It has been on our list forever, a costume drama like PS likes, with actresses that I like (Natalie Portman and Scarlet Johannsen) with feminist and historical themes that PS likes.
It was, of course, about Henry VIII's quest for a son and how it hurt women and men, and the terrible pain from weird gender rules and untrammeled ambition.
Natalie and Scarlet acted their asses off and presented a reality that was horrible, hopefully a high level mark of human awfulness in history.
I interrupted it to make popcorn.
At the end, PS rated it "Didn't like" and I exclaimed that it was just her thing, like Pride and Prejudice. She said it was nothing like! I said what, they are both about how awful it was for women and how the manners and mores were horrid. With costumes! And female-centric!
Of course I didn't like it either.
She exclaimed that I really don't know her at all.
The next day, I said I recognize that P&P uses wit, and excepting the one cad, everybody is trying in their own flawed way to do their best. Unlike TOBG, which had utterly no wit and was just people at their most dreadful. (Except Mary, their mother, and the matron Queen, Katherine of Aragorn (Aragon?)).
PS seemed glad, and said "Yeah but now we know Scarlet Johannsen can act." I sneered "Her mother must be so proud." and she laughed and seemed to get exactly what I meant, the complex mix that we are proud as parents, but nobody else really cares, or many even resent it, and now in their shoes, we don't really care either, it didn't do anything for us, and a movie intended to convey only that, is just an elaborate and pointless brag.
Reviews
20 Reviews
Mission: Impossible II
(2000)
Boring but so Glossy!
25 October 2015
I had seen it before, and in all honesty, I was a bit bored this time. It all revolved around a skinny young woman. Yes, she has pleasing curves on her face, but quit jerking me with that stupid chain on my brain! There were virtually no clever twists, though lots of predictably pulling off fake faces.
In MI1, Tom (Ethan Hunt) had to out-think his IMF boss. Here, he has to out-action his IMF peer, the mean one, whose body so closely matches his own, that their boss chose the villain to pretend to be Ethan.
I try to suspend my disbelief, but how is it that a carrier of a deadly weaponized virus isn't contagious at all, until exactly 20 hours, which is also when the anti-virus won't work any longer. Are those supposed to be causally connected? What do they think viruses are?
This is the John Woo version, and there is a lot of action, very fancy, both martial arts and vehicular, but I know it is only dancing, and ludicrous dancing at that, no relation to actual fight moves that might save my life. I also know that it will go on till they run out of imagination or budget and then resolve whatever way they want. OMG, I think I am bored with action movies.
I have to give it the 8 stars just because they spent so much, I love the franchise, and well, it looked great.
In MI1, Tom (Ethan Hunt) had to out-think his IMF boss. Here, he has to out-action his IMF peer, the mean one, whose body so closely matches his own, that their boss chose the villain to pretend to be Ethan.
I try to suspend my disbelief, but how is it that a carrier of a deadly weaponized virus isn't contagious at all, until exactly 20 hours, which is also when the anti-virus won't work any longer. Are those supposed to be causally connected? What do they think viruses are?
This is the John Woo version, and there is a lot of action, very fancy, both martial arts and vehicular, but I know it is only dancing, and ludicrous dancing at that, no relation to actual fight moves that might save my life. I also know that it will go on till they run out of imagination or budget and then resolve whatever way they want. OMG, I think I am bored with action movies.
I have to give it the 8 stars just because they spent so much, I love the franchise, and well, it looked great.
Friends with Benefits
(2011)
Denies Itself
9 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
How did this thing get rated under 7 on IMDb, when it clearly deserves a ... 7?
Mila Kunis was a pretty good actress and good to look at. It tried to flout the conventions of the romantic movie, and even got Jason Segal to act in a fake movie they kept watching. There was more skin, and more sex up front. There was much more sweet kindness in the first Act.
But it was pretty much a romantic movie with the first and second Acts switched. They start out sexy and friendly, but then become contentious in the second Act. She still had to deal with her issues and he still had to confess his love in a big public display, and love was still the only thing that mattered. They also tried faster talking than usual but my wife and I could hardly follow it.
I'll bet some romCom fans trashed it for the betrayal. It was like some cheerleader than claims to hate 'those vain girls'. That would grind the other cheerleaders.
Justin Timberlake was OK, but dragged it down a little. Damn that guy, he does OK at all sorts of things that pay him millions.
Mila Kunis was a pretty good actress and good to look at. It tried to flout the conventions of the romantic movie, and even got Jason Segal to act in a fake movie they kept watching. There was more skin, and more sex up front. There was much more sweet kindness in the first Act.
But it was pretty much a romantic movie with the first and second Acts switched. They start out sexy and friendly, but then become contentious in the second Act. She still had to deal with her issues and he still had to confess his love in a big public display, and love was still the only thing that mattered. They also tried faster talking than usual but my wife and I could hardly follow it.
I'll bet some romCom fans trashed it for the betrayal. It was like some cheerleader than claims to hate 'those vain girls'. That would grind the other cheerleaders.
Justin Timberlake was OK, but dragged it down a little. Damn that guy, he does OK at all sorts of things that pay him millions.
A Good Day to Die Hard
(2013)
Undeserving of Inadequate Rating
31 December 2014
Bruce went to Russia to save his son, who was charged with murder. It was super dumb, and super corny, not very inventive, and the physics was way off. But Bruce was still likable and they spent a pile of bucks with high production values. It made me laugh several times, on purpose.
I also got a kick how the makers of this series continue to see glass for the evil death trap it is.
I continue to wonder who sets the political goals for Hollywood. This film, in 2013, is turning against Russians and turning to nuclear power.
So the world is just wrong to give it 5.3/10 (IMDB as of 141231). It's a solid 7.3, unless it makes you sad to see Bruce old like me.
I also got a kick how the makers of this series continue to see glass for the evil death trap it is.
I continue to wonder who sets the political goals for Hollywood. This film, in 2013, is turning against Russians and turning to nuclear power.
So the world is just wrong to give it 5.3/10 (IMDB as of 141231). It's a solid 7.3, unless it makes you sad to see Bruce old like me.
Sling Blade
(1996)
Compelling. But why?
15 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I have had this on my to-see list since Tracy the hairdresser raved about it in 1996.
Well, I have certainly seen it spoofed enough. Billy Bob Thornton wrote and directed, and acted. He had a fixed, goofy expression, and said gruff sweet things in a highly southern dialect with odd grunts and non-verbal noises. I never did decide whether it was absurdly stylized, or a faithful impression of somebody he had known.
Our hero had been raised in a dark shed and then had killed a mean boy when he found the boy screwing his mother. But then his mother tore into him and he killed her too. Then he spent 25 years in a nut house, but was now getting released. Everybody thought he was 'retarded'.
So predictable! I knew right away he was going to kill again and promptly identified the target.
To be fair, it raises some questions. The victim was the mean boyfriend of the mother of the nice boy that befriended our hero. The boy kept saying he wanted to kill the boyfriend or see him dead. The gay friend (John Ritter, doing a great job) of the woman pretty much knew what our hero planned when our hero asked for him to keep the woman overnight. But the friend didn't resist at all. And the boyfriend, while highly obnoxious, never did more than a push, and that in retaliation. The system, which had institutionalized our hero, let him out, but didn't follow up effectively.
Perhaps the point was to demonstrate that for most of us, including me as it turns out, we prefer a nice killer to a dickish victim. The killing felt OK, almost brave, that he knowingly sacrificed his freedom.
It had 5 stars on Netflix. And yes, it had tons of style. But so predictable! And slow! Seemed like hours! My wife fell asleep repeatedly, but had no trouble following it. I confess I found it compelling.
Well, I have certainly seen it spoofed enough. Billy Bob Thornton wrote and directed, and acted. He had a fixed, goofy expression, and said gruff sweet things in a highly southern dialect with odd grunts and non-verbal noises. I never did decide whether it was absurdly stylized, or a faithful impression of somebody he had known.
Our hero had been raised in a dark shed and then had killed a mean boy when he found the boy screwing his mother. But then his mother tore into him and he killed her too. Then he spent 25 years in a nut house, but was now getting released. Everybody thought he was 'retarded'.
So predictable! I knew right away he was going to kill again and promptly identified the target.
To be fair, it raises some questions. The victim was the mean boyfriend of the mother of the nice boy that befriended our hero. The boy kept saying he wanted to kill the boyfriend or see him dead. The gay friend (John Ritter, doing a great job) of the woman pretty much knew what our hero planned when our hero asked for him to keep the woman overnight. But the friend didn't resist at all. And the boyfriend, while highly obnoxious, never did more than a push, and that in retaliation. The system, which had institutionalized our hero, let him out, but didn't follow up effectively.
Perhaps the point was to demonstrate that for most of us, including me as it turns out, we prefer a nice killer to a dickish victim. The killing felt OK, almost brave, that he knowingly sacrificed his freedom.
It had 5 stars on Netflix. And yes, it had tons of style. But so predictable! And slow! Seemed like hours! My wife fell asleep repeatedly, but had no trouble following it. I confess I found it compelling.
Black Swan
(2010)
Towers Above Its Genre, That Awful Psychedelic Genre
4 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Don't choose this movie, as I did, because you are hot for little Natalie Portman, and know she will be in ballet tights.
Maybe chose it for the echoing themes, in the Cabaret style, played out in the protagonist, and in the show her character performs, and in the movie itself. That's always what they used to call a 'head trip'.
Of course she plays a ballerina cast to play both the good white swan and the evil black swan. The director kept scolding her for never letting go and releasing her dark side. Meanwhile, there is an over controlling former ballerina mother, and a former mentor, now just fired, and a younger, more confident rival. And the director seemed like a sexual predator, and that his penis was the key to stardom.
It could have been terrific suspense, but instead, it was impossible to tell who was crazy, and what was real. There were horrifying scenes of her self mutilation, but some of the wounds that we saw inflicted weren't there, and some that we didn't see, were. The mentor was pretty surely hospitalized. But various stabbings of the mentor and rival and some hand smashings of the mother may or may not have happened.
It was psychedelic, I realized the next day. Christ I haven't seen a psychedelic movie since they flowered in the late 60's and gradually faded out in the 70's. And glad of it. I hate them. But this film was riveting and intense, so it towered above that genre.
And I got more true horror from what Natalie did to her cuticle than from various beheadings and disembowelling scenes in other films.
Natalie was more than willing to show her body scrawny and ugly, and her face ugly and distorted in intense passions. She is, as we know, a very good actress. Unless it was very good special effects, she also became a very plausible ballet dancer, at least to my ignorant eye.
Another ballerina, aging, did the swan flapping move, and the camera lingered on how the muscles and wrinkles worked in her strong but scrawny back. The impression it gave went through fascinating, into gross, but then back out again into more fascinating and even impressive. Good for the director!
So, it's unique, creative, intense, powerful, moving, fascinating, with multiple layers of symbolism and themes. It towers above its genre. But I hate that genre and don't know what the hell happened!
Maybe chose it for the echoing themes, in the Cabaret style, played out in the protagonist, and in the show her character performs, and in the movie itself. That's always what they used to call a 'head trip'.
Of course she plays a ballerina cast to play both the good white swan and the evil black swan. The director kept scolding her for never letting go and releasing her dark side. Meanwhile, there is an over controlling former ballerina mother, and a former mentor, now just fired, and a younger, more confident rival. And the director seemed like a sexual predator, and that his penis was the key to stardom.
It could have been terrific suspense, but instead, it was impossible to tell who was crazy, and what was real. There were horrifying scenes of her self mutilation, but some of the wounds that we saw inflicted weren't there, and some that we didn't see, were. The mentor was pretty surely hospitalized. But various stabbings of the mentor and rival and some hand smashings of the mother may or may not have happened.
It was psychedelic, I realized the next day. Christ I haven't seen a psychedelic movie since they flowered in the late 60's and gradually faded out in the 70's. And glad of it. I hate them. But this film was riveting and intense, so it towered above that genre.
And I got more true horror from what Natalie did to her cuticle than from various beheadings and disembowelling scenes in other films.
Natalie was more than willing to show her body scrawny and ugly, and her face ugly and distorted in intense passions. She is, as we know, a very good actress. Unless it was very good special effects, she also became a very plausible ballet dancer, at least to my ignorant eye.
Another ballerina, aging, did the swan flapping move, and the camera lingered on how the muscles and wrinkles worked in her strong but scrawny back. The impression it gave went through fascinating, into gross, but then back out again into more fascinating and even impressive. Good for the director!
So, it's unique, creative, intense, powerful, moving, fascinating, with multiple layers of symbolism and themes. It towers above its genre. But I hate that genre and don't know what the hell happened!
Edge of Tomorrow
(2014)
Smart, Fun, Exciting, Moving, Creative, Funny, what do you want?
16 July 2014
Excellent! It was an Alien Invasion but with a Groundhog Day premise, and a subtly handled love interest. Cruise was very good. The effects were great, the action was great.
Granted, the premise was impossible. Where would the memories be kept? But given the premise, it develops smartly from that. In fact, the cleverness of the solutions, and the cleverness of the presentation, deliver lots of those delightful ah-ha moments.
Like Groundhog Day, it isn't easy presenting a moving one-day romance. But they come through again!
I guess I'm a sucker for that premise. Groundhog Day is in my top 5, this is probably in my top 20, Memento, in a related vein, would be in my top 100.
In the last 20 minutes, I kept thinking, "Don't let them screw the ending!" They pushed the envelope a bit. It was tough to swallow, but I got it down and felt satisfied.
Granted, the premise was impossible. Where would the memories be kept? But given the premise, it develops smartly from that. In fact, the cleverness of the solutions, and the cleverness of the presentation, deliver lots of those delightful ah-ha moments.
Like Groundhog Day, it isn't easy presenting a moving one-day romance. But they come through again!
I guess I'm a sucker for that premise. Groundhog Day is in my top 5, this is probably in my top 20, Memento, in a related vein, would be in my top 100.
In the last 20 minutes, I kept thinking, "Don't let them screw the ending!" They pushed the envelope a bit. It was tough to swallow, but I got it down and felt satisfied.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
(2014)
Stupid. BUT...!
17 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Hell, I've seen worse movies than that and watched them a second time.
It had some charms. Granted, there were some stupid bits, but it was flying by so fast I could hardly tell. I liked the wisecracks, found the romance touching, loved the special effects for Electro. Electro's motivation was, I admit, stupid. And I'm not seeing the 'bitten by a radioactive eel' thing. The 3D worked. I finally just forgot about it while it, probably, increased the impact. The way they portrayed the action was effective and creative. The slo- mo and magnifications were mixed in smoothly. The immense time at Gwen's grave-site was corny and childish and stupid. But it is, after all, a Marvel comic, built on melodrama wrought up so large it becomes physical. And the acting/writing choice of making him perky and quippy first time back in the field was stupid. He was weird about giving his blood. And Osborne was inexplicably urgent about a disease that apparently wouldn't kill him till he was what, in his fifties? The rhino suit was cool looking, and I loved the glimpses of suits for Vulture and Dr. Octopus.
I think they should give up on their rule about living in a world of ordinary physics. They don't seem to be able to stick to it anyway. This world should have rare but real magic, like in the Marvel comics. That might work better for Rhino than a suit with inexhaustible ammo and an inexplicable horn. Besides, why armour up a man so big, when a tank already works great?
Electro is pretty tough to justify. We want to personify electricity, so it has to be science-y. I like the new version where he can exist as an invisible field, and pass through wires. So, I'm thinking maybe some science-y blather about figuring out how to store information in electrons for computing, and how they can program it to manipulate the electrons' positions. That kind of breaks the science, so pass over that quickly. So then some desperate scientist stores his own mind in electricity, but it goes horribly awry, driving him insane. He could have some sort of sad quest to re-build his own body. Still, that might be too much power. He could, after all, just lay back and manipulate the energy in a person's brain a little bit to kill them instantly and quietly. Why lob around big blasts?
To be honest, as a story, it is a 6, but the budget, direction, and rarity, raise it up.
It had some charms. Granted, there were some stupid bits, but it was flying by so fast I could hardly tell. I liked the wisecracks, found the romance touching, loved the special effects for Electro. Electro's motivation was, I admit, stupid. And I'm not seeing the 'bitten by a radioactive eel' thing. The 3D worked. I finally just forgot about it while it, probably, increased the impact. The way they portrayed the action was effective and creative. The slo- mo and magnifications were mixed in smoothly. The immense time at Gwen's grave-site was corny and childish and stupid. But it is, after all, a Marvel comic, built on melodrama wrought up so large it becomes physical. And the acting/writing choice of making him perky and quippy first time back in the field was stupid. He was weird about giving his blood. And Osborne was inexplicably urgent about a disease that apparently wouldn't kill him till he was what, in his fifties? The rhino suit was cool looking, and I loved the glimpses of suits for Vulture and Dr. Octopus.
I think they should give up on their rule about living in a world of ordinary physics. They don't seem to be able to stick to it anyway. This world should have rare but real magic, like in the Marvel comics. That might work better for Rhino than a suit with inexhaustible ammo and an inexplicable horn. Besides, why armour up a man so big, when a tank already works great?
Electro is pretty tough to justify. We want to personify electricity, so it has to be science-y. I like the new version where he can exist as an invisible field, and pass through wires. So, I'm thinking maybe some science-y blather about figuring out how to store information in electrons for computing, and how they can program it to manipulate the electrons' positions. That kind of breaks the science, so pass over that quickly. So then some desperate scientist stores his own mind in electricity, but it goes horribly awry, driving him insane. He could have some sort of sad quest to re-build his own body. Still, that might be too much power. He could, after all, just lay back and manipulate the energy in a person's brain a little bit to kill them instantly and quietly. Why lob around big blasts?
To be honest, as a story, it is a 6, but the budget, direction, and rarity, raise it up.
Monsoon Wedding
(2001)
Ordinary 3 Star Romcom Plus Bonus Vivid Travelogue
3 May 2014
When I saw it 140503, it was vaguely familiar to me, but my wife recalled it quite well. That's because although I had seen it before, it had no significance, it was just an intimate and authentic look at a loving family with quirky characters having an arranged wedding in India with side dramas. Many of the actors were lovely to look at. There were mildly amusing parts and mildly moving parts. There was plenty of surprisingly enjoyable singing and dancing but in an intimate, plausible way, not an over-produced Bollywood way.
Oh, it offered that Punjabi have a reputation for ostentation, costumes and such, and Bengali have a reputation for pretension (seriousness). This family was Punjabi. That's racism, but a helpful handle to begin learning, assuming I heard the names correctly.
Oh, it offered that Punjabi have a reputation for ostentation, costumes and such, and Bengali have a reputation for pretension (seriousness). This family was Punjabi. That's racism, but a helpful handle to begin learning, assuming I heard the names correctly.
Cool SF, but dumb writing, and teens
24 April 2014
SF about how humanity's sole survivors were on space stations for 100 years after Earth was rendered uninhabitable by nuclear war. The stations are failing, so criminals (juveniles) are being sent to Earth prematurely and desperately. Teens are so handy for TV, people like to look at them, and dramatic conflict can be easily stirred up on the pretence of immaturity. Excessive drama is not just excused, but mandated, to seem realistic. Anyway, the forest was gorgeous, but with startling and unexpected elements, the girls were pretty, I liked the concept. But there was quite a bit that was just bone dumb. For instance, the stations are running out of time, in their desperately closed ecosystem, so they execute people, for any misdemeanour, by flushing them, alive, with their bodies full of water and nutrients, out into space along with an airlock full of air.
Æon Flux
(2005)
Both Under and Over Sold
22 April 2014
So the promo poster was a hot babe in a tight suit with the line "The perfect world meets the perfect assassin." So, my expectations were for empty eye candy. But I played it and discovered creative visuals, a mystery of sorts, and a high SF concept about the importance of death to the meaning of life. Plus plenty of other cool SF gadgets and technologies and personal enhancements.
That was the undersold, and why I gave it an 8. And lets be fair, Charlize Theron looks pretty good.
The current #1 user-review described how it was sold as bringing the animation series to the big screen. And apparently, that series had far more depth and sophistication. That was the oversold and why he gave it a 2 based solely on the great special effects.
Ah, expectations.
What was that other one, promoted almost the same, brought out about the same time? Ah, "Ultra-Violet". Now that was bad. Just a hot babe in a tight suit doing implausible martial arts start to finish. That other reviewer should have seen that first, as I had. Ugh.
That was the undersold, and why I gave it an 8. And lets be fair, Charlize Theron looks pretty good.
The current #1 user-review described how it was sold as bringing the animation series to the big screen. And apparently, that series had far more depth and sophistication. That was the oversold and why he gave it a 2 based solely on the great special effects.
Ah, expectations.
What was that other one, promoted almost the same, brought out about the same time? Ah, "Ultra-Violet". Now that was bad. Just a hot babe in a tight suit doing implausible martial arts start to finish. That other reviewer should have seen that first, as I had. Ugh.
Four Lions
(2010)
Adequately Funny But Turns Very Dark
21 April 2014
I expected a British comedy about some stupid jihadists. Yes, it was funny, and they were both stupid and plausible.
Indeed, chillingly so, because I recalled defending a fellow in a youth gang. He spent nearly all his time asking about girls and lying about how tough he was and bragging about what he would do, and explaining on the telephone what codes to use when on the telephone. He was comically stupid and childish and vain. Like these jihadists. But ultimately, the gang would occasionally really hurt somebody. And here too, there were tragic consequences. The movie turned pretty dark in the last 20 minutes or so.
Indeed, chillingly so, because I recalled defending a fellow in a youth gang. He spent nearly all his time asking about girls and lying about how tough he was and bragging about what he would do, and explaining on the telephone what codes to use when on the telephone. He was comically stupid and childish and vain. Like these jihadists. But ultimately, the gang would occasionally really hurt somebody. And here too, there were tragic consequences. The movie turned pretty dark in the last 20 minutes or so.
So Juvenile! So Great!
20 April 2014
I was 9 when series came out. It had it all. It had warm conventional old-fashioned Norman Rockwell Disney sentiment, kids, babes, scientists, space ships, manly men, a greedy man, a cowardly man, even a Negro! It captured and reversed the childish feelings of tiny powerlessness. If you liked playing with dolls (action figures) you must be in bliss.
So now, at 54, I checked out this episode. The nostalgia was so potent I think I liked it nearly as much. I liked the voices of the actors in the crew, rich and trained, but casual and sincere. And I just loved the retro-future spaceship.
So, for originality in its time, it deserves a 9 at least, and the pleasure of watching it is an easy 8, but the corn is just so thick for an adult, I'm not sure I could watch many episodes. Ah, give it an 8, for the kids.
By the way, the names of the giant family in this episode are Talf Ekrob, Osla Ekrob, and Dal Ekrob, which are backwards for Flat Broke, Also Broke, and, also reversed in order, Broke Lad.
So now, at 54, I checked out this episode. The nostalgia was so potent I think I liked it nearly as much. I liked the voices of the actors in the crew, rich and trained, but casual and sincere. And I just loved the retro-future spaceship.
So, for originality in its time, it deserves a 9 at least, and the pleasure of watching it is an easy 8, but the corn is just so thick for an adult, I'm not sure I could watch many episodes. Ah, give it an 8, for the kids.
By the way, the names of the giant family in this episode are Talf Ekrob, Osla Ekrob, and Dal Ekrob, which are backwards for Flat Broke, Also Broke, and, also reversed in order, Broke Lad.
Jack Reacher
(2012)
Turn off the sound. The rest is fine.
19 April 2014
The dialogue is gawd-awful. Really, really bad. But Werner Herzog, a famed documentarian, makes a surprising and very effective appearance.
And the direction is top notch, with vivid, good looking, impact-full, communicative shots.
The plot isn't even bad. Usually the same guy writes the plot and the dialogue so they fail or triumph in tandem. Not this time, maybe the screenwriter did one, and the novel's author did the other.
Traditionally, I grudgingly like Tom Cruise's performance. This time, he went for a characterization of the hero as a guy who takes himself far too seriously. Otherwise, the acting all around is OK.
And the direction is top notch, with vivid, good looking, impact-full, communicative shots.
The plot isn't even bad. Usually the same guy writes the plot and the dialogue so they fail or triumph in tandem. Not this time, maybe the screenwriter did one, and the novel's author did the other.
Traditionally, I grudgingly like Tom Cruise's performance. This time, he went for a characterization of the hero as a guy who takes himself far too seriously. Otherwise, the acting all around is OK.
Trouble with the Curve
(2012)
Innovative Genius!? Nah.
13 April 2014
You will know that Squint Eastwood plays a cranky old baseball scout. His friend, played by John Goodman, knows that evil (computer loving!) schemers on the team are trying to get rid of Squint, so persuades Squint's successful lawyer daughter to go help, despite her bad relationship with Dad. They encounter a charming young man that Squint had scouted. Oh, and it turns out there is a mysterious past incident in the father-daughter relationship.
So manipulative! So predictable! Still, the young woman was attractive and the young man was charming. John Goodman was now only fat and ugly, not grotesquely obese, but still charming and warm. Squint, surprisingly, was the weak link. He seemed to be doing a lot of ACTING as a cranky old man. But he already is a cranky old man, so it put him over the top.
Luckily, we were watching at home, and since it was so obvious, and not very serious to us, though ever-so-serious to the characters, it became sort of participatory, where we would boo and mock and cheer. So we got some fun out of it.
Now here's the thing. The movie revolved around the love of baseball that united all of our heroes. So, maybe Squint wasn't making a bad tear–jerker, far below his usual subtlety and skill, maybe he was using a movie to create a baseball-watching-like experience!? That would be pretty awesome. It would heighten and reflect the fictional themes past the fourth wall!
Nah.
So manipulative! So predictable! Still, the young woman was attractive and the young man was charming. John Goodman was now only fat and ugly, not grotesquely obese, but still charming and warm. Squint, surprisingly, was the weak link. He seemed to be doing a lot of ACTING as a cranky old man. But he already is a cranky old man, so it put him over the top.
Luckily, we were watching at home, and since it was so obvious, and not very serious to us, though ever-so-serious to the characters, it became sort of participatory, where we would boo and mock and cheer. So we got some fun out of it.
Now here's the thing. The movie revolved around the love of baseball that united all of our heroes. So, maybe Squint wasn't making a bad tear–jerker, far below his usual subtlety and skill, maybe he was using a movie to create a baseball-watching-like experience!? That would be pretty awesome. It would heighten and reflect the fictional themes past the fourth wall!
Nah.
The Five-Year Engagement
(2012)
So Gentle and Funny
12 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
So, Jason Segel plays an 1960's woman, trapped by her love into making frustrating career sacrifices, except as a man in the new millennium. So, it takes a fresh look at an old formula, but then confounds it, by never doing the expected thing, and improves it, with appealing, believable, admirable characters.
I think my favourite part was when the heroine's older, arrogant professor boss makes a move on her. For one thing, everybody, including her, frankly and adultly agrees that she had created or permitted that situation. And then when our hero felt obliged to fight the prof, the prof comes back to help when the hero falls. Then when Jason's character still throws a punch, the skinny prof rapidly blocks, counters, then APOLOGIZES because it had just been reflex. Finally the prof agrees that the right thing to do would be to at least run away when Jason chases him. So he does. See, it's unexpected, funny, and so optimistic about how people could act, if they just recognized each other as humans, and that everybody is the hero of their own story.
And Segel, as usual, just seems so real to me, like somebody I would know, if you saw them at their most open, their most vulnerable. Amy Blunt, as the heroine, was genuine and appealing.
It celebrates love and commitment, without the fanaticism and superstition of so many romance movies. Those movies say you are nobody without the love of a pretty girl and there is one and only one for everyone.
I think my favourite part was when the heroine's older, arrogant professor boss makes a move on her. For one thing, everybody, including her, frankly and adultly agrees that she had created or permitted that situation. And then when our hero felt obliged to fight the prof, the prof comes back to help when the hero falls. Then when Jason's character still throws a punch, the skinny prof rapidly blocks, counters, then APOLOGIZES because it had just been reflex. Finally the prof agrees that the right thing to do would be to at least run away when Jason chases him. So he does. See, it's unexpected, funny, and so optimistic about how people could act, if they just recognized each other as humans, and that everybody is the hero of their own story.
And Segel, as usual, just seems so real to me, like somebody I would know, if you saw them at their most open, their most vulnerable. Amy Blunt, as the heroine, was genuine and appealing.
It celebrates love and commitment, without the fanaticism and superstition of so many romance movies. Those movies say you are nobody without the love of a pretty girl and there is one and only one for everyone.
Wallander In Wyoming - More Rifles, Less Brains
27 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
It is basically Wallander, re-localized in Wyoming, with more rifles. The badly damaged but highly intelligent sullen boss of the vividly characterized investigators doggedly pursues victimizers of the weak. He is even still messed up from his former marriage, and his daughter even comes over to scold him. It is all deliberately paced, in wide open gorgeous natural settings.
The pilot episode's conclusion made no sense, or if it did, I missed it. It turned out to be the gun seller, who owned the RV, where the teen runaway turned tricks, who shot the teen's father. No clues, no reason for the killing, he just inexplicably killed the operator while Longmire was interviewing the guy, then started sniping (badly) at Longmire. So Longmire calmly made a miraculous gut shot then calmly walked up to the armed man, who obligingly missed one last time, then confessed.
So, I guess it was stupid. But the Wallander formula works. It had the engaging characters and the entrancingly vivid sense of place, and a beautiful place at that. For enjoyment, it was a 7.
The pilot episode's conclusion made no sense, or if it did, I missed it. It turned out to be the gun seller, who owned the RV, where the teen runaway turned tricks, who shot the teen's father. No clues, no reason for the killing, he just inexplicably killed the operator while Longmire was interviewing the guy, then started sniping (badly) at Longmire. So Longmire calmly made a miraculous gut shot then calmly walked up to the armed man, who obligingly missed one last time, then confessed.
So, I guess it was stupid. But the Wallander formula works. It had the engaging characters and the entrancingly vivid sense of place, and a beautiful place at that. For enjoyment, it was a 7.
Defying Gravity
(2009)
Religion Reaches Out To Science
10 March 2014
It revolves around religious themes of the value of faith, spiritual testing, redemption, and limits of science. Still, it definitely reached out to us in the world of science, getting the look right, and either getting the details right or explaining them away. It even accurately depicted a lot of the spirit of exploration, curiosity, and such. It looked really good. I wanted to be there, with them.
Good on the producers, a multi-national effort. I have often imagined reaching out for a conciliation to the other camp, though I have lost faith that it could happen.
The series revolves around a powerful mystery that brings out the best and worst in humans. That is a central theme of both science and religion, so it is a good choice for a conciliation.
But the final episode was by far the most blatant, with many scientists discussing the Trials of Job as though it was fact. Is that why, or when, it was cancelled?
Although it plainly wanted to go farther, the ending was not too abrupt. It had the sense of finality that a book in a series would have.
Good on the producers, a multi-national effort. I have often imagined reaching out for a conciliation to the other camp, though I have lost faith that it could happen.
The series revolves around a powerful mystery that brings out the best and worst in humans. That is a central theme of both science and religion, so it is a good choice for a conciliation.
But the final episode was by far the most blatant, with many scientists discussing the Trials of Job as though it was fact. Is that why, or when, it was cancelled?
Although it plainly wanted to go farther, the ending was not too abrupt. It had the sense of finality that a book in a series would have.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
(1999)
If A Man Was A Stereotypical Woman
2 February 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Matt Damon did a great job, as usual. It was kind of weird, based on a novel written by a woman, about how Damon's character, with no power, had to make himself interesting and compelling to a man, so that the man would then admit him to his fabulous lifestyle, though still always subject to being discarded on a day by day basis. To complete the "what if a man had to be a stereotypical woman" premise, Damon's character seems increasingly gay for the rich playboy.
Of course it all goes horribly badly, since naturally a man in that position would turn to murder. As a man, I protest! In fact, I could never have been so clever as the protagonist. Even so, the first half of the movie is unusual, idyllic, suspenseful, with a sense of doom.
The second half is Damon's character trying to pass himself off as the playboy. It's plainly doomed and insane, but he just keeps plausibly getting away with it. Lots of suspense, but less and less plausible. My wife figured they should have stopped with the first half. Is this supposed to be an allegory for a woman surviving in a man's world? Maybe so, the novel is from 1955. And of course, he has to give up on love, even betray his lover.
Hmm, was somebody a little bitter?
Of course it all goes horribly badly, since naturally a man in that position would turn to murder. As a man, I protest! In fact, I could never have been so clever as the protagonist. Even so, the first half of the movie is unusual, idyllic, suspenseful, with a sense of doom.
The second half is Damon's character trying to pass himself off as the playboy. It's plainly doomed and insane, but he just keeps plausibly getting away with it. Lots of suspense, but less and less plausible. My wife figured they should have stopped with the first half. Is this supposed to be an allegory for a woman surviving in a man's world? Maybe so, the novel is from 1955. And of course, he has to give up on love, even betray his lover.
Hmm, was somebody a little bitter?
Adam's Apples
(2005)
Black Humour which is actually funny
1 July 2013
Weird Danish film. Sub–titled. Danish doesn't sound like anything in English.
Man, I thought we Swedes were dark. A Neo–Nazi is paroled to the custody of a devout Lutheran Minister. The minister brags of his prior successes with a drunken rapist and a hardened armed robber, who continued to stay with him after their paroles and rehabilitation. He asks the Neo–Nazi to set any goal. The Neo–Nazi jokingly suggests he'll bake a pie from the apple tree when they are ripe.
The Neo-Nazi thinks the minister is delusional and decides to break him. The minister thinks every problem is just a test from the devil.
Normally black humour isn't funny, but we laughed till tears repeatedly. A character gets a massive bullet wound to the head, and the doctor said, "That's what we call a Half–Kennedy."
Man, I thought we Swedes were dark. A Neo–Nazi is paroled to the custody of a devout Lutheran Minister. The minister brags of his prior successes with a drunken rapist and a hardened armed robber, who continued to stay with him after their paroles and rehabilitation. He asks the Neo–Nazi to set any goal. The Neo–Nazi jokingly suggests he'll bake a pie from the apple tree when they are ripe.
The Neo-Nazi thinks the minister is delusional and decides to break him. The minister thinks every problem is just a test from the devil.
Normally black humour isn't funny, but we laughed till tears repeatedly. A character gets a massive bullet wound to the head, and the doctor said, "That's what we call a Half–Kennedy."
Tell Your Friends