Posts Tagged ‘movies’
March 1, 2010
Jeff Bridges is great, but this is one slow movie, with very little that’s new or interesting. I am sure I have seen this story many times before, but this time Jeff Bridges is in it, singing C&W songs.
It’s hard to believe Maggie Gyllenhaal got an Oscar nomination for this. She’s not terrible, but she didn’t seem to bring much to this role. I have not read the book, but I got the sense that there must have been some dramatic tinkering going on with Bad’s alcoholic bottom. Was it softened up to make him seem less reprehensible? If so, that was a mistake. Maggie’s reaction seemed somewhat out-of-line and threw the rest of the movie off the rails.
The one thing that surprised me was Robert Duvall – The whole movie was by the numbers, but his was the one role that offered a pleasant surprise. I couldn’t figure out how his character functioned in the story until it was revealed (and it wasn’t like it was a big Hollywood reveal, but more like I was surprised that his character was the one playing that part, a crucial role for these kind of films). I thought it would be Maggie or the agent guy on the phone. And for all the singing that Bridges does, I thought Duvall’s little spoken word song was the most poignant of all. Good call on adding it to the closing credits.
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Tags: crazy heart, Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, movies, Robert Duvall
January 16, 2010
Book of Eli surprised and delighted me.
Understand: I love me some postapocalyptic, dystopian, nightmare movie. Book of Eli has plenty of the requisite violence, flair, and visual style this sort of movie calls for. But it’s also a thoughtful movie about the power of faith, and the way religion can be a saving grace in one man’s life, even while it drives another man to war. The last 15 minutes had me holding my breath for fear the movie was going to careen of its tracks, but it holds up to the end. Just a brilliant ending that makes you want to watch again.
Go see it.
I know (kinda, sorta) Gary Whitta, the guy who wrote the screenplay for Book of Eli. We posts on a message board with a bunch of other writers and geeks. So naturally a bunch of the guys in my area got together to see the movie on its opening night. Meanwhile, there were similar groups doing the same thing in Rochester, Las Vegas, San Francisco and probably a few other places, too. I love that kind of community. This is an example of the Internet is at its best.
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Tags: book of eli, denzel washington, gary whitta, movies, screenplay by Gary Whitta
January 10, 2010
Here they are!
My favorite movies of the past year. I still have a few I want to watch, so (thorughout January) I reserve the right to juggle.
- Star Trek – Wonderful adaption. The best adaptatiotns remain just faithful enough to the source material, but still manage to offer up a few surprises. By far the best Star Trek movie of the bunch, but a potent adaptation in its own right.
- Inglorious Basterds – Fun to watch, fun to mull over. Once you see it, it’s hard to understand why all WW2 pictures don’t end this way. Now one of my favorite Tarantino pictures.
- District 9 – I loved the inventive transformation of the main character. An ugly little man becomes a humane alien.
- Sherlock Holmes – Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law have a lot of chemistry as Holmes and Watson.
- Fantastic Mr. Fox – Subversive little movie with a lot of heart. I liked the father son relationship. I liked how the boy struggled to be seen by his Dad. I liked how Dad was blinded by his own needs. But most of all I liked watching these characters make the best of their own limitations. “Cluster-cuss!”
- Hurt Locker - The most powerful scene shows Sgt James (Jeremy Renner), who has just returned from a horrifying tour in Iraq, wandering through the supermarket with his wife, staring at a wall of cereal, just before he reenlists. Fascinating portrayal of a smart guy who really has no clue what’s motivating him.
- Avatar – Beautiful movie, engaging if familiar story.
- Watchman – Bold and original.
- Julie & Julia – Meryl Streep is so much fun to watch. Stanley Tucci is a joy.
- Taken - An episode of 24 but with Liam Neeson.
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Tags: avatar, fantastic mr. fox, hurt locker, inglorious basterds, Julie & Julia, movies, sherlock holmes, Star Trek, taken, top ten lists, watchman
January 7, 2010
I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and thought the new move rang true as an adaptation. The few notable divergences (Watson’s wife, Holmes’ boxing matches and his own love interest) seemed acceptable to me. The chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law was excellent, which is all you really need for a good Holmes adaptation. Denby said it reminded him of a screwball comedy, which seems spot on to me. It’s the same thing that made the old Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce work so well. The big difference between the old series and this one is that Rathbone took his part so seriously, which was probably appropriate for his time–most of those movies are thinly veiled WW2 propaganda pieces. This new one is much lighter, with RDJ/Law hamming it up at times.
I thought the evil Lord Blackwood’s (Mark Strong) “Di Vinci protocol” scheme was an excellent way to evoke the Victorian era and it’s relationship to magic and the supernatural. Besides Hounds of the Baskerville, I can’t really think of another Conan Doyle story that uses the supernatural in that way, but Holmes use of deduction and reason always looks best in contrast to a supernatural story.
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Tags: jud law, movies, Robert Downey Jr., sherlock holmes
January 6, 2010
I liked Avatar, and I am not even sure why (despite my having a few weeks to think about it). It charmed me. I liked Jake, (Sam Worthington) the broken main character. He’s physically broken (his disability), emotionally weak (easily manipulated by Stephen Lang, the bad marine), and not much of a marine himself (he almost gets himself and his party killed on his first patrol).
Sure, the movie moves forward in a predictable fashion, borrowing from many other movies, and doesn’t even offer us a single good line of dialog for posterity (“I see you.” Gah, how awful). But none of that matters.
The point is watching a mope like Jake turn his circumstances around. This movie reminds me of Rocky. It’s not like Rocky is good because it was the first sports movie to feature an unlikely underdog who came from behind–it’s interesting because Stallone plays such an utterly luckless, shambling clod who must rise above his circumstances.
And none of this takes away from the criticisms people are making about Avatar’s plot, the slim characters, etc. Much of that is true. I wish it would have explored identity with a little more depth and meaning. But it had enough good to win me over.
I found it interesting that Jake had to abandon his body to become more human. I hope they do a little more with the plot in future installments.
It was also very beautiful.
A friend of mine said it’s just a shame he couldn’t have seen this when he was twelve. I completely agree. Aaron and I saw it opening day. Halfway through, he turned to me and whispered, “Thanks for bringing me to see this, Dad.”
My pleasure., son. My pleasure.
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Tags: avatar, James Cameron, movies, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang
October 25, 2009
I recently watched the Ray Harryhausen stop-motion masterpiece, Jason and the Argonauts, with the kids. The movie still delivers. The kids loved it.
Holly has been introducing the kids to classic movies and TV. I haven’t participated much, mostly because I haven’t been too interested in the picks—wacky old comedies, like Spaceballs or the old Pink Panther. The kids have never enjoyed movies too scary or intense. But if their recent reaction is any indication, some of that is changing. I thought it might be fun to post their reaction to my picks, for better or worse.
I was astonished to learn that Holly had never even seen Jason and the Argonauts. This 1963 film features some of the most compelling monsters in any film, even compared to modern films with advanced special effects work. I am not sure why this is. I suspect it has to do with the special effects being just real enough to suspend disbelief, but not so real as to make you squeamish. I love the grand finale battle with the skeletons and the first battle with Talos, the giant copper titan come to life. It may also be because the special effects that don’t work so well are cheesy enough to make you laugh—think: Jason’s battle with the multi headed hydra (especially when it has him coiled in its tail), and Poseidon, the giant sea god, who calms the Clashing Rocks.
The kids watched with one of their friends. All the children enjoyed the battles and special effects, but Kennedy and Aaron were particularly impressed by the Greek mythology. This is probalby because they’ve been enjoying the Percy Jackson series of books. Their friend hasn’t been reading Percy Jackson and his attention wandered, especially during the scenes featuring Greek gods looking down from on high.
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Tags: family, Jason and the Argonauts, movies, Now that we have kids what do we want to do with them, Percy Jackson, Ray Harryhausen, stop-motion
September 11, 2009
There is nothing worse than a children’s movie that makes you feel less hip.
Ponyo is the new animated film from Studio Ghibli, the Japanese equivalent to America’s Disney or possibly Pixar. The mastermind behind Studio Ghibli is Hayao Miyazaki, which I guess makes him the Japanese Walt Disney. Miyazaki’s new film made me feel old and creaky, definitely uncool.
In contrast, I felt incredibly hip when I showed my kids one of his earlier works, My Neighbor Totoro, which features a wacky cat bus, crazy dust sprites, and some giant wood elf. I hoped to reclaim some of that old magic by taking Holly and the kids to see Ponyo a few weeks ago. Ponyo offers similar nonsense as Totoro, but with a sea theme: a wacky yellow submarine (not nearly as sublime as Totoro’s grinning cat bus), loveable tadpoles, and a crazy old coot who lives in the sea. Somehow none of it worked for me. In Totoro, the fanciful wood elves and cat bus added a pleasent child like element to a story that’s firmly grounded in the real world–the drama of a sick parent from the point of view of a young child. In Ponyo, the plot isn’t grounded in much of anything. Although it’s a beautiful story to watch, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. The climax involves one five year old marrying another, while the parents watch. In Totoro, the hightened reality seems to describe a spiritual world accessible only by children. In Ponyo, they seem to be trying for a spirit world accessible by children and adults, but it just falls flat for me. A friend of mine, equally flummoxed, called it the best movie about a five year old getting married she’d ever seen. That about sums it up for me, too.
Watching the credits, I asked Aaron, who rarely offers an unkind opinion about anything, what he thought. He turned to me and said, “Well, Dad, it’s no G.I. Joe.”
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Tags: disney, Hayao Miyazaki, movies, ponyo, Studio Ghibli
September 10, 2009
The early buzz on Quentin Tarantino’s latest picture, Inglourious Basterds, was about its excessive gore. So I worried. And then I saw the trailer with Brad Pitt jutting out his jaw and I grew even more concerned.
But I saw it recently and it’s fabulous.
No more gory then Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction and certainly less bloody then all of Kill Bill. Brad Pitt won me over as Lt. Aldo Raine, the leader of the Basterds, a handpicked team of Jewish-American soldiers who sneak behind enemy lines in occupied France to wreak havoc for the Nazis. Pitt is fine, but Christoph Waltz steals the show as Hans Landa, a delightful SS officer that you love to hate. He’s really terrible, one of the most delightful monsters since Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
The ending is surprising, but then when you leave the theater you find yourself wondering why no other WW2 film has done something similar. Lots of fun.
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Tags: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds, movies, Quentin Tarantino, WW2 movies
September 2, 2009
What a great job Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep did in this.
I knew of Julia Child, but wasn’t a big fan, or even very knowledgeable about her cook book or television show. Nevertheless, her story really grabbed me, I think because of the chemistry between Tucci and Streep, and Streep’s spooky ability to portray Child, a huge stork of a woman, who doesn’t fit in, but always carries herself with purpose and poise.
The story is a contrast between the lives of an unknown blogger (Amy Adams as the titular Julie) and Child, as each tries to find her niche in life. The Child parts of the story are much more powerful than the anonymous blogger parts, but as my wife pointed out: the movie might not have worked with just Child’s story. It needed some sort of counterpoint and the social and economic contrast between Child (upper middle class, 50s era) and Julie (struggling middle class, 21st century) was understated but clearly important. I am undecided whether to lay blame at Adams feet or lazy screen writing, but Julie’s life just didn’t resonate with me. When Child finally gets her book deal, I want to cheer, weep, or a little of both. When Julie gets hers, I think: shit, I could have done that.
Still, really worth a look.
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Tags: Amy Adams, Julia Child, Julie & Julia, Meryl Streep, movies, Stanley Tucci
August 19, 2009
I almost split in the first 20 minutes or so because the main character was just so incredibly annoying. I am glad I stayed.
Wikus (Sharlto Copley) is a petty, brutal bureaucrat, who is in over his head. The movie uses a fake documentary style to let us know that something has happened to him, but we don’t know what. It could be anything, considering the state of the world: For 20 years, aliens have been stranded on earth and forced to live like savages in a hastily constructed camp outside of Johannesburg.
You can’t see a ghetto outside Johannesburg or shots of signage restricting alien access to retail establishments without making some uncomfortable political associations, but the movie is surprisingly light handed here. No cheap moralizing or preaching.
Instead of allegory, this movie offers a character study. And what a character: Wikus is so unlikeable, it’s almost a pleasure to watch him squirm as the story unfolds. I felt my allegiance toward him change as he refuses to give up, despite how hopeless his situation becomes. The second half of the movie is a full on action flick, but it pleases me to no end that Wikus never really learns how to fight effectively. He fires his ray gun over his shoulder with his eyes screwed shut. At the end, he falls to his knees at the feet of a merciless warrior who has been a thorn in Wikus’ side from the start. He is the consummate weakling everyman, blundering forward hoping for a bit of good luck.
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Tags: district 9, movies, Sharlto Copley
