I didn’t fall for this movie the way pretty much everyone else I know did. I was SO very conscious of myself being in a movie theater the WHOLE time. There were a number of things I thought either rang false or weren’t explained and I guess it just all seemed a bit contrived to me.
Man, Hawaii is beautiful though. Some day.
I know when I finally posted my review of The Guard yesterday I told you it was in my top 5 or top 2….Yeah turns out it was #1! When I reviewed the list of what I saw in 2011 and compared film to film, it just kept beating out all the other contenders!
For my top 9 favorites, some worsts, and some randomly categorized references (best house lived in by main character, film that felt most like I’d seen it 89 times before, etc), go read my full wrap up of my 2011 favorite flicks over here.
Wow, I really can’t believe I didn’t write this movie up before now. It’s definitely in my top five for the year. Maybe even top two, I have to give that a wee bit more thought. 🙂 I first saw it back in August and I wound up seeing it two or three more times after that. SO GOOD!!
A real black comedy about a down-and-out Irish cop played by Brendan Gleeson–not a bad dude, just a bit jaded and over it–and a visiting FBI agent played by Don Cheedle on the trail of some drug runners. The chemistry between Gleeson and Cheedle is out of this world. Cheedle as the straight man plays against his casting in many roles and he’s just so perfectly straight-backed and stone-cold serious in it. This is movie is really hilarious and not at all politically correct (I thought it was pretty honest about racism, myself). Well acted, well directed, so many nifty twists and turns.
I just loved it to pieces. GO! I’m sure it’s out on DVD by now. Or streaming somewhere.
I thought the beginning was a little rough–some things take too long to get going, others seem to leap ahead and you wonder if you’ve missed something. There are a few weird continuity errors–i.e., at one point someone appears completely across town a minute later although she drove someone else’s car to their house so how did she get back there? type of things. And there’s some stuff that just feels like it wasn’t quite well though out enough plot-wise.
But once it gets going, a LOT of the dialogue is pretty fantastic. The wacky friendship / alliance between Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt’s characters was so great, there’s a lot of (not romantic) chemistry happening there. Dad kept saying he’d watch an entire show every week just about those two! 🙂 The going back to a small town, trying to define yourself in a different way stuff is all right on.
And the rigid unrepentive, unchangingness of the lead character really is what makes this work. She comes out of this movie the same person she went in. There’s no self reflection happening there…and it’s pretty awesome that there isn’t frankly. If this movie had ended differently, it would’ve shot itself in the foot.
Didn’t blow our minds completely, but definitely well worth seeing.
As with Take Shelter, this is a movie of really great acting performances and really crazy paranoia stuff that leaves you with the creepiest ickiest feelings.
And as with Take Shelter, the last scene really (REALLY) messes with your head.
John Hawkes is so fantastic here. He was also fantastic in Winter’s Bone last year. I think I’d go see anything with him in it, even if I hated everything but his scenes.
I think I liked Take Shelter a LITTLE better than this…but mostly because there are things about that character’s paranoia that are a little less icky than the actual things that happen to some of the characters in this movie.
This movie is a real mind-fuck honestly. At first you think it’s all paranoia in the husband’s head…then you think it might be paranoia in your head! The ending really twists you up and we all came out of the theater freaking out!
The lead actors in this movie are FANTASTIC. And it’s really so so well done.
Loved it. Tom Cruise is showing his age (which I thought maybe he’d be one of those crazy celebrities who gets 97 billion procedures and never has a single wrinkle). Renner / Pegg / Payton all played their bits well. It was 100% completely enjoyable.
EXCEPT… So here’s the thing. With any action movie, but ESPECIALLY the Mission Impossible movies they do a million crazy nutbars out-of-this-world things and as the viewer you accept them as part of this movie’s reality. Fine. BUT if I am going to accept all their crazy masks and daring feats and car acrobatics and such, I insist that this type of movie must do everything else ACCURATELY.
And let me tell you, if you remove the floor to ceiling window from a 100th-floor hotel room? THERE’S GONNA BE A CRAPTON OF WIND BLOWING THROUGH. But no, they stand calmly in front of it, clothes barely aruffle. Sorry, can’t buy into that one. When they replaced the windows in my 4th floor apartment in NYC, things magentized to the refrigerator were blowin’ around the house.
GIVE ME MY REALITY and I’LL GIVE YOU YOUR FANTASY. That is the deal this type of movie is supposed to make with us.
So other than that, it was great. 🙂
Korean mystery flick with a touch of magical realism. Really, really good! We loved it and the rest of the audience seemed to as well. Truly creepy and scary in some parts, completely farcical in others. Some really great casting choices/quirky characterizations. Completely original. 100% worth not getting home until after 1 a.m.
I’m sure it’s barely playing anywhere, if at all. But if it comes to your town, I’d call it a Can’t Miss.
As you may have noticed, I haven’t found a lot of time to post about anything I’ve been reading, listening to, or watching these days. I WANT to tell you things…but lying on the floor moaning about how hot and miserable I am usually takes precedence. Today is oddly un-volcanic in the apartment though, and I might want a study break, so are some super speedy thoughts on the movies I’ve seen of late!
Cowboys & Aliens – Fine for what it is (a ridiculous combination of Western + Alien movies. Just as the title says). Daniel Craig takes his shirt off.
Harry Potter 8 – Pretty good, but I guess I didn’t remember enough from the last flick as I found some of the beginning confusing. Also it went FAST. I mean the last film made me cry – this one did NOT, partially I think b/c all the deaths were passed by very quickly. Also we purposely saw it in 2D but somehow it was enough 3D-ish as to make me kinda queasy!
Super 8 – FANTASTIC. I can’t believe I waited as long as I did to see this one, I absolutely LOVED it. Super super super.
Buck – As expected, a complete tearjerker! BRING KLEENEX.
Beginners – Really good! Not nearly as twee as it looks! I am a big fan of the lead actress and I loved the mood. And the dog. Interesting dialogue.
Hanna – BAD! Incredibly bad plot. What a waste of Eric Bana’s hotness.
Midnight in Paris – SO so good! A LOT of fun! Especially for us literary types.
Tree of Life – I will try to post a real review of this one soon. I liked a LOT of it a LOT. I thought that middle 35 minutes was a) interminable and b) not necessary in anyway. Sure it’s all about the cosmos. WHATEVER, can we get back to people, and dialogue, and plot-like stuff now? (not that there’s a lot of plot.) I thought it was really great in a number of ways and I certainly think it’s THE movie to see this year, despite the things I could have done without. But seriously I’ll try to say more. Soon. Because this one just cannot be summed up in so few words. Obv.
One of many recommendations I have gotten from Ebert Presents, my latest favorite TV show (thanks, Dad!). 🙂
Two adult twins, living in Canada, meet with their lawyer after their mom dies, and are given two letters to deliver: one to their father (long gone, they never knew him) and one to a brother they never knew they had. The sister decides to accept the challenge and winds up in the middle east (filmed in Jordan but I believe this is supposed to be Lebanon) digging through layers of time to discover her mom’s younger days (which we see filmed). The brother eventually joins her. The mom was involved in Lebanese civil war, not just politically based but also religious.
This is one of those movies that while afterward there are any numbers of things you could nitpick apart from the plot, the setting, etc., the acting is so engaging that you 100% believe in it while you’re watching, particularly that of the actresses playing the mother and the daughter.
The ending is far more horrible than I remembered the review suggesting; as things begin to unfold, you start to realize there are only a few bad ways things could go…
Felt a little shellshocked at the end, but was really entranced the whole time. Despite various melodramatic tendencies, this totally worked for me.