Typically, I am someone who is able to find at least one redeeming quality in a piece of art. If nothing else, I can appreciate the time it may have taken to get a hunk of metal into just...the...right...sized...sphere. Or the brush strokes to create just...that...right...shade...of...black. But sometimes I come across a movie that I just can't get behind. The story is too much of this, or not enough of that; the actor isn't speaking to me, or speaking too much at me. I remain hopeful there is some member in the audience who is engaged in the story, but these times, it weren't me:
Crank - I am a giant Jason Statham fan. I find him exciting and irreverent, sexy as hell. But I think he must of really been behind in his mortgage payments for him to sign on to this stinker.
Four Brothers - Andre 3000 looks great on a movie screen. Marky Mark's voice is always musical. Revenge film? I'm in. None of that can save this craziness.
The Groomsmen - Speaking of revenge, I think this is Ed Burns' & Matthew Lillard's answer to the endless Chick Flicks that Hollywood likes to throw at us. All star cast (if only Brittany Murphy could act) that falls flat as Jay Mohr's New England accent.
Van Helsing - It's monster mania with the dashing Hugh Jackman playing hero. The only way I would have stayed in the theater would have been to have him sitting next to me. But he wasn't, so I didn't.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Gracias a por our neighbors to the south
While the Hollywood executives and their non-people have yet to recognize the screen appeal of Diego Luna and Gael Garcia-Bernal, we should be thankful these two yummies keep creating characters and moments for us to enjoy.
Most Americans were introduced to D and G through Y Tu Mama Tambien; though a delightful "coming of age film" (gag), the largely sexual material contained its audience to small theaters, fans of Mexican film, and Blockbuster Video patrons. Since then, each actor has been involved in scads of film projects, of which only a handful have been seen by mis ojos:
In Criminal, Diego Luna teams up with John C. Reilly for a story of con men. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Reilly's sister and tries to (sometimes) be the voice of reason. Recently I learned this was a remake of a 2000 French film Nine Queens which holds 4 stars in the Netflix ratings....in Q.
One of my faves from last year's film festival, Only God Knows has Diego playing a Mexican journalist opposite Alice Braga (niece of Sonia), an art student. She is wicked gorgeous and their chemistry is something to behold. Equal bits spirituality, tenderness, heartbreak, escape. I hope I'm not the only one who wanted a happy ending.
Another of my faves from last year is The King in which Gael Garcia Bernal plays a recently discharged seaman named Elvis. He decides to return home to Texas in search of a man he believes to be his father. William Hurt and Pell James both play integral and disturbing characters in Elvis' new life.
GGB's second most recent release (he currently stars in Babel and I haven't seen it yet!) The Science of Sleep seemed to be equally adored and dissed by moviegoers and critics. It uses plenty of fantasy & dreamscape amidst real-time events to tell the story of a man lovestruck by his neighbor, a woman you end up wishing could save him from himself.
Bad Education is a disturbing tale of friends who share a boys' school education in the 60's and how it affects their adult life. This is for anyone who ever thought GGB would make a pretty girl.
2004's The Motorcycle Diaries is supposedly based on the journal of a young Che Guevera, who in the 1950's rode his bike across S. America with his friend Alberto. Interesting, even for us non-revolutionaries.
Lastly, a bloody but favorite for me is Amores Perros. This film utilizes a storytelling method that's become popular recently - moving back and forth between characters whose lives are seemingly unrelated until tragedy arrives to connect them.
Most Americans were introduced to D and G through Y Tu Mama Tambien; though a delightful "coming of age film" (gag), the largely sexual material contained its audience to small theaters, fans of Mexican film, and Blockbuster Video patrons. Since then, each actor has been involved in scads of film projects, of which only a handful have been seen by mis ojos:
In Criminal, Diego Luna teams up with John C. Reilly for a story of con men. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Reilly's sister and tries to (sometimes) be the voice of reason. Recently I learned this was a remake of a 2000 French film Nine Queens which holds 4 stars in the Netflix ratings....in Q.
One of my faves from last year's film festival, Only God Knows has Diego playing a Mexican journalist opposite Alice Braga (niece of Sonia), an art student. She is wicked gorgeous and their chemistry is something to behold. Equal bits spirituality, tenderness, heartbreak, escape. I hope I'm not the only one who wanted a happy ending.
Another of my faves from last year is The King in which Gael Garcia Bernal plays a recently discharged seaman named Elvis. He decides to return home to Texas in search of a man he believes to be his father. William Hurt and Pell James both play integral and disturbing characters in Elvis' new life.
GGB's second most recent release (he currently stars in Babel and I haven't seen it yet!) The Science of Sleep seemed to be equally adored and dissed by moviegoers and critics. It uses plenty of fantasy & dreamscape amidst real-time events to tell the story of a man lovestruck by his neighbor, a woman you end up wishing could save him from himself.
Bad Education is a disturbing tale of friends who share a boys' school education in the 60's and how it affects their adult life. This is for anyone who ever thought GGB would make a pretty girl.
2004's The Motorcycle Diaries is supposedly based on the journal of a young Che Guevera, who in the 1950's rode his bike across S. America with his friend Alberto. Interesting, even for us non-revolutionaries.
Lastly, a bloody but favorite for me is Amores Perros. This film utilizes a storytelling method that's become popular recently - moving back and forth between characters whose lives are seemingly unrelated until tragedy arrives to connect them.
Monday, January 15, 2007
All Your Children
I had read Tom Perotta's novel Little Children sometime in the past couple years, but if pressed for details, I wouldn't be able to give 'em. So I was pleased to find out last year that the story was being brought to the big screen; surely that would shake loose some more opinions and memories about the story. Besides, one of my fave gals Kate Winslet was to be in it. Enough said. In the end it didn't really matter. Though the screenplay was written by the author (usually helpful) and the film had a narrative tone (literally) to it, the film is compelling enough to be its own entity. The casting was so perfect on every single character that you feel like you're peeking in windows, an accessory to the sorrow and secrecy. Is suburban living really this bad? Or really this good...
Muy misterioso
When I first saw the trailers for Pan's Labyrinth last year I inwardly flinched and said "what the hell?" Over the past couple months I've read various reviews that have tagged it nothing short of a masterpiece. Well. Willing to admit I may be wrong, I decided to see it when it opened in my neighborhood this weekend. Took my sweet ol' time mosey-ing up the block to the theater. And was rewarded with one of the last seats in the house. Here's the lesson I learned (which shouldn't be a surprise): movie previews suck. This film does indeed have elements of the fantastical in it, but it does so with such subtlety and the oh-so-perfect use of shadows. At its core is the story of a lonely girl trapped between two impossibilities: duty to her widowed mother and the realization that the world may be larger than the current one available to her. Expect frights, blood and heartache. And pay full price!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Start here
Welcome to my little experiment. Since I have such a poor memory for movies I've seen, and books I've read (conversations I've had, trips I've taken...really - maybe I need to try gingko) I wondered if this may be a fun way to record my thoughts. My cousin also thought it would be a good resource for him from which to make movie choices, as he considers me a cinophile. The truth is much simpler: I'm lazy. I choose not to work 40 hours a week, happen to live in a city with terrific movie choices and, I have A LOT of free time. Let's see where this goes!
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