The Interanational

broderic on February 24, 2009

The International (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963178/) shows us how
evil banks are. We don't need a movie for that just look at the
headlines of newspapers. They want their cake and they want to eat it,
too. They also want your cake, and they'll eat it off your fork, too.
They feed off of us making use of our money for their own nefarious
ways. It's no wonder that in today's troubling economic times bankers
and financiers make for the perfect Dr. Evils. They are just that: pure
evil.The Interanational is a Tom Tykwer film. It has none of the pulse
pounding drive of his famous, Run, Lola, Run. It's as if he
deliberately meant to throttle down his style and make a mellow film.
Almost too mellow at times. The film's style follows the need to make
a thriller that harkens back to thrillers and intrigues from the 70s.
Those films were more focused in telling a gripping tale. The
International tries to be gripping, but in this day and age of flash and
movement, the thrills don't come across as much. You have to expect a slow boil until the plot is exposed. The film
takes too long to get the plot anywhere and, once exposed, the plot is
rather flimsy of a caper. I didn't understand what it was about. Just
go to the governments and get your bailout money. Forget about being
found out as plainly evil. Just pretend you're incompetent and you'll
get as much money as humanly possible thrown your way.The shootout in the Guggenhiem though blows this whole notion up. Slow
boil? BANG! BANG! BANG! I dug this too. Lately, most movies when
set in Europe have a look to them that screams Bourne Identity. Wasn't
Clive Owen in the Bourne Identity? Didn't he save the world in Children
of Men? Then let's make the film look Euro — modern archtecture,
cities, glass and steel. And the Gug is modern. One ramp up and down.
BANG! BANG! BANG! It was shot like a shootout from the Bourne films.
Loved it. Also, I love how Naomi Watts looked in this. All lawyerly. And those
sexy boots. And that grey scarf mixing in with her blonde hair. Mmmm.
She can be my international anyday.3 of 5 stars.

Coraline

broderic on February 23, 2009

Coraline is a girl who finds out that life in a fantasy world where everything is better than her reality isn’t better at all. The pitfalls in the fantasy world are just as deadly, and the love isn’t love but smothering. So she grows up and accepts her reality, and that is just how things go.

I dug this animated film. I’m a little bit sick and tired of CG animation, because that’s what the animation industry for feature films will become. Coraline is stop-motion animation. It gave a tactile feel to the works — a little bit of 3D. The herky-jerky motion also was fun as it was a reminder that we’re watching a film. I wish for more diverse forms of animation from Hollywood, but know that I won’t get it the way I like it.

3 of 5 stars.

Quote of the Day [2.13.09]

broderic on February 14, 2009

“I know we’ve only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days. The first day seemed like a week and the second day seemed like five days. And the third day seemed like a week again and the fourth day seemed like eight days. And the fifth day you went to see your mother and that seemed just like a day, and then you came back and later on the sixth day, in the evening, when we saw each other, that started seeming like two days, so in the evening it seemed like two days spilling over into the next day and that started seeming like four days, so at the end of the sixth day on into the seventh day, it seemed like a total of five days. And the sixth day seemed like a week and a half. I have it written down, but I can show it to you tomorrow if you want to see it.”

Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin), The Jerk

Link of the Day [2.10.09]

broderic on February 10, 2009

While we wait for me to open up the voting, try your hand at losing real money by betting on the Oscars. It’s up to you to decide, but sites such as today’s link help distill the common wisdom of the bookie.

I’m already giving you prizes with no purchase necessary. I’m not gonna throw good money away on foolish choices. Then again, Heath Ledger winning best supporting actor is a lock, and you can take that to the bank.

http://www.easyodds.com/compareodds/tv-and-awards/g/231/tc/344/oscars.html

Ballots are being prepared

broderic on February 9, 2009

It’s coming soon, Second Annual BrowserMetrics Oscar Pool. Mark your calendars because soon the ballots will be in your hand and it’s up to you to figure out who deserves this years Oscars. This year there will be three prizes to entice you into joining. No purchase necessary to play. Just fill out your ballot which will be coming soon.

I’ll leave it to last year’s winner, riss, with the last word on why you should enter, “The best thing that happened to me all year!”

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

broderic on February 1, 2009

Marge texted me yesterday if I wanted to go catch Paul Blart: Mall Cop, since I told her that I had wanted to watch it to see what all the fuss was about (tops B.O. 2 weeks in a row?!).

I’m sorry. It was the worst film I’ve seen in years. I really wanted to leave, but Marge kept me there. ;P

I need to post this review for posterity: “Shit sandwich.”

1 of 5 stars. (1 star is the floor. I don’t posts zeroes.)

The Wrestler

broderic on January 31, 2009

Selfish acts of self deception happen throughout The Wrestler. They are performed by Mickey Rourke in another come back role as the eponymous wrestler. These acts affect the woman he likes a lot and the daughter he doesn’t know. Rourke after a near death experience tries to fade away into a ignominious retirement reconciling with his daughter and falling into the arms of an old stripper, but it’s not him.

He can’t be what is not him. A lover? A father? An employee? Not at all, for the siren song of the square ring calls. He wants to be good, because he’s so lonely. Life outside the glorious and somewhat non-glamorous wrestling circuit beats him down. He was never meant to be anything but “The Ram” head-butting his way through his opponents. The ring makes him happy and any attempt to distance himself from it is just as fatal as returning to it. Lead a sad existence behind the deli counter or bask in adulation on the top turnbuckle? He must choose.

I liked this movie a lot for the wrestling. It reminded me of the days of the NWA and WWF when the wrestling federations were more regional and the stars battled with the nobodies. In the end, everyone is a nobody.

Rourke is good, but Marisa Tomei is fearless. She struts her stuff in a way that I don’t think any actress has done in a long while. It helps that she has a kickin’ body. These two ground a decent story and they’re diverging paths make it a little sad. Love may conquer all, but a “ram jam” always wins out.
4 of 5 stars.