Movies 2009 Part 2
Movies seen Jan 16 - Jan 31 2009:
George at the movies!
Defiance (in theatre) - Ok unlike ewin, I wasn't reduced to a squee puddle watching this film. I do think it was very good and didn't deserve all the slag critics heaped upon it. I liked the central conflicts between the protective and militant brother and the teacher/rabbi and the intellect (could have done more there) framing the conflict to fight or survive. (Watching BSG I'm already familiar with this story!) The only quibbles I have to this entertaining film was probably left on the cutting room floor and that is when Tuvia quashed the rebellion against his authority and when they took a Nazi prisoner. Both of those incidents were very against Tuvia's protect and survive character and there was little to no aftermath seen of him breaking character. S'why I believe those scenes may have been cut, cuz who needs exposition when we need to hurry to the kill the Nazis part! Incidentally, I saw this movie with only one other couple in the theatre. They fell asleep about halfway through and left right before everything started blowing up.
The Wrestler (in theatre) - My opinion of this movie is Mickey Rourke needs an Oscar ASAP. Everyone is right this is the perfect meld of actor and character. You believe every inch of his tarnished, sad hubris - it's heartbreaking. Aronofsky continues to make awesome films (The Fountain omg!) but he seriously needs to use a steadycam. I hate feeling seasick in a movie theatre! I understand the reasons for it though as it's supposed to look like a cheap documentary of a washed-up star who still hangs on. A powerful movie that'll have you winch more than a few times and grab your empathy for a man who chooses the adoring crowd over people close to him time and again.
-Home views
Deadspace: Downfall (on dvd) - For all those who remember me playing the remade Resident Evil game and how entertaining that was, woe to you that you missed me playing Deadspace. Seriously the best survival horror game since revamped Resident Evil. So the game developers in a synergistic glut of marketing made a webcomic prequel and a movie prequel to the game to expand their mythos. Loving the game like I do, I had to check this one out. The animation and voice acting are up to par, but the energy and action of the movie falls way flat compared to the videogame. Maybe I didn't know what I was expecting. Something closer to Aliens with the sheer panic of strange creatures decimating a "colony" and a ship. Not enough panic for me. Go play the videogame!
Empire of the Sun (on dvd) (rewatch) - I haven't seen this movie since I was a kid. It's really good considering I didn't understand it all when I was little. Spielberg did ok with this one despite his P-51 (Cadillac of the Sky!) orgasm. What is with him and those planes?! They're in every WW2 film he does! Christian Bale is great even as a little kid and it's amazing to see him making the stoic American Psycho face at that age. The Japanese occupancy of China is so glossed over in the history books considering how devastating it was for the Chinese.
The Longest Day (on dvd) - Ok so more with the WW2 movies. I'd never seen this "classic" with just about every famous movie actor in the 50's in it. The rap on this movie is that it's a bit homer-istic for the Americans on D-Day. While I can see that angle, what I saw was an incompetent German command structure not making decisions quick enough and the Canadians, English, and Scottish(?!) exploiting that and walking into Normandy from the beaches while the Americans bogged down on Utah and Omaha Beach. So while the Brits complain it makes light of their sacrifices at Juno, Gold, and Sword, I see it more as the Americans "just couldn't get right" in easily taking a confused German army. None of that is very true in real life, just what the movie would have you believe.
City of Ember (on dvd) - Ah a Bill Murray movie. He plays a slimeball mayor who thinks more about himself than his people. The rest of this movie is sort of a 3 person Goonies set underground after the Apocalypse. They gloss over alot of that thankfully for a kid's film but man weird premise for one, eh? I wonder how the filmmakers pitched that to get approved? So these three adventerous children run around their underground city with a discovered map turning on ancient technology that will allow them to reach the surface before the power fails in Ember for good. And goofy villains try to thwart them (like Bill Murray!). They just don't make kid adventure films like they used to...
To sum up:
This month:
6 films so far
2 in theatres
4 on dvd
1 rewatched
This year:
23 films so far
5 in theatres
18 on dvd
7 rewatched