Category Archives: Watchin’

Big Screen: The Wrestler

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Don’t read this if you don’t want SPOILERS but honestly if you wanted to see this, why haven’t you seen it already?
Uh huh

SPOILERS.

The ending of this movie made me so angry I had fumes coming out my ears. But T. sitting next to me was totally wiping away tears. So you know, there’s another point of view.

Not sure why all the reviews are rah rah Mickey Rourke, who is basically, face it, playing himself, right down to the wrestling. COME ON. Hey congratulations on pulling your life out of the shitter and doing a decent job acting again? Hello, not sure why that’s SOOOOO noteworthy.

Whereas Marisa Tomei isn’t actually a down-and-out stripper in real life, yet here a) she does a great job and b) the movie is as much about her transformation as his. Perhaps moreso since her character ACTUALLY works toward transformation a bit harder than his, frankly. I wasn’t prepared to see literally all but about an inch and a half of her naked body, but I thought her performance was outstanding.

So he basically gets a death sentence, halfheartedly tries to change, tries to start anew and oh gee things don’t go EXACTLY his way? COME ON!!! He has a shitty day and his daughter and potential girlfriend don’t give him exactly the response he’s looking for? So he basically commits suicide via wrestling? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. If I committed suicide every time things don’t go exactly my way…

I spent several years in NYC working TWO jobs, 9-5 at #1 and 6-10 at #2 Monday through Friday, plus 10-4 Saturdays at #2 and some Sundays. That sucked fucking dick and it wasn’t by any means the only shitty thing that happened those two years. Funny how SOMEHOW I kept going. WHATEVER.

Oddly time has not softened my feelings toward the end of this movie but made me even madder.

Big Screen: Coraline

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Sometimes it ain’t just about the movie. Sometimes it’s about the awesome people you go with, or the personal ziplock of delicious homebaked cookies they bring you, or the boy you see in the audience that you’re bewilderingly too shy to really talk to.

I am not generally an animation fan. But I loved it.

Big Screen: Slumdog Millionaire

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Liked. But did not love.

Good:

  • Oh the romance.
  • Oh the feel-good-ness of it all. The Bollywood dance at the end (the intercutting of them alone, them with crowd, and them as young) was so smile-inducing. Everyone in the theater seemed so happy on the way out.

Bad:

  • The framing technique got old. FAST. They should have ended it about 15 minutes earlier because the movie got SO much better once the stories all came together.
  • So, so, so, SO predictable. You could spot that ending a mile away.

And frankly that last one is what killed it for me. Movies this predictable should not be given awards, if you ask me. Or if they are, with a “*100% predictable” tacked on the end.

Worth seeing, sure. But the Oscar? Eh. Milk should have won. That was predictable only in that IT WAS FROM A TRUE STORY.

(For pete’s sake (who’s pete), Iron Man was less predictable than this!!!!)

Wrapping It Up: Favorite Movies 2008

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Yes, I’m aware it’s March and I’m randomly posting Best of 2008s. Blame the economy, hahahaha.
My Favorite Movies in 2008 Were:
(linked to their original Snip reviews)
1. Iron Man. WIthout a doubt. This SHOULD have won awards.
2. Milk. So well done.
3. Let the Right One In. Spooky!
4. Zach and Miri Make a Porno. Hilarious. Yet sweet.
5. Wanted. AWESOME. With a few plot holes. Bygones.
6. Hunger. So sad.
7. The Dark Knight. It wasn’t as good as IronMan. But it was good.
8. Tropic Thunder. Pure utter hilarity.
9. Atonement. Gorgeous. Just as good as the book.
10. Leatherheads. Beautifully filmed. And I really do not care for Renee Z., yet she was unable to ruin it for me.
And if you’d like to hear about other movies I liked or DIDN’T, you can go read the full post.

DVD: Death Race

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Nothing more than an action movie chockfull of explosions and car chases. But for what it is? Pretty entertaining. (Far more entertaining than the movie I watched yesterday.) Maybe not enough hand-to-hand fighting for a prison movie (not enough shirtless scenes, certainly).

A combination of Mad Max, futuristic prison scenes, and The Fast & The Furious stylized car races/chases. It did a nice job of whiling away two hours for me and I certainly wasn’t bored, even though I was sometimes laughing when I maybe wasn’t supposed to be.

Really, my only question is: What the fuck is Joan Allen doing in this movie?

DVD: Pineapple Express

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My conservative estimation would be: 90% stupid, 7.5% ludicrous and 2.5% occasionally funny. James Franco was good, for what the part was worth, but Seth Rogen seemed like he was just going through the motions, and all the yelling during the first half? Boring. Most of the other acting was bad, and one guy was so incredibly bad that every time he came on screen I felt like I was watching someone’s bad “home audition” movie.

I *think* this wanted to be to drug movies what Hot Fuzz is to cop movies. But it so was not.
I am completely baffled by its lack of funniness, given the reviews it has gotten.

Big Screen: 15 Features from the Chicago Film Festival.

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So back in October, I saw 15 films in 10 days at the Chicago Film Festival. I was quite ambitious in my ticket buying (obviously) and although I was a bit worn out at the end (it’s not like I had any days off work during this adventure), I saw a lot of interesting films, most of which I certainly would not have had the opportunity to see otherwise.

Day 1, Oct 17

The Pleasure of Being Robbed
Misleading description. Not about the pleasure of being robbed at all. Maybe a little bit about the pleasure of robbing, not that it even seemed that pleasurable, and the cinematography wasn’t interesting enough to keep the viewer involved. This wasn’t terrible, but we both felt it smacked of “senior year art project”. And as T pointed out: it ended and you weren’t even sure you knew the main character’s name, much less her motivations. 2.5 out of 5.

Wendy & Lucy
Really nuanced wonderful performance by Michelle Williams. But sad, hard to watch, and one of those movies where it’s more “a portrait of a moment” than a movie/story. Minimal plot. And our second movie of the day featuring a girl who is somewhat lost and alone. 3.5 out of 5. Great performance but not much there otherwise.

Let the Right One In
Beautiful. One of my faves of the festival. Slowly paced, dim and quiet. Sweden. Winter. Loneliness. Vampire. Love. So glad to see this one is getting a more widespread release (if you can consider indie theaters in big cities to be widespread). If you read the review in EW and decided not to see it, I urge you to go anyway. It was really lovely and moving. Icky in places, but quite powerful. This is definitely a 5 out of 5 for me.

Day 2, Oct 18

Sparrow
Very fun. Slapstick drama about four brothers who are all pickpockets and all get involved with the same woman. Her end of the plot was a bit lame but it was so fun, I really didn’t mind that. Sort of Marx Brothers in Hong Kong with a little more seriousness. 3.5 out of 5.

Surveillance
One of only a few US-centric flicks we saw. First 2/3rds = really interesting, tightly plotted, intriguing flick. Last 1/3rd = insane twist that throws away a LOT of the good stuff from earlier on and makes it not nearly as interesting. Bizarre. And then the credits roll and “Oh, directed by Jennifer Lynch. From the content of that movie, I HAVE to think she’s related to David.” 3 out of 5.

Day 3, Oct 19

Hunger
So good. So sad. HARD to watch. Death of IRA leader Bobby Sands by hunger strike (which had followed a “rub shit on the walls” strike). Loved the first half. Neat stuff showing how the prisoners found ways to communicate both with each other and with the outside world. A really really interesting (long) conversation in the middle of the film between Sands and a priest. But didn’t like how the second half (or last third maybe) of the movie lets all the other characters drop away and basically you just watch someone waste away, hallucinate(?) and die. 4 out of 5. Really good but could have easily been better just by keeping the stories of the other prisoners/activists going.

North Starr
Poor. Definitely the weakest entry I have seen not just this year but last year as well. Poorly written and acted, heavy handed. Maybe a 2 out of 5 and that’s generous. Not sure how this even got selected.

Day 4, Oct 20: No movies for me.

Day 5, Oct 21

Everlasting Moments
WWI Sweden. Woman stuck in bad marriage, constant pregnancy, poverty, etc. Gets the gift of a camera. Changes her life. Somewhat. Beautifully done. The grunge of their lives so well portrayed/styled/etc. 4 out of 5.

Zach & Miri Make a Porno
I am not unbiased about Kevin Smith. I fucking loved this movie. I loved it even more after he took Q&A for an hour afterwards. Sure, it’s crass and gross and whatever else people are saying about it. It’s also super sweet and romantic and really fucking funny. 5 out of 5.

Day 6, Oct 22

Two Lovers
Not very good and you know I love Joaquin Phoenix so that was sad. Same director as We Own The Night which while somewhat formulaic/predictable was a much better movie than this one. Convoluted. And unlike how seeing Kevin Smith’s Q&A made me love his movie more, this Q&A went the other direction.
2.5 out of 5.

Day 7, Oct 23

Girl by the Lake
Italian murder mystery. Starts with your classic misdirection. Some nice subplots about the lead detective’s own life. Liked it. But not sure the conclusion really worked. 3.5 out of 5.

Day 8, Oct 24

Country Wedding
Two busloads of Icelandic family members lost trying to find the right church for a wedding. Some really funny stuff. Some sweet. But dragged a bit. Could have used some zippier editing or maybe a few more contretemps thrown in. 3 out of 5.

Julia
Totally crazy movie about people making insanely bad decisions and then following through on them only to have even worse happen. A lot of it was really uncomfortable and hard to watch. But this is by far the most human I have ever seen Tilda Swinton be. So that was interesting. 3.5 out of 5.

Day 9, Oct 25

Snow
Beautiful. A Bosnian village of women whose men have gone to war and vanished, trying to find ways not just to survive for themselves but to keep their community together. Slowly paced. But really good. 4.5 out of 5.

Day 10, October 26

Terribly Happy
Denmark. This is totally Hot Fuzz, minus the comedy and upping the eerie stuff by half or more. Really creepy and nuts. Very entertaining. Lots of misdirection. Had a little sense of slapstick but in a very serious way. 4 out of 5.

Big Screen: MILK

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Soooooo good. Outstanding performances. Sean Penn is just as good as people are saying but I was especially impressed by James Franco. At the end, they show the actors vs. the real people they were portraying? And holy crap the casting and styling on this movie were just PITCH PERFECT. Really well done, poignant and moving, but funny and crass at times as well. Not that I know much about Harvey Milk, but it seemed they were very true to who he was, and those funny quirks that make up a person.

And then you come out of the theater and think “So where are we with gay rights now, in 2008, some 30 years later? Well, let’s see. We just outlawed gay marriage in a shitload of states, including some where it was already legal. That ain’t a step forward.” And then you feel even MORE depressed than the movie may have already made you over an untimely death.

What a Fucked Up World we are living in.