ellehcorj Reviews

Bringing Down the House (2003)

If this is 'middle class'...

[6/10 · 25 November 2013]

I'd say the movie demonstrates upper class living, with membership to the club with a pool and a golf course and driving nice cars? in Los Angeles? If this is middle class then my condo-owning workaday world with an 11 year old VW is the ghetto.

Really fun movie, had to keep myself from switching channels a couple times but mostly watchable, and even a solid real laugh out loud from Queen's stellar performance. Nice to see August in something besides 2.5 men. Betty White was charmingly hilarious, as was Virginia Arness, who played the high-brow old-world slave-owning aging débutant to a 'T'. They 'fixed' all that with a club scene to remember!

Blue Like Jazz (2012)

Painful to watch, at first

[5/10 · 11 June 2013]

It could have been a good film, but it almost seems as though those involved were too close to it to see how it fails to draw any kind of an emotional response or much sympathy for the main character until much later in the story. The pace is slow, nothing was all that funny to me, cartoonish devices were used inconsistently and unnecessarily, which made the first half feel disjointed, as though different sections were directed by different people. Actions that moved the plot forward were so subtle as to be easily missed. One of my least favorite devices is to show a progression of time with a montage and music playing over the voices.

Some scenes left me wondering 'why did they do that?' as there was no obvious metaphor (or perhaps it was so obvious as to be insulting) and no further reference given to, for instance, a worn costume. Once some of the relationships were established, the movie picks up momentum, and the ending rather saves it.

I'm sure it's very difficult to portray the complex themes from the book, which makes it such rich reading. Action flicks are much easier. Much had to change for a movie to be created out of it. But a good director knows how to accomplish this without confusing, boring, or trying the patience of his audience. Perhaps Mr. Taylor should stick to music unless he wants all his work to go straight to DVD or the Hallmark channel. Sure, compared to other "Christian" movies this one rises above, but shouldn't we hold all movies to a critical standard, regardless of the company that made it?