Movie Round-up
I've seen several movies over the last couple of weeks and haven't had the chance really to blog about that many of them. So I thought I'd try to do it all in one swoop. Sit back and here we go. (In alphabetical order):2046---Great, but difficult. For more , see my review.
The Beat that My Heart Skipped--French film that is a remake of James Toback's 1978 film Fingers with Harvey Keitel. Smart, clever, and absolutely French. I see an opportunity to take this and make a completely mainstream family movie from it about family and what we inhereit from our parents. The film asks interesting questions about inheritence and duty. The lead character is a beautiful paradox--a gangster who yearns to be a classical pianist. Gotta love that.
The Beautiful Country--Great performance from Nick Nolte. Could possibly get an Oscar nomination for it. Check out my review.
Ears Open. Eyeballs, Click.--Atrocious. This documentary goes on and on and shows you nothing new beyond the fact that boot camp for Marines is hard. Duh! After sitting through this, I felt like I was becoming incredibly anti-military and I'm sure that wasn't the intention of the first-time filmmaker. I'd be surprised if this ever got distributed theatrically, but if somehow it does, it'll be on my worst of the year list.
Heights--Out of this batch, this is by far my favorite. Doesn't necessarily mean that this is the best film, but it's just the kind of pseudo-intellectual ensemble actory piece that I eat up. The film is based on a one act play. It's about five stories intermixing over the course of one day. It stars Glenn Close (why doesn't this woman have an Oscar yet?), Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, Rufus Wainwright (?!), and Jesse Bradford. The stories weave in and out in expected and unexpected ways. Though Close steals the show, all the stories feel equal. Maybe that's because of the way they all come together. They touch but don't Crash into one another like some other over-rated ensemble movie I saw eariler this summer. It's also a love song to New York, which, despite what one of my friends was saying this weekend, I think films get right in romanticizing. At least, I agree with them on romanticizing it. There's a scene where a couple stands on top of a skyscraper looking out at the Empire State Building and it was the first time since I've been here that I've wondered if maybe I should've moved somewhere else. The film also has some interesting ideas about relationships and what makes connections work. Nothing groundbreaking here, but didn't stop me from loving it. Definitely suggest this one if you get the chance.
Junebug--Could be known as "Crazies in Winston-Salem." Actually, the sign of craziness would be going to see this really bad movie. Read my review.
Rize--Interesting subject matter. Poorly directed film. Obviously done by a first time director who comes from the world of music videos. The friend that I saw it with thought it was about fifteen minutes too long. Personally, I think the 90 minute film should have been about 25 minutes. Just not enough story to last through the entire thing. But it did make me at least understand and appreciate krumpin'. I just wish it hadn't made me tire of it too.
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants--I was the only male in the theater. I thought I was going to get arrested on suspicions of being a dirty old man or something, but this is a really well put together movie. Granted, I'm not the target audience, but it didn't stop me from appreciating it, or from wanting to suggest it to young girls. I expected the film to be a light hearted kind of comedy, but this movie was drama--and pretty heavy for pre-teen girls. Cancer, divorce, abandonment, using sex to fill a void--I mean when family rivalry is the lightest story line, you know it's wild. The thing that I liked the most about this film is that the girls were smart and very human. Every single one of them made mistakes and there were consequences to all of their mistakes. Sure, it was very moral-lesson, but it never felt too preachy. Part of that was the performances. All four of the leads worked, particularly America Ferrera (Real Women Have Curves). Just two nit-picky things. First, the movie is supposed to be shot in Bethesda, MD. This looked like no part of Bethesda I'd ever seen. (But I guess that happens when you shoot in Vancouver.) Second, two of the four stories revolved around girls dating boys--both of whom were in college. I would've been okay with that hapenning in one of the stories, but in both of them--that was a little much for me, especially since the girls were only 16. I worry about what kind of example this sets, encouraging the audience to be too sexualized too early. But then, I don't have young girls, so I can't say for sure how the audience would take this. It just made me a little uncomfortable.
posted by cinegod @ 9:27 PM
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