Films I saw this past week
I saw a girl movie, and then I saw a boy movie. I liked them both.
Julie and Julia A net win because the biopic parts are delicious. Meryl Streep is phenomenal in the (co-)title role, as is Paul Tucci as Mr. Child. It focuses on the time that Julia Child spent in postwar Paris, from arrival as the bored wife of a government agent through her transformation into an expert and then a published author on French cuisine. Her passion for the subject matter drives her through years of obstacle-laden effort, supported always by her friends and loved ones. I cannot not love stories like this.
The other half of the movie, set in 2002 New York, is a stock romantic comedy with boring and silly characters that I found tolerable, right up until the end titles. These informed me that what I just watched was based on an autobiographic account, after which I retroactively downgraded it to uncomfortably wanky. Oh well.
Inglorious Basterds I saw this only this past afternoon, and I'm still reeling from it. The film is much more tense than it is violent (and it's quite violent). I made a mistake in drinking a large cup of coffee prior beforehand, and so got to feel my heart trying to pound its way out of my chest as I watched one long, super-tense scene after another. At least a couple of times I had to close my eyes and control my breathing for moment lest I rupture something.
The film travels down paths so surprising and even bizarre that I don't wish to say much outside of a spoiler-cut, and I don't think I have that much to say about it yet. As always, Todd Alcott's thread on the picture is a fine place to read some (spoiler-filled!) intelligent discussion.
It gets a recommend from me, with a strong advisory to avoid spoilers if you do plan on seeing it.
Julie and Julia A net win because the biopic parts are delicious. Meryl Streep is phenomenal in the (co-)title role, as is Paul Tucci as Mr. Child. It focuses on the time that Julia Child spent in postwar Paris, from arrival as the bored wife of a government agent through her transformation into an expert and then a published author on French cuisine. Her passion for the subject matter drives her through years of obstacle-laden effort, supported always by her friends and loved ones. I cannot not love stories like this.
The other half of the movie, set in 2002 New York, is a stock romantic comedy with boring and silly characters that I found tolerable, right up until the end titles. These informed me that what I just watched was based on an autobiographic account, after which I retroactively downgraded it to uncomfortably wanky. Oh well.
Inglorious Basterds I saw this only this past afternoon, and I'm still reeling from it. The film is much more tense than it is violent (and it's quite violent). I made a mistake in drinking a large cup of coffee prior beforehand, and so got to feel my heart trying to pound its way out of my chest as I watched one long, super-tense scene after another. At least a couple of times I had to close my eyes and control my breathing for moment lest I rupture something.
The film travels down paths so surprising and even bizarre that I don't wish to say much outside of a spoiler-cut, and I don't think I have that much to say about it yet. As always, Todd Alcott's thread on the picture is a fine place to read some (spoiler-filled!) intelligent discussion.
It gets a recommend from me, with a strong advisory to avoid spoilers if you do plan on seeing it.