Nothing like an upbeat start to the summer, huh? “
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Speaking of things that happened before I was born…I was talking with a friend of mine the other day about how much I wish I could have experienced several classic films as they were released, as opposed to watching them once they’re already ingrained in the culture. For instance, I’ve always wondered what it would be like not to know from the time you were born that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father – how did it feel to sit there in the theatre at the end of “The Empire Strikes Back,” your mind blown, and then having to wait three years to find out what happens next??? Like “Star Wars,” “Close Encounters” came out in 1977, and I just saw it last week. There’s never been a time in my life that I didn’t come across references to Devil’s Tower and mashed potato sculpture. So I feel like I missed something when I watched “Close Encounters”…It’s still a beautiful film. It’s interesting to me how understated Spielberg is as a writer (he wrote this script)…Movies like this one, “AI” and “The Sugarland Express” seem to be both bleaker and more visually oriented in their story-telling than many of his other films. This one also gets points for casting Dead Celebrity Crush #47 himself (speaking English! – sort of…).
Boogie Nights (1997)
Jumping ahead a few decades, we have another auteur (Paul Thomas Anderson), and another film I didn’t see when it came out, this time because I was too young. Also – full disclosure – I took one look at the casting of Marky Mark and decided that “Boogie Nights” had to be a joke. (Yeah, I’m psychic that way…) As it turned out, this was the film that gave
The Happening (2008)
…which is how I ended up in “The Happening.” Not the only reason, though…I also have a total girl-crush on Zooey Deschanel, and M. Night Shyamalan is still one of those directors whose films I always find interesting, even if I don’t love them (I’m talking to you, “The Village”). Let me get that out upfront, just so’s I don’t come off as one of those critics who hates Shyamalan on principle because he gets to make movies and I don’t…I loved, loved, loved “The Sixth Sense,” and I think it’s a terribly misunderstood film (it’s NOT about a kid who sees dead people, for one thing). “Unbreakable” grew on me. I even liked “Signs,” because I think I took things away from it that you miss if you’re just looking for a horror movie. Okay, all that said, “The Happening” sucked such massive amounts of ass that I’m having trouble conceptualizing it. It’s the single most unbelievable film I’ve seen in a very long time. And I’m not talking about macro-level plot, either – I’m talking about the small details, like relationships between people, realistic reactions, etc. Even a fantastic story has to be grounded in realism – even more so than a non-fantasy story. This is the kind of movie where people actually say things like “Oh, no!,” and not ironically, either. Early on, there’s a scene where Zooey (playing Mark’s flaky wife) gets a phone call on her cell from a guy she clearly doesn’t want her husband to know about. The phone vibrates, she fidgets, worrying that Mark will barge in any second and catch her, the phone vibrates some more, and she tosses it on a nearby table, watching it continue to vibrate, instead of, you know, just pressing the friggin’ “ignore” button. It’s just that kind of movie. (She also has multiple occasions to talk about how much she doesn’t like showing emotion, usually while she’s in the process of flipping out.) I found myself wishing throughout the film that Shyamalan would come down from his ivory tower long enough to witness how actual human beings interact with one another. I’m just going to say two more things: A) when John Leguizamo gives the film’s most realistic, natural performance, you’ve got a serious problem, and B) I was so distracted by how badly this movie sucked that I walked right out of the theatre, forgetting that I’d already bought a ticket for…
Wanted (2008)
Here’s what I want in a summer movie…spectacle, sure, but not slop. A film that has varying amounts of brains, heart and balls. Eye candy that doesn’t waste my time. “Wanted” isn’t a perfect action movie by any means, but it was miles more believable than “The Happening,” even with all its bending bullets. A lot of that is down to James McAvoy (previously seen in “The Last King of Scotland” and “Atonement,” and one of those “Narnia” movies), who plays a working stiff mysteriously recruited by an ancient group of assassins. “The Fraternity” kill random people supposedly to restore balance to the universe, taking their orders from a code delivered by some sort of psychic loom (don’t ask). The special effects are dazzling, even by post-“Matrix” standards, though “Wanted” does suffer from a bit of that “can’t tell who’s winning the fight scene” editing disease that plagues most modern action flicks. Likes: The Frat traces its roots to weavers in Medieval Moravia – in other words, my ancestors. BOO-YAH! Dislikes: I would’ve liked more explanation of the Frat’s mythology, which is also a must for any action franchise. (The movie’s barely 90 minutes long – surely they could’ve squeezed this in…) Also, not so much a “dislike” as a “mystification”: what’s Angelina Jolie doing in this movie? I’d understand it if it were still the 1999 “Gone in 60 Seconds” Angelina, but isn’t she a bit above playing the Token Hot Chick by now? Maybe she just likes losing the baby weight on some studio’s dime, I dunno…
Pic of the Week: “The Happening,” but only so we can gas together about how God-awful it is…Seriously, I hope every actor in that film earned some kind of special shitty-dialogue hazard pay.
No comments:
Post a Comment