Yes, Owen Gleiberman, you said...

..."That's more than you can say for Hayden Christensen, a gifted actor..." when speaking about "Jumper". Gifted actor? Is there another Hayden Christensen we don't know about?

Completely Savage

Okay, so maybe it's not completely savage. But "The Savages" is a better film about alzheimers/dementia than the romanticized version that we got in "Away from Her". No, I am not saying that AFH was not a good movie. It was. Julie Christie deserves a nomination. I'm just saying as someone who has seen the effects first hand, its a little too romanticized for me to be in love with the film.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney, two of the best in film today, are in the roles of sister and brother, both long estranged from their father. They are both in various states of mid-life crises, and Linney's character, a playwright taking temp jobs to support herself, may be the only person to be turned down for a Guggenheim fellowship more than her brother who is still dying to get his book about playwright Bertolt Brecht published. They play off each other with such ease, that at times you forget that Alzheimers/Dementia, end-of-life, however you choose to label it is not a laughing matter. But Tamara Jenkins, in only her second film and first since 1998's pretty decent "Slums of Beverly Hills", directs "The Savages" reminds you that life is, well, absurd, but never takes the picture to that of a dark, heartless comedy. And you will often find yourself laughing at it in places you know you shouldn't. Philip Bosco is wonderfully unsentimental and most often unloving as their father who can no longer take care of himself after the death of his longtime girlfriend he was living with.

Okay, so it's probably not going to be high on the Valentine's weekend list of films you want to see. But I'm guessing if you're reading this, then garbage like "Fool's Gold" probably isn't in your plans anyway. The bottom line is that there are seldom a time you should ever miss the work of both the leads here. And if Hoffman has created a problem, a good one to have, it's that he has 3 Oscar-caliber performances this year! Comparing these performances to the two that Cate Blanchett (who I love very much) was nominated for? Not even close. And Linney? She definitely deserves her nomination and in my opinion a victory, though I'm guessing it will never happen. And as "The Savages" reminds us, life goes on. A

So...

You can't edit posts or use spell check while you create them? Pretty sweet. Ahhhhh....well, here we are a day later, and I can at least edit once again. Thank you blogger. Feel free to update that spell check feature anytime.

Movie Round-Up

A few from the last couple of weeks...

1. Charlie Wilson's War - Pretty decent stuff. I can't say that I didn't enjoy CWW, though I also can't say absolutely loved it. There is a pretty fair amount of chop to the way it's filmed, and it can distract from time to time. As for the leads, Tom Hanks does a good enough job...Julia Roberts...never been a big fan, and this performance hasn't convinved me otherwise. I think you have a pretty good idea when the majority of the talk about the performance is the fact that she looks good in a two-piece bathing suit after she has had kids...is well, not quite focusing on her acting "ability". I'm not saying she's bad or anything, but just isn't up holding her own against Tom and Phil. And Philip Seymour Hoffman, what can I say? The man is incredible. Sinking, once again, completely into his role as a CIA chameleon. He's funny, serious and completely believeable. Outside of Daniel Day-Lewis he is THE guy. B+

2. The Kite Runner - I wouldn't lie if I said it was hard to be objective on this one. I read this book a little less than a year ago, as apparently many other did as well. It was moving, perhaps even more so because of my personal history. Marc Foster has done a pretty good job here with an unenviable task. The film stays true to the novel and gets some pretty nice performances out of the two child actors as well as Houmayoun Ershadi as "Baba", Amir's father and incredibly compassionate and generous employer of Hassan and his father. Many of the scenes in the film are actually exactly like what I imagined them to be in my head while reading the book. TKR never got a wide release in the states. As for why, I can't answer that question based on how many people have bought, read and loved the book. Possibly the fact that the majority of it is in a foreign language? I hope not. It's well worth seeing. B+
-
3. Juno - Ah, the hip little indie that could for 2007. Many have compared in the Oscar watch to Little Miss Sunshine. That's nice, only this is waaay better than LMS. And the annoyance factor is mainly held to the er...cutesy dialogue which after a while, I gotta tell you, does start to make me roll my eyes. Is it better than having to listen to Abigail Breslin scream and preen? Not even close. I'd watch Juno another 10 times before I'd sit through another viewing of LMS. Ellen Page is dead-on in her role as the other girl that was "knocked-up" this year. I still recommend checking out "Hard Candy" if you have yet to see it. Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner are both Oscar-nod worthy in supporting roles as the adoptive parents to me. And Michael Cera is...well, okay, he's just Michael Cera. The same character in Arrested Development, Superbad...you get the idea. Does he actually have any range? Dunno. Haven't seen it. I do know that Juno is still worth watching again, even with my cringing at some of the hipster dialogue. And to me, that makes the rest of the movie just that much better. A-

I am moved from time to time...

...by movies. However, "Once" is an exception. As in moving me to tears. In a good way. Truly, truly remarkable. Hit your local video store now if you have yet to see this musical triumph.

Zzzzzzzzzzz...

Hipper-than-thou criticism of the hipper-than-thou. All very yawn-inducing if you ask me.

Taking out the trash, cleaning out the hopper, scraping the walls of the stall...you get the idea: Films I hated in 2007

With the award season upon us and everyone has given out their praises, its also time for everyone to speak on what they hated. What can I say, its fun. And for one of the few times I am in agreement with Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune. Well, at least with his number one pick.

5 Movies that critics had concrete hard-ons over that I said..."eh, they're okay"

5. The Host - I lost track of how many critics said this was truly great horror movie. I think Jim Emerson from the Chicago Sun-Times said "...wild, crazy, messy, preposterous -- and all the better for it". Well, I agree with the first part.

4. Superbad - It's not that its "bad", lol, it just looks rather limp after seeing "Knocked Up". Sure, some of it's funny, but instead of the crudeness actually making you roll on the floor like Apatow's first of '07, this one in which he produces, continues to trail off until the end. Many have said that Seth Rogen and Bill Hader's cop non-plot per se was played out for too long. Honestly, they are the ones I am thanking most for getting me to laugh. And if you thought their part had no plot, did you watch the rest of the movie? Note: You can of course now see Michael Cera play the same role in Juno. Also, the same role he played in Arrested Development. Also...okay, you see where I'm going right?

3. Borat - I know, I know, technically released at the end of last year (to raves). I didn't hate Borat, but I couldn't figure out what was supposed to be so damn funny. Sure, I did laugh, but not like the other people in the dollar theatre who were probably seeing this for the 4th time. What this really supposed to so "out-there" and "controversial"? Maybe I'm just not easily shocked. Dunno.

2. Rescue Dawn - Rescue Dawn isn't a bad movie and Christian Bale is pretty good in the role of Dieter Dengler, whose plane is downed over Vietnam, on his first mission. Yes, it's like Missing In Action, with a true story and much better acting. And I had began to wonder where Steve Zahn had gone the last 5 years or so. This was supposed to be a one of those true stories of inspiration, but I tell you what, after the last 20 minutes or so of this I left the theatre cold as ice after the demise of a certain character and the absolute nothingness that seems to be felt by the star.

1. The Queen - I know, also from late last year. Not awful. None of these are. Helen Mirren's mimic is quite good. James Cromwell isn't so great. What is more obvious than anything else is that Judi Dench's performance in Notes on a Scandal trump's Mirren's so greatly that it goes down in my books as one of Oscar's biggest screw-ups.

And the absolute worst...

10. Perfect Stranger - It's more about the convoluted ending than anything else. Okay, it's way beyond convoluted.

9. Transformers - Did anyone actually think that this would be worth 1/2 a shit after Michael Bay signed-on as the director? It's not, and if John Turturro's talent was ever completely wasted (which is hard to do), this is it. Check out Shia Labeouf's much better summer film, Disturbia.

8. Spiderman 3 - Yeah, you thought it looked promising at first with that evil black suit and all didn't you? Yeah, I did too. Too bad it sucked. Not dark enough, and the attempts comedy with Tobey were um...yeah, let's forget about it.

7. Death Proof - This was supposed to be the better of the two right? God I hope not. Not funny or serviceable in its supposed homage to the exploitation flicks of the 70's. And Tarantino has was over-extended himself with his once-hip dialogue. If I wasn't Kurt Russell fan I would have turned it off before it ended. Probably should have.

6. Hitman - Yeah, the premise is pretty stupid. And so is the rest of it. I do have a question though, if you're supposed to be one of the greatest assassins in the world, wouldn't it make more since to grow your hair out, or at least cover the barcode tatoo on your head with a hat?

5. The Hitcher - Yeah, I do like horror movies. The original back in 1986 with Rutger Hauer, John C. Howell and Jennifer Jason Leigh was actually scary and engaging. Now, all we have is upped production values and a whole lot of gore, body parts, etc. Sean Bean is not exactly the man for the job, and the supporting cast is lesser so. So much that you are cheering for their demise.

4. The Contract - I am not sure exactly how Morgan Freeman or John Cusack got messed up in this piece of garbage that plays out like a bad cable movie. In fact, I think it went straight to dvd. How either of these actors is in something that goes straight to video is beyond me. I'm not sure who they owed a favor to, but I hope that debt has been paid.

3. Tideland/The Reaping - Two examples of good, talented people, one being a director and one an actress who both seem completely lost. Terry Gilliam has made many movies that I can count among my favorites. From Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Brazil to The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Gilliam's film always leave you with something to talk about. Except for the last two. After not releasing anything for 7 years (the ill-fated "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote nonwithstanding), then directing this and The Brothers Grimm back-to-back. Well, the only thing we are talking about now is how bad they are. Tideland is a complete, absolute mess and a total waste of Jeff Bridges (and your time for watching this). Hillary Swank on the other hand, has two Oscars to her name. I'm not sure how, but she does. Don't get me wrong, "Boys Don't Cry" and "Million Dollar Baby" are very good movies and she is excellent in them. I'm just saying that, outside of "Insomnia", everything else she has done has stunk-up the joint. "The Reaping" is so bad I couldn't even enjoy it for some kind of camp value. You won't either.

2. Black Christmas - Oh wow, if my number hadn't come around, this would have been a clear winner. It's that bad. I know, surprise, another good original turned into complete shit by a re-make. Hard to believe by now. The acting is awful, well beyond actually. The directing, okay I'm going to stop. It's all shit.

1. Hostel: Part II - Eli Roth. What's happenin'? You make Cabin Fever, a really good low-budget horror film, that's gory as hell but also a hell of a lot of fun. Then you make Hostel. Mmmm...losing the humor a bit. Still creepy. Sadism and toture elements ratcheted up. But at least a somewhat original storyline where the viewer isn't exactly sure where their loyalties should lie. Then you make this. This utter piece of shit. There is no joke here, no wink of the eye. And overall its simply a bore. Please don't make a 3rd.