Movie Reviews II

More movie reviews, including a bonus, extra-special, slightly-drunken review. (Please note that I was not drunk at 10:24 am when I posted this, just typed it up on a Friday night and posted it the morning after. I sensed you were judging me).


Stranger Than Fiction (2005): Let me get this out of the way - I. Love. This. Movie. I love everything about this movie. The writing, the story, the cinematography, the cast...love it all. Will Ferrell plays Harold, a dull IRS agent who can suddenly and inexplicably hear his life being narrated by an omniscient voice. There's the love interest (Maggie Gyllenhaal) - a feisty baker Harold is auditing, the literary expert (Dustin Hoffman) who's trying to help Harold figure out what type of story he's in and who the narrator is, and the narrator (Emma Thompson) who is actually an author writing a book about Harold (who she thinks is only a character). Do yourself a favor - forget what you thought about Will Ferrell before and watch this movie.

Punch-Drunk Love (2002): A downtrodden small business owner with seven nosy and belittling sisters and no social life has to deal with an escalating credit card scheme all while trying to start a relationship with the woman of his dreams. This was a strange movie. That's really all I can think to say. The plot is simple (and strange), but looking back it's also fairly solid. Like Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction, Adam Sandler gives a surprising performance. Very understated and nuanced, especially coming from a man previously seen yelling about SnackPacks and beating up Bob Barker. If you typically like quirkier movies, you'll probably like this one. Otherwise, rent Spanglish for a more mainstream but still great performance from Sandler.

Sophie's Choice (1982): Let me get another thing out of the way - I want to be Meryl Streep when I grow up. And I think you do too. Set in 1947, Meryl Streep plays Sophie, a Holocaust survivor now living in Brooklyn with Nathan, an eccentric biologist (Kevin Kline) who had nursed her back to good health when she first arrived in America. Peter MacNicol plays Stingo, a young Southern man who moves to Brooklyn to be a writer. The three become best friends but as Nathan's behavior becomes more erratic, Stingo becomes curious about Sophie's life and what brought her to Brooklyn. She reveals her experiences during the Holocaust, including the heart-wrenching choice she was forced to make when taken to Auschwitz. Great performances from all three main characters and a supremely depressing story. You have to really invest yourself in the story - the choice is not revealed until the end, at which point you begin to understand Sophie's previous behavior. If you haven't connected to the movie prior to the final scenes, it probably won't resonate too much. It's long and it's slow at points, but overall it's a good movie.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)(slightly-drunken review): You know the story...steal from the rich to give to the poor while wearing tights and waving swords around yada yada yada. The main problem with this movie is that Kevin Costner does not at any point in time attempt to play baseball. If he had just taken a swing at a ball at some point in time or at least given a speech about baseball, it might have been a better movie. The acting is almost universally bad, and from actors who are normally pretty good (really, Morgan Freeman?) which leads me to believe that the script is probably the root of the problem. The script and a distinct lack of baseball are the roots of the problem. The only redeeming element for me was Alan Rickman, who seemed to realize that the script was shit and decided to just make the best of it and have some fun with the part. By the way, I changed the words of the Bryan Adams song to "everything I do...I do it for Rickman..." It's better that way. Trust me.

Movie Reviews

It seems that I don't lead a very interesting life (don't listen to what Angela says, someone stole my phone and sent her those drunken text messages...). In order to fill in gaps I think I'll keep you posted on the movies I watch, whether it's for a class or in my personal time. These will probably be movies I've just seen for the first time, but some may be old favorites I re-watch.

Let The Right One In (2008) (class assignment): A 12-year old Swedish boy with morbid interests and problems with bullies falls for the mysterious girl who moves in next door. Turns out she's actually a vampire. I hate when that happens. It was an ok movie, I generally don't do the vampire thing but I get the feeling that this one is quite unlike all that Twilight stuff. It's essentially a coming of age story but, you know, with a vampire. Good if you're into darker subject matter. It's in Swedish but you have the option for English dubbing or English subtitles. It's also being remade in America...which means it more than likely will be a very different movie.

Stormy Monday (1988) (someone else's class assignment): A corrupt American businessman (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to buy out a jazz club (owned by Sting!) in Newcastle, England. His plan is foiled by Sean Bean and Melanie Griffith, because that's what they do. The action is slow and the plot is thin but it has a noir-ish feel and involves a Polish jazz band and a young Sean Bean. That's gotta be worth something, right?

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) (personal time...3 hours of personal time...long title, long movie): The title pretty much sums it up...a look at the last few months of the life of Jesse James. There's not a lot of action, only one robbery that I can remember. It's more about the decline of the infamous James gang and insight into Jesse's and Robert Ford's personal lives and motivations. The cast is excellent - Brad Pitt as Jesse James, Casey Affleck as Robert Ford, Mary-Louise Parker as Zee James (Jesse's wife), Sam Rockwell as Charlie Ford (Robert's brother), and some fantastic supporting character actors. I also loved the cinematography. There's a dusty and faded quality, almost like you're looking at an old tintype photograph. That all being said...it's a slow movie. Watch it if you: like character-driven stuff, don't need explosions every 5 minutes to stay interested, and have 2 hours and 40 minutes to spare.

Something the Lord Made (2004 - HBO Original)(personal time): I actually first saw this movie a few months ago and then caught part of it again this morning. Two words for you: Alan. Rickman. A few more words for you: The true story of cocky cardiologist Alfred Blalock (Rickman) and his black janitor-turned-surgical assistant Vivien Thomas (Mos Def). Set in the 1930s-1950s in Tennessee and Baltimore, Blalock and Thomas's groundbreaking discovery of a treatment for "blue baby syndrome" is set to a backdrop of racial inequality. Great story, great cast, great movie. Watch it if you ever get the chance (they replay it on HBO now and then).