Flicks
As I am wont to do at this time of year, I have been on a complete movie binge. I have sucked in more flickage in the last week than I care to admit. I've been watching one every night, and went out to see one yesterday. I have two more to see before the Oscars, so that I can be a real hypocrite and sit there and pretend I'm offended and uninterested in the wearings and ramblings of a bunch of self-congratulatory Hollywood pinheads.
So here they are. Less movie review and more "Kristine's visceral reactions to movies".
The Station Agent: Excellent, I thought, and very original. It's not often you see a dwarf in a serious role, and I think Peter Dinklage was very deserving of that Oscar nom last year.
Ray: Yeah, Jamie Foxx will win for best actor, unless somehow Clint Eastwood steals it away. Personally, I'm all about Clint, but I think Jamie did a very fine job as Ray Charles. I just don't think the movie itself was at all deserving of the Oscar nomination. Even with the realization that this was a true story, I think it could have been done with much more originality. As it was, it was little better than an episode of "Behind the Music, " and equally predictable. I'm awfully bored with the standard musician "my childhood was hard, I'm talented, I'm good, I'm on drugs, I'm famous, I'm SO bad, I'm on a journey of redemption, I can see clearly now, the rain is gone" charater arc. Or, as Doctor Denis Leary put it so well, when referring to the Doors Movie:
I'm drunk. I'm nobody.
I'm drunk. I'm famous.
I'm drunk. I'm fuckin' dead.
Sideways: Yeah, baby, it was all about wine, and people far wine-snobbier than myself. It was also vulgar, and extremely funny, at times. In the end, I really liked it, but it left me with a grey day depression. Whenever I watch a movie about people with totally unremarkable lives, I leave the theatre, take a good look at the bleak winter surroundings, and think, "Shit. My life is just as unremarkable. My environment is just as unremarkable. I'm unremarkable. But now Paul Giamatti is going to go to the Oscars for playing, well, me." If unremarkable makes an Oscar-winning screenplay, make way for the Willownator! I'd like to thank the academy **sniff sniff** and all the people who said a white girl from Pittsburgh would never make it.
Friday Night Lights: Football, Texas, and overzealous rednecks. What's not to love? I have to give this movie credit for not being totally tiresome, and for avoiding the Hollywood ending. I said to my spousal unit, as we started watching, "Place your bets now. Will he catch the slow-motion pass at the end?" But for once, I was sorta wrong. It ended rather unremarkably, and therefore, see above. Good acting from the football kiddies, and a good performance from Billy Ray Cyrus, or wait, Billy Bob Thornton. Whatever. It was good stuff, if you likey a football movie. Personally, I liked it better than Any Given Sunday, which was too raw for my tastes.
Well, I still need to see The Aviator, if I can look at Leonardo DiCraprio for that long without becoming ill, and Million Dollar Baby, which I actually expect to like. On Oscar night, I'll be sitting there, properly prepared, tiara-ed, and popcorn-ed, but I will turn off the TV instantly if I hear one of those delusional freaks use the phrase, "I think we made an important movie." Screw you.
So here they are. Less movie review and more "Kristine's visceral reactions to movies".
The Station Agent: Excellent, I thought, and very original. It's not often you see a dwarf in a serious role, and I think Peter Dinklage was very deserving of that Oscar nom last year.
Ray: Yeah, Jamie Foxx will win for best actor, unless somehow Clint Eastwood steals it away. Personally, I'm all about Clint, but I think Jamie did a very fine job as Ray Charles. I just don't think the movie itself was at all deserving of the Oscar nomination. Even with the realization that this was a true story, I think it could have been done with much more originality. As it was, it was little better than an episode of "Behind the Music, " and equally predictable. I'm awfully bored with the standard musician "my childhood was hard, I'm talented, I'm good, I'm on drugs, I'm famous, I'm SO bad, I'm on a journey of redemption, I can see clearly now, the rain is gone" charater arc. Or, as Doctor Denis Leary put it so well, when referring to the Doors Movie:
I'm drunk. I'm nobody.
I'm drunk. I'm famous.
I'm drunk. I'm fuckin' dead.
Sideways: Yeah, baby, it was all about wine, and people far wine-snobbier than myself. It was also vulgar, and extremely funny, at times. In the end, I really liked it, but it left me with a grey day depression. Whenever I watch a movie about people with totally unremarkable lives, I leave the theatre, take a good look at the bleak winter surroundings, and think, "Shit. My life is just as unremarkable. My environment is just as unremarkable. I'm unremarkable. But now Paul Giamatti is going to go to the Oscars for playing, well, me." If unremarkable makes an Oscar-winning screenplay, make way for the Willownator! I'd like to thank the academy **sniff sniff** and all the people who said a white girl from Pittsburgh would never make it.
Friday Night Lights: Football, Texas, and overzealous rednecks. What's not to love? I have to give this movie credit for not being totally tiresome, and for avoiding the Hollywood ending. I said to my spousal unit, as we started watching, "Place your bets now. Will he catch the slow-motion pass at the end?" But for once, I was sorta wrong. It ended rather unremarkably, and therefore, see above. Good acting from the football kiddies, and a good performance from Billy Ray Cyrus, or wait, Billy Bob Thornton. Whatever. It was good stuff, if you likey a football movie. Personally, I liked it better than Any Given Sunday, which was too raw for my tastes.
Well, I still need to see The Aviator, if I can look at Leonardo DiCraprio for that long without becoming ill, and Million Dollar Baby, which I actually expect to like. On Oscar night, I'll be sitting there, properly prepared, tiara-ed, and popcorn-ed, but I will turn off the TV instantly if I hear one of those delusional freaks use the phrase, "I think we made an important movie." Screw you.
posted by Kristine at 10:09 AM
6 Comments:
It is amazing how lost in the movies I tend to get when I watch them. I remember coming out of Jurassic Park in the back of a theater (which was built up against a heavily foliated hillside) and glancing sideways up the hill... you know... just in case.
And they DO make important movies! I mean, where would we be as a society without great films such as Tripple X, Mission:Impossible 2, Battlefield Earth, and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo!
Goodness, I haven't seen any of those movies. And the only one I really want to see is The Aviator. Can't stand Leo, but Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn? I mean, come on, can it get any better than that?
Ugh, I can't take another inspirational sports story! But if it doesn't end predictably like you say, then maybe I will have to try it out.
I guess you won't be watching the Oscars for long, since it's a certainty that many of them will proclaim they've made an important movie. I personally love it when they thank God. I hope Laura Linney wins for KINSEY, then gets up there and thanks God for helping her make a very important movie about a sexually deviant psychopath, er, I mean sexual pioneer.
I loved Friday Night Lights, haven't gotten to see Ray, could care less about The Aviator.
I joined the Blockbuster plan that lets you keep out 2 movies for a flat $25, and I have been on a SERIOUS movie binge of late. The only problem is that they are worse than Giant Eagle when it comes to having the new releases in stock. Not that there have been that many winners recently.
One movie I thoroughly dug was Cellular. Edge-of-your-seat, non-stop action from the word 'go'. Also, check out The Clearing. Filmed in the 'Burgh with some very fine acting and a not-so-predictable ending.
my favourite for all categories is "The Incredibles", but I won't watch as I'm a poor loser and also easily embarassed.
I love it that you wrote you are "wont" and it sounded so natural--class act
Drake, try Netflix. They have everything, and it's cheaper. Plus, if you play your cards right, you can get all the new releases as soon as they come out.
And Kelly, you're totally right. Cate Blanchett makes it all worthwhile! She's awesome. I want to be her when I grow up.
And NH, let's not forget the uber-important movie, "Anaconda". Let's face it. That is the single greatest digital snake movie ever made.
Lorna, you're the class act, baby! I love reading your blog.
Drake: My husband works for BB. The problem basically is that they rolled out this "no more late fees" thing then didn't order any more copies of the movies. As a matter of fact, in my husband's store they're actually sending fewer movies! He's on the phone with them every other day warning that they'll lose customers in droves if they don't get more copies on the shelves. BB keeps saying that they're getting more, they're working with the suppliers right now, but nothing has been coming of it.
Just wanted to pass along that info. Looks like it might get resolved in the future, but if I were in your shoes I'd investigate other alternatives like Kristine suggested.
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