Movie Diary
1. An Inconvenient Truth
It was good timing for J.G. and I to go see this at the Charles in the middle of July when the Summer was at its hottest and there were reports of heatwaves and droughts all over the place. The whole thing was pretty much scary as hell. The most depressing thing might have been the fact that most of the audience we saw it with was elderly. Maybe it was just because it was a Sunday afternoon matinee, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that most of the people seeing this movie aren’t going to be the ones who need to see it, people of my generation who are going to live its consequences and maybe have a chance to do something about it.
2. The Aristocrats
Although I could never be a comedian, I’ve always been fascinated by the way there seems to be this kind of code among stand-ups, this community of mutual respect between peers, but it’s really just a bunch of people trying to make each other laugh. And this movie is really illustrative of that, the idea that there’s some joke so dirty and ridiculous that they only tell it to each other and never audiences. I think my favorite version of the joke in the movie was Martin Mull’s which was really a completely different joke with the same name.
3. The Aviator
Blanchett as Hepburn was definitely the best thing about the cast (although the other stars-of-today-as-stars-of-yesteryear cameos by Jude Law and Gwent Stefani were just flashy bullshit), but I went back and forth about how DiCaprio did -- sometimes I thought he was hammy and ridiculous, sometimes he seemed fully absorbed in the character and I kind of bought it. I think the film did a good job of illustrating why Howard Hughes led a fascinating life but it was all so surface level that it made me want to read a bio about him (are there any particularly good ones out there?) more than anything else.
4. House of Wax
The one stock horror movie device that almost always works on me is when the protagonist/victim is in a room full of inanimate objects with human features, and they’re paranoid that some person that’s out to get them is actually in there. It gives me the heebie jeebies every time. Since this movie is basically scene after scene of that, it worked pretty well for me. And despite all outward signs of not taking itself to seriously (being a horror remake, casting Paris Hilton, etc.), it was a pretty good flick. Elisha Cuthbert is one of the only women who’s ever defied my brunette fetish to look worse with dark hair, but I guess they were trying to dirty her up a little bit in this. That last scene with the fire is just awesome, though, serious nightmare material.
5. Cursed
Supposedly this movie was plagued by re-shoots and delays (supposedly due in part to re-shooting an ending that took place in a wax museum, which makes me wonder if they changed it because of House Of Wax) and I remember it getting terrible reviews, but I thought it was kind of fun even if it had some pretty stupid parts. The best part was Judy Greer’s big scene, where she seemed like she was having a lot of fun playing against the type of characters she usually plays.
6. In Her Shoes
I was kinda cynical about this, figuring oh, this was Cameron Diaz’s chance to do a ‘smart movie’ while still playing a blonde bimbo. But it turned out to be pretty good, or at least an above average chick flick that was brutally honest about sibling relationships in a way that I could really identify with.
7. The Upside Of Anger
Proof that I will watch anything with Erika Christensen in it. Again, this was pretty good for a chick flick, better than I expected it to be given how terrible Mike Binder’s show on HBO was a few years ago. Joan Allen got a little over the top at times, though.
It was good timing for J.G. and I to go see this at the Charles in the middle of July when the Summer was at its hottest and there were reports of heatwaves and droughts all over the place. The whole thing was pretty much scary as hell. The most depressing thing might have been the fact that most of the audience we saw it with was elderly. Maybe it was just because it was a Sunday afternoon matinee, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that most of the people seeing this movie aren’t going to be the ones who need to see it, people of my generation who are going to live its consequences and maybe have a chance to do something about it.
2. The Aristocrats
Although I could never be a comedian, I’ve always been fascinated by the way there seems to be this kind of code among stand-ups, this community of mutual respect between peers, but it’s really just a bunch of people trying to make each other laugh. And this movie is really illustrative of that, the idea that there’s some joke so dirty and ridiculous that they only tell it to each other and never audiences. I think my favorite version of the joke in the movie was Martin Mull’s which was really a completely different joke with the same name.
3. The Aviator
Blanchett as Hepburn was definitely the best thing about the cast (although the other stars-of-today-as-stars-of-yesteryear cameos by Jude Law and Gwent Stefani were just flashy bullshit), but I went back and forth about how DiCaprio did -- sometimes I thought he was hammy and ridiculous, sometimes he seemed fully absorbed in the character and I kind of bought it. I think the film did a good job of illustrating why Howard Hughes led a fascinating life but it was all so surface level that it made me want to read a bio about him (are there any particularly good ones out there?) more than anything else.
4. House of Wax
The one stock horror movie device that almost always works on me is when the protagonist/victim is in a room full of inanimate objects with human features, and they’re paranoid that some person that’s out to get them is actually in there. It gives me the heebie jeebies every time. Since this movie is basically scene after scene of that, it worked pretty well for me. And despite all outward signs of not taking itself to seriously (being a horror remake, casting Paris Hilton, etc.), it was a pretty good flick. Elisha Cuthbert is one of the only women who’s ever defied my brunette fetish to look worse with dark hair, but I guess they were trying to dirty her up a little bit in this. That last scene with the fire is just awesome, though, serious nightmare material.
5. Cursed
Supposedly this movie was plagued by re-shoots and delays (supposedly due in part to re-shooting an ending that took place in a wax museum, which makes me wonder if they changed it because of House Of Wax) and I remember it getting terrible reviews, but I thought it was kind of fun even if it had some pretty stupid parts. The best part was Judy Greer’s big scene, where she seemed like she was having a lot of fun playing against the type of characters she usually plays.
6. In Her Shoes
I was kinda cynical about this, figuring oh, this was Cameron Diaz’s chance to do a ‘smart movie’ while still playing a blonde bimbo. But it turned out to be pretty good, or at least an above average chick flick that was brutally honest about sibling relationships in a way that I could really identify with.
7. The Upside Of Anger
Proof that I will watch anything with Erika Christensen in it. Again, this was pretty good for a chick flick, better than I expected it to be given how terrible Mike Binder’s show on HBO was a few years ago. Joan Allen got a little over the top at times, though.
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