Big Screen: The Ghost Writer

For the most part, this was a pretty good, interesting movie with a great noir-ish look and feel and some eventful plot twists. Ewan McGregor and Olivia Williams were great, Jim Belushi was surprisingly good. The cinematography was lovely: lots of moody lighting, fog, lights off in the distance, and spooky roads/paths. Liked the way the v. last scene was filmed a lot.

On the other hand, Kim Cattrall cannot maintain a British accent for more than a few words and her performance was really, really subpar. Either her character should have been changed to being an American or that role should have been recast.

Big Screen: Cop Out.

Really funny. A must see if you are a Tracy Jordan fan; Bruce Willis suffers a bit in comparison. And dang he is looking old (seems much older here than in Die Hard 4, although that’s partly the character).

I didn’t love it quite as much as my Dad, (I felt like there were times when you could tell Kevin Smith only did the directing, and not the writing, it was missing a bit of his usual charm) but it was definitely worth the $11.

DadReaction: Cop Out!

Hilarious!! Tracy Morgan interrogates a suspect using nothing but rapid-fire movie quotes. Very tough woman victim in it, too–keeps screaming at the bad guys in Spanish no matter what they do to her. Willis staring at the insane partner he has is worth the price of admission.

EW saying Smith’s direction is flat-footed is SO off-base!!!! Some great visual jokes, lots of funny stuff. Also, EW is off-base just as badly when it talks about the (absent) racial tension!!!! It wasn’t about that!!!!!! COULD NOT believe Gleiberman’s review.

Highly Recommended.

So the top of my list right now!!

Family(minusGirl)Reaction: Lovely Bones

I didn’t go see this b/c of an irritation I had with the book. Reading how much my parents liked it made me decide to check out showtimes…and it’s already left Chicago completely. Must not have done that well, but as you can read below, they thought it was great.

DadReaction: Did not read book. Thought it sounded too creepy. Must say though: this movie is transcendent. You’re really upset at the start and it takes you on a journey of reconciliation that’s so odd, so unusual–I thought, anyway–i just don’t get why only Tucci got a nomination (for a NOTHING part). Peter Jackson must wonder what he has to do anymore. I mean, King Kong was the movie of the year when IT came out. Not that this one is tops, but c’mon, guys, it’s so well done, so unusual, so powerful, it deserves a nod. A lot of the movie was the kid, though–really good casting. But everybody was good.

MomReaction: Your Dad would put it in the top 10 of the year. I liked the way it used horror movie techniques, music that makes you think something is going on, anticipation, really well and it was never a trick, something did happen. I also thought that you went from something that tore your heart out and then saw redemption–hard won. The family did get back to being able to love each other and live, even though something terrible had happened. And the bad guy was identified and died in a very fitting way. The between world was very interesting too.

This movie was complete. It expressed real pain and hurt as well as love, abiding love. And it had a depth that nothing else I saw this year had. So, much as I loved Julie and Julia and Avatar and Inglorious Bastards, I think this had everything they had and more. It was at a completely different level. I think it was too bad only Stanley Tucci got nominated. Although it would be fair to call this an ensemble. Peter Jackson deserved a nomination.

And the setting/background, and special effects ( maybe the category was visual effects) deserved mention in nomination. Your dad just mentioned adapted screenplay as well. Mark Wahlberg was as good as I’ve ever seen him, lots of emotional depth and even a kind of beauty. Maybe even Susan Sarandon as best supporting actress.

Big Screen: A Single Man

Oh so very arty, Tom Ford.

But unfortunately not enough plot and sense to back that art up. Pretty to look at. But lots of holes. (Every gay male is an adonis. Oh wait, that’s true, right? Haha. The bar down the street has the same bartender now that it had 16 years ago. Colin Firth ages but his partner doesn’t. Etc, etc.) And the whole “he’s grey with misery” but “now he pinks up, alive with life” camera/film technique got old, pretty fast.

But there was lots of nice grain and soft light. And pretty pretty boys. Mmmmmm Matthew Goode. (I highly recommend the film “Imagine Me & You” (available on DVD. a very favorite.) if you want to see him get to do more than he does here.)

It vaguely reminded me of the book “The Line of Beauty” by Alan Hollinghurst (read back in 2004 so my memory of it is quite vague indeed) but that may just be b/c of the whole gay melodrama more than anything else (set in totally different times).

Big Screen: Sherlock Holmes

It was entertaining and fun and weirdly action-packed and RDJ and Jude Law have nice bromantic chemistry and the steampunk-ness of it all was visually stimulating.

But it had little to nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes. I mean, my god, people, if you’re going to make a movie about Sherlock Holmes, a GREAT PLOT SHOULD BE THE POINT. This movie really falls short there.

So you know, go to it to have fun. But not to find yourself intellectually challenged. As the real Sherlock Holmes, at his best, always does.

Big Screen: Daybreakers

I loved it. It’s creepy and icky and SUPER GORY and it actually kind of ANNOYED THE FUCK OUT OF ME when some Zombie-dressed people (I’m not joking about that) laughed at stuff that was super gory when it clearly was NOT funny. It’s super imaginative and interesting and totally worth seeing in the theater. And Ethan Hawke is actually pretty good in it and so is Sam Neill. The dude who plays Ethan Hawke’s brother is yummy. FYI. If you, say, need for there to be a yummy boy for you to be interested.

Best of October

The best movie I saw in October was a tie between two Chicago Film Festival Flicks: SPY(IES) (ESPION(S) en francais) and Fish Tank. But I also really loved Whip It! and Zombieland.

The best book I read in October was The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, by Stieg Larsson, a fantastic end to his trilogy!! And I also loved Liar, by Justine Larbalestier and The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean.

iPod: Twilight / Big Screen: New Moon

I had read all the books, but I hadn’t seen the movie, and then I had a date planned with a school friend to see the second one. So I watched the first one on the plane to Georgia so I could see the second one with her when I got home.

Twilight
Admittedly a very cheesy book so you know a somewhat cheesy movie. But well-done nonetheless. I mean, if you are going to make a movie of a cheesy book, you have to treat the cheese with respect. Treated the romance like it was more romantic than it was…thus making it romantic. And lordie, where they filmed this is just plain drop-dead gorgeous. Gorgeous forests, gorgeous house (the vampire house, of course). Lovely. Cheesy. Laughable at times, but not a horrible movie. Honestly.

New Moon
Not good at all. Basically felt the entire time like the director was saying “this is so cheesy! and I’m not cheesy! so here’s a cheesy movie! I can’t do more with this material! I’m NOT like it!” Yes, the Volturi stuff was pretty excellent. But honestly the rest of the time I just felt like he was cutting off dialogue/conversations too fast, not letting it Be what it IS and be OK with that. Still filmed in lovely places. But not as well done as the first AT ALL in my opinion. I hope they don’t have this guy doing the third one. (I’m sure I could already find out if I cared enough to do a search. But I guess I don’t.)

And also: They made the wolves WAY too big. They were supposed to be BIG like surpisingly big for a wolf but just enough that someone who didn’t know could still kindof believe they were a wolf. Not supernaturally ridiculous big. If they’re that big why would it take even one to kill a vamp let alone five.

Four Flicks at the Chicago Film Festival.

Ah, the CIFF. One of my very favorite things about living here. So easily accessible. The previous year I saw 15 flicks there. (I KNOW! NUTS!) The year before, six. This year, I was busy with school and skeered to spend much money so I only saw four. And three out of the four were FANTASTIC. So I was extra happy I made good choices!!!

SPY(IES) [ESPION(S)]
Super! Sexy! Sleek! The main dude looked like a French Patrick Dempsey. Loved this movie. Believed in the frustrations and the attractions. Very nicely done.

Love and Savagery
The one of the four that I didn’t think was great. It was beautifully filmed (in Ireland, where it’s set, I presume) but the storyline and most of the acting were really below par. Particularly compared to the others.

Girls on the Wall
A documentary about girls in an IL juvenile facility who put on a musical/play for their families / guardians / etc. based on their own stories. So good. Really intimate look at their lives. There are so many places one’s life can go wrong. So many times the wrong choice can turn into a terrible mistake. And then there are the ones who fight and fight and eventually rise above that. Really powerful.

Fish Tank
Kinda hard to watch. Super yicky subject. Super fantastic (FANTASTIC) acting. I think this one is now being released wider (saw a review of it in EW) and I highly recommend seeing it. I mean, the subject matter is tough. But the acting is so good. And there’s a lot to like here. It really tied me up emotionally. And the main dude, Michael Fassbender, was also fantastic in “Hunger” that I saw last year (and he also plays the Scottish soldier in “Inglorious Basterds”). Dude has fantastic RANGE.