Three Movie Sunday, $5

Today was a successful Sunday, because I saw three movies for $5 total. And all three movies were extremely enjoyable! This is a pretty unusual occurrence, especially considering the fact that each film I saw clocked in at over 2 hours. Even when I felt ambivalent or confused by moments in each film, I can honestly say I wasn’t bored for one second – and I was in the seat from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (including previews, and a 5 minute break between movies). Incidentally, the theme of each movie was TRUST NO ONE (which I already learned from The X-Files of course).

MOVIE #1 – THE PRESTIGE
OK, every reviewer needs to mention how this movie pales in comparison to The Illusionist. Yes, The Prestige is overly convoluted, and if you watch very closely, as the movie itself admonishes you to do, you’ll figure out a lot of the “secrets” far before the end. But it’s damn entertaining. The fact that Christian Bale and David Bowie are all over the place really makes it hard for me to be an impartial reviewer. I’ll be the first to admit that I would willingly watch a 2 hour film of Christian Bale spitting into a bucket and give it a glowing review. I swear it’s not just my personal conviction here - this film will reinforce your belief in the Almighty Christian - everything he touches is golden. He’s a superb actor. Everyone else in the movie is up to the task too, so it’s really not a bad way to spend a couple of hours, even when it starts to stretch its credibility towards the end.

MOVIE #2 – LITTLE CHILDREN
Where did Patrick Wilson come from? Apparently he’s only in movies with castration themes (see Hard Candy), and apparently he’s also super hot. He’s got that studly jock thing going for him, but there’s more… enough to intrigue me, anyway. Here’s another film with solid acting all around, and I’m always overjoyed to see gorgeous people have sex during movies. It kind of turns into a weird morality play towards the end, and I might have an issue with that, but I have to think about it some more. Anyway, I’m glad I’m not married with kids in the suburbs, if nothing else.

MOVIE #3 – THE DEPARTED
Another tour-de-force of acting ability. This movie day must be a fluke. Since everyone is giving this movie such slobbering reviews, I feel like I can skip that part. The Departed takes its source material (the HK thriller Infernal Affairs) even farther and deeper. Hong Kong movies can be a little glib, to be honest, and this movie is really different enough to be viewed as a totally separate entity.
And who wins the Best Actor award in this all-star cast? I’m sure you’re dying to know my opinion, and I’m sure you’ll want to disagree. Remember Leonardo DiCrapio? I have to call him that, just because it’s cute. I’ve always defended his acting ability, even during his Titanic phase. I always thought he was an excellent actor, and has a much better range than most people give him credit for (just go to Gilbert Grape for confirmation – seriously, no one has ever played a mentally challenged character better than that in the history of film, and I’m saying that on the record). But with Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, and Marky Mark, someone was bound to out-act DiCrapio… Just kidding, he was the best.