Movie movie movie
I'm gonna try and keep track of the movies I watch by posting a quickie response for whatever I watch this year. Here's what I've watched the last couple weeks
ALL GOOD THINGS
I liked this one even though I'd have to say it kinda flunks overall. It's based on the unsolved 1982 disappearance of Kathleen McCormack, who was married to NY billionaire real estate heir Robert Durst. The flick starts of with the an ominous bridge sequence and voice over courtroom transcripts then segues into the romance of the couple and the gradual disintegration of their relationship. Kirsten Dunst does a great job as a sweet girl crusting over when she doesn't grasp how weird the rich are, particularly the familiy she's married into, neither how damaged her husband played by Ryan Gosling actually is. He's pretty good too, but his is a more bizarre role and therefore less coherent. That's actually the weakest part of the flick; Gosling is kind of a cipher and he gets way weird in the last act. Like they say, the problem with fiction is it has to make sense and this is a fictionalized account that hews to the facts when maybe it didn't need to, particularly with the strange coda. I did enjoy reading up on what inspired the flick after I watched this and finding a good story as this to mine after watching a movie is goddamn satisfying.
THE AMERICAN
George Clooney is a spy guy in Europe trying to hang up his assassin gunbelt. Would have been good to see this in a theatre because Anton Corbjin knows how to shoot great scenery, and that shit loses a lot of its oomph on a smaller screen.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
Pretty excellent Aussie crime drama, loosely based on a notorious family of drug dealers and bank robbers. I was confused about the time period at first, but that's prolly because I'm not Australian.
BARRY MUNDAY
meh. It was okay. Like Knocked Up, but with less appealing characters.
BEST WORST MOVIE
Good doc about the cult of appreciation that's arisen for the terrifically awful horror film TROLL 2.
BLACK SWAN
I got to see this at a promo in Vegas at a Cinemark theatre and it was oh so familiar. The theatre I mean, the movie was familiar in that it reminded me of Argento and Carrie and Repulsion, but mostly I was liking the familiarity of the chain surroundings. Then I get back to Van and learn that there's no more Cinemark theatre, well Tinseltown is still there, but not the cheap matinees. Le sigh :( Anyhow it's a gorgeous freakshow with Natalie Portman all frigid ballet slave girl uber training to gain the approval of her psycho stage mom Barbara Hershey and dance master Vincent Cassell, desperate to pluck the role of Swan Queen out from under Winona Rider's aging gams. Hershey is so f'n creepy passive aggressive controlling and same with Cassell, tho I still find him teh sexy. Mila Kunis is sexy great as the new company dancer out to get Portman...or is she? Reality keeps slipping in and out of focus, you don't know wtf is actually happening, so you're off balance most of the flick. All told, it was a spooky good time at the movies.
BURIED
GAH. This movie is so stupid. Had some good tension to wring out of the situation, hostage buried in a wooden box in the Iraqi desert, but squandered it with way too much of Ryan Renolds doing unnecessary and annoying moron moves.
CAIRO TIME
Patrica Clarkson wanders around Cairo mostly in the company of a former coworker of her husband. The Middle East looks good, but the story is prettay prettay BLAH. It's basically a nonromance. Also I found it annoying seeing everything through the eyes of an uber privileged listless white American lady.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED
Pretty good thriller about a kidnapping for ransom with a bit of a homophobic subtext. Eddie Marsan is scary awesome as one of the kidnappers.
EASY A
I kinda sorta enjoyed this. It has super clever dialogue and has a shit ton of homage for the 80's teen flicks, but what I didn't like was the extreeme eyebrowing arching cynicism and how it tried to have its cake and eat it too regarding the whole sneering at the hypocrisy of puritanical sexual ethics and whatnot with the whole proud to wear the faux scarlet letter business. Because really who was the bad guy in this? The for reals slutty teacher for trynna throw the pretend whore under the bus.
FUBAR 2
Not as much fun as the first one.
The GIFT
Documentary about the mind boggling underworld rise of seroconversion partys among gay men known as "bugchasers." Apparently condom fatigue, an over confidence in the efficacy of HIV cocktails, a willing disbelief of the reality of HIV illness and a culture of not wanting to offend positive folk has led to a crazy reality where men actively seek out positive partners willing to give them "the gift" of HIV so they don't have to worry about getting HIV anymore. OMG people!!! Condoms are simply not that difficult to use.
MOTHER AND CHILD
3 women with adoption stories intertwine. Everything ties up a bit neat, but it's a good package of mostly realistic sentimentalism.
NIGHT WARNING
WTF!! This movie is over the top with craziness. Susan Tyrell is full on mental for the last 20 mins of the flick. Very good bad movie.
RABBIT HOLE
Aarron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman deal with life after losing their young son. Sad stuff, but there's some hope and humour in the mix too.
SMASH HIS CAMERA
Entertaining doc about Papa Paparazzi, Ron Galella.
SOMEWHERE
boooooring. I wanted to like this but fuck me, I don't fucking care about stupid ass celebrities being bored with alla their privilege. NOTHING HAPPENS in this movie except Stephen Dorf as a Keanu-ish movie star gradually light bulbing that the only thing that gives meaning to his life is spending time with his daughter. snore.
TEMPLE GRANDIN
Biopic about the woman with autism who "thinks like a cow" and figured out how to make slaughterhouses more humane. Inneresting story.
THE TOWN
Bank robbers in bean town. I looked into this after and it's kinda bullshit...so not a true story, but it's still a good crimetime. Pete Postlethwaite is most excellent in a small role as a hard case flowershop crime boss.
TROLL 2
This was fun. I remember having this on VHS and I NEVER EVER felt like watching it because I was told it was terrible and that it had nothing to do with TROLL which I had actually quite enjoyed. Then I saw Best Worst Movie and I realized my life would not be complete until I watched it. It's got a bizarre sensibility, and the best analogy is one guy's comment in Best Worst Movie - "it's like it was made by aliens who only ever watched terrible movies to learn how to make movies." Something close to the spirit of that anyhow.
UNSTOPPABLE
OK, the premise is kinda ridiculous, but give over and just believe!!! that train is just plain unstoppable!!! It's more funner that way eh? Sure it's got cardboard corporate villains, but that's okay, you gotta have the bad bigwigs to balance out the blue collar heroics. Because My Name Is Earl's idiot little brother was the hand that turned the train loose, I kept wishing for Jason Lee to spring out and save the day instead of Denzel and new Captain Kirk.
WHO IS HARRY NILSSON AND WHY IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT HIM?
Excellent doc on the life and times of Harry Nilsson. I didn't even realize I liked so many of his songs. Before I watched this I woulda said yeah, yeah, Everybody's Talking, but you know he didn't even write that one. And One is the loneliest number, that's his, 3 Dog Night made it big, and Aimee Mann made it big again, but he wrote it. Can't Live if Living is Without You, Jump in the Fire, Lime In The Coconut, People Let Me Tell You 'bout My Best Friend!! okay. i think that's it. that's all I'm remembering now anyhow. Oh yeah, THE POINT!!! Me and my Arrow!! The 5th beatle was a sad guy, helluva party animal, but a sad beast nonetheless.
ALL GOOD THINGS
I liked this one even though I'd have to say it kinda flunks overall. It's based on the unsolved 1982 disappearance of Kathleen McCormack, who was married to NY billionaire real estate heir Robert Durst. The flick starts of with the an ominous bridge sequence and voice over courtroom transcripts then segues into the romance of the couple and the gradual disintegration of their relationship. Kirsten Dunst does a great job as a sweet girl crusting over when she doesn't grasp how weird the rich are, particularly the familiy she's married into, neither how damaged her husband played by Ryan Gosling actually is. He's pretty good too, but his is a more bizarre role and therefore less coherent. That's actually the weakest part of the flick; Gosling is kind of a cipher and he gets way weird in the last act. Like they say, the problem with fiction is it has to make sense and this is a fictionalized account that hews to the facts when maybe it didn't need to, particularly with the strange coda. I did enjoy reading up on what inspired the flick after I watched this and finding a good story as this to mine after watching a movie is goddamn satisfying.
THE AMERICAN
George Clooney is a spy guy in Europe trying to hang up his assassin gunbelt. Would have been good to see this in a theatre because Anton Corbjin knows how to shoot great scenery, and that shit loses a lot of its oomph on a smaller screen.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
Pretty excellent Aussie crime drama, loosely based on a notorious family of drug dealers and bank robbers. I was confused about the time period at first, but that's prolly because I'm not Australian.
BARRY MUNDAY
meh. It was okay. Like Knocked Up, but with less appealing characters.
BEST WORST MOVIE
Good doc about the cult of appreciation that's arisen for the terrifically awful horror film TROLL 2.
BLACK SWAN
I got to see this at a promo in Vegas at a Cinemark theatre and it was oh so familiar. The theatre I mean, the movie was familiar in that it reminded me of Argento and Carrie and Repulsion, but mostly I was liking the familiarity of the chain surroundings. Then I get back to Van and learn that there's no more Cinemark theatre, well Tinseltown is still there, but not the cheap matinees. Le sigh :( Anyhow it's a gorgeous freakshow with Natalie Portman all frigid ballet slave girl uber training to gain the approval of her psycho stage mom Barbara Hershey and dance master Vincent Cassell, desperate to pluck the role of Swan Queen out from under Winona Rider's aging gams. Hershey is so f'n creepy passive aggressive controlling and same with Cassell, tho I still find him teh sexy. Mila Kunis is sexy great as the new company dancer out to get Portman...or is she? Reality keeps slipping in and out of focus, you don't know wtf is actually happening, so you're off balance most of the flick. All told, it was a spooky good time at the movies.
BURIED
GAH. This movie is so stupid. Had some good tension to wring out of the situation, hostage buried in a wooden box in the Iraqi desert, but squandered it with way too much of Ryan Renolds doing unnecessary and annoying moron moves.
CAIRO TIME
Patrica Clarkson wanders around Cairo mostly in the company of a former coworker of her husband. The Middle East looks good, but the story is prettay prettay BLAH. It's basically a nonromance. Also I found it annoying seeing everything through the eyes of an uber privileged listless white American lady.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED
Pretty good thriller about a kidnapping for ransom with a bit of a homophobic subtext. Eddie Marsan is scary awesome as one of the kidnappers.
EASY A
I kinda sorta enjoyed this. It has super clever dialogue and has a shit ton of homage for the 80's teen flicks, but what I didn't like was the extreeme eyebrowing arching cynicism and how it tried to have its cake and eat it too regarding the whole sneering at the hypocrisy of puritanical sexual ethics and whatnot with the whole proud to wear the faux scarlet letter business. Because really who was the bad guy in this? The for reals slutty teacher for trynna throw the pretend whore under the bus.
FUBAR 2
Not as much fun as the first one.
The GIFT
Documentary about the mind boggling underworld rise of seroconversion partys among gay men known as "bugchasers." Apparently condom fatigue, an over confidence in the efficacy of HIV cocktails, a willing disbelief of the reality of HIV illness and a culture of not wanting to offend positive folk has led to a crazy reality where men actively seek out positive partners willing to give them "the gift" of HIV so they don't have to worry about getting HIV anymore. OMG people!!! Condoms are simply not that difficult to use.
MOTHER AND CHILD
3 women with adoption stories intertwine. Everything ties up a bit neat, but it's a good package of mostly realistic sentimentalism.
NIGHT WARNING
WTF!! This movie is over the top with craziness. Susan Tyrell is full on mental for the last 20 mins of the flick. Very good bad movie.
RABBIT HOLE
Aarron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman deal with life after losing their young son. Sad stuff, but there's some hope and humour in the mix too.
SMASH HIS CAMERA
Entertaining doc about Papa Paparazzi, Ron Galella.
SOMEWHERE
boooooring. I wanted to like this but fuck me, I don't fucking care about stupid ass celebrities being bored with alla their privilege. NOTHING HAPPENS in this movie except Stephen Dorf as a Keanu-ish movie star gradually light bulbing that the only thing that gives meaning to his life is spending time with his daughter. snore.
TEMPLE GRANDIN
Biopic about the woman with autism who "thinks like a cow" and figured out how to make slaughterhouses more humane. Inneresting story.
THE TOWN
Bank robbers in bean town. I looked into this after and it's kinda bullshit...so not a true story, but it's still a good crimetime. Pete Postlethwaite is most excellent in a small role as a hard case flowershop crime boss.
TROLL 2
This was fun. I remember having this on VHS and I NEVER EVER felt like watching it because I was told it was terrible and that it had nothing to do with TROLL which I had actually quite enjoyed. Then I saw Best Worst Movie and I realized my life would not be complete until I watched it. It's got a bizarre sensibility, and the best analogy is one guy's comment in Best Worst Movie - "it's like it was made by aliens who only ever watched terrible movies to learn how to make movies." Something close to the spirit of that anyhow.
UNSTOPPABLE
OK, the premise is kinda ridiculous, but give over and just believe!!! that train is just plain unstoppable!!! It's more funner that way eh? Sure it's got cardboard corporate villains, but that's okay, you gotta have the bad bigwigs to balance out the blue collar heroics. Because My Name Is Earl's idiot little brother was the hand that turned the train loose, I kept wishing for Jason Lee to spring out and save the day instead of Denzel and new Captain Kirk.
WHO IS HARRY NILSSON AND WHY IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT HIM?
Excellent doc on the life and times of Harry Nilsson. I didn't even realize I liked so many of his songs. Before I watched this I woulda said yeah, yeah, Everybody's Talking, but you know he didn't even write that one. And One is the loneliest number, that's his, 3 Dog Night made it big, and Aimee Mann made it big again, but he wrote it. Can't Live if Living is Without You, Jump in the Fire, Lime In The Coconut, People Let Me Tell You 'bout My Best Friend!! okay. i think that's it. that's all I'm remembering now anyhow. Oh yeah, THE POINT!!! Me and my Arrow!! The 5th beatle was a sad guy, helluva party animal, but a sad beast nonetheless.