Lots of great performances, but no films I'd see again.
THE ROAD. It's sometime in the future, and humanity is on the brink. Something apocalyptic has happened – no animals survive, most crops are gone, fires everywhere, earthquakes, and most plant life is dying. Only a few humans are left, and things are so dire that some are resorting to cannibalism. A father (Viggo Mortensen) and young son are on the move, trying to make it to the coast. The father is doing everything he can to protect his son (even teaching him how to commit suicide if capture by cannibals is imminent). The landscapes in the movie are great visuals of the devastation, and I really felt the father's desperate need to give his son a life with hope, but the movie is a tad slow moving, and really, so bleak, it's hard to recommend.
PRECIOUS. Clarisse Precious Jones is 16 years old, nearly illiterate, morbidly obese, and pregnant with her second child. She lives in 1989 Harlem, and her home life is filled with abuse of all kinds. But a teacher sees her potential, and recommends her for an alternative school where she gets one-on-one attention. And that helps her start to come out of her shell and begin asserting herself. The movie is very well-acted, and I think I was supposed to find it inspirational, but Precious' mother is such a monster, and the abuse so horrific, I just couldn't appreciate the movie. It just bummed me out.
THE MESSENGER. A sergeant is back from Iraq, recovering from his wounds. He isn't fit for combat duty anymore, so until his tour of duty is up, the Army puts him on the detail that notifies military families that their loved ones have died. Not easy duty. A captain (Woody Harrelson) shows him the ropes. Number one rule - don't get involved with the families. But the sergeant can't help developing feelings for one of the widows (Samantha Morton). Great performances and a good depiction of how war can wound men, but for some reason this movie didn't really engage me. I felt like I'd seen this emotionally wounded soldier before. It didn't seem as original as THE HURT LOCKER, which I liked quite a bit. That showed a completely different negative effect of war on soldiers, one you don't often see (adrenaline junkies).
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Max is a wild little boy, lonely, imaginative, with the typical ups and downs of childhood. One day he behaves really badly, even biting his mother. At her reaction, he runs away, across the sea, to the land where the wild things (big monsters, looking just like Maurice Sendak drew them) live. He declares himself king, and with them, he does all the things little boys like to do, like build forts and have battles. The wild things mostly represent his emotions, with Max being closest to Carol, who also has fits of rage. (There's also the sweet monster, the one nobody listens to, the complainer, etc.) But Max must eventually go home, where all is well once again. Well done, but too mature for kids, and I just wasn't all that interested in the fantasies of a little boy. I can't identify.
THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX. Animated film based on a book by Roald Dahl. Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney) has promised his wife he will settle down and not hunt chickens anymore. But he wants to live a full life, so he moves his family out of a burrow and onto a hillside with a view overlooking the poultry farmers. And decides he must have that one last score. But he gets in trouble, and he and all his (animal) neighbors bear the wrath of the farmers coming down on him. This is a weird little movie, which shouldn't be a surprise, since it was directed by Wes Anderson (Royal Tanenbaums, Darjaleeng Express). I couldn't get into it. I felt like I should be taking psychedelics to appreciate it.
PIRATE RADIO. In 1966 Britain, BBC Radio would only play one hour of rock and roll music a day. So ships offshore would set up radio stations and play the music 24/7. This movie is about one of those ships. The crew is a cast of characters; the owner (Bill Nighy), the American (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the young guy, the dumb guy, the sexy guy... Occasionally amusing, but there's just no story here. There's no character development. It's the music of my adolescence, so I enjoyed that, but I would recommend just buying the soundtrack rather than seeing the movie.
SKIN. Sandra Laing was born in 1950's South Africa. Her parents (Alice Krige and Sam Neill) were white, but she looked black. This was a problem for the system of apartheid. Because the law insisted everyone be classified one way or the other, she was classified white, then "colored", and back and forth. Her father loved her and fought very hard for her to be classified white (if she wasn't she could have been taken away from her parents, couldn't go to good schools, etc). He fought for her to be white because he knew her life would be better is she were white, but she didn't look white, and so wasn't accepted. Even her father was actually quite racist. He insisted she date white boys, but that wasn't working out so well for her. She ends up living in the black community, but that's not a panacea for her troubles. It's an unbelievable story, but true, so this movie really points out the ludicrous-ness and evil of apartheid, but for some reason the movie didn't move me. It might be because I knew the general facts of the story from the previews, so seeing the movie didn't add a whole lot. Sophie Okonedo plays Sandra, and does a good job, but as the real Sandra said, the end of apartheid came too late for her, leaving the viewer just feeling bad for her.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
October movie reviews
AN EDUCATION. In early 1960's Britain, schoolgirl Jennie is in a big hurry to grow up. She wants to speak French, go to nightclubs, be with people who appreciate art. She is on the path to going to Oxford, but one day she meets an older man (Peter Saarsgard) who introduces her to all the things she wants. He also enchants her parents, and they let her go out with him, despite the nearly 20 year difference in their ages. But something isn't quite right with him. Turns out Jennie will get quite an education from him. I really liked how well this movie depicts a teenager's desperate desire to be and do "adult" things, even if they aren't quite ready for them. Quite good (and based on a true story).
WHIP IT. Seventeen-year-old Bliss (Ellen Page) lives in small-town Bodeen, Texas, and doesn't quite fit in. She works at a local diner and her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) makes her participate in beauty pageants, which just aren't her thing. One day, on a lark, her and a friend go to Austin to watch a women's roller derby event. And Bliss is enthralled. She pulls out her Barbie roller skates and starts practicing, and she makes the team. So begins her growing up during the derby season of hard knocks on and off the track. This isn't a terribly original sports movie, but it was a fun grrl power flick. I liked it.
ZOMBIELAND. Jesse Eisenberg is surviving in a world taken over by zombies. And he does it by religiously adhering to certain rules (do cardio, avoid bathrooms, etc). He's always been a loner, but now that he has no choice, he misses people. Trying to get home from college, he and Woody Harrelson team up to survive. On the way, of course, they must kill and kill and kill zombies. Very tongue in cheek, with lots of gore, the movie is pretty darn funny.
THE INVENTION OF LYING. Marc (Ricky Gervais) lives in a world where no one can lie. About anything. He works writing scripts for "Lecture Movies" because only non-fiction works can exist. He goes on blind dates where the dates flat out tell him that he's a loser (so do the waiters!). The world of advertising is quite different ("Pepsi - it's what you drink when they don't have the other one.") One day, in an especially stressful moment, he finds that he can tell a lie. Which leads to all sorts of complications. This is a brilliant idea, and the movie has some real laugh-out-loud gags. The movie doesn't give the love of Marc's life (Jennifer Garner) enough of a personality, so I thought she came off rather shallow. And the movie has a religious theme that I thought was too heavy handed. But still, it was definitely funny enough to make up for the weaknesses.
THE DAMNED UNITED. Bryan Clough (Michael Sheen) is a coach for a small soccer team in the late 1960s. He is very ambitious, and works up quite a rivalry with the coach of the leading team (Leeds United) in England. (Not that the rival coach realizes it.) Along with his assistant (Timothy Spall), they make their small team one of the best in England. Then Bryan gets the chance to coach the Leeds team when that coach retires. And he fails miserably. The movie goes back and forth from his earlier successes to his later downfall. This isn't really a soccer movie, but a terrific story of the rise and fall of one man. (Based on a true story.)
CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY. I don't think Michael Moore is the most intellectual of filmmakers, but he knows how to put together an entertaining documentary. This one takes on the current economic conditions and how we got here. There is info on deregulation, the tax code, insurance scams, and the foreclosure crisis. There is a really interesting tidbit about how FDR wanted there to be an economic bill of rights for all Americans. Moore is even able to circle back to his first movie (Roger and Me) and take a look at GM and what has happened to his hometown employer. Not much analysis, and no solutions (socialism?), but it was an enjoyable movie experience.
GOOD HAIR. Chris Rock takes a look at black women and their hair in this documentary. He interviews activists, entertainers, politicians, hair dressers and ordinary women in the beauty shop. He explores straighteners, weaves, industry shows, company ownership of black products, and other topics. There isn't enough real analysis of the issue of women and their looks, and the movie is kind of all over the place, so it's not a great documentary, but it was interesting (I did not know how much weaves cost!) and Chris Rock is always good for a funny line for sure.
BRIGHT STAR. In the early 1800's, Fannie Braune was a young woman known for her sewing and fashion sense. Her neighbor makes fun of her, but she holds her own with him. One day, she meets his roommate, John Keats. They don't get along at first either, but she is curious about his poems and he agrees to explain his poetry to her. Eventually they become romantically attracted to each other and their relationship develops into a passionate but chaste love affair. They can't get married because he has no money. Then he gets TB, goes to Italy and dies. That's it. Directed by Jane Campion (she did The Piano), it is beautifully shot and well acted. But it didn't grab me. If you are a fan of costume dramas, unrequited love stories, or romantic poetry, this might be for you.
A SERIOUS MAN. From the Coen Brothers, this movie takes place in 1967 Minnesota. Larry is a physics professor, and he is just an ordinary guy leading an ordinary suburban life. But he is having a string of bad luck - wife wants to leave him, money troubles, loser brother, etc. With the exception of his son's upcoming bar mitzvah, it seems like there is no joy in his life. He goes to a series of rabbis in an attempt to understand why all this is happening to him. But he gets no answers, and although he is trying to do the right thing, he is pretty passive about life. I guess the movie's theme is that a person's character doesn't necessarily determine his fate - bad things happen to good people. But for me, what a snoozefest. Some reviewers are finding it funny, but I rarely did.
WHIP IT. Seventeen-year-old Bliss (Ellen Page) lives in small-town Bodeen, Texas, and doesn't quite fit in. She works at a local diner and her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) makes her participate in beauty pageants, which just aren't her thing. One day, on a lark, her and a friend go to Austin to watch a women's roller derby event. And Bliss is enthralled. She pulls out her Barbie roller skates and starts practicing, and she makes the team. So begins her growing up during the derby season of hard knocks on and off the track. This isn't a terribly original sports movie, but it was a fun grrl power flick. I liked it.
ZOMBIELAND. Jesse Eisenberg is surviving in a world taken over by zombies. And he does it by religiously adhering to certain rules (do cardio, avoid bathrooms, etc). He's always been a loner, but now that he has no choice, he misses people. Trying to get home from college, he and Woody Harrelson team up to survive. On the way, of course, they must kill and kill and kill zombies. Very tongue in cheek, with lots of gore, the movie is pretty darn funny.
THE INVENTION OF LYING. Marc (Ricky Gervais) lives in a world where no one can lie. About anything. He works writing scripts for "Lecture Movies" because only non-fiction works can exist. He goes on blind dates where the dates flat out tell him that he's a loser (so do the waiters!). The world of advertising is quite different ("Pepsi - it's what you drink when they don't have the other one.") One day, in an especially stressful moment, he finds that he can tell a lie. Which leads to all sorts of complications. This is a brilliant idea, and the movie has some real laugh-out-loud gags. The movie doesn't give the love of Marc's life (Jennifer Garner) enough of a personality, so I thought she came off rather shallow. And the movie has a religious theme that I thought was too heavy handed. But still, it was definitely funny enough to make up for the weaknesses.
THE DAMNED UNITED. Bryan Clough (Michael Sheen) is a coach for a small soccer team in the late 1960s. He is very ambitious, and works up quite a rivalry with the coach of the leading team (Leeds United) in England. (Not that the rival coach realizes it.) Along with his assistant (Timothy Spall), they make their small team one of the best in England. Then Bryan gets the chance to coach the Leeds team when that coach retires. And he fails miserably. The movie goes back and forth from his earlier successes to his later downfall. This isn't really a soccer movie, but a terrific story of the rise and fall of one man. (Based on a true story.)
CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY. I don't think Michael Moore is the most intellectual of filmmakers, but he knows how to put together an entertaining documentary. This one takes on the current economic conditions and how we got here. There is info on deregulation, the tax code, insurance scams, and the foreclosure crisis. There is a really interesting tidbit about how FDR wanted there to be an economic bill of rights for all Americans. Moore is even able to circle back to his first movie (Roger and Me) and take a look at GM and what has happened to his hometown employer. Not much analysis, and no solutions (socialism?), but it was an enjoyable movie experience.
GOOD HAIR. Chris Rock takes a look at black women and their hair in this documentary. He interviews activists, entertainers, politicians, hair dressers and ordinary women in the beauty shop. He explores straighteners, weaves, industry shows, company ownership of black products, and other topics. There isn't enough real analysis of the issue of women and their looks, and the movie is kind of all over the place, so it's not a great documentary, but it was interesting (I did not know how much weaves cost!) and Chris Rock is always good for a funny line for sure.
BRIGHT STAR. In the early 1800's, Fannie Braune was a young woman known for her sewing and fashion sense. Her neighbor makes fun of her, but she holds her own with him. One day, she meets his roommate, John Keats. They don't get along at first either, but she is curious about his poems and he agrees to explain his poetry to her. Eventually they become romantically attracted to each other and their relationship develops into a passionate but chaste love affair. They can't get married because he has no money. Then he gets TB, goes to Italy and dies. That's it. Directed by Jane Campion (she did The Piano), it is beautifully shot and well acted. But it didn't grab me. If you are a fan of costume dramas, unrequited love stories, or romantic poetry, this might be for you.
A SERIOUS MAN. From the Coen Brothers, this movie takes place in 1967 Minnesota. Larry is a physics professor, and he is just an ordinary guy leading an ordinary suburban life. But he is having a string of bad luck - wife wants to leave him, money troubles, loser brother, etc. With the exception of his son's upcoming bar mitzvah, it seems like there is no joy in his life. He goes to a series of rabbis in an attempt to understand why all this is happening to him. But he gets no answers, and although he is trying to do the right thing, he is pretty passive about life. I guess the movie's theme is that a person's character doesn't necessarily determine his fate - bad things happen to good people. But for me, what a snoozefest. Some reviewers are finding it funny, but I rarely did.
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