IRON MAN 2. I really like Robert Downey Jr., but with the exception of a minute or two here and there, I was bored out of my mind. Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell are the bad guys, Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Stark's right hand, and Scarlett Johanson arrives as an attorney for Stark Industries. Lots of explosions and battles. Just didn't engage me.
SECRET IN THEIR EYES. Winner of this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Film. It is about a former detective who is retired and has written a book about a 1970s rape-murder case he worked on. He has never been able to let go of how politics interfered with justice on the case. He asks his boss from from that time (she is now a judge) to take a look at the book for him. He was in love with her, but believing she was out of his league, he never acted on his feelings. The movie tells the two parallel stories, the rape-murder case that he has written about, and the now-older couple reconnecting. This is a very watchable movie - I like the way the stories just unfolded...
CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY. Documentary about Jack Abramoff, who is serving a prison term for his shenanigans as a high profile lobbyist in Washington. He took vast sums of money from both garment manufacturers in the Marianas Islands (so they could continue to exploit workers) and Indian tribes (to support their casinos). He wasn't content to make gobs of money; he got involved in kickbacks as well. The movie describes Abramoff's start as an ambitious young college Republican to his fall from grace, and also highlights the huge amounts of money that politicians need to get elected, and the inherent corruption in our system. The investigation into his actions eventually brought down several Congressmen. Depressing, and maybe too convoluted, but still interesting to me.
MOTHER AND CHILD. This is the story of three women: Annette Bening, who as a 14-year-old gave up a child for adoption; Naomi Watts, the child she gave up, and Kerry Washington, who desperately wants to adopt a child. Both Annette and Naomi was strongly affected by the adoption - Annette is a strange, socially clueless woman, and Naomi is an aggressively independent woman. They both avoid relationships. The acting in this movie is terrific (including the supporting cast of Samuel Jackson, Jimmy Smits, and S. Epatha Merkerson). Although I was never bored by the story, it took some turns that were all too predictable, and others that were just unbelievable. Too bad - there aren't all that many movies about women these days.
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP. Documentary based on the home movies filmed by Thierry Guetta, a Frenchman living in LA. He compulsively films everything. When he visits his cousin in Paris, noted street artist ( a step above graffiti) named Invader, Thierry becomes involved in the world of street art. He becomes more and more involved in filming street artists, and implies to them that he is making a documentary. But he really isn't; he is too disorganized. When he finally puts something together, his most famous subject, Banksy, a British street artist who has become a darling of the art crowd, is appalled at how bad the film is and takes over the making of the movie. And then the documentary focuses on Thierry, as he starts doing his own art. Interesting and entertaining, just on the street art portion of the film. But then the movie takes a little turn that I really enjoyed. Leading to questions about what is art. Don't want to give it away. Fun flick.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
April movie reviews
DATE NIGHT. Tina Fey and Steve Carrell are suburban married parents stuck in a rut. So they decide to go into the city on a date night. Arriving at a trendy restaurant, they find they have no chance of getting in without a reservation. So they take the reservation of a couple of no-shows. But it turns out that the no-shows are in trouble with some bad guys, and so Tina and Steve's night in the city turns into a series of crazy adventures running from bad guys and trying to get out of the jam there are in. Very cute movie; I laughed out loud quite a bit.
THE SQUARE. Australian noir. A middle aged man and a younger woman are in love. Problem is, they are both married to someone else. When the young wife discovers that her husband is hiding some money away, she tries to convince her older lover that they should steal the money so they could run away together. So begins their downward spiral. In typical noir fashion, one bad act leads to a series of unexpected consequences. I usually like this genre, and I really liked this movie. (Note: this movie is preceded by a 10-minute short film by the directors that I also thought was terrific.)
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. Animation by Dreamworks. Hiccup lives in a Viking village terrorized by dragons. He is a skinny boy, considered a lost cause as a warrior by his chieftain father. But Hiccup wants very badly to be a dragon killer and gain respect. He does shoot down a dragon, but discovers he doesn't have the heart to kill it. Instead, he makes friends with it. And he will become the hero he dreamed of. This movie has beautiful 3D animation, but for me, I thought this one more aimed at kids than adults.
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA. DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS. Documentary on the life and times of Daniel Ellsberg, beginning with his work for the Rand Corporation (a Pentagon think-tank) in supporting the Vietnam War in the early years through his evolution to an anti-war activist. I knew the outlines of the story, but this goes much deeper into Ellsberg's past and motivations. Fascinating stuff, both the American history and the personal history of Ellsberg. I really enjoyed it.
GREENBERG. Ben Stiller is Greenberg, a New Yorker recently out of a mental institution after a nervous breakdown. He moves into his Los Angeles' brother's house to recuperate. The brother and his family go on vacation, and they leave the phone number of their young assistant for Greenberg, in case he needs anything. He does call Florence, and they develop an up and down relationship. Greenberg also reconnects with his high school buddies. The problem is, Greenberg is a terrible person. He seems to have a personality disorder that make him lash out at people, he seems to have no sense of appropriate behavior, he's completely self-centered, he's just a jerk. Plus there is the age difference. Still she sees something in him and puts up with his shit. I was not happy the two connected; she seemed too normal and nice to end up with a loser like that. I really disliked this movie. I didn't get that there was humor in this movie as it seems some critics did...
THE SQUARE. Australian noir. A middle aged man and a younger woman are in love. Problem is, they are both married to someone else. When the young wife discovers that her husband is hiding some money away, she tries to convince her older lover that they should steal the money so they could run away together. So begins their downward spiral. In typical noir fashion, one bad act leads to a series of unexpected consequences. I usually like this genre, and I really liked this movie. (Note: this movie is preceded by a 10-minute short film by the directors that I also thought was terrific.)
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. Animation by Dreamworks. Hiccup lives in a Viking village terrorized by dragons. He is a skinny boy, considered a lost cause as a warrior by his chieftain father. But Hiccup wants very badly to be a dragon killer and gain respect. He does shoot down a dragon, but discovers he doesn't have the heart to kill it. Instead, he makes friends with it. And he will become the hero he dreamed of. This movie has beautiful 3D animation, but for me, I thought this one more aimed at kids than adults.
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA. DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS. Documentary on the life and times of Daniel Ellsberg, beginning with his work for the Rand Corporation (a Pentagon think-tank) in supporting the Vietnam War in the early years through his evolution to an anti-war activist. I knew the outlines of the story, but this goes much deeper into Ellsberg's past and motivations. Fascinating stuff, both the American history and the personal history of Ellsberg. I really enjoyed it.
GREENBERG. Ben Stiller is Greenberg, a New Yorker recently out of a mental institution after a nervous breakdown. He moves into his Los Angeles' brother's house to recuperate. The brother and his family go on vacation, and they leave the phone number of their young assistant for Greenberg, in case he needs anything. He does call Florence, and they develop an up and down relationship. Greenberg also reconnects with his high school buddies. The problem is, Greenberg is a terrible person. He seems to have a personality disorder that make him lash out at people, he seems to have no sense of appropriate behavior, he's completely self-centered, he's just a jerk. Plus there is the age difference. Still she sees something in him and puts up with his shit. I was not happy the two connected; she seemed too normal and nice to end up with a loser like that. I really disliked this movie. I didn't get that there was humor in this movie as it seems some critics did...
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