Movie Diary
1. X-Men: The Last Stand
I thought X2 was better than the first one, and I always kinda figured, out of all the superhero franchises, X-Men was the one that had so many characters and potential storylines that I'd actually want to see sequel after sequel, so it was kind of dismaying to hear early reports over the past year about this one killing off several characters and seeming to wrap up the end of the trilogy. I managed to stay away from full-on spoilers enough that I was genuinely shocked by one particular death, and not in a good way. In fact, I was kinda pissed.
The movie itself was alright, less bland than the first one, but kind of punishingly dark and violent at points like War Of The Worlds was, where at some point you kind of feel beaten down by all the noise and explosions and emotionally wrenching plot twists. It also felt kinda disjointed sometimes, especially with Ben Foster's Angel character, who was hyped up as the big new character in this movie, but ended up having only a handful of scenes that were mostly backstory adding up to not much in the end. And a lot of characters having limited screen time to make room for boring ass Storm was a lame trade-off. I cracked up every time Kelsey Grammer was onscreen as Beast, though. That shit was inspired. I was kind of surprised by the Juggernaut quoting a web meme, Snakes On A Plane-style, although it wasn't that funny.
2. The Girl in the Café
Pretty good HBO original movie that I caught on TV recently. A lot of the basics of the plot screamed Lost In Translation knockoff (older man and younger woman who barely know each other have weird semi-romantic relationship over the course of a few days in a hotel in a foreign land), but it had a little more going on with the political subtext of taking place during the G8 conference. Still, it felt a little thin and contrived, and got by mostly on the talent of the two leads. Bill Nighy is great, although I don't know if I can watch him oversell a meek character without being reminded of his perfect turn as Slartibartfast. Kelly Macdonald's accent is just adorable, too.
3. Mad City
I thought I had seen or at least seen trailers for every mid-late 90's Travolta flick from the post-Pulp Fiction avalanche, but somehow I don't remember even hearing of this one at all before catching it on TV recently. It was a little overwrought in making its points about media manipulation, but it was still pretty good, particularly for Dustin Hoffman's character. I think the weirdest thing that I remember about it, though, is that John Landis had a small role for no apparent reason, and had no other involvement in the film.
I thought X2 was better than the first one, and I always kinda figured, out of all the superhero franchises, X-Men was the one that had so many characters and potential storylines that I'd actually want to see sequel after sequel, so it was kind of dismaying to hear early reports over the past year about this one killing off several characters and seeming to wrap up the end of the trilogy. I managed to stay away from full-on spoilers enough that I was genuinely shocked by one particular death, and not in a good way. In fact, I was kinda pissed.
The movie itself was alright, less bland than the first one, but kind of punishingly dark and violent at points like War Of The Worlds was, where at some point you kind of feel beaten down by all the noise and explosions and emotionally wrenching plot twists. It also felt kinda disjointed sometimes, especially with Ben Foster's Angel character, who was hyped up as the big new character in this movie, but ended up having only a handful of scenes that were mostly backstory adding up to not much in the end. And a lot of characters having limited screen time to make room for boring ass Storm was a lame trade-off. I cracked up every time Kelsey Grammer was onscreen as Beast, though. That shit was inspired. I was kind of surprised by the Juggernaut quoting a web meme, Snakes On A Plane-style, although it wasn't that funny.
2. The Girl in the Café
Pretty good HBO original movie that I caught on TV recently. A lot of the basics of the plot screamed Lost In Translation knockoff (older man and younger woman who barely know each other have weird semi-romantic relationship over the course of a few days in a hotel in a foreign land), but it had a little more going on with the political subtext of taking place during the G8 conference. Still, it felt a little thin and contrived, and got by mostly on the talent of the two leads. Bill Nighy is great, although I don't know if I can watch him oversell a meek character without being reminded of his perfect turn as Slartibartfast. Kelly Macdonald's accent is just adorable, too.
3. Mad City
I thought I had seen or at least seen trailers for every mid-late 90's Travolta flick from the post-Pulp Fiction avalanche, but somehow I don't remember even hearing of this one at all before catching it on TV recently. It was a little overwrought in making its points about media manipulation, but it was still pretty good, particularly for Dustin Hoffman's character. I think the weirdest thing that I remember about it, though, is that John Landis had a small role for no apparent reason, and had no other involvement in the film.
Labels: Movie Diary, movies
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on Friday, June 02, 2006 at 12:53 PM.
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