83 posts tagged “movies”
I have no words for this except "Wow!"
What an outstanding movie! And to all those who don't like the fact that the script makes use of an alternate timeline in the Trek Universe, get over it. It's a time-honored sci-fi convention.
The casting could not have been more perfect for any of the characters. The sets were updated using modern special effects while still paying homage to the original designs. I can't imagine a better rendition of this story, and I sincerely hope they consider making more movies with this cast.
We watched Secret Window (2004) last night. It's a thriller in which a writer (Johnny Depp) is accused by a stranger of stealing a story idea from him years before, and the decidedly creepy accuser/stalker (John Turturro) won't take no for an answer. The struggle of wills between the two continues to escalate, and no one's where where it will end.
Well, okay, Christina and I were pretty sure where it would end. We figured out the final plot twist pretty early on in the movie, and yet it was still fun to watch. There were a couple of minor plot holes you have to overlook to follow the story, but it's enjoyable, at any rate. Except that Christina didn't like Depp's hair.
Yeah, I'm getting to this late.
This is unlike any Bond movie I've seen to date. I like that it's different, but almost wish it weren't a Bond movie. It doesn't fit the Bond oeuvre as I think of it. That's odd, considering it's based on Ian Flemming's book of the British secret agent's first mission. I read the book, and this movie version actually adheres pretty closely to the story and the feel of that novel. Unfortunately, that also includes a lot of really long scenes about gambling that really had a hard time keeping my interest.
Mom got this for me for Christmas, I think partially because I was the only on person on the planet who hadn't seen it, yet. My review is mixed.
Here are some positives:
- Michael Caine: He's been in every movie under the sun, but he usually does a good job of it, too. His performance as Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler, is well above average.
- Heath Ledger: Outstanding! His performance as the Joker lives up to its hype, which is amazing since there's so much of it. It makes his death so much more tragic that he had just recently given such an awesome performance.
- Bat-Bike!
- An actual plot, something frequently missing from the Batman ouvre.
- Disappearing pencil trick!
- A Batman movie that actually shows us what Batman's super power is: he's really, really rich.
Here are some negatives:
- Christian Bale: He has the charisma of a really un-charismatic shrub.
- MT-style camera work. No matter how much you shake the camera around, I can't quite believe it's a reality TV show.
- Lousy sound mixing: Turn it up, I can't hear the dialog. Oh, I can definitely hear that explosion, now that I turned it up. Okay, now I can't hear anything at all because I've blown out my eardrums.
Overall, I give it a thumbs up. It's just a shame Ledger can't come back as the joker in the sequel.
Last night we watched Pushing Tin, a very good movie which I had never heard of until it came up on our Netflix rotation. John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton are air traffic controllers in the busiest control center in the U.S. (controlling planes for three different airports in the New York area). Cusack is an adreneline junkie that's fine so long as he's in control of everything.
Thornton is a newcomer, transferring in from Denver. He quickly shows that he is an extremely skilled ATC and suddenly Cusack's character is no longer the top guy. As a result, his life - generally through his help - begins to spin out of control faster than a 747 with only one working engine.
I really liked this movie. For one thing, I recognized many of the personalities, and unfortunately I recognized the work environment. Police dispatching is a lot like being an ATC, except fewer people usually die if you screw up. Some of the elements that seem unbelievable in Pushing Tin are actually pretty accurate to that kind of environment. Telling new hires, "We have a 50% washout rate. Don't bother unpacking" is something I've actually heard. I've also seen my fellow dispatchers make bets on whether someone would make it or wash out, something else that happens in the movie between the ATCs.
Also in this movie, playing Cusack's wife, is the beautiful Cate Blanchett. Playing Thornton's wife is beautiful yet skanky Angelina Jolie. They fell in love while making this movie, apparently, and later did romantic things together like trade vials of each other's blood.
We watched The Thirteenth Floor last night. I'd seen it before, but Strix had only seen parts of it. It's shmaltzy and has a distinct Sci-Fi Channel Movie of the Week feel to it, but I still like it.
Last night we watched Metropolis, the silent film classic from 1927. Given the time period in which the film was made, it is astonishing what they were able to do with what is probably the first full-length science fiction movie ever. Fritz Lang, the director, was well, well ahead of his time in terms of camera usage and visual effects. The special effects would not been out of a place in a movie made twenty years later, and the art design was beautiful - art deco meets the Jetsons.
The acting was... well, the acting was 1927 silent movie style, and the story seems extremely heavy-handed by modern standards, but even that was well done for its time, written with a mind to make the audience think and not just sit in the dark while watching the pretty lights on the screen. The version we watched also had the original 1927 orchestral score accompanying the film, and there are hints of John Williams' inspiration throughout.
The quarter is over, and the classes that were kicking my backside are now a thing of the recently passed past. In fact, just barely passed past, but that's another story. From here on out, I won't be taking such a large load at a time, which hopefully will mean that I will have time to blog again.
Tonight, Strix and I watched Love Actually. To me, romantic comedies are like a party. Being both an introvert and an attention hog, I hate going to parties, but I have fun when I get there. If left up to me, I will almost never watch a romantic comedy, so of course Strix picked this one. And yet, I really enjoyed this movie.
It's several different stories all being told at once, with some intertwining of the plots. It's smartly written, well paced, and has some terrific acting in every strand of the tapestry.
Plus, bonus: Laura Linney.
Something I've neglected to mention since I've been so busy doing other things is that I'm rehearsing for another play. After auditioning for Brighton Beach Memoires, I was told they didn't have a role for me. I wasn't really surprised, since I'm too old to play either of the teenage boys in the play and I'm too young really for the father. As it happens, the guy they chose for the father role had to cancel due to the demands of his day job, so they gave it to me. Yay! As a result, I'm growing a goatee (or trying, since facial hair doesn't grow that well on me), which they are going to put gray in along with my hair to make me look older.
It's not really a good idea to watch a movie based on a play if you're rehearsing for it, but I decided to re-watch this movie, anyway. It's a good movie, though perhaps it was more interesting to me when I first saw it because I was about the age of the main character in the show, Eugene Jerome, who is just about to turn 15. It's still an interesting story. If there is a moral or theme to the story, I would say that it is that everyone has problems, but your own always seem the most important, no matter what else is going on.
This movie is awesome. From beginning to end, it has the Coen Brothers stamped all over it. The star-studded cast did a great job playing characters outside of their comfort zone with all of the quirkiness you expect from the Coens.
J.K. Simmons is only in two scenes in the whole movie, but he did such a great job that I think he was my favorite character in the show, but everyone was awesome.
