I've Seen Some Stuff Recently
2008 is fast approaching, and if you're neurotic like me (and I know YOU are, Maya) then you've probably been compiling your "Best of 2007" movie list in your mind (or on the palm of your hand while you wait for the bus.) My #1 spot is still unoccupied, but I have high hopes for Juno... so it better open here at the edge of the continent prior to Dec 31. My #2 spot will likely go to a sweet and charming film with an inauspicious ad promo...
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
Yes, yes, the publicity stills and plot synopses make this look and sound like a perv-fest. But it's not. Ryan Gosling is brilliant and disarming and I had a lot of empathy for his "disturbed" protagonist. This movie is funny and sweet and surprising. My only nitpicky nitpick is that it's set in small-town Wisconsin and not one actor even TRIES for a Midwestern accent. Nevermind that smarmy Paul Schneider (buddy of Carrie's ex- David Gordon Greene. Where are they from, North Carolina?) with his mid-Atlantic drawl that is just SO wrong. Even a Canadian accent would have been better.
Yes, yes, the publicity stills and plot synopses make this look and sound like a perv-fest. But it's not. Ryan Gosling is brilliant and disarming and I had a lot of empathy for his "disturbed" protagonist. This movie is funny and sweet and surprising. My only nitpicky nitpick is that it's set in small-town Wisconsin and not one actor even TRIES for a Midwestern accent. Nevermind that smarmy Paul Schneider (buddy of Carrie's ex- David Gordon Greene. Where are they from, North Carolina?) with his mid-Atlantic drawl that is just SO wrong. Even a Canadian accent would have been better.
I also saw these, and though I'm not sure whether ultimately they'll break the top 12, I thought I'd write a few words about each:
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Acting, acting, acting. It's all about the acting here. Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones are pretty much guaranteed Oscar nods. (And a new category should be created for Javier's haircut... CREEPIEST COIF... maybe that belongs on the MTV Movie Awards though.) Well done, Coen Brothers, you're back in the saddle.
ENCHANTED
This movie gave me a toothache. And I wasn't even eating my usual jumbo bag of peanut M&Ms! It's just... so... sweeeet. There are certainly more than a few clever moments, but ultimately, it was just too much for my cynical, slightly-too-much testosterone-producing self. Highly recommended for girls under 12 and parents who have to take their kids to something G-rated.
posted by Sandy @ 1:17 PM
2 Comments:
I also saw Enchanted, and I felt the same way. Amy Adams = LOVE. But I actually thought James Marsden stole the show. McDreamy was just fine. What was the point of having Idina Menzel as his GF if she wasn't even going to sing? That was silly.
The idea had so much potential, but the filmmakers didn't try hard enough.
Yeah, this was another instance of everything you'd want to see being in the preview. I agree about James Mardsen, though I also liked the digitally animated chipmunk (squirrel? Whatever it was, its cuteness still does not make me want to see The Chipmunks!)
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