Saturday, March 31, 2007

Movies #14 and #15

I Think I Love My Wife
I wanted to like this movie more than I did because I like the idea that Chris Rock was ballsy enough to try to remake a Rohmer film. It’s not really a remake, just the same general idea transferred to our day and age. Actually it’s been so many years since I saw Chloe in the Afternoon, I hardly remember it at all. I should have just put it at the top of my Netflix queue and skipped this one. There are funny moments, but I don’t think it’s intended to be a comedy. There are too many contrivances, and the mood of the film changes from somber to slapstick without warning. Plus, the woman who Chris Rock is “tempted” by is one of the most retardedly manipulative hos I’ve ever seen portrayed on the big screen. This movie will have your brain screaming “PLEASE tell me men are not so stupid as to fall for this shit!?!?” But of course they are.

The Lookout




Yay, I saw a good movie next! This is getting the odd bad review, but I don’t know what those people are thinking. The only problem I had with the film is that the end is wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly. The main characters are multidimensional and perfectly portrayed by Jeff Daniels and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The baddies will have you cringing, and the whole situation is very believable. It’s one of those “bad choice” movies that tend to infuriate me, but the fact that the main character has impaired mental functioning makes it all work.
I would say more, but I seriously think you guys should see this movie, and know as little about it as possible. By the way, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is really attractive. I used to think he was too young for me, but he’s 26! That’s totally within my range. See this movie and let me know what you think.


Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Breach



Wow, three weeks without a movie in the cinema… that must be some sort of record. I have no explanation, except that the end-of-winter blahs took hold, and I was busy with finals, and there’s seriously NOTHING out that I really am excited about seeing… Luckily, I found some free time last Sunday to pop over to the budget theater and see Breach. I’d definitely recommend this movie – it has a similar feel to The Interpreter, another underrated recent thriller, in that it seems to stick to a cinematic style that went out of vogue a couple decades ago. There are no explosions, no chase scenes (except for one very, very slow-paced car chase), no twists and double-twists and triple-double twists… It’s just a good, solid story about one person in a battle of wits with another person. Chris Cooper is a great actor, and makes what could be a despicable stock character into a weirdly sympathetic man. It’s never clear what any character in the movie really knows about anyone else, and because of this, a lot of people probably thought it was boring and obtuse. I wouldn’t say it was the best movie I’ve seen recently, but this is a good example of the thriller genre slowing down and utilizing actual suspense… I absolutely appreciate that.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Zodiac



This is a long but really entertaining movie. I should modify that statement by pointing out that I’m more fascinated by serial killers than your average citizen, and spent a lot of time reading books about them including the Zodiac Killer, of course. This movie details the (somewhat fictionalized) minutiae of the case – the excitement of new leads, the dread of coming face-to-face with possible murderers, the frustration when bureaucratic red tape stops the investigation dead in its tracks… And everything is filmed in a very palpable past, San Francisco in the late 60s to late 80s. The sets and cinematography perfectly immerse you in the time and place, and the acting is solid all around. My only complaint is that the film does drag on with a mostly unnecessary last act involving Jake Gyllenhaal’s obsession with the case, and the last quarter of the film is really the only time when it delves into standard Hollywood nonsense. On the whole the predictable suspense-movie cliches are kept to a minimum, and the movie is really outstanding… I’d especially recommend it to true-crime fans, and people with long attention spans.