Posts tagged with “movies”
A Weekend at the Movies-- Praying, Pilgriming, and Expending
So I went for the hat-trick this past weekend for the first time in a long time (harder to do when the movies aren’t free). I’m going to give a rare spoiler-free round up on the flicks, so read on without fear.
“Eat, Pray, Love” is not a quirky comedy. It’s a lumbering reflection film that easy to enjoy but impossible with which to relate. Julia Roberts’ Liz is going through a rough patch in her life—except it isn’t all that rough. When most of us are feeling listless, we can’t take off for a year and travel the world eating expensive food or bumming on the beach. Further sickening is the realization that this is allegedly based on actual events. Beyond this the film is a running narrative with no real structure outside of following the title’s chronology (face-stuffing, meditating, screwing), so characters outside of Liz really don’t have arcs, but cameos. All of this may sound like the film was awful, but the picture is well-shot, contains an interesting supporting cast, and in no way is the unholy mindless “chick flick” some are afraid of it being. That said you have to be rich to fully enjoy it, so allow me to say it probably isn’t worth the price of admission.
“The Expendables” is Sly Stallone coming off of a hot streak of returns to his famous properties to give something else “for the fans”. The film is a straight-up 1980’s action flick with no surprises, but plenty of delights. Particularly Jason Statham and Jet Li (who are great to see back together post-“War”) are loads of fun, but there isn’t a weak link in the cast. Want to see some dudes kick some asses? There is plenty of that on display. And not surprising to anyone familiar with the larger bodies of work (pun to be avoided) of these men is the spine-tingling acting on display. If I had any real complaint it would be that Stallone has proven he is a better writer than he shows here and the decision to use digital blood throughout the picture is baffling. But while the writer/director/star lacks in story, he deserves a tip of the hat for his ability to make men say things that other men wish they were witty enough to say. There is a plethora of delightful, crowd-pleasing one-liners throughout the flick, and I can honestly say that if Stallone could come up with a real tale for the already-promised next installment I would be thrilled to sit through another couple hours with this stellar cast. Worth the coin if you don’t mind your brain running on autopilot for a bit.
“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” is a cultural round-house kick to the gonads. While I will admit my street cred must take a second chop to the groin for never having witnessed director Edgar Wright’s BBC series “Spaced”, I place Pilgrim between the genius rising swell of “Hot Fuzz” and the “why in the hell did the third act get all lame and serious when the rest of it was awesome” “Shaun of the Dead” in terms of story—but leaps and bounds ahead in terms of importance to cinema. This is a master at work. Name drop any visionary directors, and I would put Wright on that list after this film. You don’t see this movie in theaters, and you are the same asshole who missed “Fight Club” the first time around. The music by long time Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, the cinematography by “Matrix” and “Serenity” camera-lead Bill Pope, the songs by Beck, and an assembled cast that is having an infectious amount of fun make the movie practically a must-see. I am a big fan of nostalgia, and while there is love to be given to the video game aspect of the movie, the feelings I truly found stirred were those for college. Indy bands, confused love affairs, and an affinity for funny comrades are poured wholesale into your eyes and ears. I do think Michael Cera fails to live up to the source material’s promise, but he is not unlikable by any stretch. I further wish that the film was able to better come together, as somewhat of a “Lord of the Rings” scenario in adaptations comes about where we see a fantastically imaginative and pitch-perfect adaptation slowly unraveling to changes that are inexplicable later in the process. This film is every bit worth the money in your pocket, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why it didn’t make more this past weekend.
Pick the Right One to Watch
Since last Friday, every single time I’ve sat down at my computer somebody has wanted to chat about Watchmen. I’m not complaining– I like that people value my opinion. Makes me feel like I might have the elusive gift of generally accepted “good taste”.
The long and short of it is, for me, Zack Snyder leaves nothing but an awful taste in my mouth. I despised his 300 adaptation, and his latest effort does little more for me– it is at best a failing grade. I’m reminded of the difference between The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers when viewing the Alan Moore / Dave Gibbons adaptation. Fellowship was a brilliant film, perfectly capturing the emotion, character motivation, and subtle nuances of the book upon which it was based. You’ll never hear me complain about Tom Bombadil, a lack of mythical swords, or… well, damn near anything when it comes to the extended cut of the first movie. The second? Balls. Utter trash that misinterprets the source material in all the most painful ways.
Watchmen is strikingly similar in its failures. Blue porn penises and absent squids (save dumb “wink-wink” easter eggs) aren’t the problem with this adaptation– it is the lack of anything subtle or intriguing being left intact. Lines are twisted and put in the wrong mouths removing character’s charm. Two of the best examples of this mark-missing come alongside sex scenes. When the second Silk Spectre, Laurie, is getting the four-armed treatment from Doctor Manhattan, there’s a tone shift from the original “I thought you would like this” defense brought up by the superman to “I thought you liked this”. Later on, when Laurie first attempts to make love to the second Nite Owl, the scene doesn’t end with cuddling or reassurances about overcoming impotency, but instead what seems like a weak premature ejaculation joke due to poor cutting. Sure, these are small hairs being split, but it’s the small strokes that matter. In both these cases, we see the sexualization of characters (arguably the most important piece of the narrative puzzle) being twisted and made more broad. Laurie’s a sex freak and Dan’s a horny teenager in the film in opposition to the idea of them as complex characters. For me, the largest causality in the film is Adrian Veidt; not only is actor Matthew Goode’s performance cringe-inducing, but we get none of the character’s endearing strokes at the film’s climax. No flashing smiles, no admitting he was unsure about being able to catch a bullet, and no final inquiry to Doctor Manhattan as to whether his master plan was “right”. What’s most sad is, from a screenwriting point, they did a good job adapting many of the book’s long monologues into more digestible pieces of dialog, while ruining the book’s one-liners. Beyond this, I understand and support altering the ending “Doomsday” mechanism because of the subplots needed to reach that end would have taken precious time, however, when you remove every “normal” person from the source material, you must be even more rigorous in ensuring the characters are human. There is no humanity in the Watchmen film, and as such I can’t understand how someone coming into the feature cold could enjoy it.
Mentioning “cold” and “humanity” brings me around to a treat I was finally exposed to this past week (and lucky enough to catch in a theater, even though it has just hit DVD)– the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In. Slow-paced by choosing tip-toeing through themes, the flick is a damned masterpiece. I like a rock’em sock’em vampire movie as much as the next fellow, but there was something downright magical about this brooding work which places as twelve-year-old boy in close proximity to a “young” (at least in appearance) vampire towards whom he develop feelings. While I’ve never read the source book, it is still plain to see that the material was adapted in a manner that told a story without beating the audience over the head via sensationalized details. There was action, humor, and horror while the backstory and ending both left plenty to the imagination and my fellow viewers and me wanting more. If you’re looking for some meat to hold you over until the summer movie blitz, I highly recommend it.