February 23, 2010

• Movie Review Update 2/19/10

  previous reviews here.

  A Single Man (2009) – colin firth, julianne moore.  this is fashion designer Tom Ford’s first feature film, and he makes it pretty clear that a good eye is a good eye no matter what media you choose to dabble in.  the movie does indeed look great.  i’m just not so sure Ford thought of much else when making this film.  it’s about a college professor’s (colin firth) six foot depression after the accidental death of his lover.  each shot looks meticulously prepared and a little bit gorgeous, but i question some scenes and shots that i thought, while looking nice, didn’t really contribute to the overall narrative, but rather dragged it down.  was that series of slow-mo shots really necessary?  was that character really necessary?  the clincher was the truly cringe-worthy performance by one of the professor’s students.  next to the presence of Colin Firth’s not insignificant talent, it looked like amateur hour to a laughable degree.  seriously, it was kind of like watching Mike Tyson fight a penguin or something.  thankfully Firth, along with the film’s sizable visual aesthetic, rescue this from being a total disaster.  2 stars. 

  Paris, Texas (1984) – a Wim Wenders film.  i’m not really sure what possessed me to queue this one up after i was so disappointed with Wings of Desire and not completely impressed with Don’t Come Knocking, but i did, and i’m glad for it.  it’s about a guy who was lost for four years, and is discovered wandering in the desert.  the next 2.5 hours is about the road he travels, literally and figuratively, from that point.  details are revealed in slow, careful increments following his footsteps as he tries to repair himself and the mess he left behind.  this is definitely not a melodrama; it’s not the type to jump out at you in any cheap way.  and it’s certainly a slow, long movie meant only for people who deliberately sought it out.  but, to me, this portrait of this man and his progression from the darkness is an example of the art of filmmaking.  4 stars.  

  Daytime Drinking (2008) – korean film about the futility of alcohol enabled escapism.  at least that’s what i think the film was about anyway.  it’s actually about a guy getting over a recent breakup on a trip to the countryside to eat and drink and be merry with friends when basically everything that can go wrong does.  it’s not as funny as i thought it wanted to be, nor was it as insightful or well laid out.  2 stars. 

  Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) – an inventive dork discovers a way to make it rain food.  this film has a great, silly sense of humor.  look for a side of Mr. T you’re not used to seeing.  not much more to say about this one…  3 stars. 

  Bright Star (2009) – Jane Campion’s (The Piano) film about the love affair between Romantic poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne.  this film was highly regarded on the festival circuit and was even nominated for several major film awards though i’m not quite sure why.  it takes for granted that some kind of love is tangibly evident on screen. sorry but i need a little more than actors in long, silent poses, staring off into space to get my love cockles up and flaring.  not sure if it’s the actors or the direction, but i never really felt any chemistry or any anima to indicate that these two wooden blocks were capable of any emotion at all.  naturally, in a love story, if that doesn’t work, everything else suffers.  2 stars. 

  Big Fan (2009) – written by Robert Siegel (The Wrestler).  Patton Oswalt plays a total loser, 40-ish-year-old rabid fan of the NY Giants.  given The Wrestler credentials, i expected a deep, dark drama about some flawed but relateable characters.  instead i got a dark drama about a wacko who’s completely detached from the planet earth.  while i don’t doubt that insane sports fans like this exist, i do find this portrait of one hard to sympathize with and easy to ridicule.  Patton Oswalt does a great job as the uber-loser fan, but really his character needed a little something more going for him.  overall, not a bad movie, just hard to watch.  3 stars. 

  Ballast (2008) – Sundance award winner.  two mutually exclusive halves of a poor man’s life are brought together by his death.  filmed with a decidedly european feel.  its lack of production effects give it that raw french feel like in L’Enfant (The Child) or, as a film reviewer rightly pointed out, like some of the romanian films coming out.  no real lighting to speak of.  handheld cameras.  it follows that style, but didn’t really create as much impact for me, which isn’t to say it’s bad.  it’s all just real drama slowly peeling itself off in layers.  if you’re into recent french films not made by Luc Besson, you might like this one.  if not, you probably won’t.  3 stars. 

  Mean Girls (2004) – a little late coming, but i finally got around to watching this one after being motivated by my appreciation for 30 Rock, also written by Tina Fey.  meh…  i didn’t think it was nearly as funny as i was hoping it would be.  i thought teenagers being catty and brutal to each other would be right up Tina Fey’s alley for some reason.  guess not.  love that extended rachel mcadams scream though.  she was such a great bitch.  (btw a friend of mine met Rachel McAdams on the set of State of Play and said she “is a sweetheart.”)  3 stars. 

  Moon (2009) – Sam Rockwell is the lone operator of a mining rig on the moon.  he’s finishing up a three year stint — alone — on the moon when he has an accident and shit gets a little weird for the poor dude.  this movie really struck me as a great example of a good, simple idea, executed very well.  it wasn’t really a very ambitious film, imo.  it could easily have been a play on one stage.  but it took its one idea and carved itself into a crafty little present.  good pace, excellent performance by sam rockwell, great composition and use of music, very careful about what to reveal and when, etc.  just a solid, tight little film here.  4 stars. 

  Yi Yi (2000) – Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang’s critically lauded film that landed on a few Best Films of the Decade lists.  it’s an expansive snapshot of this one family as it navigates through several turbulent episodes.  never really getting into the face of its characters, the film observes from a step back and gets the wide-angle inclusiveness that’s necessary, but sometimes neglected.  when this film ends, you really get a sense that you know all the major characters and their relationships with each other.  4 stars. 

  Role Models (2008) – paul rudd, sean william scott.  two guys are assigned to a big brother type youth organization to work out their court sentence or have to go to jail.  it’s the typical wise-cracking film its trailer looks like, except for one thing.  there were a few laugh-out-loud moments for me (rare) and the script was actually pretty witty the way it poked fun at pretty much everyone.  oh, don’t get me wrong; it’s totally a formula film, but still, in between the plot elements, there’s some fun dialogue.  and a hilarious little kid.  a high 3 stars. 

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