Tag: movies

For a moment there Up In The Air tried to be about redemption. A man lives his life on the road afraid of commitments, relationships, baggage, but with the help of three women in his life he finds that life is more than traveling. Then a twist that you knew had to be coming comes and the movie gets our leading man back on the road where he belongs.

The trailers lead you to believe that George Clooney finally gets off the road to now where. He doesn’t. He is defined by the mileage and the rental cars and the gold club and the flying. Girls try to change him. But it really isn’t him. And so he stays the same. All the better for it.

I didn’t like that he didn’t change. I thought he would and we would have a feel good movie. When he didn’t, I felt lost. I wanted to fly away from the theatre.

Are there moments in my life where traveling would be fun? Yes. Do I like to fly? No. Especially if there are pantsu bombers out there.

3 of 5 stars

I’m gonna service the queue and the first movie up is Avatar which I saw opening night before the big snow storm in surreal “IMAX” 3D.

I was always very skeptical on the look of the film. James Cameron spent upwards of $300 million on this movie and in the commercials it looks like a Halo cut scene. With my 3D goggles on that first night, it looked like $300 million on the screen, and it did not look like a cut scene. It looked pretty awesome and pretty, too. All that $300 million to render and make the physics look good was worth it. But that $300 million did not pay for a story.

The movie’s plot has been compared to Dances With Wolves and other films of white guys going to the natives. And it sure was very similar. The Terminator guy loves his blue skinned honey. He loves his blue skinned avatar as well as it gives him the mobility that this shriveled legs lack. He gets his legs back and his soul back to save a planet. And of course to condemn another planet to death.

Avatar had weird politics. It asked the audience to cheer for the Indians as they slaughter the pioneers. It asked the audience to choose to root for the insurgents as they blew up IEDs on the unsuspecting soldiers. It asked the audience to be bigoted against the other. For a group of people that valued a universal emotional/physical bond, the Nav’i sure hate those that are not the same. They expel the humans from Nav’i world with extreme prejudice. I don’t understand why they let some humans stay.

Avatar also had weird concept of evolution. Does it work the same way on planet Nav’i as it does on earth? Then what’s up with the ethernet jacks. I wonder how these things evolved, and what is the evolutionary need of such a thing on all the things there.

The visuals were a feast for the eyes, but I was too busy trying to understand the evolution of these species to fully get into the movie.

The battles were pretty good, James Cameron is a cheese master though, the movie had a Phantom Menace vibe as it could not live up to the hype, and I couldn’t help but notice that it was a mash up of many different movies: Princess Mononoke, The Matrix trilogy, Dance With Wolves, etc. Cameron is frustrating on the story end.

3 of 5 stars.

You've probably never heard of An Education (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1174732/). Me too. But we caught it at the Landmark down by the harbor. Then we got some drinks at the Irish pub.The movie is adapted from the writer's memoirs as she grew up in England. She's skipping school, dumping her sixth form boyfriend, and hanging out at art auctions with a cad. He takes her to Paris, introduces her to mature things, and takes her virginity. Oh, to be young, English and in love!You just know that it can't be so straight forward. There'll be some measure of violence, physical or emotional, visited upon our young heroine. The rules of a memoir always state that you must first be naïve, then the world must come crashing down on you, then you emerge wiser than your years. Our young heroine was played by Carey Mulligan who, in this film, was a dead wringer for the traveling pants girl. I swear to kami-sama that it was her, but had to wait for the credits to figure out if it was her. It wasn't and I was delighted and disappointed. What's her name again? And will I care later?My problem with the film is that I didn't really connect with the girl. What was it supposed to be like to be 16, English, sixth form, stressed at A levels? I don't know, so I couldn't connect. And after a bit I didn't care. I wanted to see the violence heaped on her, but that violence was so benign that it deflated the movie. That was it? The big revelation? Meh.So, I can like it for the cad from London but overall: meh. I think I drank the next to nights and forgot all about this movie. The rating reflects the lack of hatred towards or attraction to this movie. It's middle of the road for me.3 of 5 stars.

One thing can be said about the Coen brothers latest film, A Serious Man (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1019452/), it sure is Jewish. What seems to be a reflection at being Jewish, A Serious Man, is, if anything, another of their head scratching efforts. Or at least, it will take you some time to figure out what it is the Coens are driving at in their movie. Again, the Coens make you leave the theatre quietly in reflection.A Serious Man opens with a Jewish parable. A man meets a neighbor on the lonely road home and invites him for some tea. Before the neighbor's arrival, the man's wife tells him that the neighbor isn't all that he is. He is a demon reincarnated after he died. Or he could just be a resilient man who survived. The wife takes it upon her to show her husband that she is right leaving the neighbor injured and dying. Or is he a demon and will survive? Are they blessed or cursed?The rest of the movie follows Larry Gopnik, a college professor, as he goes through trials and tribulations that Job would have found hard to get through. His wife wants a divorce to marry a divorcee friend. His children don't really care for him. His students are annoying. His brother is troublesome. And his neighbors are either racists or bored, free spirit housewives. Larry has to deal with all this even though he doesn't know why it is all happening to him.He tries to see a rabbi who will tell him what to do and what it all means. Yet, can you trust the advise of the religious? For example, the parking lot. Or for another example, Jefferson Airplane. It's all meaningless. So Larry is left to ponder how one is left to the fates. He is lurched from bad to good all the while helpless but persevering. When it all works, is he blessed or cursed?The Coens always make a film that you have to ponder about. This one makes me think of Barton Fink. I thought A Serious Man was penned by Barton Fink. Both films protagonists are afloat in the world that seems to have it against them, and they are powerless to effect change. It is fate, god, Hashim that animates their world, but why does He seem to be leveling pain and suffering. Perhaps, to the Coens their Jewish-ness is inherently un-understandable. What is it about their religion that motivates the Jews to be put upon? And should they stand for it?Finally, what is it with the Coens and Asians? Whenever an Asian is in their film prepare for a bizarre characterization. It'll make you cringe.3 of 5 stars.

The Men Who Stare at Goats (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1234548/) was a movie I knew nothing about before paying my $8, plopping myself in a seat at a Sunday matinee, and getting to see a pleasant surprise of a movie. Of course I've seen the trailers and commercials, but I didn't bother to read the movie reviews. You see, I usually like to know what it is I'm getting myself into. When I don't know anything about the movie, I'm usually sceptical about how good it would be. I prepare for the worst. Most of the time, the movie is better than I expected. This one is one of the ones that turned out to be such. It must be because of the movie type, the actors involved, and the time of year. Thrillers and non-fictional fiction turn out for the better. Action and comedy turn out for the worst. George Clooney: yes. Jim Carey: no. The serious Oscar season of late fall and winter works. Silly summer movies doesn't. As you can see, my mindset entering into this movie was susceptible to liking the film. So, entering the theatre for The Men Who Stare at Goats, I had low expectations. I left liking the movie. First, George Clooney is always decent in a movie. I've not found him unlikeable in any of his recent outings. Also, Ewan McGregor and Jeff Bridges are also likeable in this film. McGregor, an actual Jedi Knight, investigating Jeff Bridges' New Earth Army of Jedi Knights. They're just a wink-wink, nudge-nudge reference to previous roles. And also, a cameo by my favorite, Stephen Root. I was waiting for his Milton to show up.The tale is also intriguing. Is it real? Did the US Army really create a unit of psychic warriors? Possibly. Anything goes with this army. If they can torture, why not ESP? The plot boils down to be a Mulder revelation, an explanation of the unexplainable. It'll leave you laughing and crying about our US Army. Finally, I couldn't help but be amused by the fact that a few weeks ago an internet meme was running through twitter, one letter movie titles. It's taking a movie and transforming it by adding or changing a letter to the movie. "The Men Who Stare at Goats" became "The Men Who Stare at Goatse." I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader to find out. I apologize in advance.3 of 5 stars.