Movie Diary
1. Match Point
I'm willing to play apologist for plenty of Woody Allen's later work, save for his screwball worst (Small Time Crooks) and most awkwardly failed experiments (Melinda And Melinda), but it's kind of depressing that probably his most acclaimed and highest grossing film of the past 20 years is kind of crap, and probably only succeeded by virtue of being a drama and featuring a bankable star. Any potential it had to be as good as Crimes And Misdemeanors evaporated when he cast two leads completely incapable of anything other than the most flat, unconvincing possible reading to every line of dialogue (which isn't exactly sparkling to begin with, since Woody removed any sign of wit or intelligence from the characters' mouths in his quest to not make a comedy). How ScarJo became any more respected as an actress than, say, Jessica Biel is likely the work of a brilliant agent and nothing else.
2. American Dreamz
I will watch any piece of crap if Mandy Moore's in it, and have in fact logged multiple viewings of Chasing Liberty for no other reason than how hot she is in it, so I sat through this knowing full well how bad it would probably be (and her character turned out to be too annoying/repulsive to really be attractive anyway). This movie fit 10 pounds worth of played out 00's satire (mostly American Idol and G.W. Bush) into a 5 pound bag and still came off lightweight.
3. When A Stranger Calls
Never saw the original, never really read any reviews or anything to know what happens, but it doesn't really matter because pretty much the entire premise is spelled out the trailer, hell, in the title, and nothing surprising happens at all. It feels silly to even dignify this movie by saying "spoiler" before talking about the ending but: the most ridiculous part of this was the way it made a big show of never showing "The Stranger"'s face, even using a different actor for the character's voice than the one playing the body, to the point that during the final confrontation they kept digitally shadowing his face in implausible ways that implied that his head was some kind of black hole from which no light could escape. And then they finally unveil his voice at the last possible moment, and it's just some guy, no character seen earlier in the film, no twist, just a slightly scary-looking guy. But it was just one pointless, unsuccessful attempt at suspense out of many throughout the movie.
4. Rear Window
Now here's a movie where I pretty much knew the premise through and through but still got a good, immersive esperience out of the movie (I know, not fair, comparing "the master of suspense" to some shitty 2006 remake). As far as Hitchcock/Jimmy Stewart collaborations go, I prefer Rope, but this was still pretty good and there's some more I need to see. Also: Grace Kelly, hotcha hotcha.
5. Modern Girls
This is probably the most archetypal 80's movie I've ever seen that isn't an iconic "80's movie." There isn't a single thing about it that isn't ridiculous or that they would've gotten away with in 1979 or 1991, and the plot made no sense. Mainly I watched it because of a circa-Spaceballs Daphne Zuniga and a really hot young Virginia Madsen.
6. To Live And Die In L.A.
Another 1985 flick that's primarily interesting to see how young the later established cast members were in it, including a way pre-"C.S.I." William Petersen, a pre-"Mad About You" John Pankow with slightly more hair, John Turturro, and Willem Dafoe playing the bad guy (between his creepy facial features and the fact that his name is "da foe," it must be irresistible to cast him as a villain over and over). I'd never seen any William Friedkin movies besides the Exorcist and it generally seems like he descended into hackery after a promising early career, this being respectably dark and noir for its era but still full of garish music choices, questionable pacing, and completely laughable action scenes where whoever throws the first punch wins every fight and the other person just kind of stands there and takes a kick in the groin with no defense. Also, full frontal Gil Grissom, if anyone's into that.
I'm willing to play apologist for plenty of Woody Allen's later work, save for his screwball worst (Small Time Crooks) and most awkwardly failed experiments (Melinda And Melinda), but it's kind of depressing that probably his most acclaimed and highest grossing film of the past 20 years is kind of crap, and probably only succeeded by virtue of being a drama and featuring a bankable star. Any potential it had to be as good as Crimes And Misdemeanors evaporated when he cast two leads completely incapable of anything other than the most flat, unconvincing possible reading to every line of dialogue (which isn't exactly sparkling to begin with, since Woody removed any sign of wit or intelligence from the characters' mouths in his quest to not make a comedy). How ScarJo became any more respected as an actress than, say, Jessica Biel is likely the work of a brilliant agent and nothing else.
2. American Dreamz
I will watch any piece of crap if Mandy Moore's in it, and have in fact logged multiple viewings of Chasing Liberty for no other reason than how hot she is in it, so I sat through this knowing full well how bad it would probably be (and her character turned out to be too annoying/repulsive to really be attractive anyway). This movie fit 10 pounds worth of played out 00's satire (mostly American Idol and G.W. Bush) into a 5 pound bag and still came off lightweight.
3. When A Stranger Calls
Never saw the original, never really read any reviews or anything to know what happens, but it doesn't really matter because pretty much the entire premise is spelled out the trailer, hell, in the title, and nothing surprising happens at all. It feels silly to even dignify this movie by saying "spoiler" before talking about the ending but: the most ridiculous part of this was the way it made a big show of never showing "The Stranger"'s face, even using a different actor for the character's voice than the one playing the body, to the point that during the final confrontation they kept digitally shadowing his face in implausible ways that implied that his head was some kind of black hole from which no light could escape. And then they finally unveil his voice at the last possible moment, and it's just some guy, no character seen earlier in the film, no twist, just a slightly scary-looking guy. But it was just one pointless, unsuccessful attempt at suspense out of many throughout the movie.
4. Rear Window
Now here's a movie where I pretty much knew the premise through and through but still got a good, immersive esperience out of the movie (I know, not fair, comparing "the master of suspense" to some shitty 2006 remake). As far as Hitchcock/Jimmy Stewart collaborations go, I prefer Rope, but this was still pretty good and there's some more I need to see. Also: Grace Kelly, hotcha hotcha.
5. Modern Girls
This is probably the most archetypal 80's movie I've ever seen that isn't an iconic "80's movie." There isn't a single thing about it that isn't ridiculous or that they would've gotten away with in 1979 or 1991, and the plot made no sense. Mainly I watched it because of a circa-Spaceballs Daphne Zuniga and a really hot young Virginia Madsen.
6. To Live And Die In L.A.
Another 1985 flick that's primarily interesting to see how young the later established cast members were in it, including a way pre-"C.S.I." William Petersen, a pre-"Mad About You" John Pankow with slightly more hair, John Turturro, and Willem Dafoe playing the bad guy (between his creepy facial features and the fact that his name is "da foe," it must be irresistible to cast him as a villain over and over). I'd never seen any William Friedkin movies besides the Exorcist and it generally seems like he descended into hackery after a promising early career, this being respectably dark and noir for its era but still full of garish music choices, questionable pacing, and completely laughable action scenes where whoever throws the first punch wins every fight and the other person just kind of stands there and takes a kick in the groin with no defense. Also, full frontal Gil Grissom, if anyone's into that.
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on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 at 12:55 PM.
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