I really had no interest in seeing this movie. The previews just didn’t interest me. Figured Rooney Mara got a Golden Globe nomination I’d see it. Have to admit I was also a bit worried about the length of the movie as well. I was pleasantly surprised with the movie. The story turned out to be very interesting and done well enough that I am interested in seeing the entire trilogy.
I do wish they could have found a way to bring the two characters together sooner. I have to say I was a bit surprised with how many pointless scenes there were in this film both before and after the characters storylines came together. Don’t usually have that problem with a David Fincher film. I have not read any of the books or scene the original movies, so my opinion is based purely on a cinematic view point.
I really was not impressed with Daniel Craig. He just bored me in every way. The supporting cast they put together was remarkable and they all gave nice performances.
That leaves us with Rooney Mara. This was a quite the role to take on as a first big lead and break out performance. You pretty much have to hit it or you’re probably done. She definitely hit it. Wouldn’t say she hit a home run but, it was a good solid performance. I had some problems with the character but, they weren’t based on her performance. It was more about the fact that I didn’t feel certain things were true to the character. Rooney had to give a performance that can be difficult for even the most seasoned of actresses. She had to give an emotive performance but, she had to keep all the emotion contained. Putting it out there with her eyes, body language, and vocal inflections is not the easiest thing to do. She had a lot of stuff to go through and she did it perfectly. I really wanted to know more about her character. Her nomination for a Golden Globe is very well deserved.
Of the three performances for lead actress in a motion picture drama that I’ve seen I’m torn between her and Viola Davis.
This was worth the full price of admission.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The Iron Lady
There is really not a lot to write about this movie. The acting is top notch but, the film itself is not all that well constructed. It suffers from the same issue that “J. Edgar” did. That issue is that the movie jumps between the characters later in life and early in life too randomly. It is even more unexplainable here because she is not in the process of writing her memoirs.
I find biopics are generally better served by being done in a linear manner. It really seemed like there was a lot of stuff that got left out for no other reason than to show her as an old woman who may have been losing her mind. It seemed to be a cinematic bullet point list of the things Marget Thatcher did in her political life. It wasn’t anything deep or probing.
Meryl Streep does give a very strong performance. One that is much better than it seems to be in the previews. The previews had me worried that she was playing the character as a caricature. Thankfully that was not the case. It is absolutely the type of role that has a tendency to get nominated for awards. However, of the three lead actress in a motion picture drama that I have seen I do not feel it is the one that should win.
Saw this at the matinee price and that was probably too much. I’d say discount or dvd on this one.
I find biopics are generally better served by being done in a linear manner. It really seemed like there was a lot of stuff that got left out for no other reason than to show her as an old woman who may have been losing her mind. It seemed to be a cinematic bullet point list of the things Marget Thatcher did in her political life. It wasn’t anything deep or probing.
Meryl Streep does give a very strong performance. One that is much better than it seems to be in the previews. The previews had me worried that she was playing the character as a caricature. Thankfully that was not the case. It is absolutely the type of role that has a tendency to get nominated for awards. However, of the three lead actress in a motion picture drama that I have seen I do not feel it is the one that should win.
Saw this at the matinee price and that was probably too much. I’d say discount or dvd on this one.
Carnage
I had no idea what to expect going into this movie. All I knew was the basic plot line and that it had a stellar cast. It turned out to be a great movie. Insanely funny and so true how when you put people in that situation they will start out at one place, switch alliances, and then go back to where they were at the beginning.
It is such a simple little concept. Take four people put them in a room and make them attempt to deal with some “traumatic” situation. In this case four parents dealing with a playground argument that resulted in one child assaulting another. Amazing how intricate the writing and the performances are to display the difference in how the parents want to deal with it.
Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as the parents of the child who committed the assault want nothing more than to escape the whole situation. Christoph is barely even present in the situation as he deals with a crisis for one of his clients. Kate wants to seem like such a caring and concerned parent but, truly she feels the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. They both are desperate to get out of the situation but, are designed to be too accommodating so they keep accepting odd invitations back into the apartment of Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly.
For their part Jodie and John’s characters just don’t want anyone to leave mad or think poorly of them so they are constantly trying to make everything better. Of course this is clearly going to be accomplished with cobbler and coffee and eventually liquor. Once the liquor comes out then the fun really begins and there is a brief portion of time when it’s women versus men. And that’s when Jodie and Kate really shine and show why they were both nominated for the Golden Globe.
This movie was absolutely worth full price. And it is Jodie or Kate who deserves to win the Golden Globe since they are true comedy performances. Honestly if I were voting I’d probably have to flip a coin to determine who to vote for.
It is such a simple little concept. Take four people put them in a room and make them attempt to deal with some “traumatic” situation. In this case four parents dealing with a playground argument that resulted in one child assaulting another. Amazing how intricate the writing and the performances are to display the difference in how the parents want to deal with it.
Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as the parents of the child who committed the assault want nothing more than to escape the whole situation. Christoph is barely even present in the situation as he deals with a crisis for one of his clients. Kate wants to seem like such a caring and concerned parent but, truly she feels the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. They both are desperate to get out of the situation but, are designed to be too accommodating so they keep accepting odd invitations back into the apartment of Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly.
For their part Jodie and John’s characters just don’t want anyone to leave mad or think poorly of them so they are constantly trying to make everything better. Of course this is clearly going to be accomplished with cobbler and coffee and eventually liquor. Once the liquor comes out then the fun really begins and there is a brief portion of time when it’s women versus men. And that’s when Jodie and Kate really shine and show why they were both nominated for the Golden Globe.
This movie was absolutely worth full price. And it is Jodie or Kate who deserves to win the Golden Globe since they are true comedy performances. Honestly if I were voting I’d probably have to flip a coin to determine who to vote for.
My Week with Marilyn
I’ve made no secret over the years of how overrated I find Michelle Williams to be. She made strides last year with “Blue Valentine” and I felt the short comings had less to do with her and more to do with the script and director not going far enough. This was the first time I went into a movie with Michelle Williams with anything that resembled expectations for her. And I am pleased to report that I was not disappointed.
The movie as a whole was lacking. I haven’t read the book that the film is based on but, I’m guessing they wanted to stay pretty true to what was in the movie and not embellish it too much. Unfortunately that leaves you feeling very much like there is something missing. Kenneth Branagh completely disappears into Sir Laurence Olivier. Fantastic performance as a man both frustrated and captivated in many ways by Marilyn Monroe. Judi Dench also gives a nice performance as Dame Sybil Thorndike, a woman who almost seems to patient and understanding to be true.
The entire movie though was going to live or die on the performance of Michelle Williams. Inhabiting Marilyn is not an easy task but, Michelle did it in a manner that actually seems effortless. Not only was I surprised by her ability to become Marilyn but, I was more surprised by that effortlessness. So many times when I have watched her she hasn’t seemed to be in the moment she seems to be thinking and trying too hard. While she may win the Globe (unjustly) for this performance I don’t believe it will be the performance that delivers her an Oscar. The reason I feel her winning a Globe would not be right is because “My Week with Marilyn” is a drama. It is not a comedy and book ending the movie with recreations of Marilyn singing in certain roles does not make this a musical either.
When it comes Oscar time though I rule nothing out, upsets always manifest and this could be one of those moments. She has to get nominated first and there is some stiff competition this year.
Paid full price for the movie and it’s probably more worth matinee price.
The movie as a whole was lacking. I haven’t read the book that the film is based on but, I’m guessing they wanted to stay pretty true to what was in the movie and not embellish it too much. Unfortunately that leaves you feeling very much like there is something missing. Kenneth Branagh completely disappears into Sir Laurence Olivier. Fantastic performance as a man both frustrated and captivated in many ways by Marilyn Monroe. Judi Dench also gives a nice performance as Dame Sybil Thorndike, a woman who almost seems to patient and understanding to be true.
The entire movie though was going to live or die on the performance of Michelle Williams. Inhabiting Marilyn is not an easy task but, Michelle did it in a manner that actually seems effortless. Not only was I surprised by her ability to become Marilyn but, I was more surprised by that effortlessness. So many times when I have watched her she hasn’t seemed to be in the moment she seems to be thinking and trying too hard. While she may win the Globe (unjustly) for this performance I don’t believe it will be the performance that delivers her an Oscar. The reason I feel her winning a Globe would not be right is because “My Week with Marilyn” is a drama. It is not a comedy and book ending the movie with recreations of Marilyn singing in certain roles does not make this a musical either.
When it comes Oscar time though I rule nothing out, upsets always manifest and this could be one of those moments. She has to get nominated first and there is some stiff competition this year.
Paid full price for the movie and it’s probably more worth matinee price.
Young Adult
Normally movies like “Young Adult” offer great characters and hilarious interactions as people attempt to relieve their high school days believing those were their best days. However, this movie did not deliver that at all. None of the characters were all that well developed. It’s not that they weren’t developed as adults it’s that the characters just weren’t developed to the point of being that interesting.
There really isn’t a character to truly root for. The closest one is Matt (Patton Oswalt), a guy who was crippled by the several jocks in high school because they thought he was gay. This fact is introduced in a joking manner as if it’s supposed to be funny that it happened especially since you know it turns out he’s not actually gay. Our heroine Mavis (Charlize Theron) finally realizes who he is and refers to him several times as “the hate crime guy”. Later as she struggles to get her high school sweetheart Buddy (Patrick Wilson) to believe Matt isn’t gay we learn that she used to refer to Matt as one of those “theater fags”. She laughs it off as is it’s just something you say, and that it is acceptable.
If there was a greater lesson learned from this incident it might work okay. If there was a character that was gay and just part of the cast that got the same kind of treatment as all the other characters, no problem. However, there is nothing funny about hate crimes so this is an ill conceived part of the story. The fact that Mavis later lays into him about not moving past things that happened in high school only makes it worse.
As for Mavis there is nothing worth supporting in that character. Honestly if this movie hadn’t been written by Diablo Cody I don’t think anyone would have given it a second look. Who on earth thinks a movie about a character that sets out to get her high school sweetheart back after receiving an announcement about the birth of his first child is a good idea? You spend the entire movie rooting against her, hoping she will be made a fool of. Which thankfully does happen but, she doesn’t seem to learn anything. In the end she gets a pep talk from another character that we are supposed to feel sorry for and she heads back to her fancy life in the big city.
There are some good comical moments in the movie. And there are some moments that do feel true to life. At least she didn’t remember every single person she came across. The parts where she overdressed for everything were amusing. Although I’m not sure how no one ever made an insanely bad come on to her. In the end this movie seemed to be design as an insult to people who live in small towns. Every character was set up as a way of saying anyone who lives in a small town is a loser and only those who get out and go to the big city are worth anything.
I paid matinee price to see “Young Adult” but, the only thing that made it worth it was Charlize Theron. There was nothing all that amazing about her performance but, since she was the movies only saving grace it’s understandable how she got nominated for a Golden Globe.
There really isn’t a character to truly root for. The closest one is Matt (Patton Oswalt), a guy who was crippled by the several jocks in high school because they thought he was gay. This fact is introduced in a joking manner as if it’s supposed to be funny that it happened especially since you know it turns out he’s not actually gay. Our heroine Mavis (Charlize Theron) finally realizes who he is and refers to him several times as “the hate crime guy”. Later as she struggles to get her high school sweetheart Buddy (Patrick Wilson) to believe Matt isn’t gay we learn that she used to refer to Matt as one of those “theater fags”. She laughs it off as is it’s just something you say, and that it is acceptable.
If there was a greater lesson learned from this incident it might work okay. If there was a character that was gay and just part of the cast that got the same kind of treatment as all the other characters, no problem. However, there is nothing funny about hate crimes so this is an ill conceived part of the story. The fact that Mavis later lays into him about not moving past things that happened in high school only makes it worse.
As for Mavis there is nothing worth supporting in that character. Honestly if this movie hadn’t been written by Diablo Cody I don’t think anyone would have given it a second look. Who on earth thinks a movie about a character that sets out to get her high school sweetheart back after receiving an announcement about the birth of his first child is a good idea? You spend the entire movie rooting against her, hoping she will be made a fool of. Which thankfully does happen but, she doesn’t seem to learn anything. In the end she gets a pep talk from another character that we are supposed to feel sorry for and she heads back to her fancy life in the big city.
There are some good comical moments in the movie. And there are some moments that do feel true to life. At least she didn’t remember every single person she came across. The parts where she overdressed for everything were amusing. Although I’m not sure how no one ever made an insanely bad come on to her. In the end this movie seemed to be design as an insult to people who live in small towns. Every character was set up as a way of saying anyone who lives in a small town is a loser and only those who get out and go to the big city are worth anything.
I paid matinee price to see “Young Adult” but, the only thing that made it worth it was Charlize Theron. There was nothing all that amazing about her performance but, since she was the movies only saving grace it’s understandable how she got nominated for a Golden Globe.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Been Awhile
Holy crap, I can't believe it's been over a year since I posted on here. I guess I was more caught up in school and other life stuff than I thought. Can't remember every movie I've seen since last April so we'll just mention a couple of the more recent ones.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Pretty decent for a video game turned into a movie. I've never played the game so I wasn't going into the movie from a gamers perspective. I thought the story was pretty good and the effects weren't too overdone. It was definitely worth seeing in theaters. And if you're into Jake Gyllenhaal it's worth seeing for his beefed up body.
Robin Hood - Interesting take on the Robin Hood story, coming at it from how he became the legend rather than the regular angle. The cast was good, but overall the movie wasn't as good as it could have been. I lay that squarely on Ridley Scott's shoulders. The movie was oddly slow in place and the fight sequences, especially the big battle at the end, were nowhere near as good as they normally are in a Ridley Scott film. Probably could have waited to see this one on DVD.
Sex and the City 2 - Of course we knew this was coming as soon as the first movie had such a great opening weekend. The biggest strength of this movie is that the ladies are together for most of it and they are more the focus as a group rather than individually. Having Samantha in the movie more this time was great. The weakest part of the story was having Aidan in it. I never liked him on the show (and I've never liked John Corbett) and bringing him back did not make me happy. I really enjoyed the scene when Charlotte and Miranda were venting the stresses of being a mom. I found that very funny and very true to Charlotte that she didn't want to say anything because she wasn't suppose to be having problems with being a mom. It was definitely worth it, but I hope they don't push it much farther because they will ruin it. If they come up with a really good story there is probably room for one more movie, but they should not go beyond 3 and really it would be fine if they just left it alone now.
Salt - Just saw this when it opened on Friday and probably should do a full review of it, but I'm not in the mood right now. If it weren't for Angelina Jolie I most likely wouldn't have any interest in this movie. I must say though the story was much more interesting and thought provoking than I thought it would be. The action sequences will absurd at times (as they always are) were very well shot and executed. A lot of times in action movies people have a tendency to go over the top with their acting, but that didn't happen much with this movie. And I have to say the final kill in the movie is quite ingenious and original. The only thing I really didn't like about it was the ending. I knew early on that the ending would contain some sort of set up for a possible sequel. However, they could have done that with a much different ending.
Letters To Juliet - Luckily I was able to catch this at our local discount theater. I would have been happy to see it at the regular theater, but it didn't work out that way. As always Amanda Seyfried was fantastic. The story was very good and romantic without being overly sappy. Since it was shot in Italy it is also a beautiful movie to watch. What I didn't like about the movie was the two main male characters. Neither of them were that great and to me neither was worthy of Amanda's character. They would have done better to have them just be learning tools for her, but I understand why they played the story out the way they did. Honestly there really never was anything that made you understand why she was with the character played by Gael Garcia Bernal, and I see nothing good about him as an actor. He was completely annoying and not the least bit charming or attractive. Every time he left the screen I hoped he would never come back. As for the other character, the actor Christopher Eagn was fine, but the character was just awful. I really found not redeeming value in him at all and he never had any true growth he was just suddenly different. Can't stand that. Vanessa Redgrave was spot on. I'm very glad I was able to see this movie in theaters.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Pretty decent for a video game turned into a movie. I've never played the game so I wasn't going into the movie from a gamers perspective. I thought the story was pretty good and the effects weren't too overdone. It was definitely worth seeing in theaters. And if you're into Jake Gyllenhaal it's worth seeing for his beefed up body.
Robin Hood - Interesting take on the Robin Hood story, coming at it from how he became the legend rather than the regular angle. The cast was good, but overall the movie wasn't as good as it could have been. I lay that squarely on Ridley Scott's shoulders. The movie was oddly slow in place and the fight sequences, especially the big battle at the end, were nowhere near as good as they normally are in a Ridley Scott film. Probably could have waited to see this one on DVD.
Sex and the City 2 - Of course we knew this was coming as soon as the first movie had such a great opening weekend. The biggest strength of this movie is that the ladies are together for most of it and they are more the focus as a group rather than individually. Having Samantha in the movie more this time was great. The weakest part of the story was having Aidan in it. I never liked him on the show (and I've never liked John Corbett) and bringing him back did not make me happy. I really enjoyed the scene when Charlotte and Miranda were venting the stresses of being a mom. I found that very funny and very true to Charlotte that she didn't want to say anything because she wasn't suppose to be having problems with being a mom. It was definitely worth it, but I hope they don't push it much farther because they will ruin it. If they come up with a really good story there is probably room for one more movie, but they should not go beyond 3 and really it would be fine if they just left it alone now.
Salt - Just saw this when it opened on Friday and probably should do a full review of it, but I'm not in the mood right now. If it weren't for Angelina Jolie I most likely wouldn't have any interest in this movie. I must say though the story was much more interesting and thought provoking than I thought it would be. The action sequences will absurd at times (as they always are) were very well shot and executed. A lot of times in action movies people have a tendency to go over the top with their acting, but that didn't happen much with this movie. And I have to say the final kill in the movie is quite ingenious and original. The only thing I really didn't like about it was the ending. I knew early on that the ending would contain some sort of set up for a possible sequel. However, they could have done that with a much different ending.
Letters To Juliet - Luckily I was able to catch this at our local discount theater. I would have been happy to see it at the regular theater, but it didn't work out that way. As always Amanda Seyfried was fantastic. The story was very good and romantic without being overly sappy. Since it was shot in Italy it is also a beautiful movie to watch. What I didn't like about the movie was the two main male characters. Neither of them were that great and to me neither was worthy of Amanda's character. They would have done better to have them just be learning tools for her, but I understand why they played the story out the way they did. Honestly there really never was anything that made you understand why she was with the character played by Gael Garcia Bernal, and I see nothing good about him as an actor. He was completely annoying and not the least bit charming or attractive. Every time he left the screen I hoped he would never come back. As for the other character, the actor Christopher Eagn was fine, but the character was just awful. I really found not redeeming value in him at all and he never had any true growth he was just suddenly different. Can't stand that. Vanessa Redgrave was spot on. I'm very glad I was able to see this movie in theaters.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Fast & Furious
Ultimately there really wasn't any need to make yet another movie in this series. But, I guess if you can get the money to get the original crew together you might as well give it another go. And it did great box office this weekend. I anticipate a major drop off though.
The Fast & The Furious was a good movie, with some great action sequences, and a good young cast. The end of it left a small opening for a sequel but, it also left limited room for what that sequel could be if it was to include Vin Diesel's character. Honestly it left little room for story ideas outside of Paul Walker's character. Which is why 2 Fast 2 Furious worked since it was centered around his character.
So it really wasn't surprising that the new one involved Dom (Vin Diesel) still being on the run from the law and up to some of his old tricks in Mexico. It was cool that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) got to do the real stunts in the opening sequence rather than just being the driver. From there however, the set up for the rest of the story was disappointing. And the rest of the movie was disappointing. Mainly it was disappointing in it's lack of car races.
The premise of using fast cars to run drugs across the border was plausible but, not executed very well. It felt like there was a lot more they could have done. They really could have incorporated some sort of actual race with it so there was more racing and cool cars. I know it's kinda been done a lot but, lets get real what hasn't been done a lot these days?
I was very disappointed at how little both Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster were in this one. It was hardly worth the effort or money they probably put into getting them.
Major spoilers:
Pissed doesn't even begin to describe my feelings over them killing Michelle's character. At least she got to do the cool opening sequence but, we never got to see her behind the wheel and they could have set up a better story keeping her character around. It's very clear that they decided there was some fan base to her and Jordana and that's why they got them to come back just for the publicity appeal of having the "big 4" back.
Jordana was again under utilized in this movie. She was wasted more this time than in the original. And she didn't even get to do any cool driving until the very last scene of the movie. In this new era of female race car drivers not letting the girls drive is unacceptable.
The drug running was a good idea but, as mentioned earlier done completely wrong. The only race in the movie was for them to get the open seat as one of the drivers. That part was good and they should have done more. After all that is the point of the original and the one thing that should always be included. This movie was more just "look at the fast cars" a lot of the time.
When they actually went to run the drugs all they did was drive in a straight line across the desert one car behind the other and then into a tunnel where they had to play follow the leader. Very poor story development there. They could have done a thing where some people where running drugs during some big race or they could have had the drugs in one car and the cops were trying to stay on the one with the drugs but, no they think the big excitement is a bunch of cars driving in single file trying to avoid camera detection.
The big chase scene at the end was decent but, not enough to save the movie.
I saw the movie at a matinee and it was barely worth the price. Just wait for the discount theaters or dvd.
The Fast & The Furious was a good movie, with some great action sequences, and a good young cast. The end of it left a small opening for a sequel but, it also left limited room for what that sequel could be if it was to include Vin Diesel's character. Honestly it left little room for story ideas outside of Paul Walker's character. Which is why 2 Fast 2 Furious worked since it was centered around his character.
So it really wasn't surprising that the new one involved Dom (Vin Diesel) still being on the run from the law and up to some of his old tricks in Mexico. It was cool that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) got to do the real stunts in the opening sequence rather than just being the driver. From there however, the set up for the rest of the story was disappointing. And the rest of the movie was disappointing. Mainly it was disappointing in it's lack of car races.
The premise of using fast cars to run drugs across the border was plausible but, not executed very well. It felt like there was a lot more they could have done. They really could have incorporated some sort of actual race with it so there was more racing and cool cars. I know it's kinda been done a lot but, lets get real what hasn't been done a lot these days?
I was very disappointed at how little both Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster were in this one. It was hardly worth the effort or money they probably put into getting them.
Major spoilers:
Pissed doesn't even begin to describe my feelings over them killing Michelle's character. At least she got to do the cool opening sequence but, we never got to see her behind the wheel and they could have set up a better story keeping her character around. It's very clear that they decided there was some fan base to her and Jordana and that's why they got them to come back just for the publicity appeal of having the "big 4" back.
Jordana was again under utilized in this movie. She was wasted more this time than in the original. And she didn't even get to do any cool driving until the very last scene of the movie. In this new era of female race car drivers not letting the girls drive is unacceptable.
The drug running was a good idea but, as mentioned earlier done completely wrong. The only race in the movie was for them to get the open seat as one of the drivers. That part was good and they should have done more. After all that is the point of the original and the one thing that should always be included. This movie was more just "look at the fast cars" a lot of the time.
When they actually went to run the drugs all they did was drive in a straight line across the desert one car behind the other and then into a tunnel where they had to play follow the leader. Very poor story development there. They could have done a thing where some people where running drugs during some big race or they could have had the drugs in one car and the cops were trying to stay on the one with the drugs but, no they think the big excitement is a bunch of cars driving in single file trying to avoid camera detection.
The big chase scene at the end was decent but, not enough to save the movie.
I saw the movie at a matinee and it was barely worth the price. Just wait for the discount theaters or dvd.
ER
As anyone who follows television knows this past Thursday brought the end of ER. Over the 15 year run of the show I watched most of it. I watched it through it's ups and downs and cursed it when it decided to make it's female characters too much of secondary plot lines. There were times when you thought, "This has to be the end of the show. They've just gone too far into stupid land with this storyline." But, some how it always recovered.
The show was always at it's best when it was inside the ER. Showing the characters outside the ER in their regular lives was nice but, they had occasion to go too far and spend too much time outside the ER. I never cared too see much of their lives outside the hospital. I was more interested in the original point of the show which was how these doctors survived such a high stress job and how their outside and personal lives affected them at work.
I was very happy to see so many people come back and do appearances in the final season. It was nice that they came back to a show that really gave a lot of them their careers. And I liked how they folded some of the stories back in. While I was watching the retrospective leading up to the finale I thought to myself that it would be nice if they found a way to bring Dr. Green's daughter back into the story. But, I really didn't figure they would because she wasn't a big main character and since they had the flashback episode for him earlier that would be it. I was so pleasantly surprised when they did in fact find away to bring her into the story.
I almost cried when she told Frank who she was. That scene had so much impact because Frank was such a hard ass kind of guy. Never really seemed to care much about other people's feelings and certainly not showing his but, when he had that moment of sorrow and I guess joy at seeing her it was very moving.
When ER started there was one moment for one character that truly made me fall in love with the show. It was in the first episode when a patients heart stopped and Dr. Carter was the only one around. He called for help but, no one came. The crash cart was down the hall and instead of pushing the cart to the patient he ran over and grabbed the paddles and ran back to the patient pulling the cart behind me. That was the moment I knew the show had great potential. All that heavy drama and they never forgot the comedy that comes with life.
Unfortunately over the years they drug Carter's character down to a place that I began to hate him. I was never happier in my life to see a character leave a show because they had lost all focus of who he was and his character alone was dragging the show down. It was great that they brought him back and where able to center a good portion of the end of the series around him and that his character was back to what he once was.
My only problem with the final episode was it was too slow. They should have had a pulse pounding emergency early on in the show. In a way it would have been kind of fun if all the docs had visited and a major emergency had thrown them all into action together one last time. But, I know that would have been a little absurd. I did like how they put all the returning characters for the episode back into the opening sequence.
In the end it was a good episode and it wrapped up a lot of stories nicely.
The show was always at it's best when it was inside the ER. Showing the characters outside the ER in their regular lives was nice but, they had occasion to go too far and spend too much time outside the ER. I never cared too see much of their lives outside the hospital. I was more interested in the original point of the show which was how these doctors survived such a high stress job and how their outside and personal lives affected them at work.
I was very happy to see so many people come back and do appearances in the final season. It was nice that they came back to a show that really gave a lot of them their careers. And I liked how they folded some of the stories back in. While I was watching the retrospective leading up to the finale I thought to myself that it would be nice if they found a way to bring Dr. Green's daughter back into the story. But, I really didn't figure they would because she wasn't a big main character and since they had the flashback episode for him earlier that would be it. I was so pleasantly surprised when they did in fact find away to bring her into the story.
I almost cried when she told Frank who she was. That scene had so much impact because Frank was such a hard ass kind of guy. Never really seemed to care much about other people's feelings and certainly not showing his but, when he had that moment of sorrow and I guess joy at seeing her it was very moving.
When ER started there was one moment for one character that truly made me fall in love with the show. It was in the first episode when a patients heart stopped and Dr. Carter was the only one around. He called for help but, no one came. The crash cart was down the hall and instead of pushing the cart to the patient he ran over and grabbed the paddles and ran back to the patient pulling the cart behind me. That was the moment I knew the show had great potential. All that heavy drama and they never forgot the comedy that comes with life.
Unfortunately over the years they drug Carter's character down to a place that I began to hate him. I was never happier in my life to see a character leave a show because they had lost all focus of who he was and his character alone was dragging the show down. It was great that they brought him back and where able to center a good portion of the end of the series around him and that his character was back to what he once was.
My only problem with the final episode was it was too slow. They should have had a pulse pounding emergency early on in the show. In a way it would have been kind of fun if all the docs had visited and a major emergency had thrown them all into action together one last time. But, I know that would have been a little absurd. I did like how they put all the returning characters for the episode back into the opening sequence.
In the end it was a good episode and it wrapped up a lot of stories nicely.
A Haunting in Connecticut
I've always enjoyed horror movies. Pretty much any kind. However, of late they have begun to rely too much on the gore factor rather than the scare factor so I don't see them as much. Haunted house movies though are pretty reliable to not lose the story in blood and guts. Even at that though most horror movies of any kind don't deliver on the scares very well these days. That is absolutely not true with A Haunting in Connecticut. It delivers a good story and some legitimate scares. I jumped several times and even my boyfriend who doesn't think movies are scary anymore jumped a couple times.
I had actually watched a documentary on the story the movie is based around a week before seeing the movie. It was interesting to see how they tweaked the original story for the big screen. The underlying story was the same family with cancer stricken son moves into a new house to be closer to where he gets treatment and weird things start to happen. From there the writers spun the houses history to be more sinister but, it still worked. Other than the end of the movie they really didn't go over the top with the story the created. And even that little bit of over the top at the end didn't hurt the movie as a whole.
If you want the short and sweet high concept pitch for this movie it's Amityville Horror meets Poltergeist.
I went to a matinee showing and it was well worth the price. In fact is worth the price of full price evening admission.
I had actually watched a documentary on the story the movie is based around a week before seeing the movie. It was interesting to see how they tweaked the original story for the big screen. The underlying story was the same family with cancer stricken son moves into a new house to be closer to where he gets treatment and weird things start to happen. From there the writers spun the houses history to be more sinister but, it still worked. Other than the end of the movie they really didn't go over the top with the story the created. And even that little bit of over the top at the end didn't hurt the movie as a whole.
If you want the short and sweet high concept pitch for this movie it's Amityville Horror meets Poltergeist.
I went to a matinee showing and it was well worth the price. In fact is worth the price of full price evening admission.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Actress vs The Person (Michelle Williams)
So here it is Oscar night and we all know what moment everyone is waiting for. As the other awards have passed and tonight has approached I have realized just how great a person Michelle Williams is.
As an actress I have never liked Michelle. She drove me nuts on Dawson's Creek. I found her performance in Brokeback Mountain to be overrated. And none of her other performances have impressed me. She always winds up in things I'm going to see so it's not like I go thinking this will be the performance that she proves something to me. She just ends up being there and never does anything for me.
However, over the last year as a person Michelle Williams has greatly impressed me. She could have used Heath's untimely death as some sort of attention grab. She could have played all kinds of sympathy cards and gotten attention and probably acting roles. However, she did nothing of the kind. She has been very silent choosing to focus on her daughter and avoid the spot light. Even as the nominations rolled in she stayed quiet. At any moment she could have stepped out and taken attention or asked to accept the awards. She again chose to stay out of the picture.
This to me speaks volumes about the kind of person and mother she is. If she had sought attention it would have eventually brought attention on Matilda. She has protected herself and her daughter and their privacy.
Whether someone is a good actress is entirely up to the individual viewing their roles. But, I don't think anyone can ever say Michelle Williams is anything other than a amazing person and a great mother, and that is far more important than what I or anyone else will ever think of her acting ability.
As an actress I have never liked Michelle. She drove me nuts on Dawson's Creek. I found her performance in Brokeback Mountain to be overrated. And none of her other performances have impressed me. She always winds up in things I'm going to see so it's not like I go thinking this will be the performance that she proves something to me. She just ends up being there and never does anything for me.
However, over the last year as a person Michelle Williams has greatly impressed me. She could have used Heath's untimely death as some sort of attention grab. She could have played all kinds of sympathy cards and gotten attention and probably acting roles. However, she did nothing of the kind. She has been very silent choosing to focus on her daughter and avoid the spot light. Even as the nominations rolled in she stayed quiet. At any moment she could have stepped out and taken attention or asked to accept the awards. She again chose to stay out of the picture.
This to me speaks volumes about the kind of person and mother she is. If she had sought attention it would have eventually brought attention on Matilda. She has protected herself and her daughter and their privacy.
Whether someone is a good actress is entirely up to the individual viewing their roles. But, I don't think anyone can ever say Michelle Williams is anything other than a amazing person and a great mother, and that is far more important than what I or anyone else will ever think of her acting ability.
Rachel Getting Married
I really didn't have any expectations for this movie. Which is a good thing because I wasn't very impressed with the movie and if I had any expectations it would have been an even bigger disappointment.
Honestly all I really knew was the basic plot and that Anne Hathaway was in it. I somehow even managed to miss the fact that it was directed by Jonathan Demme.
I can not stand hand held "take you right into the middle" of it camera work. It always ends up taking me out of the story. When I walk around a room of people things are still people aren't bouncing around. Hand held camera work like they did in this movie kills the illusion.
As for the acting. Anne's performance was good but, there wasn't anything that great about it. Yes it was different from what she usually does but, I've seen better. Rent Havoc if you want to see what I'm talking about. The rest of the cast really wasn't that great.
And I know it's called Rachel Getting Married but, it was suppose to be about Anne's character getting out of rehab to go to the wedding and the wedding itself took over too much. It's like there wasn't enough of the of the main story to make a whole movie so they filled it with really annoying scenes involving the wedding. Those scenes ran way to long and really slowed down the movie.
Possible spoilers ahead:
One of the things that really bothered me about the movie was the fact that it left way too much stuff hanging. They explained how she killed her brother when she was 16 but, since that was what had cause her parents to split up you know it had been several years since that happened. But, they never explained why she ended up in rehab this time around.
The sisters best friend was annoying as hell. I could not figure out why she was constantly exacerbating the fights instead of trying to stop them. It seemed to me she would have wanted to do what she could to keep the fighting to a minimum and make sure her friend had a good wedding but, instead she took every opportunity to attack and make things worse.
I think the most powerful scene in the whole movie had to be when Kym and her mom got in a fight over why she left her in charge of her little brother when she knew how messed up she was. Wow that scene caught me so off guard. I did not see the physical part of it coming.
I saw a full price showing and it really wasn't worth it. Just wait for dvd.
Honestly all I really knew was the basic plot and that Anne Hathaway was in it. I somehow even managed to miss the fact that it was directed by Jonathan Demme.
I can not stand hand held "take you right into the middle" of it camera work. It always ends up taking me out of the story. When I walk around a room of people things are still people aren't bouncing around. Hand held camera work like they did in this movie kills the illusion.
As for the acting. Anne's performance was good but, there wasn't anything that great about it. Yes it was different from what she usually does but, I've seen better. Rent Havoc if you want to see what I'm talking about. The rest of the cast really wasn't that great.
And I know it's called Rachel Getting Married but, it was suppose to be about Anne's character getting out of rehab to go to the wedding and the wedding itself took over too much. It's like there wasn't enough of the of the main story to make a whole movie so they filled it with really annoying scenes involving the wedding. Those scenes ran way to long and really slowed down the movie.
Possible spoilers ahead:
One of the things that really bothered me about the movie was the fact that it left way too much stuff hanging. They explained how she killed her brother when she was 16 but, since that was what had cause her parents to split up you know it had been several years since that happened. But, they never explained why she ended up in rehab this time around.
The sisters best friend was annoying as hell. I could not figure out why she was constantly exacerbating the fights instead of trying to stop them. It seemed to me she would have wanted to do what she could to keep the fighting to a minimum and make sure her friend had a good wedding but, instead she took every opportunity to attack and make things worse.
I think the most powerful scene in the whole movie had to be when Kym and her mom got in a fight over why she left her in charge of her little brother when she knew how messed up she was. Wow that scene caught me so off guard. I did not see the physical part of it coming.
I saw a full price showing and it really wasn't worth it. Just wait for dvd.
Friday, February 13, 2009
He's Just Not That Into You
I'm just gonna tell you right off this is definitely a hit or miss movie with the audience. I don't think there is going to be a lot of middle ground with people. It's one of those either you like or you don't kind of movies. I liked it. It wasn't as consistently funny as I thought it would be but, it had some really funny moments.
All the performances in the film were good. For all the big name stars in the film I think it was a great move to give the true lead role to someone that people aren't as familiar with. She was very good in this role.
It's a tricky task to have interconnecting stories where the primary connection is more the overall theme of the story than anyone character. Meaning the actual character connections in this movie where very much a 6 degrees of separation kind of thing. But, in the end they actually pulled it off quite well.
The one thing I would have liked was to see a little more of the storyline for Drew Barrymore's character. In this day and age her character trying to negotiate the dating scene through all our various forms of communication technology is very spot on. It would have been nice to see a little more of her trying to figure out what's true and what's not in the cyber world.
Overall this is a pretty good movie. I know book was inspired by a line from an episode of Sex and the City but, this movie is actually put together very much like the series was. I think if you like the show you'll enjoy this movie.
I saw a matinee and honestly that's the perfect price. Good but, not quite good enough for the extra money for a night showing.
All the performances in the film were good. For all the big name stars in the film I think it was a great move to give the true lead role to someone that people aren't as familiar with. She was very good in this role.
It's a tricky task to have interconnecting stories where the primary connection is more the overall theme of the story than anyone character. Meaning the actual character connections in this movie where very much a 6 degrees of separation kind of thing. But, in the end they actually pulled it off quite well.
The one thing I would have liked was to see a little more of the storyline for Drew Barrymore's character. In this day and age her character trying to negotiate the dating scene through all our various forms of communication technology is very spot on. It would have been nice to see a little more of her trying to figure out what's true and what's not in the cyber world.
Overall this is a pretty good movie. I know book was inspired by a line from an episode of Sex and the City but, this movie is actually put together very much like the series was. I think if you like the show you'll enjoy this movie.
I saw a matinee and honestly that's the perfect price. Good but, not quite good enough for the extra money for a night showing.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
The Reader
I had no idea what to expect from this movie. I didn't even know what it was about. Sometimes that can be a good thing and sometimes it can be a very bad thing. This was a good thing. Honestly I think if you were to read too much about The Reader it would ruin the whole movie.
I don't know that I would call it a suspense or thriller. At least not in the traditional sense of those genres. It does kind of keep you guessing as too what's going to happen next. However, it's not a who's the bad guy kind of suspense.
You really have to be careful with what you say or write about it because you don't want to give too much away. And you really don't want to give too much about the characters away.
It absolutely deserved all the Oscar nominations it received. The directing nomination is totally deserved. There is scene in the film that brought me personally a feeling I have never felt at a movie. And it brought an uneasy feeling to the entire theater. I have never in my life felt something like that in a room full of people.
Kate was amazing. It's one of those roles that if you think dialogue is the most important thing you won't understand why she was nominated. But, it's a role that is perfectly suited to Kate. She has always been an actress who gave so much more to her parts through her body than her voice and a lot of this movie is like that. It's really hard to say what her chances are come Oscar night.
If this role had been nominated in the supporting category like it was at the Golden Globes and the SAG awards I'd pretty much guarantee she would win. However, in the lead category I am a little worried. The only other nominated lead performance I have seen this year is Angelina Jolie in Changeling and that was a superb performance and a true leading role. Kate's role in The Reader is at times the leading role and at time the supporting role. It's a very hard movie to figure out because honestly you don't always know which character the movie is suppose to be about. She is most definitely the lead female in the movie so in the respect it fits in the lead category. Hopefully the voters will see it as a real lead performance and finally give her, her long over due Oscar.
I am going to skip any section that would include spoilers with this review. I don't want to risk anyone accidentally reading more than they mean to when they skim over it.
This movie will definitely challenge your thought process as to the good and bad in people in the world.
Went to a matinee showing but, it totally would have been worth full price.
I don't know that I would call it a suspense or thriller. At least not in the traditional sense of those genres. It does kind of keep you guessing as too what's going to happen next. However, it's not a who's the bad guy kind of suspense.
You really have to be careful with what you say or write about it because you don't want to give too much away. And you really don't want to give too much about the characters away.
It absolutely deserved all the Oscar nominations it received. The directing nomination is totally deserved. There is scene in the film that brought me personally a feeling I have never felt at a movie. And it brought an uneasy feeling to the entire theater. I have never in my life felt something like that in a room full of people.
Kate was amazing. It's one of those roles that if you think dialogue is the most important thing you won't understand why she was nominated. But, it's a role that is perfectly suited to Kate. She has always been an actress who gave so much more to her parts through her body than her voice and a lot of this movie is like that. It's really hard to say what her chances are come Oscar night.
If this role had been nominated in the supporting category like it was at the Golden Globes and the SAG awards I'd pretty much guarantee she would win. However, in the lead category I am a little worried. The only other nominated lead performance I have seen this year is Angelina Jolie in Changeling and that was a superb performance and a true leading role. Kate's role in The Reader is at times the leading role and at time the supporting role. It's a very hard movie to figure out because honestly you don't always know which character the movie is suppose to be about. She is most definitely the lead female in the movie so in the respect it fits in the lead category. Hopefully the voters will see it as a real lead performance and finally give her, her long over due Oscar.
I am going to skip any section that would include spoilers with this review. I don't want to risk anyone accidentally reading more than they mean to when they skim over it.
This movie will definitely challenge your thought process as to the good and bad in people in the world.
Went to a matinee showing but, it totally would have been worth full price.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Changling
Awhile ago I went to see Changling. What a good movie. Not that I thought it would be bad. I'm not a big fan of Clint Eastwood as an actor but, he is a very good director. And it wasn't just the directing that was good. The acting and writing were very good as well.
The story is very good and one that really deserved to be told. As much corruption as there is in some police departments today nothing compares to the old Los Angeles police department. I think what's most frightening about it was that even when caught red handed they still act like they did nothing wrong.
The other thing that sticks with me about this movie is how it shows that the truth will always be more surprising and almost unbelievable than fiction.
Spoilers Alert:
It's really amazing the lengths people will go to, to make themselves look good. Not only did the Los Angeles police department try to pass off one boy for another they got doctors to say some of the most insane things to try and explain the differences between the two. Like saying that stress had caused the boy to shrink. And that other things just pretty much magically disappeared.
I think the most disturbing thing about the police trying to cover their butts was how they just locked women up who made a fuss. And not with fabricated crimes and into jail cells but, on basically permanent psych holds. How frightening to think that a police department could just do that because they didn't want people making them look bad.
If this wasn't a true story the movie would have been panned by critics when the twist involving a serial killer came along. A man who uses a young boy to help him kidnap other boys and then just chops them to bits for the fun of it would seem like the lamest attempt to make a standard drama a suspense thriller.
Nor would anyone buy the ending where one of the other missing boys suddenly turns up if it hadn't actually happened.
Overall this was a very good movie. If it's still in theaters near you I'd highly recommend seeing it. And it is absolutely worth full price. If can't see it in theaters be sure to put it at the top of your to rent list.
The story is very good and one that really deserved to be told. As much corruption as there is in some police departments today nothing compares to the old Los Angeles police department. I think what's most frightening about it was that even when caught red handed they still act like they did nothing wrong.
The other thing that sticks with me about this movie is how it shows that the truth will always be more surprising and almost unbelievable than fiction.
Spoilers Alert:
It's really amazing the lengths people will go to, to make themselves look good. Not only did the Los Angeles police department try to pass off one boy for another they got doctors to say some of the most insane things to try and explain the differences between the two. Like saying that stress had caused the boy to shrink. And that other things just pretty much magically disappeared.
I think the most disturbing thing about the police trying to cover their butts was how they just locked women up who made a fuss. And not with fabricated crimes and into jail cells but, on basically permanent psych holds. How frightening to think that a police department could just do that because they didn't want people making them look bad.
If this wasn't a true story the movie would have been panned by critics when the twist involving a serial killer came along. A man who uses a young boy to help him kidnap other boys and then just chops them to bits for the fun of it would seem like the lamest attempt to make a standard drama a suspense thriller.
Nor would anyone buy the ending where one of the other missing boys suddenly turns up if it hadn't actually happened.
Overall this was a very good movie. If it's still in theaters near you I'd highly recommend seeing it. And it is absolutely worth full price. If can't see it in theaters be sure to put it at the top of your to rent list.
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