Shannon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stillonmystring) wrote2009-07-04 12:10 am
stillonmystring) wrote2009-07-04 12:10 am
Random movie reviews (that have mostly become an excuse for me to gush over BW).
Uh. LJ is ridiculous with its entry size limits. So this post is just to save the reviews of movies that I particularly care about. If they're stupid movies or bad movies or whatever, I don't really care to remember what I thought about them. Unless they involve Ben Whishaw. That's the only reason for keeping one or two bad reviews around. (Though, as it turns out, most of the good reviews I care about enough to keep involve him too. Good Lord, I have a problem.)
The Fall ★★★★½
This film is extremely beautiful and quite sad, too. I was pretty pre-destined to like it, though, as it seems to be a perfect combination of things I love: it stars Lee Pace, who is totally my imaginary boyfriend; it's set in the twenties and I have a huge weakness for anything related to that decade; and it's quirky and colorful and imaginative and has some fantastic cinematography; and did I mention LEE FUCKING PACE?!? Anyway, the story is of a little girl who befriends a paralyzed and extremely depressed man in the hospital and he starts telling her this fantastical story in order to use her to get the drugs he craves. Lee Pace is fantastic but the little girl especially is incredible; together they are completely amazing. And when their fairytale story they make up together comes to life, the visuals are just jaw-droppingly vibrant and colorful and gorgeous. And the last half-hour or so of the movie is so heartbreaking. The pacing might be a little slow but overall, I really enjoyed this. And did I mention I love Lee Pace?
Brideshead Revisited ★★★★★ (sentimental rating), ★★★ (actual rating)
The more I watch this film, the more I realize its flaws, and truthfully, it's got a lot of them. But my obsession with a certain actor wins out over all and makes me rate this film much higher than it is in actuality worth. This is as good a place to voice this analysis as anywhere: I've been thinking lately about why exactly I am so obsessed with Mr. Whishaw; I mean, there are a lot of actors who I think do amazing in pretty much every movie they're in but I'm not in love with them to the point where I'd exhaust all options just to watch some obscure movie they are seen in for two seconds (I haven't actually done this with Ben yet either but I've considered it and probably will at some point). So why do I care so much about Ben over everyone else? Well, one part of it is probably that he hasn't actually done that many movies so seeing his entire body of work is a less overwhelming task than it would be with a lot of actors. The second part is that he is so goddamn adorable; I think a lot of people are adorable but he's just got something nobody else does. The third part is that I'm kind of enamored with him as a person from what I know about him. But I think the biggest part is that, since a picture of him as Sebastian in this movie was what introduced me to the novel/film in the first place, and since I adore Sebastian the character so very much, they've kind of become one in my mind. Ben is basically the physical embodiment of Sebastian to me and I think this is why I am so into him. It sounds kind of creepy but it's true. It's not very often that I fall so in love with characters in a book (I love a lot of characters but the only ones who I worship with the same level of adoration as him are the main characters in The Secret History) and so I think my love for Sebastian kind of intensifies my love for Ben tenfold. And also he's cute. And talented. Okay, this has officially been a tangent and I will get off of it now. Anyway, this was meant to say: this isn't an amazing film; it's simply an okay one but Ben makes me more crazy about it than I should be. So here's what I initially wrote about it when I was still kind of disillusioned by him and couldn't really see its problems as clearly (most of all, my statement that I enjoyed this film better than the book I now consider completely blasphemous; the book is clearly much better - the movie only improves on it by allowing me to picture Ben as Sebastian):
If we're getting down to specifics with this rating, the first hour and a half is five stars, the last forty-five minutes is three or so. I suppose that would make it around four stars overall but that 1.5 hours is just so damn good; I think that if the movie actually ended there or soon after it would be nearly perfect but the book doesn't end there so that wouldn't really make sense. Anyway, I'm rather puzzled by the negative reactions to this film. It seems the main complaint is that it strays too far from the book, which is a legitimate complaint, but if you watch this film on its own merits and forget about the book for a minute, I don't see how you could find it completely worthless. Whenever I watch a movie that is supposed to be based on a book, I don't really like to compare the two; I feel like they are two entirely different things and should each be able to stand on their own. In fact, I rather enjoy it when a film doesn't follow a book directly and puts a different spin on things; it would be boring otherwise, I think. If this was an original manuscript or just claimed to be "partially inspired" by the book or something, I feel like it would have been much better received. But then again, it's still too similar to the book for any claims like that to really be made. Just, if you have read the book or seen the miniseries from the '80s which is supposedly amazing, try to watch this with an open mind. It may not be a faithful adaptation but it is a beautiful film regardless.
First of all, it's visually breathtaking - both the cinematography and the period sets and costumes. Second of all, the casting is extremely good; all of the main characters, I feel, are represented perfectly and the acting is mostly top-notch. Most of the best lines from the book are worked into the script as are most of the best comedic moments - pretty much every scene involving Charles' father, Charles and Sebastian drunkenly evaluating different wines ("It's a shy little wine, like a gazelle." "Like a leprechaun."), Bridey's engagement. But, as I said, there is also a lot changed. Sebastian is now undeniably gay whereas in the book there were only a few extremely vague hints that he might be experimenting with his sexuality just a little bit (not that this is a knock on the book since no one was really writing about blatant homosexuals at the time). Julia is suddenly everywhere when, in the book, she was only mentioned in passing until more than halfway through (for example, she goes to Venice with Sebastian and Charles, which does not happen at all in the book). Also, the film really plays up the idea of a love triangle between Charles, Sebastian, and Julia and part of what ruins Sebastian seems to be his jealousy that Charles loves his sister more than he loves him which isn't really a problem that comes up in the book since Charles doesn't truly fall for Julia until after Sebastian is out of the picture. These changes seem to have ruffled quite a few feathers but I don't have a problem with them. Maybe it's because I just read the book and haven't had a chance to truly digest it all yet or maybe it's because, like I said, I tend to be rather lenient with book-to-movie adaptations. But if you're not looking for an exact replica of the book, these differences work well for the movie; after all, a 300+ page book (not to mention an 11-hour miniseries) is being squeezed into just over two hours here - everything kind of has to be over-the-top and fast-paced or it'd be impossible to fit in the entire story. Anyway, like I said, the first 90 minutes are excellent but the last 45 kind of drag; maybe it's my bias toward a certain character speaking but I just find Charles and Julia's affair rather dull (at least compared to everything else) and, while it's still far from unenjoyable, it's definitely the lowpoint of the film.
Speaking of that bias, let me take a moment to fangirl. Ben Whishaw, the actor who plays Sebastian, is so terribly adorable I can hardly stand it. I would honestly be content to stare at him the whole time and pay attention to nothing else. This is probably also partly why I don't enjoy the last part of the film so much - because Sebastian is never to be seen again which means no more of Ben's lovely face. And so that I don't sound completely shallow, he is also a brilliant actor and easily the best in the film alongside Emma Thompson as Lady Marchmain. My first exposure to this film was a review that I read in Entertainment Weekly many months ago and it called his portrayal of Sebastian "a flamboyant, hair-tossing delinquent" but I don't think that is accurate at all. In his first proper scene or two, he does come across as slightly too effeminate, but he quickly settles into the role and then he is so perfect it's unbelievable; he is Sebastian, completely. He plays Sebastian's descent into depression and alcoholism with such rawness and passion and emotion and his final scene before departing from the film entirely is absolutely devastating. I was pretty blown away by him. And also, he is totally cute, did I mention that? I am just a bit obsessed with Sebastian in general, really. Why do I always fall in love with the most tragic characters?
Anyway, I think I might have enjoyed this more than the book, which is criminal to say, I know. It's just... well, first of all, I'm not the biggest fan of classic literature - I mean, I get that it's important, I get that it's good, there are of course exceptions to this but in general, I don't enjoy it much. I did enjoy this book much more than many other older novels I've read (and it's not even that old, really) but I found the long introspective and explanatory passages to be a bit dense and difficult to focus on at times. I enjoyed the dialogue much, much more so to see a lot of that played out before my eyes is rather exciting. I don't actually believe that the film is better than the book, but I personally found it a more entertaining experience. I don't care what the general consensus of it is; I think it's (mostly) brilliant and I completely stand behind that opinion. I could seriously go on forever about how lovely it is but I'll stop now. I'm going to watch the miniseries eventually but honestly, I have my doubts about how much I will enjoy it since the '80s production was already making me cringe in a two-minute clip.
4. Mates of State: Two of Us ★★★½
Does this count as a film? I mean, it's a documentary, isn't it? So yes, it counts. Anyway, this is pretty cute. Which isn't surprising since this band is the very definition of cute. They are also pretty hilarious. This isn't something that I'll watch a ton of times but it's nice. Observations: The best parts are when they're trying to come up with the album name, hilarious; All Up In Your Shit was my favorite, personally. Oh yeah, and the asshole discussion was pretty great as well. Also, I've never noticed how completely epic Jason's nose is before. I mean, I knew it was huge, but it's like... a beak. But a totally adorable beak, nonetheless. And the most important observation of all: these two are possibly the cutest couple to ever exist on the face of the earth. Seriously. I was watching the music videos and there was this part during "Fluke" that I had never noticed before (granted I've only seen it a couple times)... They're sitting at the table singing and Jason's going a bit crazy with the head movements and Kori starts mocking him and it is so goddamn adorable. Here, it's around 1:33. SO CUTE! Anyway, basically, I just want to squish them and pinch their cheeks and all that kind of stuff.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer ★★★★★
This is very good but very, very strange. The last half-hour or so was seriously just one WTF moment after another... and I felt so disturbed by the time it was over that for awhile, I had a hard time deciding whether I actually liked it or not. But the more I think about it, the more I decide that I did like it. Anyway, I'm not even going to attempt to describe the plot line because I know it would take me a lot of words to do so. But just... if you're easily disturbed, this is probably not the movie for you. I mean, compared to a lot of films, it's rather tame visually but the actual story is so creepy that it makes it ten times more unsettling. I'll admit, this is the kind of movie I might have got around to watching eventually, but the only reason I watched it now is 100% because of Ben Whishaw. And he definitely did not disappoint. This is basically the complete opposite of his role in Brideshead Revisited, aside from the fact that both characters are extremely fucked up emotionally, so it's a great testament to his talent that he can pull off both so convincingly. I'm so in love with this guy. I mean, even being all creepy and covered in dirt and sweat for almost the entire movie, he is still so damn attractive. Hey, he was playing a murdurer but at least he was a pretty murderer, right? Anyway, yeah, this was good in a really unsettling, creepy crawly kind of way. What is it with me and period films lately? It seems like all the movies I like the most are falling into this category and I used to think that I hated them. I guess I was just watching the wrong ones or something. Also, surprise, surprise, this is based on a book so now I have something else to add to my long "to read" list. NOW LOOK AT BEN'S ATTRACTIVENESS:
Creepy but so so beautiful.
Criminal Justice (BBC mini-series) ★★★½
This counts because it took five hours out of my life to watch - which is actually more than any movie usually takes, actually. Anyway, basically, I've seen enough crime dramas to last me a lifetime and they are not something I enjoy much on a regular basis, but this was actually pretty alright. Instead of focusing on the crime-solving and all that like the CSIs and Law and Orders of the world, it focuses on what the suspect goes through - being arrested, going to prison, going on trial, etc. - which I think is worlds more interesting to watch. But let's face it, I wouldn't have bothered tracking it down at all if it didn't have Ben Whishaw. Have I mentioned how much I fucking adore this man? Oh, only five times already? He is just so good and continues to blow me away. When I watch him, I feel like I'm not watching someone act, I feel like he's actually going through all these things and that makes everything so much more painful but also so much more rewarding. And the thing that I'm most impressed with in regards to his acting is his use of body language and facial expressions; even when he has no lines, even when he is not the main focus of a scene, even when he is way in the background, you just can't take your eyes off him because he is always so perfectly in character and says so much with so little. Just as one example, his character in this is supposed to have an eye twitch thing when he gets nervous/scared/etc. and he doesn't just do it in the scene that explicitly mentions it but all the time - and it never seems over-the-top or forced but like it's something that he actually does himself and it can't be helped. These little things are what make acting performances believable and natural and he is so good at them. Anyway, back to the actual show... like I said, it was pretty good. The most riveting scenes were in the prison because they were so damn scary; I felt so bad for the kid that I didn't even care if he killed the girl or not, I just wanted to get him out of there. I felt like the courtroom scenes were kind of unrealistic - like some of the stuff that was said would totally not be acceptable in real life but I know nothing about the British law system - or the American law system, really, aside from what I've seen on TV - so I could be wrong. Then the last hour kind of got messy and totally unbelievable. I mean, I'm happy that he didn't kill her and got out of prison, but it all just happened so conveniently and everything got wrapped up in a neat little bow and it wasn't very satisfying. So, overall, I enjoyed it despite the fact that this genre isn't really my cup of tea, except for the last episode, and Ben Whishaw continues to be a god as far as I'm concerned.
Jesus Camp ★★★★
I am not much of a documentary person but this topic completely intrigues and completely terrifies me all at the same time. I could go on for ages about all of the terrifyingly extreme things that go on here - the "conversations" with a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush, the use of children to push an anti-abortion agenda, the absolutely vile preacher who keeps making tasteless jokes toward the camera (for these people supposedly being so "good" compared to non-Christians they sure can be mean-spirited and hateful). These things are all scary as hell but the image that's stuck with me most is one that is less obvious, right near the beginning - the children are asked something along the lines of "Do you believe God can do anything?" and if they were truly answering the question for themselves without any outside prompting, there would be nothing wrong with it, but then they cut to this mother in the audience raising her children's hands for them and it just completely outraged me. It's one thing for kids to decide to go all gung-ho for Christ on their own; it's another for them to be brainwashed and spoon-fed everything they believe in. Anyway, this was very interesting. Sometimes I get annoyed at my father for being so conservative and judgmental and so, well, Christian - but the people in this make him look positively liberal in comparison and thank goodness for that.
Also, I want to see a follow-up documentary on these people now that Barack Obama is president, what with all their "liberalism is dead" and "conservatives will rule the world" bullshit.
My Brother Tom ★★★½
Anyway, back to the Whishaw... this film is interesting in a really strange and disturbing way. At first, I was just weirded out by the two main characters' very, um, intimate relationship and all of their odd rituals. Then I was disturbed by Tom's relationship with his father and Jessica's with her teacher/neighbor and felt so sad for the both of them. And then at the end, I was just terribly depressed by everything that goes down as a result of those relationships. Very, very sad movie. And at times uncomfortable to watch. But it was pretty good though some of the shaky "I'm so indie I can't film properly" camera work was making me nauseous. Ben was magical, unsurprisingly. He is very good at playing creepy weirdos and also emotionally damaged people and he gets to be both here so it works out well. Basically, despite the fact that his character is a complete freak and despite what he ends up doing near the end of the film (and what that leads him to do at the very end) I just want to cuddle with him and tell him everything is going to be okay and forgive all of his criminal acts. Also, I love Ben's adorably adorable huge ears that stick out from his head. /shallow
Stoned ½
What a fucking terrible movie. I can't believe I actually tortured myself by watching the whole thing. Plus one star for Ben being pretty and naked (he has been naked in everything I've seen him in so far - not that I mind or anything, I just find that interesting). Minus half a star for not having nearly enough of him to make this craptacular movie worthwhile. He's not even in it long enough to totally blow everyone else out of the water with his godlike acting abilities. So yes, this film is half a star; without Ben, it would be zero.
Nathan Barley (British television show) ★★½
This show is terribly obnoxious and for the first three or so episodes I was ready to write it off as obnoxiously stupid but then it kind of started to get funny, still in a really obnoxious way, but I have to admit, I cracked up pretty hard quite a few times during the last two episodes. I was both disgusted and amused by it at the same time. Still, it's not anything brilliant and it didn't have nearly enough Ben (but there can never be enough Ben, can there?) so I feel wrong rating it anything higher than this. Ben's character had only about five to ten minutes of airtime in all six episodes put together but he still managed to be completely adorable in that small amount of time. But I felt so bad for him! God, even when he's doing comedy, he still ends up being the most tortured character of them all - I guess he has the kind of face that lends itself to being sad (but oh so cutely sad) but come on, let the guy smile every once in awhile! Okay. Actually, he did laugh in like the third or fourth episode and it was totally squee-worthy. Anyway. Yeah. Not enough Ben but it was an entertaining if somewhat annoying viewing experience despite that.
I'm Not There ★★★½
I finally got around to watching this a second time and my verdict is that it's a good but flawed movie. I knew pretty much nothing about Bob Dylan the first time I watched it and knew a little bit more this time but I don't think that's really essential to enjoying this movie - you'll either like it or not regardless of whether you're a Dylan fan. Anyway, there are two major reasons I think it's flawed. First of all, I adored three out of the six characters and their stories, really liked a fourth, and didn't much care for the other two at all. I felt like I might have liked the Richard Gere portions on their own but whenever they show up in between everything else it seems like they kind of slow down the entire pace of the film and don't really fit in. And I was just bored by the Christian Bale portions; maybe it was the documentary style because I'm not a huge fan of watching documentaries but I think it was mostly the fact that it was the most straight-forward story of the entire movie and I like things a little more meaty and mysterious that you have to dig into to figure out what exactly they mean. My other complaint is that a few scenes seem really cheesy and cheap and poorly shot and not in an "oh, this is so ironic and artsy" way. The two worst offenders that come to mind right away are the scene where Marcus Carl Franklin's character is thrown off a train by hobos - it just seemed really obviously not shot on a train and looked extremely fake which took me out of the scene emotionally completely - and the scene where Cate Blanchett's character is being threatened by an angry fan with a knife in his hotel room - that one just seemed really over-the-top and stagy and if I was supposed to feel afraid or anything, I didn't at all; I just felt like laughing. Other than that one scene, her Jude Quinn was by far my favorite character which I know is the cliched thing to say about this movie but it's true. She was so good and I was so intrigued by her portrayal of the character that I wouldn't have minded if the whole movie was only her. But then there wouldn't have been Ben Whishaw's Arthur Rimbaud which, if you can't guess, was the reason I decided to watch this in the first place. He was my second favorite regardless of my bias toward him and I really wish he had more screentime because I found his character so interesting but he was in it so little that we barely got to know anything about him - not nearly as much as the other characters. Also, on the shallow side, I find his accent here terribly sexy especially since I wasn't expecting him to sound so different. Overall, I enjoyed this film and it's not something I would scramble to watch again, but I wouldn't mind re-watching it every once in awhile.
Also, this doesn't have much to do with this film specifically but since at least three of the main characters do it... I have this strange, unexplainable fetish for smoking in books and movies and photographs - like, I find it unbelievably attractive and the heavier smoker a character is, the better. I can't quite figure out why I feel this way. Like, in real life, I think if I was around someone who smoked basically 24/7 I wouldn't find it appealing at all but when it's someone fictional, it seriously makes me all swoony over that person. Even in my own stories, I seem to always mention smoking way more than necessary because of this. It's like... extremely sexy or edgy or something to me and I feel really weird for thinking that.
Bonus material: Eh, this had some interesting stuff on it but nothing I would ever care to watch again and it didn't give me that much more insight into the film. The deleted/extended scenes were laughably throw-away - I mean, they were completely worthless, what was even the point of including them? Well, the extended musical performances were kind of cool but, like I said, I would never watch them again. The best part was the flash cards to "Subterranean Homesick Blues", I got a kick out of watching all the actors struggle to keep up with the song. And the second best was Ben Whishaw's audition tape but of course I'm terribly, unabashedly biased so my opinion is really completely void there. Now I could watch that and his solo version of the flash cards video a million times but that's just because he is so damn pretty to look at and has such an enigmatic presence no matter what he's doing. And okay, speaking of Ben... I sat through forty fucking minutes of Todd Haynes talking about every aspect of this film and I guess it was sort of interesting and informative but he mentioned every single actor's performance and portion of the film in detail except for Ben's! WTF?!? He got like a ten-second mention near the end and it wasn't even about his performance but about the visual style of his segment. This is unacceptable. Truly. I was completely appalled. Anyway, BEN!!!111! *flails arms wildly* Just in case you forgot what a fangirl I am over him. (This post has totally devolved into a Whishaw lovefest - and I am completely unashamed of that.)
Coraline ★★★★
Woohoo, my first theatre-going experience of the year! (I don't get to the theatre much - mostly because the one near us only plays the blockbusters usually and those are the movies I'm least interested in and also because I have no money and tickets are expensive.)
This was such a cute movie! It was also a lot quirkier and darker than I was expecting it to be. I kind of unfairly dislike animated films in general because in my head, I can't help automatically associating animation with "annoying cheesy children's movie" and that hinders my enjoyment whether that description is accurate or not. And this was, in some ways, a children's movie but it is definitely very enjoyable for adults as well - actually, there were a few parts that I thought were pretty eyebrow-raising considering the handful of children under eight in attendance, particularly the scene where Miss Forcible, I think it is, with her exagerratedly humongous breasts is wearing only a thong and pasties basically; I kind of couldn't believe how risque it was. Anyway, yes, I liked this a lot. I loved the stop-motion animation and all of the sets and everything were just gorgeous - it was a really pretty movie. The story stayed pretty true to the book except that it introduced a boy the same age as Coraline for her to befriend at her new home which was an understandable addition and didn't really change the story except adding him into a few scenes. The 3D was cool (I think this is actually the first 3D movie I've seen - or at least the first decent one) and added nicely to the experience but it wasn't as much of a focal point as I thought it would be; the movie would be just as enjoyable without it. So all in all, it was very satisfying both from a "good movie" perspective and a "stays true to the novel" perspective. And I'm definitely glad I saw this instead of going with my sister and her friends to see Fired Up (which was apparently hilarious but I'll take their word for it and not confirm it myself [though they actually wanted to see, even more embarrassingly, the Jonas Brothers concert movie which ended up being a ridiculous $15 a ticket so they couldn't]). Though the other mother when she got all evil at the end was nearly nightmare-inducing; it was actually rather scary during the climax - I hope none of those little children had bad dreams or anything.
Bright Young Things★★★½ ★★★★★
I watched this on IFC because the description said it was based on an Evelyn Waugh novel (Vile Bodies) so I figured I could at least depend on it for some gorgeous period clothing from the '20s even if it turned out to be absolutely terrible. And at first I wasn't really enjoying it very much but I started to get more into it a half-hour or so in and the more I think about it, the more I decide that I rather liked it. The characters were all so intriguing to me as was the story itself so the few problems I had were more to do with the way the film was made; at times I felt like it wasn't... rich enough or something to do the story complete justice. Which I guess means I should read the book now because I bet it's a million times better - and I'm definitely planning to do that as soon as possible. Also, this sounds really stupid, but I was kind of distracted the whole time by how much the lead actor (Stephen Campbell Moore) looked like Zac Efron at thirty or something. Seriously, yo. It's not so obvious in pictures but in the movie, he totally looked like him and it was distracting me so much! Though how adorable is Emily Mortimer? My goodness, she's cute! And James McAvoy, too. I kind of loved his character, Simon, even though he was hateful and crazy and killed himself off less than halfway through the movie. And I also loved Miles (played by Michael Sheen); he was so amusing but his departure from the film was nearly as sad as Simon's. I just gravitate toward those tragic characters - I can't help it. Anyway. Yes, I must get my hands on this book soon.
Edit: I just watched this again on Netflix Instant and I kind of completely adored it this time. So the rating's been revised. It's really funny, too, in a way that doesn't grab you until you've watched it two or three times but there are so many great lines - "I see... I said, I see"; "Have we? Or have we? Have we?"; "We've done this before, haven't we?"; "Have I been sold again?" So good. I want to buy this movie on DVD now. (How lucky was it that I just happened to stumble across this movie randomly on television? It's right up my alley but I probably would have never found it - or at least not for a very long time - otherwise.)
Edit #2: This is now officially among my favorite movies ever which is a very hard title to grab onto; there are not many I would put into that category. It's just so gorgeous and well-acted and hilarious. I've read the book now (review in appropriate post) and it's probably better but they're so alike that, since I saw the movie first, reading the book was almost like reading a very detailed script or something. Anyway, yes, amazingness. Best thing I've seen this year probably.
Twilight ★½ (as a drama)/★★★★ (as a comedy)
I actually hate this movie from a practical standpoint; at any rate, I don't care that much about it at all. But it's just so lulzy that I have to keep this review around to remind myself of that: if I ever need to laugh my way out of a depressive spell I can count on this movie to do exactly that for me.
Seriously, this film is so much more entertaining if you go into it expecting a comedy rather than something dramatic and intense. It's just such a failure in so many ways that it falls into the "so bad it's good" category. The acting is terrible, the dialogue is totally unrealistic and awkward, everything about it is so completely horrible that you just can't look away. My sister and I watched this again (I'd only seen it once when it first came out; yes, I saw it in the theater on the first day - me = lame) and it was so amazing because we just spent the entire time cracking up and making fun of the acting and pretty much everything else. Between Kristen Stewart's belief that stuttering = intense emotion (that hospital scene at the end? most awkward thing everrrrrrr) and Robert Pattinson's extremely wooden, emotionless delivery of almost every line, it's just a total riot. I've never laughed more in my life, honestly. Plus, Jasper/Jackson Rathbone is extremely pretty to look at. And everyone should watch this parody. Because it's basically amazing. "Are you even speaking English?!?"
The Haunting in Connecticut ★★½
This was an ok-ish horror movie. Though I'm not sure I would even call it a horror movie because it wasn't that scary, in my opinion, and I'm pretty wimpy when it comes to those things. I mean, sure, there were a lot of creepy, disfigured ghost people randomly popping up in mirrors and shit and they made me jump but that's just because I'm a jumpy person. There wasn't anything that actually freaked me out in a way that made me afraid to go to sleep at night or whatever. The closest thing to this was when they showed this guy about to cut someone's eyelids off but they didn't actually show it happen and the victim was already dead so it wasn't that scary either. Anyway, this was decent and by that I don't mean it was actually a good film but it was entertaining. There are movies I watch when I want to be challenged and stimulated and emotionally drained and there are movies I watch when I want to be mindlessly entertained - this one falls into that second category and I enjoy watching those kinds of movies a lot as long as I don't try to evaluate them too heavily. Like, the plot of this movie and exactly what happened to lead to the haunting and all weren't exactly clear to me, especially near the end, but that's basically the least important component of movies like this so if I don't try to force it to make sense it's much more entertaining. And there was some crazy shit going down in the last half-hour or so which I thought was basically awesome despite the fact that it made no sense. Also, I thought the lead actor was actually pretty good, at least for this genre which never really puts an emphasis on believable acting - but I was both totally creeped out and completely drawn to his character and it had a lot to do with his acting, I think. And I knew I had seen him before so I looked his credits up and, yep, he's been on about five zillion TV episodes that I've seen. I guess I should probably be concerned over just how many of them I've seen; it's a scarily large amount for someone who really doesn't care that much for most television.
Half Nelson ★★★★½
I want to rate this one five stars because Ryan Gosling is so good in it and I do love the relationship between the two main characters and there are so many insanely heartbreaking and poignant moments and it's generally a very good movie but... a big factor to me is rewatchability. I know there are plenty of amazing films out there that are near perfect yet they might be so uncomfortable or so chilling or hit so close to home that you don't necessarily want to watch them over and over again. As good as movies like those are, I just can't comfortably rate something five stars unless I want to watch it over and over again. The main problem for me with this particular movie is it's slowness. I mean, it's not unnecessarily, painfully, antagonizingly slow-paced or anything but it's pretty sparse and dialogue-less and meandering at times which can be a task to get through if you're not in the right mindset. I just found my mind wandering a few times because I wanted the pace to pick up a little bit. So basically the issue isn't with the movie but with myself and my sometimes short attention span and preference for witty, fast-paced dialogue and lots of energy. Regardless of that minor quibble, it's a great movie with amazing performances and the ending is so perfect to me - it's not too sweet or too sad. I like the open-endedness of it and I'm generally not a fan of non-concrete endings. Just because the "could be"s haunt me like crazy and I want to know definitively what happens, damn it! But this one I was cool with.
The Lover ★★★★
Have I mentioned how much I love IFC? I don't get too watch it very often, though, sadly. Anyway, the reason I bring it up is because that's where I watched this. From the beginning, it got points just for taking place in the '20s-30s which, as everyone should know by now, is my favorite era. I wasn't too impressed by the actual movie for the first half-hour or so, maybe even a little longer, but then I started to get more interested. It's extremely slow-paced and kind of meandering and plotless and doesn't have much dialogue which can be hell to get through sometimes but sometimes works a lot better than something manic and wordy. I thought it ended up being a really good (and gorgeous to look at) movie but not necessarily something I'd want to watch a million times. And holy shit were the sex scenes steamy. And more than slightly uncomfortable because of the age difference between the characters. I mean, I guess the title and plot summary should've tipped me off to the fact that there would be some really intense love-making going on but I'm dense and it didn't. But geez. I couldn't decide whether I was turned on or squicked out by them. Somewhere in between, I guess. And not because they were really graphic or anything - they were rather mild compared to some I've seen - but just because of the forbidden aspect of the characters' relationship and all or something. I don't know. I think if you watch the movie you'll know what I mean.
This Film Is Not Yet Rated ★★★★★
As is to be expected, this was a totally one-sided documentary but I didn't really feel like I was being convinced to believe something that wasn't true; it all seemed very honest and straightforward. True, there wasn't another side to the debate to even things out but I don't think it was misleading either. Anyway, this was very interesting. And a lot of it made me angry at how stupid and judgmental people are. I thought the part where they show scenes from films side-by-side was especially effective; they would show two scenes from two different movies - one of them rated NC-17 - right next to each other and the camera angles matched up almost exactly, the only difference being that the NC-17 movies involved gay sex while the lesser-rated ones involved straight sex. How fucked up. I also enjoyed the phone calls between the director and the MPAA at the end; those were amusing. As was the tally of "hip thrusts" they did at one point. The whole film was actually really funny in an "oh my God, this is totally appalling and ridiculous that people think like this" way. The main thing I got out of this though was that it made me really want to watch a lot of the films mentioned during it.
American Psycho ★★★★
Is this movie supposed to be funny? Because my sister and I were just laughing our asses off pretty much the entire time. Either we have really deranged senses of humor or it was fucking hilarious. The hilariousness also might have been upped by the fact that I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The last 15-20 minutes or so I had no clue what anything meant anymore. But it was very entertaining. The opening sequence about moisturizing? The scene where Christian Bale kills Jared Leto? "I'm listening to the new Robert Palmer tape"? Oh my God. I'm about to laugh just thinking about them. I just can't decide whether I'm actually supposed to find them that funny.
Drag Me to Hell ★★★★★
Holy shit. What a mindfuck this movie was. I still can't quite wrap my head around the entire thing. I'm not usually much of a horror fan - there are so many generic horror movies these days that they all start to seem the same after awhile and I'm also very jumpy; I don't necessarily get scared easily but I just jump easily - but this was pretty brilliant. The "but wait, it's not over yet!" ending can be just about as cliched as the "everything ends up perfect and happy" ending but this one was absolutely perfect. I'm going to have to give away some of the things that happen at this point; I can't explain it without... But I seriously thought it was over when Christine buried the button with the old lady to give the curse back to her. I went into the movie not knowing anything about it except what I've seen in trailers and that most people were saying it was awesome so I was totally shocked when it didn't end there. Though, for some reason, I began to get this really bad gut feeling around the time she bought a new coat before meeting her boyfriend (Justin Long! Who is adorable!); I don't know why, there wasn't anything at all foreboding or suspicious about that part, but I just knew then that something was going to happen. I was still amazed by the ending though. Holy crap. Just thinking about it blows my mind; it was executed so well. I normally don't like endings that are left hanging open or, like this one, pretty much leave no possible chance for happiness whatsoever but screw it, this is a movie about a girl being haunted after a gypsy woman puts a curse on her, all reality is pretty much suspended anyway so I would've been disappointed had it not ended on a frightening, totally depressing note. Anyway, yes, loved it and my sister and I were both just like "WTF" the entire drive home afterwards, haha. Also, I was impressed by Alison Lohman; the only other movie I've seen her in is White Oleander where she's really shy and quiet and vulnerable so I wasn't sure she would be able to pull off a movie like this but she did a really good job. And she's also cute as a button. Button. Oh my God. That final scene is coming back to me again. Oh and one more thing, the movie's also got some really funny parts. I mean, a talking goat and a man possessed by a demon doing a jig while suspended in air? Come on. Hilarious. In a really twisted way. How do people come up with this stuff??
Dead Like Me - Season 1 ★★★★
Alright, I'm finally done with this! Let me try and put together some more cohesive thoughts. This show is like a darker, more realistic and cynical version of Pushing Daisies; both shows deal with characters who in some way straddle the divide between the living and the dead but this show does so in a much less light-hearted, whimsical manner which is ultimately why I like Pushing Daisies so much more. Daisies can also be morbid and snarky but the way it's all viewed through a very candy-colored lense is so much more appealing to me. It's got just enough lightness to balance out the dark while Dead Like Me I find less believable because the setting is much more realistic. It's hard to explain but I guess my personal viewpoint is that if something is kooky, it might as well be all the way kooky instead of just slightly. Does that make sense? Point is, for the most part, I really enjoyed watching this show and I'll definitely watch the second season as well (and probably the movie though I've heard it's not very good) but it's not something I see myself craving for over and over again like Daisies. Because it's more straight-forward, there's less to uncover beneath the surface with multiple viewings. So this rating is probably a bit on the high side; I feel it's worth closer to three and a half stars but the first few episodes and the last few episodes were so good that I feel like they warrant bumping it up a bit. It just sags a little throughout the middle episodes which I think is probably due to Bryan Fuller's exit; once he quit working on the show, things got a bit bumpy but by the end, it managed to find its footing again. Even so, in my opinion, the episodes he worked on were by far the funniest of them all; I didn't laugh so much at the rest of the season as I did during the first few.
Another reason I like this less than Pushing Daisies is that I just didn't connect with the characters as much. In Daisies, I love pretty much every character, even the minor ones, but here that wasn't so much the case. George I found annoying at times and I was much more drawn to most of the supporting cast than her - I think part of my annoyance is with the actress; she just can't seem to emote much beyond sarcasm. However, I was very moved by her scene at her old house with Rube in "Nighthawks" so I'll give her props there. I also really disliked George's mother and throughout most of the series, her bitchiness was just completely unredeemable to me. Then in the last few episodes it was revealed that her husband is also a total asshole so between that and losing her daughter, she kind of has a reason to be a bitch. I still hate her though. Also, I didn't really much care about Betty either way but I liked her so much more than Daisy even though she became slightly more tolerable near the end as well; I'm now just neutral to her instead of disliking her. Also, I'm pretty indifferent to Rube; I think he's the kind of character you love to hate and hate to love though Mandy Patinkin just kind of irks me in general and I'm not sure why. As for characters I do love... Mason is at the very top of that list as is Roxy. He's an asshole, she's a bitch, but they're both hilarious and they also have their warm and cuddly sides. Basically every other line Mason says is hilarious to me. The highlight of the entire season was the episode (the third or fourth, I think?) where he's smuggling drugs in his ass, gets felt up by airport security, and then has the bag burst and make him out of his mind high; I was hysterically laughing during every scene. I'm also very amused by Delores Herbig - "as in her big brown eyes" - in all her psychotic with a smile glory. And George's sister is another I love; she just breaks my heart.
So, yeah, I liked this. I'm not going to be obsessed or anything but it didn't feel like a waste of time. I also want to check out Wonderfalls; I feel like that's probably got a bit more of the visual whimsy of Daisies and it's also got Lee Pace. Yum.
Wise Blood ★★★★½
This was a shockingly good film. And it was also a shockingly faithful adaptation of the book, probably one of the least changed book-to-film transitions I've ever seen. It basically was the book, almost word for word, scene for scene. The changes that were made weren't enough to get riled up about: just a few conversations shortened, taking place in different locations, etc. I didn't think I would enjoy this because older movies always seem extremely cheesy and dated to me but this one really didn't feel like that - which makes me think maybe I need to reevaluate my admittedly uneducated opinion. I was at first not convinced that the actor playing Hazel Motes was the right choice but within fifteen or twenty minutes of the movie, I had changed my mind; he's got that kind of creepy yet engaging presence that I also got from Haze in the book. Also, the actor playing Enoch Emery was perfect and actually made me love him more than I did in the book. I felt so sorry for him, the poor kid; all he wanted was a friend. The actors playing Asa and Sabbath Lily Hawks weren't as much how I pictured them while reading but they were good anyway. The only negative things I have to say about it are: a. the actress who was Leora Watts had to be one of the worst actresses I've ever seen, thank God she was only in two scenes; b. the flashback scenes were rather cheesy; c. the music was pretty cheesy as well. Apart from those tiny flaws, I enjoyed it a lot and I would definitely watch it again. Of course, I'd still rather grab for the book than the movie. But isn't that always the case? I can't think of any movie right now that's better than it's literary counterpart. Also, I just remembered, between both the book and the movie, it just really grosses me out that all of these people were so casually handling a mummified, mutilated body from thousands of years ago without any qualms whatsoever. Eww. Someone would have to pay me a million dollars to touch something like that.
Nowhere ★★★½-ish (for now)
I still haven't watched this again like I said I was going to below. I am waiting until I finish reading Less Than Zero since it supposedly borrows a lot from that (and I can already see that it does).
Dude. I was just talking about this movie and how I wanted to see it again and then it just happened to come on IFC a couple nights later. Very weird. Anyway, I'm not going to rate it right now because a lot of the dialogue is extremely quiet and the TV was on low and I couldn't catch a good amount of it... but I am downloading it right now so I can watch it again. Because it seems like the kind of movie that makes you think "WTF is this shit?" at first and then you kinda grow to like it the more you watch it. Anyway, what I will say right now is that it was actually less fucked up than I remembered it to be... still weird and totally out there but I just thought it was, I don't know, more graphic or something. I will say more once I've watched it again. Also, I must reiterate, I can't believe this isn't out on DVD in the States. There are so many people in it that are huge names now: Ryan Phillipe, Mena Suvari (apparently this was her first movie role), Heather Graham, Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Christina Applegate, etc., etc. and along with those there are a lot of cameos from people like John Ritter, Christopher Knight, and Eve Plumb. It blows my mind that a movie with that kind of cast has nearly disappeared entirely from the general public's radar. (Also, the actor who plays Montgomery is beautiful; he reminded me of Michael Pitt who I also think is sexy but this guy is like his prettier twin brother or something.)
Arrested Development - Season 1 ★★★★★
Oh my God, why is this show so hilarious?!? And why did I wait so long to find that out? I love everything about it. Things that I love the most, roughly in order from most awesome to least: TOBIAS (every scene he is involved in has me in stitches: the gay pirate subplot in the pilot? his failed quest to become an actor? the whole "never-nude" issue? - all fucking hysterical), Gob in all of his asshole-y oblivious glory, Buster's stunted emotional capacity and his general awkwardness (awkward comedy is my favorite kind and always manages to make me laugh even if it's not that funny), George Michael's inappropriate crush on his cousin Maeby along with Michael Cera's unbearable adorableness, and a million other things I will refrain from listing. Basically, it is completely full of win, so much so that I might actually have to make this one of the shows I own on DVD (which aren't many because they're so expensive and there aren't a lot I love enough to watch over and over again). It seems like one of those that's so full of jokes, it just gets funnier the more you watch it.
The Fall ★★★★½
This film is extremely beautiful and quite sad, too. I was pretty pre-destined to like it, though, as it seems to be a perfect combination of things I love: it stars Lee Pace, who is totally my imaginary boyfriend; it's set in the twenties and I have a huge weakness for anything related to that decade; and it's quirky and colorful and imaginative and has some fantastic cinematography; and did I mention LEE FUCKING PACE?!? Anyway, the story is of a little girl who befriends a paralyzed and extremely depressed man in the hospital and he starts telling her this fantastical story in order to use her to get the drugs he craves. Lee Pace is fantastic but the little girl especially is incredible; together they are completely amazing. And when their fairytale story they make up together comes to life, the visuals are just jaw-droppingly vibrant and colorful and gorgeous. And the last half-hour or so of the movie is so heartbreaking. The pacing might be a little slow but overall, I really enjoyed this. And did I mention I love Lee Pace?
Brideshead Revisited ★★★★★ (sentimental rating), ★★★ (actual rating)
The more I watch this film, the more I realize its flaws, and truthfully, it's got a lot of them. But my obsession with a certain actor wins out over all and makes me rate this film much higher than it is in actuality worth. This is as good a place to voice this analysis as anywhere: I've been thinking lately about why exactly I am so obsessed with Mr. Whishaw; I mean, there are a lot of actors who I think do amazing in pretty much every movie they're in but I'm not in love with them to the point where I'd exhaust all options just to watch some obscure movie they are seen in for two seconds (I haven't actually done this with Ben yet either but I've considered it and probably will at some point). So why do I care so much about Ben over everyone else? Well, one part of it is probably that he hasn't actually done that many movies so seeing his entire body of work is a less overwhelming task than it would be with a lot of actors. The second part is that he is so goddamn adorable; I think a lot of people are adorable but he's just got something nobody else does. The third part is that I'm kind of enamored with him as a person from what I know about him. But I think the biggest part is that, since a picture of him as Sebastian in this movie was what introduced me to the novel/film in the first place, and since I adore Sebastian the character so very much, they've kind of become one in my mind. Ben is basically the physical embodiment of Sebastian to me and I think this is why I am so into him. It sounds kind of creepy but it's true. It's not very often that I fall so in love with characters in a book (I love a lot of characters but the only ones who I worship with the same level of adoration as him are the main characters in The Secret History) and so I think my love for Sebastian kind of intensifies my love for Ben tenfold. And also he's cute. And talented. Okay, this has officially been a tangent and I will get off of it now. Anyway, this was meant to say: this isn't an amazing film; it's simply an okay one but Ben makes me more crazy about it than I should be. So here's what I initially wrote about it when I was still kind of disillusioned by him and couldn't really see its problems as clearly (most of all, my statement that I enjoyed this film better than the book I now consider completely blasphemous; the book is clearly much better - the movie only improves on it by allowing me to picture Ben as Sebastian):
If we're getting down to specifics with this rating, the first hour and a half is five stars, the last forty-five minutes is three or so. I suppose that would make it around four stars overall but that 1.5 hours is just so damn good; I think that if the movie actually ended there or soon after it would be nearly perfect but the book doesn't end there so that wouldn't really make sense. Anyway, I'm rather puzzled by the negative reactions to this film. It seems the main complaint is that it strays too far from the book, which is a legitimate complaint, but if you watch this film on its own merits and forget about the book for a minute, I don't see how you could find it completely worthless. Whenever I watch a movie that is supposed to be based on a book, I don't really like to compare the two; I feel like they are two entirely different things and should each be able to stand on their own. In fact, I rather enjoy it when a film doesn't follow a book directly and puts a different spin on things; it would be boring otherwise, I think. If this was an original manuscript or just claimed to be "partially inspired" by the book or something, I feel like it would have been much better received. But then again, it's still too similar to the book for any claims like that to really be made. Just, if you have read the book or seen the miniseries from the '80s which is supposedly amazing, try to watch this with an open mind. It may not be a faithful adaptation but it is a beautiful film regardless.
First of all, it's visually breathtaking - both the cinematography and the period sets and costumes. Second of all, the casting is extremely good; all of the main characters, I feel, are represented perfectly and the acting is mostly top-notch. Most of the best lines from the book are worked into the script as are most of the best comedic moments - pretty much every scene involving Charles' father, Charles and Sebastian drunkenly evaluating different wines ("It's a shy little wine, like a gazelle." "Like a leprechaun."), Bridey's engagement. But, as I said, there is also a lot changed. Sebastian is now undeniably gay whereas in the book there were only a few extremely vague hints that he might be experimenting with his sexuality just a little bit (not that this is a knock on the book since no one was really writing about blatant homosexuals at the time). Julia is suddenly everywhere when, in the book, she was only mentioned in passing until more than halfway through (for example, she goes to Venice with Sebastian and Charles, which does not happen at all in the book). Also, the film really plays up the idea of a love triangle between Charles, Sebastian, and Julia and part of what ruins Sebastian seems to be his jealousy that Charles loves his sister more than he loves him which isn't really a problem that comes up in the book since Charles doesn't truly fall for Julia until after Sebastian is out of the picture. These changes seem to have ruffled quite a few feathers but I don't have a problem with them. Maybe it's because I just read the book and haven't had a chance to truly digest it all yet or maybe it's because, like I said, I tend to be rather lenient with book-to-movie adaptations. But if you're not looking for an exact replica of the book, these differences work well for the movie; after all, a 300+ page book (not to mention an 11-hour miniseries) is being squeezed into just over two hours here - everything kind of has to be over-the-top and fast-paced or it'd be impossible to fit in the entire story. Anyway, like I said, the first 90 minutes are excellent but the last 45 kind of drag; maybe it's my bias toward a certain character speaking but I just find Charles and Julia's affair rather dull (at least compared to everything else) and, while it's still far from unenjoyable, it's definitely the lowpoint of the film.
Speaking of that bias, let me take a moment to fangirl. Ben Whishaw, the actor who plays Sebastian, is so terribly adorable I can hardly stand it. I would honestly be content to stare at him the whole time and pay attention to nothing else. This is probably also partly why I don't enjoy the last part of the film so much - because Sebastian is never to be seen again which means no more of Ben's lovely face. And so that I don't sound completely shallow, he is also a brilliant actor and easily the best in the film alongside Emma Thompson as Lady Marchmain. My first exposure to this film was a review that I read in Entertainment Weekly many months ago and it called his portrayal of Sebastian "a flamboyant, hair-tossing delinquent" but I don't think that is accurate at all. In his first proper scene or two, he does come across as slightly too effeminate, but he quickly settles into the role and then he is so perfect it's unbelievable; he is Sebastian, completely. He plays Sebastian's descent into depression and alcoholism with such rawness and passion and emotion and his final scene before departing from the film entirely is absolutely devastating. I was pretty blown away by him. And also, he is totally cute, did I mention that? I am just a bit obsessed with Sebastian in general, really. Why do I always fall in love with the most tragic characters?
Anyway, I think I might have enjoyed this more than the book, which is criminal to say, I know. It's just... well, first of all, I'm not the biggest fan of classic literature - I mean, I get that it's important, I get that it's good, there are of course exceptions to this but in general, I don't enjoy it much. I did enjoy this book much more than many other older novels I've read (and it's not even that old, really) but I found the long introspective and explanatory passages to be a bit dense and difficult to focus on at times. I enjoyed the dialogue much, much more so to see a lot of that played out before my eyes is rather exciting. I don't actually believe that the film is better than the book, but I personally found it a more entertaining experience. I don't care what the general consensus of it is; I think it's (mostly) brilliant and I completely stand behind that opinion. I could seriously go on forever about how lovely it is but I'll stop now. I'm going to watch the miniseries eventually but honestly, I have my doubts about how much I will enjoy it since the '80s production was already making me cringe in a two-minute clip.
4. Mates of State: Two of Us ★★★½
Does this count as a film? I mean, it's a documentary, isn't it? So yes, it counts. Anyway, this is pretty cute. Which isn't surprising since this band is the very definition of cute. They are also pretty hilarious. This isn't something that I'll watch a ton of times but it's nice. Observations: The best parts are when they're trying to come up with the album name, hilarious; All Up In Your Shit was my favorite, personally. Oh yeah, and the asshole discussion was pretty great as well. Also, I've never noticed how completely epic Jason's nose is before. I mean, I knew it was huge, but it's like... a beak. But a totally adorable beak, nonetheless. And the most important observation of all: these two are possibly the cutest couple to ever exist on the face of the earth. Seriously. I was watching the music videos and there was this part during "Fluke" that I had never noticed before (granted I've only seen it a couple times)... They're sitting at the table singing and Jason's going a bit crazy with the head movements and Kori starts mocking him and it is so goddamn adorable. Here, it's around 1:33. SO CUTE! Anyway, basically, I just want to squish them and pinch their cheeks and all that kind of stuff.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer ★★★★★
This is very good but very, very strange. The last half-hour or so was seriously just one WTF moment after another... and I felt so disturbed by the time it was over that for awhile, I had a hard time deciding whether I actually liked it or not. But the more I think about it, the more I decide that I did like it. Anyway, I'm not even going to attempt to describe the plot line because I know it would take me a lot of words to do so. But just... if you're easily disturbed, this is probably not the movie for you. I mean, compared to a lot of films, it's rather tame visually but the actual story is so creepy that it makes it ten times more unsettling. I'll admit, this is the kind of movie I might have got around to watching eventually, but the only reason I watched it now is 100% because of Ben Whishaw. And he definitely did not disappoint. This is basically the complete opposite of his role in Brideshead Revisited, aside from the fact that both characters are extremely fucked up emotionally, so it's a great testament to his talent that he can pull off both so convincingly. I'm so in love with this guy. I mean, even being all creepy and covered in dirt and sweat for almost the entire movie, he is still so damn attractive. Hey, he was playing a murdurer but at least he was a pretty murderer, right? Anyway, yeah, this was good in a really unsettling, creepy crawly kind of way. What is it with me and period films lately? It seems like all the movies I like the most are falling into this category and I used to think that I hated them. I guess I was just watching the wrong ones or something. Also, surprise, surprise, this is based on a book so now I have something else to add to my long "to read" list. NOW LOOK AT BEN'S ATTRACTIVENESS:
Creepy but so so beautiful.
Criminal Justice (BBC mini-series) ★★★½
This counts because it took five hours out of my life to watch - which is actually more than any movie usually takes, actually. Anyway, basically, I've seen enough crime dramas to last me a lifetime and they are not something I enjoy much on a regular basis, but this was actually pretty alright. Instead of focusing on the crime-solving and all that like the CSIs and Law and Orders of the world, it focuses on what the suspect goes through - being arrested, going to prison, going on trial, etc. - which I think is worlds more interesting to watch. But let's face it, I wouldn't have bothered tracking it down at all if it didn't have Ben Whishaw. Have I mentioned how much I fucking adore this man? Oh, only five times already? He is just so good and continues to blow me away. When I watch him, I feel like I'm not watching someone act, I feel like he's actually going through all these things and that makes everything so much more painful but also so much more rewarding. And the thing that I'm most impressed with in regards to his acting is his use of body language and facial expressions; even when he has no lines, even when he is not the main focus of a scene, even when he is way in the background, you just can't take your eyes off him because he is always so perfectly in character and says so much with so little. Just as one example, his character in this is supposed to have an eye twitch thing when he gets nervous/scared/etc. and he doesn't just do it in the scene that explicitly mentions it but all the time - and it never seems over-the-top or forced but like it's something that he actually does himself and it can't be helped. These little things are what make acting performances believable and natural and he is so good at them. Anyway, back to the actual show... like I said, it was pretty good. The most riveting scenes were in the prison because they were so damn scary; I felt so bad for the kid that I didn't even care if he killed the girl or not, I just wanted to get him out of there. I felt like the courtroom scenes were kind of unrealistic - like some of the stuff that was said would totally not be acceptable in real life but I know nothing about the British law system - or the American law system, really, aside from what I've seen on TV - so I could be wrong. Then the last hour kind of got messy and totally unbelievable. I mean, I'm happy that he didn't kill her and got out of prison, but it all just happened so conveniently and everything got wrapped up in a neat little bow and it wasn't very satisfying. So, overall, I enjoyed it despite the fact that this genre isn't really my cup of tea, except for the last episode, and Ben Whishaw continues to be a god as far as I'm concerned.
Jesus Camp ★★★★
I am not much of a documentary person but this topic completely intrigues and completely terrifies me all at the same time. I could go on for ages about all of the terrifyingly extreme things that go on here - the "conversations" with a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush, the use of children to push an anti-abortion agenda, the absolutely vile preacher who keeps making tasteless jokes toward the camera (for these people supposedly being so "good" compared to non-Christians they sure can be mean-spirited and hateful). These things are all scary as hell but the image that's stuck with me most is one that is less obvious, right near the beginning - the children are asked something along the lines of "Do you believe God can do anything?" and if they were truly answering the question for themselves without any outside prompting, there would be nothing wrong with it, but then they cut to this mother in the audience raising her children's hands for them and it just completely outraged me. It's one thing for kids to decide to go all gung-ho for Christ on their own; it's another for them to be brainwashed and spoon-fed everything they believe in. Anyway, this was very interesting. Sometimes I get annoyed at my father for being so conservative and judgmental and so, well, Christian - but the people in this make him look positively liberal in comparison and thank goodness for that.
Also, I want to see a follow-up documentary on these people now that Barack Obama is president, what with all their "liberalism is dead" and "conservatives will rule the world" bullshit.
My Brother Tom ★★★½
Anyway, back to the Whishaw... this film is interesting in a really strange and disturbing way. At first, I was just weirded out by the two main characters' very, um, intimate relationship and all of their odd rituals. Then I was disturbed by Tom's relationship with his father and Jessica's with her teacher/neighbor and felt so sad for the both of them. And then at the end, I was just terribly depressed by everything that goes down as a result of those relationships. Very, very sad movie. And at times uncomfortable to watch. But it was pretty good though some of the shaky "I'm so indie I can't film properly" camera work was making me nauseous. Ben was magical, unsurprisingly. He is very good at playing creepy weirdos and also emotionally damaged people and he gets to be both here so it works out well. Basically, despite the fact that his character is a complete freak and despite what he ends up doing near the end of the film (and what that leads him to do at the very end) I just want to cuddle with him and tell him everything is going to be okay and forgive all of his criminal acts. Also, I love Ben's adorably adorable huge ears that stick out from his head. /shallow
Stoned ½
What a fucking terrible movie. I can't believe I actually tortured myself by watching the whole thing. Plus one star for Ben being pretty and naked (he has been naked in everything I've seen him in so far - not that I mind or anything, I just find that interesting). Minus half a star for not having nearly enough of him to make this craptacular movie worthwhile. He's not even in it long enough to totally blow everyone else out of the water with his godlike acting abilities. So yes, this film is half a star; without Ben, it would be zero.
Nathan Barley (British television show) ★★½
This show is terribly obnoxious and for the first three or so episodes I was ready to write it off as obnoxiously stupid but then it kind of started to get funny, still in a really obnoxious way, but I have to admit, I cracked up pretty hard quite a few times during the last two episodes. I was both disgusted and amused by it at the same time. Still, it's not anything brilliant and it didn't have nearly enough Ben (but there can never be enough Ben, can there?) so I feel wrong rating it anything higher than this. Ben's character had only about five to ten minutes of airtime in all six episodes put together but he still managed to be completely adorable in that small amount of time. But I felt so bad for him! God, even when he's doing comedy, he still ends up being the most tortured character of them all - I guess he has the kind of face that lends itself to being sad (but oh so cutely sad) but come on, let the guy smile every once in awhile! Okay. Actually, he did laugh in like the third or fourth episode and it was totally squee-worthy. Anyway. Yeah. Not enough Ben but it was an entertaining if somewhat annoying viewing experience despite that.
I'm Not There ★★★½
I finally got around to watching this a second time and my verdict is that it's a good but flawed movie. I knew pretty much nothing about Bob Dylan the first time I watched it and knew a little bit more this time but I don't think that's really essential to enjoying this movie - you'll either like it or not regardless of whether you're a Dylan fan. Anyway, there are two major reasons I think it's flawed. First of all, I adored three out of the six characters and their stories, really liked a fourth, and didn't much care for the other two at all. I felt like I might have liked the Richard Gere portions on their own but whenever they show up in between everything else it seems like they kind of slow down the entire pace of the film and don't really fit in. And I was just bored by the Christian Bale portions; maybe it was the documentary style because I'm not a huge fan of watching documentaries but I think it was mostly the fact that it was the most straight-forward story of the entire movie and I like things a little more meaty and mysterious that you have to dig into to figure out what exactly they mean. My other complaint is that a few scenes seem really cheesy and cheap and poorly shot and not in an "oh, this is so ironic and artsy" way. The two worst offenders that come to mind right away are the scene where Marcus Carl Franklin's character is thrown off a train by hobos - it just seemed really obviously not shot on a train and looked extremely fake which took me out of the scene emotionally completely - and the scene where Cate Blanchett's character is being threatened by an angry fan with a knife in his hotel room - that one just seemed really over-the-top and stagy and if I was supposed to feel afraid or anything, I didn't at all; I just felt like laughing. Other than that one scene, her Jude Quinn was by far my favorite character which I know is the cliched thing to say about this movie but it's true. She was so good and I was so intrigued by her portrayal of the character that I wouldn't have minded if the whole movie was only her. But then there wouldn't have been Ben Whishaw's Arthur Rimbaud which, if you can't guess, was the reason I decided to watch this in the first place. He was my second favorite regardless of my bias toward him and I really wish he had more screentime because I found his character so interesting but he was in it so little that we barely got to know anything about him - not nearly as much as the other characters. Also, on the shallow side, I find his accent here terribly sexy especially since I wasn't expecting him to sound so different. Overall, I enjoyed this film and it's not something I would scramble to watch again, but I wouldn't mind re-watching it every once in awhile.
Also, this doesn't have much to do with this film specifically but since at least three of the main characters do it... I have this strange, unexplainable fetish for smoking in books and movies and photographs - like, I find it unbelievably attractive and the heavier smoker a character is, the better. I can't quite figure out why I feel this way. Like, in real life, I think if I was around someone who smoked basically 24/7 I wouldn't find it appealing at all but when it's someone fictional, it seriously makes me all swoony over that person. Even in my own stories, I seem to always mention smoking way more than necessary because of this. It's like... extremely sexy or edgy or something to me and I feel really weird for thinking that.
Bonus material: Eh, this had some interesting stuff on it but nothing I would ever care to watch again and it didn't give me that much more insight into the film. The deleted/extended scenes were laughably throw-away - I mean, they were completely worthless, what was even the point of including them? Well, the extended musical performances were kind of cool but, like I said, I would never watch them again. The best part was the flash cards to "Subterranean Homesick Blues", I got a kick out of watching all the actors struggle to keep up with the song. And the second best was Ben Whishaw's audition tape but of course I'm terribly, unabashedly biased so my opinion is really completely void there. Now I could watch that and his solo version of the flash cards video a million times but that's just because he is so damn pretty to look at and has such an enigmatic presence no matter what he's doing. And okay, speaking of Ben... I sat through forty fucking minutes of Todd Haynes talking about every aspect of this film and I guess it was sort of interesting and informative but he mentioned every single actor's performance and portion of the film in detail except for Ben's! WTF?!? He got like a ten-second mention near the end and it wasn't even about his performance but about the visual style of his segment. This is unacceptable. Truly. I was completely appalled. Anyway, BEN!!!111! *flails arms wildly* Just in case you forgot what a fangirl I am over him. (This post has totally devolved into a Whishaw lovefest - and I am completely unashamed of that.)
Coraline ★★★★
Woohoo, my first theatre-going experience of the year! (I don't get to the theatre much - mostly because the one near us only plays the blockbusters usually and those are the movies I'm least interested in and also because I have no money and tickets are expensive.)
This was such a cute movie! It was also a lot quirkier and darker than I was expecting it to be. I kind of unfairly dislike animated films in general because in my head, I can't help automatically associating animation with "annoying cheesy children's movie" and that hinders my enjoyment whether that description is accurate or not. And this was, in some ways, a children's movie but it is definitely very enjoyable for adults as well - actually, there were a few parts that I thought were pretty eyebrow-raising considering the handful of children under eight in attendance, particularly the scene where Miss Forcible, I think it is, with her exagerratedly humongous breasts is wearing only a thong and pasties basically; I kind of couldn't believe how risque it was. Anyway, yes, I liked this a lot. I loved the stop-motion animation and all of the sets and everything were just gorgeous - it was a really pretty movie. The story stayed pretty true to the book except that it introduced a boy the same age as Coraline for her to befriend at her new home which was an understandable addition and didn't really change the story except adding him into a few scenes. The 3D was cool (I think this is actually the first 3D movie I've seen - or at least the first decent one) and added nicely to the experience but it wasn't as much of a focal point as I thought it would be; the movie would be just as enjoyable without it. So all in all, it was very satisfying both from a "good movie" perspective and a "stays true to the novel" perspective. And I'm definitely glad I saw this instead of going with my sister and her friends to see Fired Up (which was apparently hilarious but I'll take their word for it and not confirm it myself [though they actually wanted to see, even more embarrassingly, the Jonas Brothers concert movie which ended up being a ridiculous $15 a ticket so they couldn't]). Though the other mother when she got all evil at the end was nearly nightmare-inducing; it was actually rather scary during the climax - I hope none of those little children had bad dreams or anything.
Bright Young Things
I watched this on IFC because the description said it was based on an Evelyn Waugh novel (Vile Bodies) so I figured I could at least depend on it for some gorgeous period clothing from the '20s even if it turned out to be absolutely terrible. And at first I wasn't really enjoying it very much but I started to get more into it a half-hour or so in and the more I think about it, the more I decide that I rather liked it. The characters were all so intriguing to me as was the story itself so the few problems I had were more to do with the way the film was made; at times I felt like it wasn't... rich enough or something to do the story complete justice. Which I guess means I should read the book now because I bet it's a million times better - and I'm definitely planning to do that as soon as possible. Also, this sounds really stupid, but I was kind of distracted the whole time by how much the lead actor (Stephen Campbell Moore) looked like Zac Efron at thirty or something. Seriously, yo. It's not so obvious in pictures but in the movie, he totally looked like him and it was distracting me so much! Though how adorable is Emily Mortimer? My goodness, she's cute! And James McAvoy, too. I kind of loved his character, Simon, even though he was hateful and crazy and killed himself off less than halfway through the movie. And I also loved Miles (played by Michael Sheen); he was so amusing but his departure from the film was nearly as sad as Simon's. I just gravitate toward those tragic characters - I can't help it. Anyway. Yes, I must get my hands on this book soon.
Edit: I just watched this again on Netflix Instant and I kind of completely adored it this time. So the rating's been revised. It's really funny, too, in a way that doesn't grab you until you've watched it two or three times but there are so many great lines - "I see... I said, I see"; "Have we? Or have we? Have we?"; "We've done this before, haven't we?"; "Have I been sold again?" So good. I want to buy this movie on DVD now. (How lucky was it that I just happened to stumble across this movie randomly on television? It's right up my alley but I probably would have never found it - or at least not for a very long time - otherwise.)
Edit #2: This is now officially among my favorite movies ever which is a very hard title to grab onto; there are not many I would put into that category. It's just so gorgeous and well-acted and hilarious. I've read the book now (review in appropriate post) and it's probably better but they're so alike that, since I saw the movie first, reading the book was almost like reading a very detailed script or something. Anyway, yes, amazingness. Best thing I've seen this year probably.
Twilight ★½ (as a drama)/★★★★ (as a comedy)
I actually hate this movie from a practical standpoint; at any rate, I don't care that much about it at all. But it's just so lulzy that I have to keep this review around to remind myself of that: if I ever need to laugh my way out of a depressive spell I can count on this movie to do exactly that for me.
Seriously, this film is so much more entertaining if you go into it expecting a comedy rather than something dramatic and intense. It's just such a failure in so many ways that it falls into the "so bad it's good" category. The acting is terrible, the dialogue is totally unrealistic and awkward, everything about it is so completely horrible that you just can't look away. My sister and I watched this again (I'd only seen it once when it first came out; yes, I saw it in the theater on the first day - me = lame) and it was so amazing because we just spent the entire time cracking up and making fun of the acting and pretty much everything else. Between Kristen Stewart's belief that stuttering = intense emotion (that hospital scene at the end? most awkward thing everrrrrrr) and Robert Pattinson's extremely wooden, emotionless delivery of almost every line, it's just a total riot. I've never laughed more in my life, honestly. Plus, Jasper/Jackson Rathbone is extremely pretty to look at. And everyone should watch this parody. Because it's basically amazing. "Are you even speaking English?!?"
The Haunting in Connecticut ★★½
This was an ok-ish horror movie. Though I'm not sure I would even call it a horror movie because it wasn't that scary, in my opinion, and I'm pretty wimpy when it comes to those things. I mean, sure, there were a lot of creepy, disfigured ghost people randomly popping up in mirrors and shit and they made me jump but that's just because I'm a jumpy person. There wasn't anything that actually freaked me out in a way that made me afraid to go to sleep at night or whatever. The closest thing to this was when they showed this guy about to cut someone's eyelids off but they didn't actually show it happen and the victim was already dead so it wasn't that scary either. Anyway, this was decent and by that I don't mean it was actually a good film but it was entertaining. There are movies I watch when I want to be challenged and stimulated and emotionally drained and there are movies I watch when I want to be mindlessly entertained - this one falls into that second category and I enjoy watching those kinds of movies a lot as long as I don't try to evaluate them too heavily. Like, the plot of this movie and exactly what happened to lead to the haunting and all weren't exactly clear to me, especially near the end, but that's basically the least important component of movies like this so if I don't try to force it to make sense it's much more entertaining. And there was some crazy shit going down in the last half-hour or so which I thought was basically awesome despite the fact that it made no sense. Also, I thought the lead actor was actually pretty good, at least for this genre which never really puts an emphasis on believable acting - but I was both totally creeped out and completely drawn to his character and it had a lot to do with his acting, I think. And I knew I had seen him before so I looked his credits up and, yep, he's been on about five zillion TV episodes that I've seen. I guess I should probably be concerned over just how many of them I've seen; it's a scarily large amount for someone who really doesn't care that much for most television.
Half Nelson ★★★★½
I want to rate this one five stars because Ryan Gosling is so good in it and I do love the relationship between the two main characters and there are so many insanely heartbreaking and poignant moments and it's generally a very good movie but... a big factor to me is rewatchability. I know there are plenty of amazing films out there that are near perfect yet they might be so uncomfortable or so chilling or hit so close to home that you don't necessarily want to watch them over and over again. As good as movies like those are, I just can't comfortably rate something five stars unless I want to watch it over and over again. The main problem for me with this particular movie is it's slowness. I mean, it's not unnecessarily, painfully, antagonizingly slow-paced or anything but it's pretty sparse and dialogue-less and meandering at times which can be a task to get through if you're not in the right mindset. I just found my mind wandering a few times because I wanted the pace to pick up a little bit. So basically the issue isn't with the movie but with myself and my sometimes short attention span and preference for witty, fast-paced dialogue and lots of energy. Regardless of that minor quibble, it's a great movie with amazing performances and the ending is so perfect to me - it's not too sweet or too sad. I like the open-endedness of it and I'm generally not a fan of non-concrete endings. Just because the "could be"s haunt me like crazy and I want to know definitively what happens, damn it! But this one I was cool with.
The Lover ★★★★
Have I mentioned how much I love IFC? I don't get too watch it very often, though, sadly. Anyway, the reason I bring it up is because that's where I watched this. From the beginning, it got points just for taking place in the '20s-30s which, as everyone should know by now, is my favorite era. I wasn't too impressed by the actual movie for the first half-hour or so, maybe even a little longer, but then I started to get more interested. It's extremely slow-paced and kind of meandering and plotless and doesn't have much dialogue which can be hell to get through sometimes but sometimes works a lot better than something manic and wordy. I thought it ended up being a really good (and gorgeous to look at) movie but not necessarily something I'd want to watch a million times. And holy shit were the sex scenes steamy. And more than slightly uncomfortable because of the age difference between the characters. I mean, I guess the title and plot summary should've tipped me off to the fact that there would be some really intense love-making going on but I'm dense and it didn't. But geez. I couldn't decide whether I was turned on or squicked out by them. Somewhere in between, I guess. And not because they were really graphic or anything - they were rather mild compared to some I've seen - but just because of the forbidden aspect of the characters' relationship and all or something. I don't know. I think if you watch the movie you'll know what I mean.
This Film Is Not Yet Rated ★★★★★
As is to be expected, this was a totally one-sided documentary but I didn't really feel like I was being convinced to believe something that wasn't true; it all seemed very honest and straightforward. True, there wasn't another side to the debate to even things out but I don't think it was misleading either. Anyway, this was very interesting. And a lot of it made me angry at how stupid and judgmental people are. I thought the part where they show scenes from films side-by-side was especially effective; they would show two scenes from two different movies - one of them rated NC-17 - right next to each other and the camera angles matched up almost exactly, the only difference being that the NC-17 movies involved gay sex while the lesser-rated ones involved straight sex. How fucked up. I also enjoyed the phone calls between the director and the MPAA at the end; those were amusing. As was the tally of "hip thrusts" they did at one point. The whole film was actually really funny in an "oh my God, this is totally appalling and ridiculous that people think like this" way. The main thing I got out of this though was that it made me really want to watch a lot of the films mentioned during it.
American Psycho ★★★★
Is this movie supposed to be funny? Because my sister and I were just laughing our asses off pretty much the entire time. Either we have really deranged senses of humor or it was fucking hilarious. The hilariousness also might have been upped by the fact that I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The last 15-20 minutes or so I had no clue what anything meant anymore. But it was very entertaining. The opening sequence about moisturizing? The scene where Christian Bale kills Jared Leto? "I'm listening to the new Robert Palmer tape"? Oh my God. I'm about to laugh just thinking about them. I just can't decide whether I'm actually supposed to find them that funny.
Drag Me to Hell ★★★★★
Holy shit. What a mindfuck this movie was. I still can't quite wrap my head around the entire thing. I'm not usually much of a horror fan - there are so many generic horror movies these days that they all start to seem the same after awhile and I'm also very jumpy; I don't necessarily get scared easily but I just jump easily - but this was pretty brilliant. The "but wait, it's not over yet!" ending can be just about as cliched as the "everything ends up perfect and happy" ending but this one was absolutely perfect. I'm going to have to give away some of the things that happen at this point; I can't explain it without... But I seriously thought it was over when Christine buried the button with the old lady to give the curse back to her. I went into the movie not knowing anything about it except what I've seen in trailers and that most people were saying it was awesome so I was totally shocked when it didn't end there. Though, for some reason, I began to get this really bad gut feeling around the time she bought a new coat before meeting her boyfriend (Justin Long! Who is adorable!); I don't know why, there wasn't anything at all foreboding or suspicious about that part, but I just knew then that something was going to happen. I was still amazed by the ending though. Holy crap. Just thinking about it blows my mind; it was executed so well. I normally don't like endings that are left hanging open or, like this one, pretty much leave no possible chance for happiness whatsoever but screw it, this is a movie about a girl being haunted after a gypsy woman puts a curse on her, all reality is pretty much suspended anyway so I would've been disappointed had it not ended on a frightening, totally depressing note. Anyway, yes, loved it and my sister and I were both just like "WTF" the entire drive home afterwards, haha. Also, I was impressed by Alison Lohman; the only other movie I've seen her in is White Oleander where she's really shy and quiet and vulnerable so I wasn't sure she would be able to pull off a movie like this but she did a really good job. And she's also cute as a button. Button. Oh my God. That final scene is coming back to me again. Oh and one more thing, the movie's also got some really funny parts. I mean, a talking goat and a man possessed by a demon doing a jig while suspended in air? Come on. Hilarious. In a really twisted way. How do people come up with this stuff??
Dead Like Me - Season 1 ★★★★
Alright, I'm finally done with this! Let me try and put together some more cohesive thoughts. This show is like a darker, more realistic and cynical version of Pushing Daisies; both shows deal with characters who in some way straddle the divide between the living and the dead but this show does so in a much less light-hearted, whimsical manner which is ultimately why I like Pushing Daisies so much more. Daisies can also be morbid and snarky but the way it's all viewed through a very candy-colored lense is so much more appealing to me. It's got just enough lightness to balance out the dark while Dead Like Me I find less believable because the setting is much more realistic. It's hard to explain but I guess my personal viewpoint is that if something is kooky, it might as well be all the way kooky instead of just slightly. Does that make sense? Point is, for the most part, I really enjoyed watching this show and I'll definitely watch the second season as well (and probably the movie though I've heard it's not very good) but it's not something I see myself craving for over and over again like Daisies. Because it's more straight-forward, there's less to uncover beneath the surface with multiple viewings. So this rating is probably a bit on the high side; I feel it's worth closer to three and a half stars but the first few episodes and the last few episodes were so good that I feel like they warrant bumping it up a bit. It just sags a little throughout the middle episodes which I think is probably due to Bryan Fuller's exit; once he quit working on the show, things got a bit bumpy but by the end, it managed to find its footing again. Even so, in my opinion, the episodes he worked on were by far the funniest of them all; I didn't laugh so much at the rest of the season as I did during the first few.
Another reason I like this less than Pushing Daisies is that I just didn't connect with the characters as much. In Daisies, I love pretty much every character, even the minor ones, but here that wasn't so much the case. George I found annoying at times and I was much more drawn to most of the supporting cast than her - I think part of my annoyance is with the actress; she just can't seem to emote much beyond sarcasm. However, I was very moved by her scene at her old house with Rube in "Nighthawks" so I'll give her props there. I also really disliked George's mother and throughout most of the series, her bitchiness was just completely unredeemable to me. Then in the last few episodes it was revealed that her husband is also a total asshole so between that and losing her daughter, she kind of has a reason to be a bitch. I still hate her though. Also, I didn't really much care about Betty either way but I liked her so much more than Daisy even though she became slightly more tolerable near the end as well; I'm now just neutral to her instead of disliking her. Also, I'm pretty indifferent to Rube; I think he's the kind of character you love to hate and hate to love though Mandy Patinkin just kind of irks me in general and I'm not sure why. As for characters I do love... Mason is at the very top of that list as is Roxy. He's an asshole, she's a bitch, but they're both hilarious and they also have their warm and cuddly sides. Basically every other line Mason says is hilarious to me. The highlight of the entire season was the episode (the third or fourth, I think?) where he's smuggling drugs in his ass, gets felt up by airport security, and then has the bag burst and make him out of his mind high; I was hysterically laughing during every scene. I'm also very amused by Delores Herbig - "as in her big brown eyes" - in all her psychotic with a smile glory. And George's sister is another I love; she just breaks my heart.
So, yeah, I liked this. I'm not going to be obsessed or anything but it didn't feel like a waste of time. I also want to check out Wonderfalls; I feel like that's probably got a bit more of the visual whimsy of Daisies and it's also got Lee Pace. Yum.
Wise Blood ★★★★½
This was a shockingly good film. And it was also a shockingly faithful adaptation of the book, probably one of the least changed book-to-film transitions I've ever seen. It basically was the book, almost word for word, scene for scene. The changes that were made weren't enough to get riled up about: just a few conversations shortened, taking place in different locations, etc. I didn't think I would enjoy this because older movies always seem extremely cheesy and dated to me but this one really didn't feel like that - which makes me think maybe I need to reevaluate my admittedly uneducated opinion. I was at first not convinced that the actor playing Hazel Motes was the right choice but within fifteen or twenty minutes of the movie, I had changed my mind; he's got that kind of creepy yet engaging presence that I also got from Haze in the book. Also, the actor playing Enoch Emery was perfect and actually made me love him more than I did in the book. I felt so sorry for him, the poor kid; all he wanted was a friend. The actors playing Asa and Sabbath Lily Hawks weren't as much how I pictured them while reading but they were good anyway. The only negative things I have to say about it are: a. the actress who was Leora Watts had to be one of the worst actresses I've ever seen, thank God she was only in two scenes; b. the flashback scenes were rather cheesy; c. the music was pretty cheesy as well. Apart from those tiny flaws, I enjoyed it a lot and I would definitely watch it again. Of course, I'd still rather grab for the book than the movie. But isn't that always the case? I can't think of any movie right now that's better than it's literary counterpart. Also, I just remembered, between both the book and the movie, it just really grosses me out that all of these people were so casually handling a mummified, mutilated body from thousands of years ago without any qualms whatsoever. Eww. Someone would have to pay me a million dollars to touch something like that.
Nowhere ★★★½-ish (for now)
I still haven't watched this again like I said I was going to below. I am waiting until I finish reading Less Than Zero since it supposedly borrows a lot from that (and I can already see that it does).
Dude. I was just talking about this movie and how I wanted to see it again and then it just happened to come on IFC a couple nights later. Very weird. Anyway, I'm not going to rate it right now because a lot of the dialogue is extremely quiet and the TV was on low and I couldn't catch a good amount of it... but I am downloading it right now so I can watch it again. Because it seems like the kind of movie that makes you think "WTF is this shit?" at first and then you kinda grow to like it the more you watch it. Anyway, what I will say right now is that it was actually less fucked up than I remembered it to be... still weird and totally out there but I just thought it was, I don't know, more graphic or something. I will say more once I've watched it again. Also, I must reiterate, I can't believe this isn't out on DVD in the States. There are so many people in it that are huge names now: Ryan Phillipe, Mena Suvari (apparently this was her first movie role), Heather Graham, Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Christina Applegate, etc., etc. and along with those there are a lot of cameos from people like John Ritter, Christopher Knight, and Eve Plumb. It blows my mind that a movie with that kind of cast has nearly disappeared entirely from the general public's radar. (Also, the actor who plays Montgomery is beautiful; he reminded me of Michael Pitt who I also think is sexy but this guy is like his prettier twin brother or something.)
Arrested Development - Season 1 ★★★★★
Oh my God, why is this show so hilarious?!? And why did I wait so long to find that out? I love everything about it. Things that I love the most, roughly in order from most awesome to least: TOBIAS (every scene he is involved in has me in stitches: the gay pirate subplot in the pilot? his failed quest to become an actor? the whole "never-nude" issue? - all fucking hysterical), Gob in all of his asshole-y oblivious glory, Buster's stunted emotional capacity and his general awkwardness (awkward comedy is my favorite kind and always manages to make me laugh even if it's not that funny), George Michael's inappropriate crush on his cousin Maeby along with Michael Cera's unbearable adorableness, and a million other things I will refrain from listing. Basically, it is completely full of win, so much so that I might actually have to make this one of the shows I own on DVD (which aren't many because they're so expensive and there aren't a lot I love enough to watch over and over again). It seems like one of those that's so full of jokes, it just gets funnier the more you watch it.