincts and theories. As such they make a great pair for solving crimes, but also tend to butt heads because of their differing approaches. Bones works with a team (or “squints,” also nicknamed by Booth) who all embody very different types of people as well, sometimes to a fault. Angela is a fun-loving artist who works to recreate the faces of victims. She’s also Bones’ best friend. Jack Hodgins is a scientist who works with everything that no one else wants to touch—namely insects and filth—and is a conspiracy theorist in his spare time. Zack Addy is a doctoral intern studying under Dr. Brennan whose abundance of intelligence as well as lack of social skills is staggering. </span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What I enjoy most about this show is the gender role reversal of Booth and Bones. While she is grounded in fact and reason, he is driven by emotion, faith, and passion for his work. This makes for some great sparring. Frequently, Booth tries to assert himself as the big tough FBI agent, only to be emasculated by the cool and calculating Bones. They definitely have some kind of chemistry, which gets dragged through the season as they either deny that it’s true or fail to recognize it.</span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I wouldn’t want to turn this into a rave, because as much as I enjoy </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Bones</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> it definitely has its faults. One is that sometimes their favorite themes get redundant and tiresome. I love Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz in their roles as Bones and Booth, but there are times when she is too bland and robotic and he is too hammy. Also, because they’re dealing with decomposing bodies, it can get pretty gross. (I try to avoid watching while I’m eating!) Finally there is one character, not mentioned previously, that I felt took away from the chemistry of the characters: Daniel Goodman is the director of the Institute where they work, and doesn’t seem to fit at all. He’s a paternal type who is loosely connected to the goings on. Also, the actor allows his Shakespearean training to surface way too often. Thankfully, this problem was remedied by his absence from season two.</span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Rating: 10</span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Overall, Bones is a show with engaging, funny characters and some interesting scientific nuggets. The episodes have a little something for everyone: the mystery of solving a murder, the humor of the workplace, the science of forensics, and the chemistry of an attractive male and female lead. What more could you ask for? (That’s rhetorical.)</span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpMiddle" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Favorite Scene: Booth and Bones are discussing their murder investigation in New Orleans and the claims that voodoo played a role.<br /></span></p> <p class="NoteLevel1CxSpLast" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" >BOOTH: Voodoo. Who's going to believe that stuff?</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" >BRENNAN: It's a religion. No crazier than – well, what are you?</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" >BOOTH: Catholic.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" >BRENNAN: They believe in the same saints you do, and prayer. What they call spells, you call miracles. They have priests.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" >BOOTH: We don't make zombies.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" >BRENNAN: Jesus rose from the dead after three days.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >BOOTH: Jesus is not a zombie! All right? Man. I shouldn't have to tell you that.</span><span style="font-size:12;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Wicked Little Crittahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01938877040028652321noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-50570117528655994042009-10-13T13:27:00.004-04:002009-10-21T11:04:07.961-04:00Into the Wild<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiel5rTidUAJSBUDHBgkUc5ZOb2wWfA-cNahfpH180mcq6_KzgHzM7CgarpfRUk4enAf-KJwFk4SyWoyTZYuCK_KLQNDXyBc0moPBYBS-NHmm3dsvi2LV0qnA3_U4gSifG-hWTM/s1600-r/IntoTheWildMoviePoster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiel5rTidUAJSBUDHBgkUc5ZOb2wWfA-cNahfpH180mcq6_KzgHzM7CgarpfRUk4enAf-KJwFk4SyWoyTZYuCK_KLQNDXyBc0moPBYBS-NHmm3dsvi2LV0qnA3_U4gSifG-hWTM/s1600-r/IntoTheWildMoviePoster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><meta 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line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”<span style=""> </span>This aphorism is intended to mean that when circumstances get harder, you have to rise to meet them, not run away from them.<span style=""> </span>When you run away from your problems, they don’t go away.<span style=""> </span>In fact, it usually creates <i style="">more</i> problems.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">This is a truth which eludes Chris McCandless, the main character of <i style="">Into the Wild</i>, portrayed with skill by Emile Hirsch.<span style=""> </span>Being a recent graduate of Emory University, he subsequently decides to donate his life-savings to charity, abandon his car out in Arizona, burn all the money in his wallet, burn his Social Security card, changes his name to Alexander Supertramp (I’m not kidding), and become a hobo. <span style=""> </span>The language “hobo” is never used in the film (or the book it’s based on), but that’s what he is: a hobo.<span style=""> </span>I shudder to think what he must have smelled like at the end of this movie.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Speaking of the movie, it was a simultaneously beautiful and frustrating experience.<span style=""> </span>The main character is idealistic, childish, and ridiculously foolish.<span style=""> </span>Ostensibly, Chris wanted to find God, or himself, or transcendence, or all of them in nature, to escape from the materialism of society, and seek the greater meaning of life.<span style=""> </span>But really, he just wanted to get away from his family, meanwhile causing them a great amount of pain.<span style=""> </span>He’s like a 7-year-old running away from home, only to Alaska instead of down the street.<span style=""> </span>The hypocrisy of his motivations diminishes his actions.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Chris seems to be operating under one central idea: the misery of his life is caused by the people in it, so the solution would be to remove all people from his life.<span style=""> </span>People = problems, so mathematically speaking, if the value of “people” is zero, then the value of “problems” must also be zero.<span style=""> </span>But another truth which eludes him is that human connection means everything.<span style=""> </span>All the beauty and transcendence of nature mean nothing if you don’t have another human to share it with.<span style=""> </span>Now, this may seem like a no-brainer to you (it did to me), but Chris just doesn’t get it.<span style=""> </span>He only realizes it at the very end of the movie, and his life, which only make the story more tragic.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">To compound matters, Chris constantly meets people along the way that try to show him this truth, and are even living examples of this truth, examples that apply directly to him.<span style=""> </span>The hippie couple who give him companionship; the young girl who lets him see a picture of what his life could be; the old man who shows him the meaning and effect of loneliness.<span style=""> </span>They’re all trying to bring him out of his singularity to a place of glorious give-and-take, where he can truly love and be loved.<span style=""> </span>But he squanders the opportunities they give him, and ultimately rejects their love.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Another reason this movie is frustrating is that the entire first half presents Chris’s journey of self-discovery as romantic, epic, and even exemplary.<span style=""> </span>I have very little patience for people who think that the best way to solve society’s problems for themselves is to remove themselves from society.<span style=""> </span>In Chris’s case, his no-going-back trek into nature wasn’t even born out of a genuine desire to find a higher state of being; he just wanted to get away from his dad.<span style=""> </span>Towards the second half, the movie takes on a different tone, one in which the viewer realizes that nature isn’t all fun and games and kayaking without consequence to oneself.<span style=""> </span>There are very real dangers to deal with, and you have to realize that you may have great reverence for nature, but nature doesn’t give two craps about you.<span style=""> </span>Naïve people like Chris will eventually meet an end like his own.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">There are some great performances in <i style="">Into the Wild</i>, including an Oscar nod-worthy turn by Hal Holbrook.<span style=""> </span>The cinematography is simply breathtaking, and beautifully captures the grandeur and majesty of nature.<span style=""> </span>Director Sean Penn has a gift for gentleness and an even hand.<span style=""> </span>What he lacks is pace and a good film editor.<span style=""> </span>I think the movie could have been about half an hour shorter or more, and is at times plodding.<span style=""> </span>It also takes too many forays into the very stylistic, which I could have done without.<span style=""> </span>It takes a long time to say what it has to say, and seems to be saying something completely different when it starts.<span style=""> </span>I thought it had some great things to offer, but I ultimately thought the main character was too much of a naïve idiot for me to really enjoy it.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">Iconic Lines:</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">“12 years?<span style=""> </span>To paddle down a river?”</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">“What if I were smiling and running into your arms?<span style=""> </span>Would you see then what I see now?”</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">“The freedom of simple beauty is too good to pass up.”</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">22 Rating: -3</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Particle Man</span>
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> Neal Paradisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18396375323544578903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-70561550402535594042009-09-28T18:47:00.003-04:002009-09-29T16:03:56.019-04:00Suspiria<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXUyxEfT61JkLPKBB-hI7_hsHrmnfpsCRIYa4eJexQ8HG6D_0LcIuW8SVUB78uZt4uRyf-jM5epck1qJYjqgUpNQcPsh2w8EHMLJLmy7MeMlaqYZRlkTGuYXtuyiimLpGjqMLcQ/s1600-h/reviews+suspiria-1977-french-poster.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXUyxEfT61JkLPKBB-hI7_hsHrmnfpsCRIYa4eJexQ8HG6D_0LcIuW8SVUB78uZt4uRyf-jM5epck1qJYjqgUpNQcPsh2w8EHMLJLmy7MeMlaqYZRlkTGuYXtuyiimLpGjqMLcQ/s320/reviews+suspiria-1977-french-poster.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386653803836882946" /></a><br />Those who know me personally (or have read this blog before)are at least passingly familiar with my tendency to kvetch about the sad state of my favorite film genre, horror. So, there's no need to reiterate that old rant here, save that gore and shock are favored over atmosphere. But I've never talked much about films that did have that atmosphere in this space.....but that's changing. I'll start with one of my favorite films, and one of the most iconic, yet somewhat obscure, horror films ever made: Dario Argento's <span style="font-style:italic;">Suspiria</span>.<br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">Suspiria</span> is the story of Suzy Bannion (<span style="font-style:italic;">Phantom of the Paradise</span>'s Jessica Harper), an American ballet student who arrives in Germany to study at a prestigious ballet school.....that may be run by a coven of witches. Like most of Dario Argento's films, the plot of Suspiria is not it's strong suit, though it bears mentioning that the story and acting are tighter here than in most of Argento's other works. What <span style="font-style:italic;">Suspiria</span>'s great strength is, is visual. One, it was the last film ever made in Technicolor, which I find a lot warmer than modern coloring systems. Two, this film has some of the strangest interiors I've ever seen, as far as the ballet school. It can be said in certain films that the location is an actual character......this was never truer than it is in <span style="font-style:italic;">Suspiria</span>. This film has some of the strangest, most flamboyant sets you will ever see. Three, the lighting in Suspiria is the most dramatic I've ever seen in a film. Scenes are bathed entirely in bright, primary reds, blues, yellows, etc. Four, what Argento lacks in the department of structure and ability to direct actors, he makes up for in spades in the department of setting up a shot. His visual style remains largely consistent across his catalogue, which is notable considering that he has worked with several directors of photography. All of the above factors combine to make <span style="font-style:italic;">Suspiria</span> the best-looking film I've ever seen, in any genre.<br /> Special mention has to go to the soundtrack by Argento proteges/mainstays Goblin, who also scored the original <span style="font-style:italic;">Dawn of the Dead</span>. The eerie main theme, with it's arpeggiated pedal point progression, is a clear inspiration to later iconic horror themes like <span style="font-style:italic;">Halloween</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Phantasm</span>.......and that's before you factor in the unusual use of the bouzouki and tabla on the title track. The rest of the soundtrack is about as strange, but you can't really get the impact from me telling you about it....you need to hear it. It's truly decades ahead of it's time.<br /> There are, however, a few things that keep <span style="font-style:italic;">Suspiria </span>from being counted amongst the all-time great horror film greats by more mainstream tastes.......the events of the film aren't as tight as they could be. There's a lot that happens, mostly character death, that does little to nothing to move the story along or raise the stakes. Also, some may find the performances somewhat dated.<br /> Despite that, <span style="font-style:italic;">Suspiria</span> is a remarkable film, and one that I heartily recommend. I give <span style="font-style:italic;">Suspiria</span> an 18 out of 22 on the 22 scale.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10159036964762417710noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-66807690512468741712009-09-21T09:47:00.004-04:002009-09-21T10:03:22.195-04:009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.yourmoviestuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/9_290-movie-poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 429px;" src="http://www.yourmoviestuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/9_290-movie-poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CGamgee%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" 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mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Ensemble movies are one of the basic foundations of film since its inception.<span style=""> </span>In the past 10 years or so, digital movies have become commonplace at the theater as well.<span style=""> </span>Naturally, the combination of the two is a natural leap to make.<span style=""> </span><i style="">9</i> was not the first movie to do this, however; that would be <i style="">Toy Story</i>.<span style=""> </span><i style="">9 </i>isn’t even the first of its kind in the digital serious sci-fi arena.<span style=""> </span>The horrible <i style="">Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within</i> comes to mind, though there might even be one earlier.<span style=""> </span>So <i style="">9 </i>is original… how?</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">That’s not to say the movie was bad; it wasn’t.<span style=""> </span>It just wasn’t all that creative.<span style=""> </span>Post-apocalyptic world… check.<span style=""> </span>Futuristic <i style="">Matrix</i>-like man vs. machine setup… check.<span style=""> </span>Female character who could kick yours and everyone in the theater’s asses… check.<span style=""> </span>All the elements are in perfectly in place, which may be a good thing or a bad one, depending on how easily satisfied with conventions you are.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">The one big thing <i style="">9</i> had going for it was that all the characters were machines made out of burlap and watch gears.<span style=""> </span>That was pretty creative. <span style=""> </span>The look of the movie was spectacular; lush and vivid settings and interesting-looking characters were consistent throughout.<span style=""> </span>It was also a little interesting and different to have all the principles’ names be numbers (there are 9 of them, hence the title).<span style=""> </span>In fact, nobody in the film has an actual name.<span style=""> </span>The story concept was pretty great, too; a scientist’s creations must carry on his last mission after his death.<span style=""> </span>Tried and true, but with a little futuristic twist.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">While the visuals were phenomenal, and the story idea had a lot going for it, <i style="">9</i> trips up in the plot and story presentation, especially the dialog.<span style=""> </span>The voice actors are all awesome in real life (the film boasts the talents of Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly, Elijah Wood, and Jennifer Connelly), and they lend their awesomeness to the digital screen to a certain degree.<span style=""> </span>However, they don’t have a whole lot to work with.<span style=""> </span>The script is pretty weak, and it relies heavily on action and visual wow to carry the film.<span style=""> </span>Dialog and character interaction are given a backseat, and it’s clear that not a lot of time or energy were put into them.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Slight spoilers here, so watch out.<span style=""> </span>The story idea was great, but some story elements were poorly explained in the film.<span style=""> </span>This goes back to the dialog being very substandard.<span style=""> </span>Also, the concept of the 9 living machines all being parts of the Scientist’s soul was interesting, but not well thought through.<span style=""> </span>Also, the only ones left at the end of the movie are the two kids, a male and a female.<span style=""> </span>The assumption is that they will repopulate the earth (that whole “this world is ours” thing), but… they’re machines.<span style=""> </span>Machines can't copulate. Or if they can, that belongs in a different movie.
<br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">I’m glad I saw <i style="">9</i> in the theater, because it was quite the visual spectacle.<span style=""> </span>That alone was <i style="">almost</i> worth the price of admission (or at least it would have been if NYC theaters weren’t so damn expensive).<span style=""> </span>If you don’t expect too much else from the film, though, you’ll at least get to see some great CGI, if nothing else.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Iconic Lines:</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">I must have mentioned at least twice that the dialog wasn’t <span style=""> </span>very good, so I got nothin’.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">22 Rating: 4</p>
<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Particle Man</span>
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<br />Neal Paradisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18396375323544578903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-36250700827715394612009-09-04T14:53:00.002-04:002009-09-04T15:31:56.058-04:00Eternal Sunshine is Real<span style="font-style: italic;">Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</span> is one of my favorite movies, and easily belongs on the Top 10 list of movies of the decade. And it basically starts with this premise: What if we could erase painful memories?<br /><br />Well, apparently science has once again caught up to filmmakers' imagination. According to <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112531962">this study</a>, a team of researchers has figured out a way to erase the memories of rats. They trained the rats to associate a particular sound with an electric shock, so that eventually, whenever the rats hear the sound, they freeze. Adult rats never forget -- they always freeze. But when scientists injected a drug that's supposed to dissolve the protective sheath around the brain cells in the amygdala -- lo and behold -- the rats stopped freaking out when they heard the sound.<br /><br />Now, this is being talked up as something that could become immensely helpful to those with PTSD. And I can certainly see that. But I also wonder how long it is before it goes from being PTSD specific to being prescribed to anyone who, like Joel and Clementine in <span style="font-style: italic;">Eternal Sunshine</span>, are just sad about a lost relationship. In any case, it provokes the following questions: Should we erase memories at all? If so, what kinds? And who should be able to decide what kinds?<br /><br />Anyone have any insights here?Dr. Wormhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15429458634269198354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-37830306977486994252009-08-11T09:59:00.002-04:002009-08-11T10:04:53.142-04:00Defiance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheP2OwoSKXQpMksCao_NucV8pSby7zjvj-cXA5uvAb7gv0hcWiyaDR7pdFh9NcVxQmsAjFDhmumMAGSxTf87XCIiJYivjrtH96rSPm_LiOQY1wpyiyXzUrq2y7ifzxM4GNWwGI/s1600-h/images.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 95px; height: 141px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheP2OwoSKXQpMksCao_NucV8pSby7zjvj-cXA5uvAb7gv0hcWiyaDR7pdFh9NcVxQmsAjFDhmumMAGSxTf87XCIiJYivjrtH96rSPm_LiOQY1wpyiyXzUrq2y7ifzxM4GNWwGI/s200/images.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368705940055957506" border="0" /></a>As soon as I read the brief plot synopsis on IMDB of <span style="font-style:italic;">Defiance</span>, I knew it was a movie that I wanted to see. While I missed the experience of seeing it in theaters, I finally caught it one night on television. <span style="font-style:italic;">Defiance</span>, which is based on actual events, tells the tale of the Bielski brothers (mostly the older two) who are a Jewish family living in Belarus, when the Nazis decide to roll on through and carry out the “Final Solution”. After witnessing the atrocities that are being inflicted on their neighbors, the brothers flee to the forest in an attempt to escape the same fate of their neighbors. As the Nazis carry out their plan, more and more people are jeopardized. However, after hearing about the Bielski’s that are hiding out in the forest, people begin to join them, and what started out as one family’s hiding place turns into a woodland safe-house for over 1,000 Jewish refugees, with the elder Bielski’s in the roles as caretakers.<br /> As I was watching this movie, there was one thing that kept on bugging me; I wasn’t feeling any of the emotion that the film should be rampant with. Of course there were instances where the audience served as the witnesses to the emotion, but I never felt it. This lack of feeling really caught my attention. In a time where there was so much to be afraid of, why didn’t I feel any of it.<br />Although some may say I am devoid of emotion, and that is the reason for the lack of feelings, I believe that the cause of this lay in the two main characters, Tuvia (Daniel Craig) and Zus (Liev Schreiber). Both did an admirable job acting, but there seemed to be only strength in their characters, and no emotional parts. I wasn’t sure if they were stonewalling because of their roles as the leaders, or if the emotion just wasn’t there. I know it may seem weird that I am focusing so much on the emotion of this film, but when it comes to films that have the atrocities of the Holocaust as their backdrop, I have found emotion to be the main aspect of the film.<br />As I said there seemed to be nothing wrong with the acting, nothing was over the top, as some films that deal with this historical period tend to do, but it seemed to be compensating for the films that overwhelm their audiences with emotion by allowing the audience to feel very little. It is very hard to lose yourself in the story when you feel as though a major aspect is escaping you. I understand that some people may find this review to be bad, but I have tried to write it several times, and I keep getting lost in the lack of emotion of this film. In the end I would have to say that this film allows the audience to be outsiders that are looking in, but not participating or connecting with the characters. This aspect has made it very hard to give <span style="font-style:italic;">Defiance</span> a rating, but I feel comfortable giving it a 7.Stormy Pinknesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307895047950691710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-75234022447246822202009-07-16T09:27:00.007-04:002009-07-16T09:57:28.505-04:00My Sister's Keeper<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://davincisbloglog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/My_sisters_keeper_poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 436px;" src="http://davincisbloglog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/My_sisters_keeper_poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
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mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">I read the book version of <i style="">My Sister’s Keeper</i> about a year and a half ago, and found my newest Favorite Writer.<span style=""> </span>I’ve since read three more novels by Jodi Picoult (pronounced pee-ko), and loved them all to varying degrees, but none so much as <i style="">My Sister’s Keeper</i>.<span style=""> </span>What I loved best about that book was not that each character was a fully realized person (which was great), but that the story had a completeness to it, such that you saw the entire picture only when you had read the last page.</p><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing" >
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing" face="georgia"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing" face="georgia">Anna Fitzgerald is thirteen years old, and to the surprise of her family, she is seeking medical emancipation from her parents, the reason being that she was genetically engineered before birth to be a perfect bone marrow match from her sister Kate, who has leukemia.<span style=""> </span>She has undergone countless medical procedures, all without being asked, in service to her sister.<span style=""> </span>The ramifications of such a decision will be unpredictable, for Anna’s family and for Anna herself.</p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing" face="georgia">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: georgia;">Book-to-movie adaptations are a tried and true convention of film, but some books are just begging to have movies made out of them.<span style=""> </span><i style="">My Sister’s Keeper</i> was kinda like that.<span style=""> </span>After a small battle over rights and money, we have a Hollywood version of this movie, complete with an Oscar darling playing the lead role.<span style=""> </span>But don’t break out the champagne just yet.<span style=""> </span>The movie is pretty good, but takes some rather alarming departures from the book.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">To start with, the movie had beautiful lighting and sets, and the directing made it flow rather nicely.<span style=""> </span>Props go to Nick Cassavettes for having a pretty steady hand when it came to directing.<span style=""> </span>The acting, however, left a little to be desired.<span style=""> </span>Nobody in it was particularly bad, but I got the sense from most of the actors that this wasn’t a movie they were very invested in.<span style=""> </span>Abigail Breslin is an exception; she portrayed Anna’s combination of spunk and timidity very well, and I could tell she was putting out her best effort.<span style=""> </span>Cameron Diaz was also very well-cast, and was as good as she can be (which, granted, isn’t saying much).<span style=""> </span>Alec Baldwin, however, completely phoned in his role and checked out of the movie.<span style=""> </span>This is a real shame, because his character (Campbell Alexander, the lawyer representing Anna) was one of my favorite parts of the book, especially his numerous “he’s a service dog” jokes.<span style=""> </span>He’s not given his due screen time in the movie, and is tragically underused.<span style=""> </span>Though with Baldwin’s I’ll-be-in-my-trailer attitude about this role, it’s not all that surprising that he got cast aside.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">Sofia Vassilieva puts in a very rote and cliché performance as Kate, cancer girl extraordinaire.<span style=""> </span>Her reactions to everything are exactly what a 15-year-old girl’s would be, but that’s a credit to both the screenwriters and Picoult.<span style=""> </span>She plays them just right, but in a way that doesn’t surprise the viewer at all.<span style=""> </span>Evan Ellingson is given a somewhat large part and doesn’t really know what to do with it.<span style=""> </span>The only other thing I’ve seen him in was a few episodes of <i style="">24</i> where he played Jack Bauer’s nephew, and was pretty bad.<span style=""> </span>Joan Cusack<span style=""> </span>plays a judge with a daughter who passed away, which scores points for plot resonation, yet Cusack turns in a mediocre performance.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">***GREAT BIG HUGE SPOILER ALERT***</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">The thing that made this movie not nearly as great as it could have been was the change in ending.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>In the book, Kate survives because Anna dies in a car accident and posthumously donates both her kidneys, saving Kate’s life.<span style=""> </span>In the movie, Kate dies in a completely ordinary manner, one you expect from the very beginning of the film, and Anna and the rest of her family move on to lead relatively normal lives.<span style=""> </span>This switch in the movie transports the very meaning of the story to a totally different place than where it is in the book.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">Now, given the moviemakers have the author’s approval (or the changes are thoughtful and make sense if the author is dead or otherwise unavailable), departures from original source material are acceptable.<span style=""> </span>After all, <i style="">Lord of the Rings</i> strayed <i style="">very</i> far in the details from Tolkien’s original story, but by-and-large they were good and intelligent choices.<span style=""> </span>So the differences from book to movie in <i style="">My Sister’s Keeper</i> don’t upset me all that much.<span style=""> </span>It’s just that most of the choices the moviemakers made took away what made the story so wildly original, and thus popular.<span style=""> </span>The story went from new, edgy and intriguing to kind of ordinary and unremarkable.<span style=""> </span>Kate dying of cancer and Anna living a normal life afterwards are just so… well, ordinary.<span style=""> </span>I have a feeling Picoult was involved in the changes that were made, though her approval is uncertain to me.<span style=""> </span>Some of the changes have a novelist’s touch, but the switch to a more ordinary ending seems like a very un-Picoult move to make.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">All in all, the movie wasn’t bad.<span style=""> </span>I know that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it was an emotionally wrenching and tear-inducing way to spend two hours, if you’re into that kind of thing.<span style=""> </span>What’s great about this movie is that, if you’re a guy, you can cry at this movie and not feel like a panty-waist.<span style=""> </span>It’s complicated and real enough that it feels like a tragedy that actually happened, rather than a contrived Hollywood tissue-fest.</p><p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">In short, if you’re a breathing human being, you need to read this book.<span style=""> </span>If there’s nothing better at the video store, you should see this movie.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">Iconic lines (or exchanges):</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">Judge (the dog):<span style=""> </span>BARK BARK BARK!!!</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">Judge De Salvo: <span style=""> </span>Mr.<span style=""> </span>Alexander, control your dog or he will be removed from the courtroom!</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">Campbell: Quiet, Judge!</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">Judge De Salvo: Excuse me?!?</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" face="georgia" class="MsoNoSpacing">Campbell:<span style=""> </span>Not you, the dog.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">Anna:<span style=""> </span>Can I pet him?</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">Campbell:<span style=""> </span>Judge is a service dog.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">Anna:<span style=""> </span>What’s he for?</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">Campbell:<span style=""> </span>I have an iron lung.<span style=""> </span>Judge keeps me away from metal detectors.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">22 Rating:<span style=""> </span>8</p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255); font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" >Particle Man</span>
<br /></p> Neal Paradisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18396375323544578903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-48754881638481421082009-07-03T20:00:00.002-04:002009-07-03T23:35:28.720-04:00Year One (video review)<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dQgcdPZxGwU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dQgcdPZxGwU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Wicked Little Crittahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01938877040028652321noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-17066167827218347942009-06-11T12:42:00.003-04:002009-06-11T12:47:15.720-04:00The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6diSGlUx7zrbM6N0D_C5PN55XOHjZRyMhMmjlZSzDXnRWk-kj8on2HEgaOAPeh6oWOUXIzcq7YBmi99aY576th1N8bGnJZfAGpOSD5oRmNTBButitwok6rDmqEjaJEyCjq9w/s1600-h/prince-caspian-narnia-poste.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 136px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6diSGlUx7zrbM6N0D_C5PN55XOHjZRyMhMmjlZSzDXnRWk-kj8on2HEgaOAPeh6oWOUXIzcq7YBmi99aY576th1N8bGnJZfAGpOSD5oRmNTBButitwok6rDmqEjaJEyCjq9w/s200/prince-caspian-narnia-poste.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346112339046821794" /></a>I love fantasy movies and books, which I blame on Particle Man. However, despite his initial encouragement that I begin reading this genre. I have continued reading the books or seeing the movies with no prompting from him. One of the series that I became the most engrossed in while reading was the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. From the way these books are written, they were made to be transferred to the big screen. <span style="font-style:italic;">The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe</span> was the first in the series to be made into a film, and while it was enjoyable, I wasn’t exactly thrilled by it. Then next movie that was made was <span style="font-style:italic;">Prince Caspian</span>, which I was hoping would be better than its predecessor. <br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">Prince Caspian</span> tells the tale of the Pevensie children after they have been away from Narnia for a year. On their way back to school, they are magically transported back to the land they once ruled, however, things have changed quite a bit. Also at the same time Prince Caspian, a prince of the enemies of Narnia, has escaped from his evil uncle and summons help to aid the Narnians in their reclaiming of what they once were. Caspian pictures that he will summon the Kings and Queens that originally saved Narnia, which he does, however, since they have been living in a different world for the past year, which is significantly longer in Narnian time, they show up only a year older then when they first entered Narnia. <br /> As I said, although I enjoyed the first film, I was hoping that this one would improve upon what was started. I wasn’t disappointed. Although there were some changes to the story from the version told in the book, the general feeling of the story was still there. Much like the first film, the special effects continued to be exemplary and gave the audience the fantastical nature that they were hoping for, which is always enjoyable. <br /> While special effects are important, it alone cannot carry a movie. The actors must lift some weight. I don’t know why, but I feel that the actors grew into their roles as actors more than they were in the first film. They don’t seem older than they should for the roles that they play, but I get the feeling that they were more serious about it than previously. I have watched <span style="font-style:italic;">Prince Caspian</span> several times and each time I feel the acting is better than the previous film. <br /> I think the main difference that I find in the quality of the films is determined in watchability. I have watched <span style="font-style:italic;">Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe</span> a couple of times, and it served as a pleasant distraction, but I have watched <span style="font-style:italic;">Prince Caspian</span> much more, and it has always been enjoyable. I feel that the director had a better sense of what he was doing in this follow-up and was therefore able to give us a more enjoyable story. I’m the kind of person who can watch movies repeatedly, and I find a comfort in the fact that no matter how many times I watch <span style="font-style:italic;">Prince Caspian</span>, that it continues to be just as enjoyable as the first time. <span style="font-weight:bold;">I give the movie a 10.</span>Stormy Pinknesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307895047950691710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-58536306905529644192009-05-13T14:14:00.003-04:002009-05-13T14:17:45.281-04:00Bride Wars<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLdHhDgrEjSEXoqmICnR7hlxhwvXIBh1L1q-kd-Yg0Y5p8b9p1gZpBUJITMPtQGv0s552OSC1z7W2W1iZszTcRFiWaz9RVWu82al8FoPPmGmsOF2BjdNhKuyZynhtFVFvDCvk/s1600-h/bridewars.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLdHhDgrEjSEXoqmICnR7hlxhwvXIBh1L1q-kd-Yg0Y5p8b9p1gZpBUJITMPtQGv0s552OSC1z7W2W1iZszTcRFiWaz9RVWu82al8FoPPmGmsOF2BjdNhKuyZynhtFVFvDCvk/s200/bridewars.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335374022439442146" /></a>When I first began reading about the plot of <span style="font-style:italic;">Bride Wars</span>, I was intrigued. It seemed like a cute little movie that was perfect for a Girls’ Night out. In fact I had hoped to go with my friends to see it, until I started hearing from people who had already seen it. My mother thought it was great, which for me is not a good sign for a movie, but I had heard negative reviews from other people, but felt like I needed to see it on my own and form my own opinions. I should have listened to other people. <br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">Bride Wars</span> tells the story of 2 lifelong friends in New York City, Liv (Kate Hudson), an attorney, and Emma (Anne Hathaway), a schoolteacher. These two are both in serious relationships, and one day while going through Liv’s closet, the girls find a box from Tiffany’s and without opening it assume that Liv’s boyfriend, Nate, will propose and she tells everyone that she is already engaged, even though he hasn’t proposed yet. While waiting for Nate to propose, Fletcher, Emma’s boyfriend proposes. This leads Liv to confront Nate about why he hasn’t proposed, which he does after the confrontation. Now that they are both happily engaged, they meet with their dream wedding planner, Marion St. Clair (Candace Bergen) and she announces that she has availability for weddings at the Plaza in June, which is a dream that the two friends share. They both pick different dates, since they are each other’s maids of honor. However, due to a scheduling mishap their weddings are booked for the same day. Neither wants to give up their dates, and they begin sabotaging each other and their weddings.<br /> If this was supposed to be a movie about friendship and how true friendships always last, then I fear for the people who believe that. If this movie has one message it is that in this world you can only trust yourself and to never open up to anyone because you never know when a moment of weakness where you share something will come back to haunt you. <br /> However, I have more problems with the movie than just it crap-tastic depiction of lifelong friendship. The movie didn’t bother to delve any deeper than the traditional bride mentality that is accepted as the norm. I mean this movie is basically about tow really big and expensive temper tantrums, where it is all about the bride and no one else matters. If the superficial emotions that are portrayed in this film were the only problem, it might be surmountable, but that isn’t the only problem,<br /> There were a lot of actors in this movie, but I don’t feel like anyone was really acting. I had the same problem with Must Love Dogs. I feel that the script was so superficial that the actors didn’t really care about their characters. The film should have been called “Really Expensive Puff Piece and We’re Just Paying These People To Show Up.” <br /> This wasn’t a good movie. There is no way around the fact. The plot was horrible, the characters were flat, and if there was any acting that occurred in this film, then it escaped me. I give it a -13. Just a tip for all you brides out there, <span style="font-weight:bold;">NEVER ACT LIKE THESE WOMEN!</span>Stormy Pinknesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307895047950691710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-31904810140630574582009-05-06T20:41:00.003-04:002009-05-12T21:56:32.068-04:00Vantage Point<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cedarlounge.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/vantage_point_08.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 442px;" src="http://cedarlounge.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/vantage_point_08.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Eye-witness accounts, by and large, are very unreliable. In court, you need more than just somebody saying “I saw him do it” to get a conviction. The reason is that what we see is completely subject to our perceptions, attitudes and mindset. Memory is editable; things can be cut out, blocked out, and even not recorded at all. That’s why two people can see the same exact event, but have two completely different takes on what happened.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vantage Point</span> would seem, at first glance, to take advantage of that. But in the end, it kinda… doesn’t. The particulars of the story don’t really turn out to have anything to do with the idea of “perception ≠ truth.” That’s a little disappointing to a cerebral, outside-the-box thinker like me. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vantage Point</span> doesn’t plumb the depths of what we see being the limits of our world, or any such thing. Where it scores major points, though, is in having a fantastic plot, being well-shot, and being excellently paced. Even if it can’t be a deep philosophical treatise (and let’s face it, not every movie can), it can at least get the other, slightly easier elements of moviemaking right; <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vantage Point</span> definitely does.<br /><br />The motif that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vantage Point</span> goes with is the story of an event being told from several different viewpoints, all weaving together to give the viewer a complete picture of what actually happened. Now, this is not a new idea to cinema. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Rashomon</span>-style movies have been done ever since… well, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Rashomon</span>. It requires an investment on the part of the viewer, as they must be paying attention the whole time. And the payoff must be great indeed to reward that investment. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vantage Point</span>’s payoff is alright, if a little simple-minded. The “event” it concerns is an assassination attempt of the U.S. President during an international summit for peace he has arranged in Spain, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. There is a shooting, and a bombing shortly after, and then another very shortly after that. The entire plot of the movie takes place in approximately 30 minutes real-time, but the movie is just 90 minutes long. It seems longer, but not because it drags. I can’t think of a single moment in the entire film where I was bored or disinterested. It also felt longer in that there was just so much plot and so many characters that it felt very full. One of the strengths of this movie is that it holds your attention throughout.<br /><br />The movie has varying degrees of success at doing several different things. It has a strong human element to the story, has plenty of action, and always keeps the tension high. Movies as jam-packed as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vantage Point</span> have a tendency to paint the characters as two-dimensional, falling into good guys/bad guys categories, but it amazingly doesn’t do that. Those categories do exist, but they break down and bleed together at a certain point for some characters. The movie never quite lets you off the hook, and does some funny things with our perceptions of character. None of the acting is spectacular, with the possible exception of Forrest Whitaker. His portrayal of an average Joe who does the right thing because it’s what needs to be done is very real and appealing, though I’m sure it wasn’t even a shadow of a challenge for him.<br /><br />That brings me to the plot, which in the contexts of narrative flow and storytelling, was out of this world. It had all the major elements that make a great plot solidly in hand: it was engaging throughout, kept us interested on multiple levels, and revealed essential plot points at just the right times. It would have been nice if the story had a deeper meaning, but it was such a great ride that I’m not that disappointed. It didn’t quite answer all my questions, and was ever-so-slightly unbelievable, but considering how far it could have gone off the deep end, it executed itself very well. It was tight throughout, and at the end, it made sense. As the viewer, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I was able to follow it, which is a tricky thing for a movie to pull off.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vantage Point</span> could have been better, but that might be asking a lot of a movie that already has so much going for it. All the elements come together very nicely, and the pieces all fit together to make a complete picture that I could understand. It’s a shame this didn’t do better at the box office, because it was a tightly constructed movie that didn’t make me work my skepticism too much.<br /><br />Iconic Lines:<br />“He doesn’t even look like me.”<br />“The beauty of American arrogance is that they can’t imagine a world where they’re not a step ahead.”<br /><br />22 Rating: 13<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">Particle Man</span>Neal Paradisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18396375323544578903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-83160002276863585382009-04-28T21:43:00.003-04:002009-04-29T02:07:32.485-04:00Synecdoche, New York<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1YBL6aVjUtsjp1-aKVKzFpwjEkuK2wx4GWqcyL0GwjNJni2xOEfhDYco9FTJlt8BTJKKByDJbzvBGpQnXyCPoHstBqDDqHqwnFaytcGS2a7TYq0IULZrVC9Iet1886IpE4zT/s1600-h/synecdoche-new-york-poster-0.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 136px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1YBL6aVjUtsjp1-aKVKzFpwjEkuK2wx4GWqcyL0GwjNJni2xOEfhDYco9FTJlt8BTJKKByDJbzvBGpQnXyCPoHstBqDDqHqwnFaytcGS2a7TYq0IULZrVC9Iet1886IpE4zT/s200/synecdoche-new-york-poster-0.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329988361600734370" /></a>I'm not quite sure how to explain a movie like <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Synecdoche, New York</span>. So let's just start with some facts, in the order in which they become apparent.<div><br /></div><div>The title, of course, is a pun. There is a city in New York called Schenectady, but synecdoche is a literary technique in which a part of something is used to represent the whole. Mickey Mouse is an simple example that comes readily to mind--his iconic circular ears are often used to denote the full Mickey, or sometimes the full Disney empire.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the film is written and directed by Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman has established a reputation as a writer with his screenplays for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Adapdation,</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Being John Malkovich</span>, and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</span>. But <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Synecdoche</span> is his first time in the director's chair as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, if you're me, you're really excited. The film is named after a literary device, it contains a pun, and it's written/directed by Charlie Kaufman. Maybe not everyone's cup o' tea, but it's an English geek's wet dream. Throw in a starring-Philip-Seymour-Hoffman and I'm sold.</div><div><br /></div><div>The results? Sadly, it's a bit underwhelming. Or, rather, the type of whelm it aims for ends up trapping it into earning the prefix under-. Let me unpack that.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the film, Philip Seymour Hoffman is Caden Cotard, a director living in Schenectady who, upon receiving a MacArthur "genius" grant, decides to finally write and direct his opus. Cotard puts his opus together on an enormous stage in New York City, bringing in thousands of actors, all of whom perform semi-related, equally important little vignettes. Essentially, it's New York City in miniature. It's one way the title gets enacted.</div><div><br /></div><div>But really, the movie is about Cotard. Not just about his weirdly enormous, ever-evolving, and ultimately never-finished play. But also about his life and about his relationships--with Catherine Keener, his artist-wife who abandons him and takes his daughter with her; with Michelle Williams, his vapidish perennial actress; and with Samantha Morton, his box office assistant turned personal assistant turned true love. </div><div><br /></div><div>The movie is very into being "real" -- for example, it spends an uncomfortable amount of time on Cotard's weird medical issues, such as seizures, an inability to salivate, and his sycosis (inflammation of hair follicles, not the more well known "psychosis" (another pun)). But it also gets at the real by injecting a lot of the surreal. As the play moves forward, the timeline becomes more and more confused (both in Cotard's head and in the viewer's.) His psychologist (Hope Davis) seems weirdly telepathic. Samantha Morton's home is always shown as burning (and no one seems to mind). This being Charlie Kaufman -- and this movie being named "Synecdoche" -- these things all mean something. But it seems like there's a lot that can't be fully comprehended in a first pass; the movie needs a second, third, fourth, fifth viewing. (Kaufman states as much himself. In an interview with IonCinema, he says: "You need to see it more than once. The trick is to get people to watch it more than once.")</div><div><br /></div><div>But therein lies the problem. Because of its focus on being "real", it's also quite a bit sad, a tad hopeless, a little bleak. One of Cotard's remarks to his actors is that he "won't settle for anything less than the brutal truth. Brutal. Brutal." And brutal is not so bad a word for this movie; it's so emotionally raw that it hurts to be a part of, and so it's not something a viewer is necessarily eager to revisit. Which is a shame, because I'm sure much of Kaufman's use of symbol in this movie is brilliant, but I'm also sure that I won't be sitting through the entire film again anytime soon to find out.</div><div><br /></div><div>To foist a bit of synecdoche upon you, dear reader, for me the film is summed up by Sammy Barnathan (Tom Noonan), whom Cotard hires to portray himself in his play. Sammy does a marvelous job capturing Cotard, but when he's not in character, he can smile. The smile really stuck out to me while I was watching the film, and I think it's because Cotard doesn't really have a smile in him (thus making fake-Cotard's smile all the more glaring). Sure, Philip Seymour Hoffman does turn the corners of his mouth up from time to time, but it's always an awkward, embarrassed, or unsetted smile. Never genuine. But Sammy's smile--the actor's smile--is genuine. And as a result, I'd suggest that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">he</span>, not Cotard, is the more real, more genuine person.</div><div><br /></div><div>In all his obsession to make his film "real," Charlie Kaufman left out joy, happiness, and (with a few notable exceptions) laughter. He seems to have given in to something that was always an impulse but never a controlling feature of his earlier work -- the equating of "real" with obscene, or uncomfortable, or upsetting. And those things are just <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">part</span> of the real, no more or less part than mirth is. And the tragedy is this focus on the ickiness in "real" has actually made Cotard--whom I imagine has more than a bit of Kaufman in him--into something like a two-dimensional character. Which means that, even for all its artfulness, I can't give <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Synecdoche, New York</span> any more than a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">2. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Quotes that serve as a part to represent the whole:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Caden Cotard: I will be dying and so will you, and so will everyone here. That's what I want to explore. We're all hurtling towards death, yet here we are for the moment, alive. Each of us knowing we're going to die, each of us secretly believing we won't.</span></span><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Sammy: (handing Cotard a slip of paper with his ex-wife's address on it) I want to follow you there and see how you lose even more of yourself. ... ... Research.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Minister: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Everything is more complicated than you think. You only see a tenth of what is true. There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make; you can destroy your life every time you choose. But maybe you won't know for twenty years. And you'll never ever trace it to its source. And you only get one chance to play it out. Just try and figure out your own divorce. And they say there is no fate, but there is: it's what you create. Even though the world goes on for eons and eons, you are here for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead or not yet born. But while alive, you wait in vain, wasting years, for a phone call or a letter or a look from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes or it seems to but doesn't really. And so you spend your time in vague regret or vaguer hope for something good to come along. Something to make you feel connected, to make you feel whole, to make you feel loved. And the truth is I'm so angry and the truth is I'm so fucking sad, and the truth is I've been so fucking hurt for so fucking long and for just as long have been pretending I'm OK, just to get along, just for, I don't know why, maybe because no one wants to hear about my misery, because they have their own, and their own is too overwhelming to allow them to listen to or care about mine. Well, fuck everybody. Amen. </span></span></div>Dr. Wormhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15429458634269198354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-31250356187532823302009-04-21T17:09:00.004-04:002009-04-22T12:14:15.340-04:00Repo! The Genetic Opera<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dZzu8jE5ZDAl5eX93OvlGSuMf2G11wuU5wSLLsGHxaYDGcMDdb02IoDGxarBLgiPlci8H7s0xQ2feRnLjFaZz08lC9CBe9bPSR8rYd_ObghZxKQ_bn7RE7_xBTuRMnUABzbQyg/s1600-h/repo_the_genetic_opera.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dZzu8jE5ZDAl5eX93OvlGSuMf2G11wuU5wSLLsGHxaYDGcMDdb02IoDGxarBLgiPlci8H7s0xQ2feRnLjFaZz08lC9CBe9bPSR8rYd_ObghZxKQ_bn7RE7_xBTuRMnUABzbQyg/s320/repo_the_genetic_opera.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327256766978842306" /></a>Last year, I started seeing and hearing about some weird movie called <span style="font-style:italic;">Repo! The Genetic Opera</span>. I knew that it was going to be directed by Darren Lyunn Bousman, of Saw infamy, and that it had a really interesting cast including Anthony Stewart Head (Giles, from <span style="font-style:italic;">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</span>) and Sarah Brightman(!). The movie got delayed for a while, but then got a limited release in about 10 theaters before hitting video. I was disappointed, since it sounded interesting, and since Lionsgate is starting to get a reputation for This Sort of Thing. I rented <span style="font-style:italic;">Repo!</span> a few weeks ago, and the reasons for the limited release were very, very clear: this is one musical that the curtain should have stayed down on.<br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">Repo!</span> takes place in the future, in your cookie-cutter post-apocalyptic world, with the same <span style="font-style:italic;">Road Warrior/Blade Runner</span> aesthetic that you've come to expect from this type of movie. Sickness is rampant, and replacement organs have become commonplace. So commonplace, that they are treated like houses or cars, or other expensive commodities: miss a payment, and the Repo Man comes calling to take the merchandise back. There is a company run by dying magnate Rotti Largo (Paul Sorvino), and his useless children (Bill Moseley, Paris Hilton, and Nivek Ogre). There is Blind Mag (Sarah Brightman), the singer whose eyes Largo replaced, and who unbeknownst to her is due for repossession. There is Nathan Wallace (Anthony Stewart Head), the reluctant Repo Man; and his sick, rebellious daughter Shilo (Alexa Vega). And you know, there's a lot of blood, gore, and singing.<br /> If it seems like I'm not doing a very good job recalling the plot, the problem is that there wasn't much plot to recall. There's something about Rotti dying, and trying in vain to pick an heir to his company. There's something about Nathan getting fed up with having to hide his gruesome profession from his daughter, and her feeling locked in by her father due to her health. Situations change for some characters, but nobody who survives to the end of the film grows or really learns anything. I didn't care about a single character. That is bad, bad script design. Strike One.<br /> There are some puzzling choices made in this movie. For a musical (and one with no spoken dialogue that I can remember), there are an awful lot of non/poor singers in the film. Sarah Brightman is an opera singer, and acquits herself nicely as expected. <span style="font-style:italic;">Repo!</span> writer/composer Terrance Zudnich does an ok job, and Anthony Stewart Head does ok despite the fact that he is forced to do an American accent. That aside, he shows great range and versatility with some gutteral, quasi-death-metal deliveries. But those of us who have heard what an incredible singer he is know that the material is holding him back. Ogre does an ok job, but Sorvino, Hilton, Moseley, and Vega should have restraining orders issued against them from the microphones of the world. Strike Two.<br /> But for all the bad/mediocre performances, the best actor/singers in the world couldn't have saved this movie from its biggest enemy: its insufferably boring music and story. Out of 58 songs, I would deem ONE of them "ok" at best. There are no strong hooks or memorable melodies. And this is a MUSICAL. WITH HARDLY ANY TALKING. Strike Three. You're out, Repo.<br /> A movie as weird and graphic as this should never be boring, but I was suffering for virtually every minute of its hour and a half running time. I give <span style="font-style:italic;">Repo!</span> a -18 out of 22 on the 22 scale. I would have given it a lower score, but an actor as compelling as Tony Head will always bring something to the table, even in a movie as abysmally incompetent as this one.<br /> -Your Racist FriendMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10159036964762417710noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-55796006198773441522009-04-15T10:09:00.007-04:002009-04-15T10:41:04.394-04:00Doubt<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTmhLPzqZXop8vRm2UEFA0XqivuK0l_MhXnhCx7Jd_3hYXstJ0uJiFENpfc9-MA1qngq2SdNVoj6Fgj3B3iWr6svSgP1Ew_3A4RgtlwL6NRgn6D4xFUuGITdECG4btzIx_n0t2/s1600-h/Doubt-poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTmhLPzqZXop8vRm2UEFA0XqivuK0l_MhXnhCx7Jd_3hYXstJ0uJiFENpfc9-MA1qngq2SdNVoj6Fgj3B3iWr6svSgP1Ew_3A4RgtlwL6NRgn6D4xFUuGITdECG4btzIx_n0t2/s320/Doubt-poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324928146042670226" border="0" /></a>The word "doubt" is a word that for most frequently elicits feelings of discomfort and uncertainty. Often seen as something negative, doubt is usually something that haunts us rather than blesses us. And because of that, people don't want to feel it, talk about it, or deal with it. <div> </div> <div><br />I recognize Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams to be some of the best, if not the best in the business. The previews for this movie looked dramatic and intense, and the content potentially troubling. This combined with the title created an unconscious aversion for me. I mentioned to several people that I had seen <span style="font-style: italic;">Doubt</span>, and the common reaction was "How was that? I was interested in seeing that but didn't get around to it." This answer makes me believe that I wasn't alone in my intrigued yet hesitant feelings. </div> <div> </div> <div><br />Some have said that the movie is slow, which I can see but don't necessarily agree with. This is one of those films that centers mostly around the dialogue of a few characters without a lot of plot twists, bells or whistles. Meryl Streep is Sister Aloysius, a severe nun whose by-the-book approach to the church and school is powerful, yet unappreciated by most. Opposite her is Hoffman who plays Father Flynn. (Opposite being the operative word.) Where she is condemning, he is forgiving. Where she finds fault, he finds potential to learn and grow. Where she is cold and distant, he is warm and approachable. And yet director John Patrick Shanley somehow avoids the tempting "good cop/bad cop" formula and gives them an impressive amount of depth. Why impressive? Because for most of the film, we see each character around other people, interacting in conversations in church and class, projecting how they want to be perceived, not necessarily how they really are. The third member in this triumvirate is Amy Adams as Sister James. She is a gentle and caring woman who teaches for the private school and seems to have a love for what she does. She is nervous, however, and doesn't assert herself as much as Sister Aloysius, who criticizes her for this very reason.</div> <div> </div><br />The year in which the story is set is 1964, and the school has it's first black student named Donald Miller. Each of the adults want things to go well with him, but go about making that happen in different ways. Father Flynn decides to befriend him and at one point calls him out of Sister James' class to go to his office. When Donald returns he seems upset, and out of concern Sister James talks to Sister Aloysius. Sister Aloysius assumes the worst and begins a crusade to discover what Father Flynn has done and bring him down.<br /><br />These three characters completely drive the story. Adams beautifully and sincerely portrayed a less experienced nun with a fresh love for for people who is caught in the middle of a potential scandal. She filled some important shoes, because her thoughts and motivations most closely resemble our own as we watch the whole thing unfold. I've always loved Philip Seymour Hoffman, and this film gives me no reason to doubt this love. While some might say he was out-acted, I think an important piece of puzzle here is that his character is a mild-mannered "man of the cloth." And this type of character next to Meryl Streep's large and ominous presence is going to experience some shrinkage.<br /><br />Meryl Streep...do I really need to go on? Dr. Worm described her in this film as "in her own orbit," and this description fits aptly. What I love about her is that even though she's played threatening and powerful characters before, <span style="font-style: italic;">they aren't the same person</span>. This is a problem many actors face in that they lean towards having character categories, whereas Streep avoids duplicating personalities. Sister Aloysius is a complete person which I think in the end makes her even more threatening...<br /><br />Despite its obvious strengths, <span style="font-style: italic;">Doubt</span> was a tough one for me to rate. I recognized the aspects that set the film apart as well-acted, well-scripted, and well-directed. My eyes were glued to the screen throughout, and I was blown away by so many wonderful performances and scenes. And yet...something was missing. "What on earth could be missing??" I wondered. Eventually I figured it out: clarity. Now, I'm not one of those people who needs or wants movies to spell out every little thing for me...I appreciate uncertainty and ambiguity in general. However, ambiguity, as the title might leave you to believe, is the main ingredient here. And when we have very little idea what has actually occurred, it's difficult to invest ourselves in one particular person or idea. And this is was distanced me from<span style="font-style: italic;"> Doubt</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rating: 13</span><br /><br />It's tough to give a research paper a low grade when it provides all the correct facts and includes the appropriate information, but fails to create a big picture and a reason to exist. That's the best metaphor I can come up with for my feelings about <span style="font-style: italic;">Doubt</span>. Excellent on pretty much all counts, for me, it still failed to be something more than the sum of its parts. This is because I felt unable to invest in something or someone, and the actual content of the film wasn't what I would generally consider "enjoyable." <span style="font-style: italic;">Doubt</span> is definitely worth a watch, especially with its wonderfully appropriate ending. But I consider my appreciation of it like that of the C&E Catholics for church: nominal at best.Wicked Little Crittahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01938877040028652321noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-8978169037470548642009-04-06T15:40:00.002-04:002009-04-06T15:43:38.059-04:00Deadgirl<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBctdXslBw8YP_GejqCqUXBPwYzhERKdKwULIX2UYuV6trtszUzEX5bFX2My9BSjvvbqc6mKUFqz60Ix1dUwK5bQsYqRHZ_7x_BCaip345V3AKoKkSAZoc5DSY2qP00ZNGdSd5-Q/s1600-h/6223_deadgirl_poster.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBctdXslBw8YP_GejqCqUXBPwYzhERKdKwULIX2UYuV6trtszUzEX5bFX2My9BSjvvbqc6mKUFqz60Ix1dUwK5bQsYqRHZ_7x_BCaip345V3AKoKkSAZoc5DSY2qP00ZNGdSd5-Q/s320/6223_deadgirl_poster.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321666345077138402" /></a><br />Frequent readers of this blog will have surely noted my constant complaints about how sameness is a problem at the cinema. In my defense, this shouldn't be a big surprise since I'm the oldest member of TMBC, and the one whose seen the most films in a wide variety of genres (though I think Wicked Little Critta is catching up fast....). Therefore, it only makes sense that I get more excited and impressed when I find something truly original. And I get REALLY gratified if and when I see something that not only breaks the mold, but smashes it into dust, and sweeps it into the gutter, to never been seen again. And after seeing innovative horror like Deadgirl, all other common horror films can say is this: Hello from the gutter.<br /> Deadgirl is a film unlike anything I've see before, and has the most intriguing/mortifying hook I've seen come down the pike in a long time. I saw Deadgirl at the <a href="http://www.bostonunderground.org">Boston Underground Film Festival</a>, where festival co-director Kevin Monaghan told the audience something to the effect of, "I can't say that I hope you enjoy Deadgirl, but I hope that you take something away from it, that it affects you". I'm leaped at the chance to see this film at BUFF, because when I read about what the film was about, I doubted that it would get even a very limited theatrical release. After actually seeing it, I'm sure of that. But...enough foreplay.<br /> Deadgirl follows the story of two teenagers, Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez) and JT (Noah Segan), local high school rejects, Trenchcoat Mafia types. At the beginning of the film, they cut class during a fire alarm to smoke weed and drink beer at an abandoned local asylum. There, they find themselves in the basement where they make a startling discovery: a beautiful, naked woman handcuffed to a gurney. And she's dead.....or at least she looks it........JT wants to free her, call 9/11, and GTFO. But Rickie? He wants to....keep her. To say much more would be going into very heavy spoiler territory, but the "dead girl" has a secret that makes deciding what to do with her (or to her.....) very squarely into "morally grey"....or at least squarely into that territory for Rickie.<br /> If you're thinking that this sounds pretty tasteless, you would actually be very wrong. Deadgirl deals with it's very unorthodox and very dark subject matter with a lot of insight and restraint, and some very black humor, as appropriate. It does not revel in the extreme levels of gore and shock of it's ugly, stupid cousins in the "torture porn" genre. Having said that, this film is clearly NOT for the squeamish. Horror films have frequently been somewhat simplistic morality plays in America, but Deadgirl takes a very clear situation, and builds the plot and action around it, as opposed to shoehorning in lazy subtext in which teenagers who drink, do drugs, and engage in premarital sex are killed arbitrarily.<br /> I liked Deadgirl, at least as much as I actually can like a film that has such brutal subject matter. The acting, directing, and writing are all very, very good. This film disturbed me, made me jump from time to time (but not in that cheap way), and made me shake my head with disbelief with it's final scene. I wish that I could go into more depth about the plot, but it's one of those films with a very minimal plot, so even simple elements of the story constitute huge spoilers. If requested, I might be able to put up an addendum on I Should Be Allowed To Think, TMBC's sister site.<br /> Deadgirl is a powerful film about slippery slope moralities, and how "little deaths" become so much bigger. I will never forget this film. For originality, solid content, and superb craftsmanship, I give Deadgirl a 17 out of 22 on the 22 scale.<br /><br />P.S. HUGE props go to Radiohead for letting this film use one of their songs.<br /><br /> -Your Racist FriendMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10159036964762417710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-14816709288484430942009-03-22T22:38:00.005-04:002009-03-23T09:52:24.327-04:00Twilight<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHY2y1PaDREKVWHaxFANsmt2HgUREJiYxnwVXwQqpJYaEiEA3vqbBHn1McoQQeHduzbyyWf1cjvCCiXqr83hKklEtTbY8DPfGFK_U2E84OMXJlh9r6su0rIFaM8Aj7rkxwLG1/s1600-h/images.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 93px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHY2y1PaDREKVWHaxFANsmt2HgUREJiYxnwVXwQqpJYaEiEA3vqbBHn1McoQQeHduzbyyWf1cjvCCiXqr83hKklEtTbY8DPfGFK_U2E84OMXJlh9r6su0rIFaM8Aj7rkxwLG1/s200/images.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316207360947780226" /></a>Here’s a fun experiment for everyone to try. Put yourself in a big group of females, mention the name Edward Cullen, and see how many swoon. Edward Cullen is of course one of the main characters of the <span style="font-style:italic;">Twilight</span> series. This book series has been adapted to the big screen, with more installments to come, and was just released on DVD Narch 21st. To celebrate the big release of the DVD, many places had midnight release parties like they’ve done with <span style="font-style:italic;">Harry Potter</span>. However, I’m sure many of our loyal readers are asking themselves what the big deal is with these movies. Let me explain to you my experience.<br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">Twilight</span> is the first in a series of four books. The first installment introduces us to Isabella Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her dad Charlie Swan. On her first day there she meets her Biology lab partner, Edward Cullen, who seems repulsed by her very presence. However, as the film progresses and these two get to know each other, we learn that Edward, who is described as being a gorgeous model type teenager, may have more to him than we think, which could cause problems for not only his family, but also for Isabella.<br /> I saw this movie a while ago, and have kept thinking about it. I don’t want to lead people on in believing that it is such an amazing movie that I just haven’t stopped thinking about it, because that isn’t exactly the case. I’ve read the books and hoped that the transition from book to movie would be smooth, more specifically as smooth as Edward Cullen is said to be ;). However, this is not what I experienced. I didn’t like how some of the things that were in the book got changed, and I’m not talking about slight things, like to color of the water, I mean pivotal scenes that were kind of ruined and were only slightly reminiscent of the scenes in the book. If I hadn’t read the book I probably would have liked the movie more than I did.<br /> The acting was fine. Nothing outstanding. Robert Pattinson, who is known for being the courageous Cedric Diggory from <span style="font-style:italic;">Harry Potter</span>, played Edward Cullen. While I’m not saying that he is bad looking in any way, I didn’t see him and this drop dead gorgeous creature that had been described in the books. He did seem tortured, which is what the character called for, but he probably also had problems with the changes from the book. Kristen Stewart fits well in the looks department with her character, Isabella. Her acting was fine but I think she needs to get deeper into the role. She said the lines right and her facials expressions were good, but I didn’t get the feeling that it went much deeper than that superficial level. <br /> I know that this review will not go over well with the fans of <span style="font-style:italic;">Twilight</span>, and I count myself as one of them. But before you all decide to hate me forever let me recap what I have said. The movie would have been better for me if I hadn’t known about the book. The acting was average and could have been deeper. I liked the music and the scenery as well. I am going to give this movie a 6 and challenge those involved in <span style="font-style:italic;">New Moon</span><span style="">, the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Twilight </span>sequel<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">, </span></span> to make me eat my words.<span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span>Stormy Pinknesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307895047950691710noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-64266252705646142002009-03-10T13:59:00.002-04:002009-03-10T14:04:07.884-04:00Marie and Bruce<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhanZ9JLT1XmZ_cymrL_LYT5H5ZDggct_2PmYoPlF_jKnbygDOQj7hSYFLwsi40Uf_M9pbmKXsZD-v6pRGBsm9vTZJ7I8_oP3BgZboo-YEwpnrlhrOgUGZj8S-xYAC8rlp_ZCa_/s1600-h/marie.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhanZ9JLT1XmZ_cymrL_LYT5H5ZDggct_2PmYoPlF_jKnbygDOQj7hSYFLwsi40Uf_M9pbmKXsZD-v6pRGBsm9vTZJ7I8_oP3BgZboo-YEwpnrlhrOgUGZj8S-xYAC8rlp_ZCa_/s320/marie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311621407549143794" border="0" /></a>Initial Reaction: "What the hell was that?"<br /><br />If ever there was an off-putting movie, it would be <span style="font-style: italic;">Marie and Bruce</span>. It's about an unhappy married couple, and not much else. I thought it might offer us some insight into the joy, pain and often never-ending struggle that couples experience. Some might say it did, but geez, I thought insight of any kind was hard to find here.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Marie and Bruce</span> claims fame with me as one of the few movies I didn't want to finish. I mean, I kept thinking that maybe, just maybe the end would redeem it somehow. But the rest of it made it become less and less worth it. I did finish it though, and because of that I am able to bring to you a more complete and negative review.<br /><br />Marie and Bruce have been married for a number of years, and (thankfully) have no children. The film begins in the morning, and we hear Marie, played by Julianne Moore, telling us how much she dislikes her husband, played by Matthew Broderick. And this isn't just "I'm not sure if I love him anymore" or "Things have changed." This is full on hatred. She's filled with disgust, and as she looks at him sleeping in the bed next to her, refers to him with a string of profanity. He wakes up, and as he does so, she throws up her hands in frustration and whines "No!! Don't wake up!" This opening scene sets an interesting mood and tone that last for the majority of the film.<br /><br />After they get up, they both make their way into the kitchen and start talking. They go back and forth between extreme politeness dripping with sarcasm and open distaste. When he tells her he's going to have lunch with Roger, she exclaims about how wonderful that is and goes on and on about how she's sorry she'll have to miss out on all of the interesting things Roger will have to say. It's very obvious she feels the opposite.<br /><br />So this is essentially most of their interaction. They go throughout their day, trying to stay occupied since they're both unemployed and certainly don't want to spend their free time together. He goes out to lunch with Roger (played by Bob Balaban who does an incredible job being boring), then checks himself into a cheap hotel to drink and watch people through their windows. Marie goes out to lunch (apparently though they're unemployed they still have plenty of dough) and ends up being followed by a stray dog as she walks through the city streets. This ends up as a strange, almost dream-like scene in the woods by a river where she actually seems happy for a while.<br /><br />You know, it's difficult to write this review because I feel like I don't have much to work with. Most of the time the main characters are pretty shallow, and when they're not, there's really nothing going on. From the very start of the film, Marie keeps telling us that she's planning to leave him. The same day, in fact. That night, when they got back to the house, she would tell him she is going to leave him. That's pretty much what keeps us somewhat interested in what is going to happen.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Marie and Bruce</span>, I found out after the fact, is adapted from a play of the same name by Wallace Shawn. I had actually thought while I was watching it that it would make a better play. I might have appreciated it more that way, but now that I've seen this version I don't know if I'd want to sit through something else even closely resembling it again. The characters don't have many layers, and we basically just get to go through their miserable day with them. Even the ending, in which the mood changes slightly, was significantly wanting.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rating: -13</span><br /><br />Dull, sad, uncomfortable, and discouraging, <span style="font-style: italic;">Marie and Bruce</span> left a lot to be desired. Good performances? Yes, but the script and plot just didn't deliver much in the way of meaning. I don't think you could even make the case that this is what a lot of couples deal with. Unpleasant from beginning to end, all I was left with was a feeling of "eww..." and for me, that's never a reason to recommend a movie. So, unless this sounds right up your alley, (and I mean you, Eeyore...) then please don't bother.Wicked Little Crittahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01938877040028652321noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-80710215441960813222009-02-23T22:42:00.003-05:002009-02-24T22:20:13.519-05:00Tropic Thunder<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuN9pzRnQLaQDBRUI99LJjZhR0GQgoBG2ebobeDlf6q3GwHJm8H6ZGQmfN9wQVLN_P4GZG_NQekx7v80DH_rF6nCOGSCISi-Z6tAeYXJ1318kGXt6Yg5tRdr78nOp2O4xK3FX/s1600-h/tropic-thunder-poster.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQuN9pzRnQLaQDBRUI99LJjZhR0GQgoBG2ebobeDlf6q3GwHJm8H6ZGQmfN9wQVLN_P4GZG_NQekx7v80DH_rF6nCOGSCISi-Z6tAeYXJ1318kGXt6Yg5tRdr78nOp2O4xK3FX/s200/tropic-thunder-poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306225755598601906" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><div>Tropic Thunder<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> is a Hollywood movie in pretty much every sense of the word. It's made by Hollywood about Hollywood, and pretty much every single actor in Hollywood is either in it or is made fun of in it (sometimes both).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">It's a parody movie and a parody of a movie. It stars actors whose characters are the sort of actors who do things the way the actors who portray the characters would do things. If you look at it the right way, </span>TT<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> is a bit like that M.C. Escher painting with all the stairwells leading everywhere and nowhere at once.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Not that it's even a bit confusing. </span>Tropic Thunder<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> tells a story that's been told many times before: The story of performers being forced to </span>really<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> do the thing they only pretend to do. (See, for example, </span>Three Amigos <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">or </span>A Bug's Life<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">.) In this case, the performers are actors in a war movie who then must become reasonable facsimiles of real soldiers in order to save one of their own.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">The characters in the film are types, absolutely, but they're types with such readily recalled real-life analogues that they seem entirely real. Ben Stiller (who also directed) is Tugg Speedman, a once bankable action star who is seeing his clout plummeting (Stephen Seagal? Tom Cruise?). Robert Downey Jr. is Kirk Lazarus, an Australian actor known for his method acting and for his multiple Oscar wins (some combination of Russel Crowe and Daniel-Day Lewis?). Jack Black is the beloved and belittled (and drug-addicted) star of films such as </span>Fatties: Fart 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">--in which he plays every character in a fat and flatulent family (not even a veiled reference to Eddie Murphy). These three are joined by Brandon T. Jackson as Alpa Chino--a rapper most known for hawking a soft drink called "Booty Sweat"--and Jay Baruchel as Kevin Sandusky, the first-time actor who happens to be the only one doing things as the director intends.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">The plot gets legs when the director, Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan), gets reamed out by producer Les Grossman (Tom Cruise in a lauded cameo) for blowing several million dollars on an expensive, explosive shot in which none of the actors were doing what they needed to do. At his wit's end, Cockburn takes the advice of writer and war veteran Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte), who tells him that the actors need to experience some real combat in order to be able to properly make this film.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Of course, as is the case with films of this sort, the actors gradually realize that what was once make-believe has become real, and--again, according to the formula--they rise to the occassion.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">But, as is the case is in comedies, the plot is only there as delivery vehicle for jokes. And the jokes here do pretty well on average. As with any parody, it occassionally falls into the pattern trailblazed by </span>Family Guy<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> (on the good side) and </span>Not Another Date Disaster Epic Movie<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> (on the evil side): merely substituting reference (and, sometimes, crudeness) for comedy. But </span>Tropic Thunder<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> does deliver some solid comedy, and some of its best work is very referential. Take, for example, Lazarus' speech to Speedman, who is just coming off an ill-advised and much-derided role in which he plays a retarded character called Simple Jack:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">Lazarus: Everybody knows you never go full retard.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">Speedman: What do you mean?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">Lazarus: Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">Rain Man</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">, look retarded, act retarded, not retarded. Counted toothpicks, cheated cards. Autistic, sho'. Not retarded. You know Tom Hanks, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">Forrest Gump.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;"> Slow, yes. Retarded, maybe. Braces on his legs. But he charmed the pants off Nixon and won a ping-pong competition. That ain't retarded. Peter Sellers, "Being There." Infantile, yes. Retarded, no. You went full retard, man. Never go full retard. You don't buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">I Am Sam</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;">. Remember? Went full retard, went home empty handed..."</span><br /></div><div><br /></div>Tropic Thunder</span> is the second movie that Ben Stiller has directed, and already some themes are beginning to emerge. He enjoys poking fun at those who are lauded for superficial reasons, despite being a bit empty inside -- yet he also makes those characters his heroes. He loves employing the well-timed cameo (Tom Cruise here, David Bowie in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Zoolander</span>)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">. </span>He loves his stupid humor, but he's proven capable of employing it in some smart ways.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div>And like <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Zoolander</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tropic Thunder</span> is pretty good. But only pretty good. It delivers enough laughs in enough ways that you don't feel as though your two hours were wasted. But it doesn't offer a character memorable enough or a vision transformative enough to push the film from successful to excellent. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tropic Thunder</span> is a bit more sophisticated than <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Zoolander,</span> but--in receiving an 8--it still can't crack that double-digit barrier.</div>Dr. Wormhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15429458634269198354noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-39280129478861876702009-02-20T22:19:00.002-05:002009-02-20T22:42:00.911-05:00OSCAR PICKS 2009It's kinda late in coming, but here are what all the TMBC critics think about what's coming with the Oscars on Sunday night. Please let us know if you agree or disagree with anything on here.<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Best Actor</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Dr. Worm: </span>Mickey Rourke - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Wrestler</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Particle Man: </span>Frank Langella - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Frost/Nixon</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);">Stormy Pinkness: </span>Mickey Rourke - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Wrestler</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">Wicked Little Critta: </span>Sean Penn - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Milk</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Your Racist Friend: </span>Mickey Rourke - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Wrestler</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Best Actress</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">Dr. Worm: </span>Kate Winslett - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Reader</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); ">Particle Man: </span>Meryl Streep - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Doubt</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255); ">Stormy Pinkness: </span>Anne Hathaway - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Rachel Getting Married</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204); ">Wicked Little Critta: </span>Kate Winslet - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Reader</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Your Racist Friend: </span>Meryl Streep - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Doubt</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Best Supporting Actor</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">Dr. Worm: </span>Heath Ledger - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Dark Knight</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); ">Particle Man: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Heath Ledger - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">The Dark Knight</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255); ">Stormy Pinkness: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Heath Ledger - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">The Dark Knight</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204); ">Wicked Little Critta: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Heath Ledger - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">The Dark Knight</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Your Racist Friend: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Heath Ledger - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">The Dark Knight</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Best Supporting Actress</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">Dr. Worm: </span>Penelope Cruz - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vicky Christina Barcelona</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); ">Particle Man:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Amy Adams - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Doubt</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255); ">Stormy Pinkness:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Viola Davis - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Doubt</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204); ">Wicked Little Critta: </span>Taraji P. Henson - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Curious Case of Benjamin Button</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Your Racist Friend: </span>Taraji P. Henson - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Curious Case of Benjamin Button</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Best Animated Film</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">Dr. Worm: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">WALL-E</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); ">Particle Man: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; ">WALL-E</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255); ">Stormy Pinkness: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; ">WALL-E</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204); ">Wicked Little Critta: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; ">WALL-E</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Your Racist Friend: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; ">WALL-E</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Best Directing</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">Dr. Worm: </span>David Fincher - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Curious Case of Benjamin Button</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); ">Particle Man: </span>Danny Boyle - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Slumdog Millionaire</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255); ">Stormy Pinkness: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Danny Boyle - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Slumdog Millionaire</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204); ">Wicked Little Critta: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Danny Boyle - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Slumdog Millionaire</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Your Racist Friend: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Danny Boyle - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Slumdog Millionaire</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Best Picture</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">Dr. Worm: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Slumdog Millionaire</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); ">Particle Man: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; ">Slumdog Millionaire</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255); ">Stormy Pinkness: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; ">Slumdog Millionaire</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204); ">Wicked Little Critta: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; ">Slumdog Millionaire</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Your Racist Friend: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; ">Slumdog Millionaire</span></span></div></span></span></div></span></span></div></span></span></div></span></span></div></span></span></div></div>Neal Paradisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18396375323544578903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-57133890041984186502009-02-18T19:04:00.001-05:002009-02-18T19:06:11.316-05:00The Wrestler<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrr6thbQnQhA800XNiuKWUFyYILdIfaq1rUlQcdP6RRAKWxgQndp0j0VEDynt5ewuKzGyu-F-ZbgG5Qk3v5FPeyvUvIs27fLNu00Eb9SbkBdq93xL-0vgXKNg4Oz7w95Z41vTarw/s1600-h/the-wrestler-movie-poster.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 217px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrr6thbQnQhA800XNiuKWUFyYILdIfaq1rUlQcdP6RRAKWxgQndp0j0VEDynt5ewuKzGyu-F-ZbgG5Qk3v5FPeyvUvIs27fLNu00Eb9SbkBdq93xL-0vgXKNg4Oz7w95Z41vTarw/s320/the-wrestler-movie-poster.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304293002671732722" /></a> The dilemma posed in Darren Aronofsky's latest film The Wrestler is an interesting one. We are introduced to Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke), an aging professional wrestler who still performs in old VFW halls and the like, working part-time at a local supermarket in New Jersey, barely living hand-to-mouth. We see his aches and pains, and signs of age very clearly. But he does what he needs to do to do what he does, including using steroids. He hangs out at a local strip joint and is friendly with a stripper known as Cassidy (Marisa Tomei). He lives in the past and is generally happy despite his squalid conditions.....until he suffers a heart attack after a particularly brutal match and is told that he needs to make some changes. Kicking the steroids, fine. But when told that wrestling was "not a good idea", he looks at the cardiologist like he was the stupidest man on the planet. "But Doc......I'm a professional wrestler." Randy attempts to make a go of a "straight" life, and to repair his damaged relationship with his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood). But can he, or more importantly, does he even want to?<br /> The story of The Wrestler, written by former The Onion Editor-In-Chief(!) Robert Siegel showcases some interesting parallels and paradoxes. The squalor of Randy's life as a professional wrestler, and the satisfaction he gets from it. The violence the wrestlers in the film inflict upon each other in the ring, and the brotherhood they have outside of it. The parallels between Randy and Cassidy, as aging practicioners of "trades" that value flesh and youth above all. The material here is nowhere near as harsh as Aronofsky's signature Requiem For A dream, but it is visceral, and will stay with you. I liked the scene where Randy is at a small fan convention signing, and he looks around the room, regarding some fellow elder statesmen of the sport and the price they paid....one falling asleep, one paralyzed from the waste down with a catheter, etc.<br /> But as solid as the story is, this is a performance driven film. Mickey Rourke, enjoying a major comeback as of late, has never been better. He offers a completely believeable, likeable Randy, and makes sure we feel every thumbtack in his back during an "extreme" match, the chest pain he experiences when attempts to jog shortly after his bypass, and the hopelessness when he makes a mistake with somebody....for the last time. He carries this film with ease. If there is any justice in this world, he will receive his Best Actor Oscar next weekend. Evan Rachel Wood also acquits herself nicely as Randy's exasperated, estranged daughter. Some of the scenes she shares with Rourke are much harder to watch than any gore or violence Aronofsky could portray.<br /> While The Wrestler doesn't break much new ground, it is a good story that is well told, and another fine credit for Darren Aronofsky, who is surely a future legend as a director. I give The Wrestler a 16 out of 22 on the 22 scale.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10159036964762417710noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-81618628050676216572009-02-03T10:33:00.002-05:002009-02-03T10:41:38.061-05:00Run Fatboy Run<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6Ucoj7E8qoq8FGgCIyAokVtbOg6kNs0lYIQsTgs2jwrxiRilHVqIfi2urZcUMpUhvbWOPE3OnNwNLjUS3FBiiDZjZ3fxMmmuMgz93FLp-sNAnS_xgvtRZ3a5S1rOkQnj1mp-/s1600-h/Run_Fatboy_Run-poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6Ucoj7E8qoq8FGgCIyAokVtbOg6kNs0lYIQsTgs2jwrxiRilHVqIfi2urZcUMpUhvbWOPE3OnNwNLjUS3FBiiDZjZ3fxMmmuMgz93FLp-sNAnS_xgvtRZ3a5S1rOkQnj1mp-/s320/Run_Fatboy_Run-poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298595447563073922" border="0" /></a><meta equiv="Content-Type" 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name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Run Fatboy Run</span> is not the type of movie you would typically see me reviewing. In reality, the fact that I watched it in the first place surprises even me. The preview turned me off: another movie about an idiot and his idiot ways. Do we really need another one of these?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Apparently, we do. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Was I surprised? A little. Was I impressed? Maybe a smidge. But these are mostly because all I saw from the preview was an unappealing Simon Pegg looking ridiculous as he gets in shape. How much can a person expect from that?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">The opening part was actually interesting enough that I thought, “Maybe there’s more to this than I originally thought.” Pegg plays Dennis Doyle, and we first become acquainted with him when he runs away from his girlfriend, Libby (played by a too-attractive Thandie Newton), leaving her at the altar. Pregnant.<span style=""> </span>Fast forward to 5 years later and he’s living by himself in a shabby apartment, not paying his rent on time and not exactly being a shining role model<span style=""> </span>for his son, Jake.<span style=""> </span>He clearly loves Jake and is involved in his life, but Dennis is just terrible at following through on things.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Even though Dennis left Libby at the worst possible time, he still cares for her and has high hopes of them getting back together. She deals with him politely enough, only wanting to make sure Jake has a relationship with his father. Eventually she finds a new man, Whit, an American businessman who’s in excellent shape and does something that Dennis doesn’t: finish things. Of course this guy pisses Dennis off, and he feels like he has to compete with Whit for Libby as well as Jake.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">In his lame, desperate attempts to convince Libby that he’s better than Whit, Dennis learns that Whit runs marathons. In fact, he’s running in one coming up in London. What better way to compete with this guy? What better way to gain admiration from his son and his friends, and prove to Libby that he really IS a finisher?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And so, with three weeks to train (I will say, there were some decent humorous moments here) and with a little help from his friends, Dennis learns some discipline and stamina. He starts to connect with some of the people around him in a new way as he gains their support. Through the process, he learns more about himself and what he can offer. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but if you’ve ever seen a movie before, you probably won’t be too surprised. ;)</p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Run Fatboy Run</span> is directed by David Schwimmer in what I believe is his first film attempt. I’ll be honest: it’s not very promising as a first shot at directing. To his credit, Schwimmer recognizes good acting and directs his characters pretty well. But just because Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria can act doesn’t make this film worth watching.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Even though <span style="font-style: italic;">Run Fatboy Run</span> is full of stupid gags, it still has a lot of heart. I can get behind that, definitely. And Simon Pegg is able to portray his characters in such a unique, complete way, which I absolutely admire. However, none of these things were enough to save it for me. The comedic moments were so base and I barely got a smile out of most of them. And the plot unfolds in such a way that I could predict almost exactly what was going to happen throughout the entire thing. In the end, I really felt I got very little out of the experience. There was an abundance of predictability, corny-ness, and eye-rolling moments. For me, none of these things really make for a very enjoyable movie-watching experience.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Rating: 1</p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Run Fatboy Run</span> fell flat for me. A good lesson, it had some heartfelt moments that were sprinkled heavily with run-of-the-mill slapstick humor. As a result, the moments didn’t successfully complete their purpose. The cast saved it to a degree (in keeping it from being terribly dull) but I didn’t feel particularly moved or entertained. It was so pre-packaged, trite and cliché that I couldn’t invest myself at all, I just kept looking for the next predictable ingredient in the plot recipe. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Though I’m overflowing with apathy about it, I have to say that the few moments I laughed and the sweetness of it all pushed it over into the positives. While I would say that I didn’t really like it, I’d have to admit that I’d rather watch it than stare at a blank television screen. Most of the time.</p> Wicked Little Crittahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01938877040028652321noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-68310357443211128422009-01-26T21:36:00.004-05:002009-01-26T21:43:44.663-05:00Burn After Reading<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmxBHZlCHyGLJGEwzWMlvqG7eNG_0F6PzkSLZlf90EnZ4WdN4ZtQO5jcQ6evmspox2vP-nU_oihPjBMFx1k-eM45OzkkppekMDehRjSFeoYeqbOjXYJqqAUbfF7jhWQ503cTW/s320/Burn+After+Reading+Poster.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 217px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmxBHZlCHyGLJGEwzWMlvqG7eNG_0F6PzkSLZlf90EnZ4WdN4ZtQO5jcQ6evmspox2vP-nU_oihPjBMFx1k-eM45OzkkppekMDehRjSFeoYeqbOjXYJqqAUbfF7jhWQ503cTW/s320/Burn+After+Reading+Poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><p class="MsoNoSpacing">After the Cohen Brothers’ unbelievable (and undeserved, IMHO) Oscar success last year, they’re in a pretty good position.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They already had the clout and respect to make any movie they wanted, and with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">No Country for Old Men</i> winning all those awards, they could also have any star they wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They basically said, “Let’s write all the things we’ve wanted to write for years, and make up our dream parts for our dream actors, and the mash them all together.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They did just that, and out of the primordial ooze we have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Burn After Reading</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If it feels thrown together and random, that’s because it is.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>I’ll be honest; I think the Cohen Brothers are very overrated.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That comment will most likely make indie snobs everywhere want to get out their pitchforks and torches, but it’s true.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">O Brother, Where Art Thou?</i> was great, but a bit of an odd duck in their filmography, I found.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The rest of their movies are so much darker that they almost seem like they were made by different people.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They were total pricks for their Best Picture acceptance speech last year, but I will say that no one does dark comedy quite as well as the Cohens.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">No Country for Old Men </i>contained almost no comedy at all, just darkness, while<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> Burn After Reading</i> is pretty much the opposite.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>It also contains some good performances, Brad Pitt and George Clooney in particular.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Pitt plays Chad, a personal trainer at a local gym.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Chad is a dork.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He and his buddy Linda (Frances McDormand in a good but non-challenging turn) find some “files” on a CD-RW at the gym, belonging to Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich), former mid-level CIA analyst who is writing his memoirs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>His wife Katie (Tilda Swinton), unsatisfied in their marriage, is screwing Harry (George Clooney), who in turn starts screwing Linda.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Linda and Chad try blackmailing Osbourne for the “files,” which he thinks are his memoirs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Also in the mix is Ted (Richard Jenkins), mild-mannered manager of the gym where Chad and Linda work.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Jenkins is sadly underutilized, and his character basically just gets in the way.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Burn After Reading</i> is about the two worlds of the complicated and the simple, and what happens when they collide.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The two worlds seem very different at first glance, but you come to realize that they have in common that they’re both filled with complete idiots.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But the movie is also about fantastically dumb people, and the trouble they get themselves and each other into.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Almost everyone in the movie is looking for something, and very pointedly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">not</i> finding it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Linda wants a new body, and thus a new confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Harry wants human connection, and thinks he can only get it through sex.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Osbourne wants to be respected.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Katie wants to be in control of absolutely everything.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ted just wants to be loved.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Chad wants money.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But all of them are just so incompetent at getting what they want.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s like watching a bunch of blind-folded people trying to turn off a lamp.</span></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>Ethan and Joel Cohen’s twisted sense of humor kinda alienated me, as it usually does, and the story didn’t really keep me engaged.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There were some definite laugh-out-loud moments, and I appreciated the very snarky and character-driven comedy, but the movie suffered from not really being <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">about</i> anything in particular.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The CIA supervisor said it best at the end of the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“What did we learn, Palmer?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I don’t fuckin’ know.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I guess we learned not to do it again.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’m fucked if I know what we did, though.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As a viewer, that sums up my feeling after the film.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’m clueless as to what lesson I should take away from this, and I have a sneaking suspicion that there wasn’t a lesson at all.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>Iconic lines (or exchanges):</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>Harry: Go around the corner, we’ll do it in the back.</o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>Katie: You’re so coarse.</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Harry: Back of the car… not a… rear entry situation.</p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>Osbourne: I have a drinking problem?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Peck, you’re a Mormon!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Compared to you, we ALL have a drinking problem!</o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>Linda: Does he look like he would have a sense of humor?</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing">Chad: Looks like his optometrist has a sense of humor.</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">22 Rating: 4</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255); ">Particle Man</span><br /></p>Neal Paradisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18396375323544578903noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24477704.post-8890596114813895932009-01-19T11:17:00.002-05:002009-01-19T11:19:38.670-05:00The Other Boleyn Girl<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxnGDoR7tPaDDGTSsw8mMa-KhcfHbExXE64l2lA3YDJqS4ydkw0WzKIg6kAHYvdjBa7P0Gef9EubLCMZfTRiZWpT-GHAcFsbCSv1OOXDirYXlxa1iAgQwgPTuU7t7uNtbs4vc/s1600-h/OtherBoleynGirlG.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxnGDoR7tPaDDGTSsw8mMa-KhcfHbExXE64l2lA3YDJqS4ydkw0WzKIg6kAHYvdjBa7P0Gef9EubLCMZfTRiZWpT-GHAcFsbCSv1OOXDirYXlxa1iAgQwgPTuU7t7uNtbs4vc/s200/OtherBoleynGirlG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293039972858495330" border="0" /></a> King Henry VIII is quite a famous figure in European History. In fact, he is so popular that there have been many incarnations of him on both the large and small screens. Now I hate to burst people’s bubbles, but he did more than kill a bunch of wives and father two queens of England.<br /> However, that is usually the only thing that most people remember about him. Phillippa Gregory certainly did not shy away from this when she wrote the The Other Boleyn Girl. In this story there are two sisters who are both vying for the affections of the still married King of England, one out of genuine love for the king and the other out of a hope to achieve the highest position that she and her family can obtain. The names of these sisters are Mary and Anne Boleyn. This story became quite the best seller and naturally was adapted for a movie version.<br /> I watched this movie begrudgingly. As a historian I hate to see history being butchered and simplified because the writers are afraid that the actual events won’t captivate their audiences, but that is a rant for another day. Now this movie wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t necessarily a piece of cinematic genius either. It was somewhat entertaining and had pretty costumes, but the praises kind of end there.<br /> Let me tell you what one of my biggest problems with the movie was. In this story Mary Boleyn is 14 years old, which considering how she is traded by her family and husband for advancement makes me throw up a little. Now the wonderful people who brought us this film decide to hire Scarlett Johansson to play her. WTF!!!!!!! I understand that Hollywood doesn’t always hire actresses who are the same age as their character, but c’mon someone in their early twenties portraying someone in their early teens, is a bit much. I am in no way saying that she is not a good actress, but she was very miscast in this role. To play someone that is incredibly young may be a job for a younger actress, but that is of course only if they want the movie to be credible.<br />Natalie Portman, as Anne Boleyn, portrays the calculating older sister who is also angling for the Kings attention. She does a good job at portraying a backstabbing witch, and looks younger than Johansson, which was also a mistake in casting. But at this point the directors were probably mostly thinking of how much star power they could get into this movie.<br />There really weren’t any other standout performances in this film. However, as someone who has always loved the clothing of that period, the costumes were lovely. But really isn’t it a bad sign when the costumes are the biggest plus of a movie, not the plot, or acting? As I said before, this wasn’t a terrible movie and does have the potential to be slightly entertaining, but I feel that it would a denial of who I am to give the movie anything above a 4.Stormy Pinknesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307895047950691710noreply@blogger.com8