movie round-up
We saw Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman) last night. Not having seen any of the other Best Actress Oscar contenders for this year, besides Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I think I would bet money on Swank getting a second Oscar. That said? Don't see this movie. Great dialogue, great acting, but ultimately it was a piece of emotionally manipulative tripe. It got to me, but I do not appreciate the way it got to me.
If you really want to be moved by a movie -- genuinely moved -- go to a video rental store and check out Monster (Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci).
There were a couple of scary-looking previews before the feature. Most notably, Dark Water (Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly) and The Jacket (Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley -- with an American accent!). The latter, I think, owed much of its creepiness to Brody himself. The first movie I ever saw of his where he had a major role was The Village, and I can't seem to shake the nasty impression he left in that one. Anyway, I'm sorta kinda looking forward to those two. It's been long enough since I saw The Ring that I'm due for being frightened out of my skin again.
There was also a preview for Constantine (Keanu Reeves), and fuck it -- I don't care. I'm seeing that one on opening night. I'm a sucker for supernatural religious themes, and this one looks like it'll deliver and then some.
Finally, I read somewhere that Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are thinking about making a sequel to Taxi Driver. I really hope someone talks them out of it. I mean, I understand that De Niro's just a big whore for any script that gets mailed to him these days, and that Scorsese may get shafted at the Oscars again this year, but Taxi Driver stands alone. ALONE, dammit.
Unless it turns out to be like Godfather II, in which case I will come back here and eat my hat.
If you really want to be moved by a movie -- genuinely moved -- go to a video rental store and check out Monster (Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci).
There were a couple of scary-looking previews before the feature. Most notably, Dark Water (Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly) and The Jacket (Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley -- with an American accent!). The latter, I think, owed much of its creepiness to Brody himself. The first movie I ever saw of his where he had a major role was The Village, and I can't seem to shake the nasty impression he left in that one. Anyway, I'm sorta kinda looking forward to those two. It's been long enough since I saw The Ring that I'm due for being frightened out of my skin again.
There was also a preview for Constantine (Keanu Reeves), and fuck it -- I don't care. I'm seeing that one on opening night. I'm a sucker for supernatural religious themes, and this one looks like it'll deliver and then some.
Finally, I read somewhere that Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are thinking about making a sequel to Taxi Driver. I really hope someone talks them out of it. I mean, I understand that De Niro's just a big whore for any script that gets mailed to him these days, and that Scorsese may get shafted at the Oscars again this year, but Taxi Driver stands alone. ALONE, dammit.
Unless it turns out to be like Godfather II, in which case I will come back here and eat my hat.