Movie Diary
a) Legion
Last Friday the wife and I got to go on a date with just the two of us for the first time since the baby was born, and naturally we went and saw the kind of special effects-heavy popcorn movie junk we both have a weak spot for. This movie was kinda hit and miss in that from moment to moment it might look awesomely expensive or kind of chintzy and cheap, and feel pompously self-serious or kind of Sam Raimi-style campy and over-the-top. Overall, though, a pretty enjoyable flick with a ton of really memorable imagery. After "Lost" last season and Smokin' Aces and this, Kevin Durand is carving out a good niche for himself playing big scary motherfuckers.
b) Fired Up!
As far as bawdy cheerleader-themed comedies go, this is really clever and well written. I wasn't sure what I thought of Eric Christian Olsen in the first couple things I saw him in, but after his guest spot on "Community" I think dude is really funny.
c) Synecdoche, NY
Reviews, both positive and otherwise, that constantly refer to this movie as "complex" or "ambitious" give it too much credit. It's obtuse and involved, but as an artistic undertaking it's old hat for Charlie Kaufman. I'll go to bat for Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind or even Adaptation, but here he bashes you over the head with meta so artlessly and relentlessly that what little emotion and humor there is in individual scenes is just mashed into a fine pulp that barely comes across in the turgid final product. "Masturbatory" would be the right word for this movie even if he hadn't given his stand-in protagonist something like 5 different love interests.
d) Taken
I feel like there's so many movies these days that could basically be summed as "(male movie star) has a gun," that at this point I want to just make a franchise out of the idea. Clive Owen Has A Gun and Jason Statham Has A Gun would be no-brainers, but this, Liam Neeson Has A Gun, is a pretty good entry in the series too. For some reason the idea works better with British/Irish actors. Maybe it's a James Bond thing.
e) The Uninvited
It was interesting to see Elizabeth Banks play a creepy character in a horror movie after all the rom coms she's done in the last few years, but she took to it pretty well. There were some good scares and some disturbing imagery in here, but the big twist at the end, and a lot of bending over backwards the movie did to get there, made it overall kinda dumb.
f) Keith
A nice little teen romance movie, with a weird brooding atmosphere that made it a little less saccharine that it would've otherwise been, especially considering how it ended.
g) Wonder Boys
This was nice, didn't love it, didn't hate it, good performances all around. Went in some unfortunate and predictable directions, especially towards the end, but I enjoyed the ride well enough.
Last Friday the wife and I got to go on a date with just the two of us for the first time since the baby was born, and naturally we went and saw the kind of special effects-heavy popcorn movie junk we both have a weak spot for. This movie was kinda hit and miss in that from moment to moment it might look awesomely expensive or kind of chintzy and cheap, and feel pompously self-serious or kind of Sam Raimi-style campy and over-the-top. Overall, though, a pretty enjoyable flick with a ton of really memorable imagery. After "Lost" last season and Smokin' Aces and this, Kevin Durand is carving out a good niche for himself playing big scary motherfuckers.
b) Fired Up!
As far as bawdy cheerleader-themed comedies go, this is really clever and well written. I wasn't sure what I thought of Eric Christian Olsen in the first couple things I saw him in, but after his guest spot on "Community" I think dude is really funny.
c) Synecdoche, NY
Reviews, both positive and otherwise, that constantly refer to this movie as "complex" or "ambitious" give it too much credit. It's obtuse and involved, but as an artistic undertaking it's old hat for Charlie Kaufman. I'll go to bat for Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind or even Adaptation, but here he bashes you over the head with meta so artlessly and relentlessly that what little emotion and humor there is in individual scenes is just mashed into a fine pulp that barely comes across in the turgid final product. "Masturbatory" would be the right word for this movie even if he hadn't given his stand-in protagonist something like 5 different love interests.
d) Taken
I feel like there's so many movies these days that could basically be summed as "(male movie star) has a gun," that at this point I want to just make a franchise out of the idea. Clive Owen Has A Gun and Jason Statham Has A Gun would be no-brainers, but this, Liam Neeson Has A Gun, is a pretty good entry in the series too. For some reason the idea works better with British/Irish actors. Maybe it's a James Bond thing.
e) The Uninvited
It was interesting to see Elizabeth Banks play a creepy character in a horror movie after all the rom coms she's done in the last few years, but she took to it pretty well. There were some good scares and some disturbing imagery in here, but the big twist at the end, and a lot of bending over backwards the movie did to get there, made it overall kinda dumb.
f) Keith
A nice little teen romance movie, with a weird brooding atmosphere that made it a little less saccharine that it would've otherwise been, especially considering how it ended.
g) Wonder Boys
This was nice, didn't love it, didn't hate it, good performances all around. Went in some unfortunate and predictable directions, especially towards the end, but I enjoyed the ride well enough.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 9:16 PM.
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Michael : 5:27 PM