[100M] Michael Clayton, Control, The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford
61 - Michael Clayton
October 2nd, theaters
There's nothing really wrong with this movie, but there's not much that's really great either. The idea is good, the filming is good, but it never really works as it could have. I think it's too talkative for what it really says. In the end, it's watchable, it's not really boring, and I think some people would enjoy it better than I did (and some less)... It's lacking something.
Tilda Swinton is great, but she's an actress I generally like.
However, it's 2 hours long of George Clooney, and that's more than I was hoping. *sigh* George...
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62 - Control
October 17th, theaters
There are two things that I loved so much in this movie that I have to give it a high rate : first, the black and white is gorgeous, and second, the soundtrack is fantastic (don't worry, I knew I liked Joy Division before the movie) (and obviously, BOWIE)
I liked the movie as a whole too. It was sad, and depressing, and the main actor did a very good job with everything, and I was especially impressed by his general body language.
Seriously, the black and white is amazing. The movie is great.
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63 - The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford
October 17th, theaters
First of all, I really, really love this poster. The colors, the use of typography, the very long title, it really works in itself and with the movie.
I don't have much to say against the movie but I have to say it first : it's over 2,5 hours long and you can feel every second of it. It's not always a problem, but at some point, you start to wonder when the titular assassination will happen. On the good side, you can feel the tension building very well at some points, and by the end of it, I was probably in the same permanent scared state as the Ford brothers.
It's very beautifully shot, in a very poetic way, and with a great use of dark and shadows, but sometimes, I though it tried too hard.
I heard it compared to The New World several times, because of the slow pacing and the poetic imagery, and I felt it too, but it's not as good. It's not as successful, probably because it doesn't let go all the way and tries to tell things in a "regular" way as well. This leads to my second major problem with the movie : I don't know why there's a voiceover here. Not only it's pointless, but I kept hoping it would explain things such as why is Robert Ford such a Jesse James fanboy anyway ?
Casey Affleck is amazing. I wanted to hit his character from the first second and he's so good. Brad Pitt is very good too but I'm generally partial to him anyway. And really, Casey Affleck does an incredible work here.
Actors I should have recognized in this : Sam Rockwell, Sam Shepard (those two I wondered where I had seen them before), Zooey Deschanel (I saw her name in the credits and I don't see who she was)
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