The “extremely loud” part is definitely on target. I wanted to like this movie. I had a pocketful of kleenex and a Sunday afternoon free. I wasn’t excited to think about 9/11 for two hours but I hoped I’d get a meaningful and interesting remembrance. Unfortunately the two hour trip is hosted by, literally, the most annoying child on the face of the earth. The 11-year-old, Oskar, is eccentric. Tests to determine if he had aspergers were “inconclusive.” There are not many scenes in which Oskar is not the primary, if not only, speaker. And after a half hour or so, his voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me. His quest to decipher a key found in his late father’s belongings is hopeless, and extremely lengthy. By the time he finds a cohort you will be so thrilled and excited to get to hear another character. Then…he’s mute! It’s a ridiculous device and only serves for more one-sided screeching by the kid. In the end, there are some touching moments. Things tie together and the crazy hopeless quest of the key feels like it had some meaning after all. Unfortunately all that comes too late. The kid has already been unlikable for too long. Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis and the other adults do a nice job. Unfortunately, they can’t counter balance the kid. (Disclaimer – I am not a kid hater. But I don’t have unlimited tolerance or sympathy for the fictitious ones, either.)
Movie Review: Tree of Life
I’d heard the reports that “Tree of Life” was love it or hate it, long and incomprehensible. Potentially pretentious. I wasn’t excited to watch it and let the DVD languish on the table for a couple of weeks. Finally, it was the last best picture nominee I had left so I forced myself to watch it. I was surprised. It was long. It was incomprehensible. And it was potentially pretentious. But there was something really engaging about it. Even the 20 minute diversion into the big bang and dinosaur reckoning was more realistic and interesting to watch than I imagined it would be. The overall theme of theology — who is God and why is He, or isn’t He, watching us — felt organic and not as forced as it should have. The performances were awesome — you never questioned how people were feeling despite very little dialogue and nearly no cohesive, scene-by-scene narrative. Brad Pitt was very good, his keyed up speak first think later father was the exact opposite of his downtrodden, thinking and methodical Moneyball character. And this was the first time I felt like I understood the fuss about Jessica Chastain. All that said, it’s not a movie I’d recommend without reservation. I have a feeling I have more patience that most to sit for two hours without getting what I’m watching. But if you feel like just giving over to some beautiful cinematography and a somewhat coherent coming of age tale somewhere in the middle there, you may enjoy it.
Oscar Season Review — WarHorse
WarHorse is a very traditional movie. There isn't a single element of surprise in it, except for its extreme sentimentality and nostalgia. For the first 20 minutes or so I was waiting for the joke — the irony, the wink. When it never came I was actually a little uncomfortable. This movie is as straight as straight can get. I found ithe meandering, boys falling in love at first sight with a horse both predictable and somewhat laughable. There were some nice heartfelt stories but the music and direction was just so heavy handed. I was bored throughout this movie. I think you can catch it on TBS in four years in between hangover naps and be just fine.
Christian Bale Is Back on My Good Side
Do you know how you can tell if someone's truly giving a great performance? If they can persuade you to forget what you already know about them. Like even now, when you catch "Jerry Maguire" on cable on a Saturday afternoon, and you get sucked in and instead of thinking — "Tom Cruise, what a fool" — you actually are
thinking "I love you Jerry Maguire!" (Or one way you know it's NOT a great performance: If someone shows up, like…say, Winona Ryder, in "The Black Swan"…and you are constantly thinking "its Wino Forever!" instead of "oh it's just poor tragic Beth, the washed up ballerina." Just a thought.) So anyway…Christian Bale is the point. In "The Fighter." And whatever you have heard about his ass-hatness and yelling at commoners and general douche-baggery really doesn't matter when you see him in this movie. He's insanely good. He plays the crack-addicted brother of Marky Mark, who is a boxer with abs, good ones. Christian Bale is so skinny, sweaty, slimy, fast-talking and shaking and singing…it's off-putting but in a good way. As he and his mother, the also great Melissa Leo, drag down Marky, you really really want them both to go away. Which for me, made "The Fighter" hard to watch, a little. I loved the movie and highly recommend it. But there was a time in the middle of it where I was done with Christian's character Dicky, and his mother. And that visceral reaction also tells me, well, bravo. So despite all the antics in Christian's past, and the Batman voice that truly drives me crazy, I will be rooting for him to win any supporting actor award that exists and more, if they want to invent them.
The Show
I liked Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. They weren’t slam dunk, smile on my face for three hours hosts, but they were never boring and they made me laugh more than once. They were smart enough to toss the opening to NPH. And they kept the humor about the people in the room, broad and “insider” without being mean or “too insider.” And frankly I’d rather have the jokes centered on the people, or the “community” as Cameron Diaz insisted on calling them in every interview, than on the topical BS we see on every late night show. I am never really one for the Oscars as a monologue on social commentary. So I guess these hosts were just the right speed. I’d give them a B-. They were likable, but they won’t be back.
Overall, the fun moments were few and far between and the entire show was entertaining but dull. I know that's what the Oscars are, though…it's what I've come to expect! So maybe that's why I'm happy with it.
The rest of the shows had highs and lows. Let’s start with the good parts:
· The afore-mentioned NPH opener. Yes, we know what to expect by now, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love it.
· The introduction of the best actor/actress nominees on stage. And the love they got from friends. I’m glad they didn’t do this for the supporting acting awards, it would have been too much. But I love giving a little bit more attention to all the nominees, especially in years like this one, where we know Carey Mulligan and Morgan Freeman aren’t making it onto that stage, no matter what. I also like the little “inside” stories on the stars and the opportunity to see some more celebs and friendships in action. Yes – I like feeling like I’m in the know, even if it is manufactured and fake, I guess!
· The tribute to John Hughes. I’m a sucker for a montage, and what’s more fun than a Hughes montage? The icing was all the brat packers on hand to pay tribute, though selfishly I wished there were more than just 8 of them. Also selfishly, I wished Judd Nelson could afford a stylist.
· The intros to the best picture nominees. I always like seeing the clips spaced out and these were paced just right and done well. (with the exception of A Serious Man – I couldn’t stand the movie, really, so couldn’t stand the clip, either.)
The low points, for me:
· Tom Hanks not even reading the names of the nominees. I know that we had seen all the clips but just going straight to the winner was too fast and anti climatic. And I thought it robbed those other movies of their last moment in the sun. What’s most irritating is that it is totally the show going long – so they waste millions of minutes throughout the shows on garbage (more on that) and then cut out the most basic of basic things – listing the nominees for best picture!
· Speaking of garbage. Do you feel enriched knowing about how much an Oscar for a “short” mattered to past winners? Because I was bored beyond belief.
· And I love a good clip fest, but thought they were playing way too much of the clips – two snippets or scenes for every supporting actor nominee? And those excruciating screenplay demos? Look – I like the effort to make the writing nominations come to life in some way. But nothing has ever worked on this. Words on a page are boring. They are brought to life IN THE MOVIE. We don’t need to see them on paper to understand that those words, made the movie. We really just don’t.
· Dancing. It was fine but seems like filler. I don’t know how to solve the nominated song dilemma. If there was a way to play only the good ones (like the winning The Weary Kind) I’d be jazzed, but none of us need to spend more time listening to Princess and the Frog songs for no good reason. And I feel the same way about the scores – the great ones are an instant reminder of the movie. But I don’t know that we need that long to celebrate it.
· The Oldies. I’m not gonna complain that you cut out all the oldie awards for achievement. Granted, I’m kind of surprised that even in doing so you actually added 30 minutes to the length. But do you have to make them sit in the back row? So awkward.
Oscars 2010: The Winners
Ding dong – Avatar is dead. Well dead at the Oscars but still richer than Midas. You guys, here it is: I hated Avatar with a deep burning passion. I found it preachy, condescending, offensive and, worst of all, frickin boring! So the only horse I had in the race was the hope that the Avatar horse would not cross the finish line. I liked the Hurt Locker very much. I also very much liked Up in the Air, Precious, and Up. None of these movies were modern day classics to me. But they were good. To a slightly lesser degree I liked An Education, District 9 and Inglorious Basterds. I liked the Blind Side but clearly it’s not best picture material. And I did not like A Serious Man or Avatar. So seeing the little engine that could of the Hurt Locker beat Avatar was great to me.
Kathryn Bigelow is NOT James Cameron! Woo hoo! In addition, I LOVE Point Break and also was madly in love with the movie Strange Days (this was in my Ralph Fiennes period) so I’ve always thought she ruled. Good for her.
Sandra Bullock – OK, I was secretly rooting for a Precious upset. But more for the upset excitement than because I didn’t want Sandra to win. I find her funny and likable to the extreme. She seems to have a great sense of herself and also a sense of humor about the “importance” of being her. Sort of the anti-Julia.
Jeff Bridges – I love Bad Blake. And this is just the long overdue recognition for Fearless (he wasn’t even nominated for that movie – atrocious.)
Monique – Precious was the last nominated movie I saw. Before I saw it I thought I wanted one of the Up in the Air girls to win this. Man, did Monique (and her role of a lifetime) make that a ridiculous thought. There is a reason she was a dead lock to win this.
Christoph Waltz – I didn’t see a single one of the films he competed against. So, OK!
The Show
I liked Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. They weren’t slam dunk, smile on my face for three hours hosts, but they were never boring and they made me laugh more than once. They were smart enough to toss the opening to NPH. And they kept the humor about the people in the room, broad and “insider” without being mean or “too insider.” And frankly I’d rather have the jokes centered on the people, or the “community” as Cameron Diaz insisted on calling them in every interview, than on the topical BS we see on every late night show. I am never really one for the Oscars as a monologue on social commentary. So I guess these hosts were just the right speed. I’d give them a B-. They were likable, but they won’t be back.
Overall, the fun moments were few and far between and the entire show was entertaining but dull. I know that's what the Oscars are, though…it's what I've come to expect! So maybe that's why I'm happy with it.
The rest of the shows had highs and lows. Let’s start with the good parts:
· The afore-mentioned NPH opener. Yes, we know what to expect by now, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love it.
· The introduction of the best actor/actress nominees on stage. And the love they got from friends. I’m glad they didn’t do this for the supporting acting awards, it would have been too much. But I love giving a little bit more attention to all the nominees, especially in years like this one, where we know Carey Mulligan and Morgan Freeman aren’t making it onto that stage, no matter what. I also like the little “inside” stories on the stars and the opportunity to see some more celebs and friendships in action. Yes – I like feeling like I’m in the know, even if it is manufactured and fake, I guess!
· The tribute to John Hughes. I’m a sucker for a montage, and what’s more fun than a Hughes montage? The icing was all the brat packers on hand to pay tribute, though selfishly I wished there were more than just 8 of them. Also selfishly, I wished Judd Nelson could afford a stylist.
· The intros to the best picture nominees. I always like seeing the clips spaced out and these were paced just right and done well. (with the exception of A Serious Man – I couldn’t stand the movie, really, so couldn’t stand the clip, either.)
The low points, for me:
· Tom Hanks not even reading the names of the nominees. I know that we had seen all the clips but just going straight to the winner was too fast and anti climatic. And I thought it robbed those other movies of their last moment in the sun. What’s most irritating is that it is totally the show going long – so they waste millions of minutes throughout the shows on garbage (more on that) and then cut out the most basic of basic things – listing the nominees for best picture!
· Speaking of garbage. Do you feel enriched knowing about how much an Oscar for a “short” mattered to past winners? Because I was bored beyond belief.
· And I love a good clip fest, but thought they were playing way too much of the clips – two snippets or scenes for every supporting actor nominee? And those excruciating screenplay demos? Look – I like the effort to make the writing nominations come to life in some way. But nothing has ever worked on this. Words on a page are boring. They are brought to life IN THE MOVIE. We don’t need to see them on paper to understand that those words, made the movie. We really just don’t.
· Dancing. It was fine but seems like filler. I don’t know how to solve the nominated song dilemma. If there was a way to play only the good ones (like the winning The Weary Kind) I’d be jazzed, but none of us need to spend more time listening to Princess and the Frog songs for no good reason. And I feel the same way about the scores – the great ones are an instant reminder of the movie. But I don’t know that we need that long to celebrate it.
· The Oldies. I’m not gonna complain that you cut out all the oldie awards for achievement. Granted, I’m kind of surprised that even in doing so you actually added 30 minutes to the length. But do you have to make them sit in the back row? So awkward.
Oscars 2010: The Winners
Ding dong – Avatar is dead. Well dead at the Oscars but still richer than Midas. You guys, here it is: I hated Avatar with a deep burning passion. I found it preachy, condescending, offensive and, worst of all, frickin boring! So the only horse I had in the race was the hope that the Avatar horse would not cross the finish line. I liked the Hurt Locker very much. I also very much liked Up in the Air, Precious, and Up. None of these movies were modern day classics to me. But they were good. To a slightly lesser degree I liked An Education, District 9 and Inglorious Basterds. I liked the Blind Side but clearly it’s not best picture material. And I did not like A Serious Man or Avatar. So seeing the little engine that could of the Hurt Locker beat Avatar was great to me.
Kathryn Bigelow is NOT James Cameron! Woo hoo! In addition, I LOVE Point Break and also was madly in love with the movie Strange Days (this was in my Ralph Fiennes period) so I’ve always thought she ruled. Good for her.
Sandra Bullock – OK, I was secretly rooting for a Precious upset. But more for the upset excitement than because I didn’t want Sandra to win. I find her funny and likable to the extreme. She seems to have a great sense of herself and also a sense of humor about the “importance” of being her. Sort of the anti-Julia.
Jeff Bridges – I love Bad Blake. And this is just the long overdue recognition for Fearless (he wasn’t even nominated for that movie – atrocious.)
Monique – Precious was the last nominated movie I saw. Before I saw it I thought I wanted one of the Up in the Air girls to win this. Man, did Monique (and her role of a lifetime) make that a ridiculous thought. There is a reason she was a dead lock to win this.
Christoph Waltz – I didn’t see a single one of the films he competed against. So, OK!
Movie Review Haiku
The Wrestler
Devastating, Rourke.
Breaks your heart and makes you cringe.
More impact than most.
He's Just Not That Into You
All you will find are
Cliches and embarrassment.
Love this kinda crap.
Milk
Story hits the heart.
Relevant but a little
history lessonish.
Slumdog Millionaire
Exhilerating.
Music and fast cuts make this
Seem like a wild ride.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A movie almost
As long as his life story.
Pretty but no love.
Doubt
ACTORS! take the stage.
Pompous with no small gestures.
Too bad, potential.
Movie Review Haiku
The Wrestler
Devastating, Rourke.
Breaks your heart and makes you cringe.
More impact than most.
He's Just Not That Into You
All you will find are
Cliches and embarrassment.
Love this kinda crap.
Milk
Story hits the heart.
Relevant but a little
history lessonish.
Slumdog Millionaire
Exhilerating.
Music and fast cuts make this
Seem like a wild ride.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A movie almost
As long as his life story.
Pretty but no love.
Doubt
ACTORS! take the stage.
Pompous with no small gestures.
Too bad, potential.
