Category: Movies

The Hurt Locker is a Great Film

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Last night i saw The Hurt Locker and i have to say that it is a great film.  It’s a great story about a man, William James (Jeremy Renner), who diffuses bombs ibilden Iraq under enemy fire.  It’s an absurdly dangerous job and he rellishes in it.  The movie starts with a quote, “War is a drug” and it couldn’t be more true for William James.

You could view William as a type of artist for he approaches a Flow-like state when he’s diffusing – all time stands still and like a surgeon he achieves the utmost clarity and focus.   He understands bombs inside and out and does it day after day after day until he could do it in his sleep.  He also tries to understand the bombers. He loves his job and could be the best in the military at it.

This movie is exciting – not because of the action scenes but because of the people – the characters.  There aren’t any big speeches but rather you can see each person examining their soul as the war takes it toll.  I felt as if i was truly watching someone feel the war.  The direction of this movie was top notch.  There weren’t lame quick cuts in the action scenes but rather the camera dwells on the situation at hand and allows the viewer to experience the situation just as the soldiers are.  It’s not action – it’s suspense.  It’s great and you can see why William James needs his drug.  It’s an approach to war i’ve never seen before

I thought that this was the first good film about the Iraq War that i’ve seen.  It shows how the troops are integrated in the streets and how tough it is for them to police in a city that doesn’t necessarily want them nor understands them.  I’ve talked to a few veterans and one of them has specifically mentioned the kids in the cities and how hard it is to look at someone and both want to help someone and also be afraid of them killing you.

This is a great film.  It’s on my list for nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow) and Best Actor (Jeremy Renner)

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Best Movie of the Decade?

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I was listening to a debate going on the BS Report about the best movie of the past 10 years.  It’s 2009 and the era called “the aughts” or “the zeros” is almost over.  One thing that is really troubling to realize is that the best movies of this decade are noticeably worse than the movies of the last decade.  Looking at the top movies of the past 10 years you’ll see that very few of them are going to be timeless classics. On the flip side, the movies of the 90’s are extremely re-watchable and seem to be much better:

Picture 4

The reason i believe is something I heard from Chris Connelly and that TV is the new indie movie. Shows like The Soprano’s, Band of Brothers, The Wire, and Mad Men – those are the best movies of the last decade.  Granted they didn’t come out on the big screen but this is where visionary directors are going to produce character-driven creative stories.   Cinema today is all about either (1) Big budget action movies or (2) formulaic stories in a specific genre whether it’s horror, comedy, romance, or thrillers.   It’s interesting to see that TV is picking up the slack that films are leaving.  This could also be why people are picking up TV DVD’s much more.   The production quality, the music and the cinematography is way better in these tv dramas than they ever were in 80’s and 90’s television – it’s no wonder that they can compete head on so well.

Personally, if i had to pick, i’d choose The Departed or No Country For Old Men as the best movies of the 00’s.  What do you think?  First, what is your top movie of the past decade?  And do you agree that TV is the new Indie film?

Thoughts about Bruno

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sacha-baron-cohen-bruno-gq-july-2009-cover

Saw Bruno last night and here are some thoughts:

  • The trailer was hilarious BUT gave away way too many scenes.  Watching the movie, I found that there was a setup and you already knew what was going to happen.  This was true for the camping trip and the military attempt. Similarly, he gave away too many jokes from the movie on the Today show too which i posted about yesterday.
    • Trailers giving away too much of a movie is a monstrous pet peeve of mine.  I hate that films do it. I understand that it helps get people into the theaters more but it really degrades the actual experience.   This is a whole other post for me.  But man does it tick me off.
  • With Borat, they explained the camera because they were filming everything for the station back home, and you could tell when there was a hidden camera.  For Bruno, there was no explanation why the camera was following Bruno around for most of the time.  There are some scenes where you wonder how they are filming it – like the swingers party scene.   It made the movie feel less authentic and more fictional
  • There are some great scenes that really show the insanity of America and of Hollywood.  Some parents should be totally ashamed of themselves for how they pimp out their kids.  Bruno is able to expose the absurdity of LA really well.
  • The movie is lot like the movie Jackass except instead of doing anything just to be dumb, Bruno does gay things just to be dumb and films the reaction of other people.   There’s actually quite a lot of similarities between the two
  • I found that the narrative of the movie was pretty contrived.  It was more a series of funny events strapped together than an actual story.  Sure it tried to be a story of Bruno’s attempt to become famous but that is not really an arc.
  • This is the best marketed movie i’ve seen in a long time.  Everywhere i looked it was Bruno.  His appearance on Letterman and The Today show were great.  I really felt that this movie was an event which resulted in me marching out on opening night. I have to hand it to them – really great marketing.

So, i think as you can see, i felt the movie was hyped up abit too much for me and didn’t fully deliver.  I still think it was pretty damn funny.  I laughed a lot.  But, i think it’s more of a Borat sequel than another innovative step.  Personally i think Borat was better or at least more novel.  I’m going 7.5 out of 10

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Bruno This Weekend

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I’m headed out to see Bruno tonight and i’m pretty excited as i’ve read some great reviews and saw that it’s at 71% at Rotten Tomatoes.  Ebert says:

Here is a film that is 82 minutes long and doesn’t contain 30 boring seconds.

that’s a pretty good endorsement – especially from someone who isn’t in to sophomoric comedies that much. I like Borat so i’m expecting great things. I actually think that people are much more outwardly homophobic than racist so i can imagine that Sacha Baron can have much more fun with peolple with Bruno than he did with Borat.

I got even more excited when i saw Bruno go on the Today show and talk about Isreal and Palastine and his war on carbs.  It is hilarious:

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Little Person & Synecdoche, New York

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Synecdoche, New York

I’m just a little person,
One person in a sea
Of many little people
Who are not aware of me.

I do my little job
And live my little life,
Eat my little meals,
Miss my little kid and wife

And somewhere, maybe someday,
Maybe somewhere far away,
I’ll find a second little person
who will look at me and say,

“I know you
You’re the one I’ve waited for.
Let’s have some fun.”

Life is precious every minute,
and more precious with you in it,
so let’s have some fun

We’ll take a road trip way out west. You’re the one I like the best.
I’m glad I’ve found you,
Like being around you
You’re the one I like the best.

Somewhere, maybe someday,
Maybe somewhere far away,
I’ll meet a second little person
And we’ll go out and play.
— Little Person, “Synecdoche, New York”

The lines bring me back to the movie “Synecdoche, New York” which is extremely provocative.  I’m not sure i would call it entertaining but i definitely enjoyed it. I’m pretty sure i need to see it again.  I do think Charlie Kaufman (the writer and director) is a genius.  He’s written some incredible films – all about the mind and how we intereact with it. In fact, here’s how i categorize all his films:

  • Most mainstream and accessible – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (How we deal with losing your mind)
  • Most clever and funniest – Adaptation (Having a twin brother do what you cannot)
  • Most creative and original – Being John Malkovich (Going into someone else’s mind)
  • Most thought provoking – Synecdoche, New York (How the mind deals with age, discouragement, wisdom and uncertainty)
  • Most exciting and sexy – Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (How the mind deals with two different lives)

I’m not sure which one is my favorite as they are all good in different ways.   Which ones do you like?

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Up is Magical

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Last week i went and saw Pixar‘s latest masterpiece called Up. If you’ve never heard of the film, it’s an animated movie about an old man, Carl, who is a recluse. He’s at the end of his days and is holding out against the world. He keeps his home as a memorial and still talks to the absent wife Ellie. One day Carl decides to pack up and fly away–literally. Having worked all his life as a balloon man, he has the equipment on hand to suspend the house from countless helium-filled balloons and fulfill his dream of seeking a beautiful Argentinian waterfall called Paradise Falls.

First, let me just say that the film begins with a montage of Carl and Ellie that is one of the best 10 minutes of film that i have ever seen. It is so sweet and wonderful that i’d go back and pay just to see that part.

The film is a funny adventure and the characters are often more real than human actors.  I find it refreshing that the main character is a 70-year old man instead of the latest hearthtrob of the moment.  Where Star Trek felt it had to have all youngsters dominate the film, Pixar handed the reins to what would seem a total unsympathetic character.  Instead, he’s completely refreshing.

It’s a funny thing to say but I wish more movies had the creativity of Up, the realism of Carl, and the emotional weight of this animated film.

Am i alone on this?

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Basketball, David & Goliath, and Underdogs

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I read a great article by Malcolm Gladwell last week called How David Beats Goliath.  It talks about a Silicon Valley CEO who has never coached basketball before and how he takes a novel approach towards basketball strategy when coaching his 12-year-old girl’s team.

Picture 6Realizing his girl’s team is lacking the talent needed to compete, he decides to change the rules.  Instead of falling back into their half to play defense, they do a full-court press each time.  Their number 1 goal is to steal the opening pass.  After that, they try to keep the team from crossing the halfway line.  This approach is never used and its unconventional nature results in great success. He also pulls in the former San Francisco 49er, Roger Craig, as his assistant coach which makes the story that much more entertaining.

If that was the end of the story, it’d be an interesting piece but he overlays into the piece other stories of underdogs.  He talks about the battle of David vs. Goliath and Lawrence of Arabia’s revolt against the Ottoman Army near the end of the First World War.  In both cases, changing the nature of the game was the difference.  Gladwell remarks:

David’s victory over Goliath, in the Biblical account, is held to be an anomaly. It was not. Davids win all the time. The political scientist Ivan Arreguín-Toft recently looked at every war fought in the past two hundred years between strong and weak combatants. The Goliaths, he found, won in 71.5 per cent of the cases.

He always jumps back to the basketball example and has interviews with amazingly successful NCAA basketball coach Rick Pitino who talks about the press and overachieving.

Great article, check it out

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The Road

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Cover of "The Road"
Cover of The Road

I just finished reading Cormac McCarthy‘s book The Road which is about a father and a son walking through post-apocalypic America.  While a quick read, it’s dark and sad.  I loved the end of the book but going from page to page was a challenge as i didn’t really want to go back to the world they inhabit.  It’s cold, uncomfortable and frightening.  But that’s what makes the book good – it feels quite raw.

While the book was good, the movie looks to be even better as it puts a face and picture to the madness.  And it has an amazing cast of Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, and Robert Duvall. Can’t wait to check it out later this year.  Trailer is below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbLgszfXTAY]

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The Brothers Bloom

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I went to the movie The Brothers Bloom last weekend and i have to say that it was a really fun flick.  It’s getting killed at Rotten Tomatoes (57%) but trust me it’s a great movie.  It’s written and directed by the guy who did the high school drug mystery movie Brick – which in my opinion was way overrated.  I remember watching it with my cousin Matt Lewis and waiting for it to end.  Granted we were recovering from a big night, but still it didn’t do it for me.  Maybe another viewing is needed

The movie The Brothers Bloom is different. The movie itself has a great beginning and middle.  The ending is the weakest part of the movie, but it’s not horrible.  And, i’ve heard that it had to cut quite a bit due to timing so i hope the Director’s Cut gets released on DVD.

The movie reminds me a lot of a Wes Anderson film in its quirkiness and style and the French movie Amelie in that it thrives around a quirky woman.  Rachel Weisz makes this movie.  Without her it’s just average.  She is fantastic.  The other woman, named Bang Bang, played by Rinko Kikuchi is also awesome even though she doesn’t speak at all. On another casting note, i was so happy that the older brother, Steve, was played by Mark Ruffalo instead of Owen Wilson. If it was a Wes Anderson film, Owen would have played the part and it would have been a worse movie.  I’m sick of him in those roles.

There are a series of great scenes in the movie.  From the early scene at the zoo to the first makeout between Adrian Brody and Rachel.  Something about making out with a girl who’s never kissed anyone before is intriguing to me. These are very very interesting characters and each subsequent scene of the movie was unpredictable.  As an avid moviegoer, being unpredictable and funny are two difficult and welcome characteristics.  I give this movie an 8.  Go see it.

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