Here's some more movies I've seen recently, either on
DVD or at the theater. Some I liked, some I didn't.
First up...
Blue Valentine (2010)
The Weinstein Company
Starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling
I'm really not a fan of sad movies (if I want to be sad,
there's always everyday life to provide that), but there
are a few that I really like, and this is one of them. In
this small-budget film, Gosling and Williams (who earned
an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress here)
play a mismatched couple who marry too young, and maybe
without having gotten to know each other well enough.
Blue Valentine alternates between flashbacks of their
fun, quirky courtship and the grim and joyless present,
in which Williams works as a nurse (and is obviously
the main breadwinner) and Gosling paints houses, and
drinks a lot. A fascinating look into the slow collapse
of a marriage, replete with all the regret of looking back
and not being able to turn back the clock. This movie
wasn't perfect, though. It felt like it was missing something
toward the end. I've heard Blue Valentine was pretty
heavily edited before release--most likely due to the
graphic nudity and sex--but it almost feels like that wasn't
all that was cut out. Regardless, excellent performances
make this one of the best dramas of the year.
Rating: * * * * out of 5 stars.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010)
Universal Studios
Starring Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth
Winstead
It would only be fair to mention that I was only able
to sit through this hot mess of a movie for little
over an hour before I decided to quit while I was
ahead. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is supposedly
based on a comic book series, which I have not
read. The protagonist is Michael Cera, playing the
same goddamn character he always plays: soft-
voiced, timid, feminized wall-flower. Scott Pilgrim
is the unlikely bassist for some some shitty rock
band. He then falls in love with some pink-haired
chick, Ramona Flowers (Winstead) but then has
to tangle with Ramona's "seven evil exes", a collection
of weirdos who appear to have superpowers. So
does Pilgrim, it appears, as his battles against the
exes have him fighting like a video game/comic
book character (with "sound effects" appearing
on the screen as words, video game references and
sound effects galore, fancy aerial moves, etc.).
Whatever alternate reality the characters inhabit
seems incredibly retarded, ugly and awkward.
Maybe it's just because the film is set in Canada.
The characters were all ridiculous and the storytelling
was manic and irritating. I know director Edgar Wright
can do much better (Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz,
for example), but this just failed to hold my interest. I
dunno, maybe I'm too old. This movie was obviously
made with dorky teenagers in mind.
Not surprisingly, it bombed at the box office.
Rating: * out of 5 stars.
More like Scott Pilgrim vs The Audience.
The Limits of Control (2009)
Focus Features
Starring Isaach De Bankolé, Bill Murray
This is a gorgeous-looking film, that often seems to forget
that the audience expects to be told a story. Isaach de
Bankole plays what I presumed to be some kind of hitman,
who spends a lot of time waiting to be handed instructions
on his next job by a series of strange...well, strangers. The
Limits of Control seems to take place almost exclusively
in various parts of Spain. The scenery is incredibly beautiful,
and the cinematography makes it come alive flawlessly.
But the film is ultimately too dull, too drawn out and too
mysterious to really hold an audience's interest. Don't get
too excited about Bill Murray, though. He's only in about
5 minutes near the end. Paz de la Huerta does full-frontal
nudity here (not that that's an infrequent occurence for her),
so it's not a total loss.
There, you don't have to see it now.
Rating: * * out of 5 stars.
Piranha 3-D (2010)
The Weinstein Company
Starring Jerry O'Connell, Elisabeth Shue
This is supposed to be a remake of the original 1978
camp classic, except that there's almost certainly a lot
more graphic gore, tits & ass and shitty jokes in this
updated version. I don't gross out easily, but this movie
was gory as hell, especially in 3D. I found myself not
finding the gore either funny or scary, just disgusting. The
tits were okay...but I think an actual story could've been
told here as well, alongside all of that. Almost all the
characters were bland and basically unlikeable. Richard
Dreyfus makes a completely pointless cameo near the
beginning. However, a later--albeit too brief-- appearance
by the always great Christopher Lloyd almost turned the movie
around for me. The plot? Oh...some guy who makes
Girls
Gone Wild-type videos (O'Connell) comes to a beach town to
film, some tennager and his love interest tag along with him, then
piranhas attack. Not much else to it. And tits.
Rating: * out of 5 stars.
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