You might think that with David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup and Maggie Gyllenhaal in the cast, this would be worth a watch.
You'd be completely wrong. It's dire.
It's a romantic comedy, but as it's neither romantic nor at any single point in the entire thing remotely point funny, it fails completely. In this kind of movie the characters do need some kind of flaws, but when the flaws make them irritating, unlikeable, whiney and childish, it becomes impossible to care.
Clean your oven tonight instead.
This is one of those movies that appears high up on lists of great films, but I'd always been reluctant to watch it. I knew that a) it was about a neo-Nazi - not appealing, and b) it was really violent in parts. I can stomach a bit of celluloid violence, but movies (even those considered classics) that centre around violent, unsympathetic characters just ain't my cup of tea. Hello Goodfellas.
This is extremely violent in places, but it's deftly balanced with some truly moving, touching moments. There's no question that at times the main character Derek, played brilliantly by Edward Norton, is utterly abhorrent - yet it's so even handed that, just as you are not spared from seeing him at his worst, you feel yourself cheering for him when you see him at his best. The duality within the character exposes the confusion at the heart of the far right (neatly illustrated by the scene where partying skinheads wave the American flag in front of images of Hitler, a man who thousands of Americans lost their lives trying to stop). Furthermore, the movie shows how that confusion, combined with anger and fear, leads to violence and destruction - and how that process is not confined to any one racial group.
There are so many things to admire about the way this movie has been made, I particularly liked the light-touch storytelling. In one scene Derek rants about black-on-black violence and rioting as evidence of racial inferiority, words that resonate when he becomes the victim of particularly brutal white-on-white violence. So many aspects are interesting - the black and white filming of the flashbacks (when the main character's thinking is in exactly those terms), the believable step-by-step handling of the friendship with his prison workmate, the way someone can simultaneously be powerful and powerless.
Ultimately this is not a film about black and white, but one about humanity and inhumanity, education and blind prejudice, moral character and moral weakness, love and hate. It's fascinating, it's moving. It shares a lot in common with Tsotsi, a redemption-story film that I love, but be warned - if you found that bleak, this makes it look like Disney.
I know, I know - it's been a while. But I've been busy, and - well, it'd be nice to hear from you reader types now and then, even if you violently disagree. Especially if you do, in fact. I love the smell of arguments in the morning.
So, a recap of the last few movies:
Every Day
I quite liked this. Not sure why, but I did. It might have been Eddie Izzard as the crazy boss, but somehow I don't think so. I love Eddie to bits, but watching him act is like watching your parents explain proudly their knowledge of some recent pop sensation because they've seen them on Fern. You don't need to know about this to be good at what you do! Stop trying so excruciatingly hard to do everything.
It is relentlessly depressing, dealing as it does with themes of what life actually turns out to be, even when superficially you've got the things you're supposed to have wanted to get. Maybe that's why I like it. The ideal job? You're dealing with assholes. The perfect family? Maybe suddenly your gay teenage son doesn't fit the script you'd written for yourself as well as you thought. And ageing parents? Who knew the horrors in store? The gorgeous partner that you've been convinced is all you'll ever want? meh...
Schadenfreude fans will like it. Also borderline depressives will find some affirmation.
American Gangster
You know that Denzel Washington? He's great, isn't he? I mean, did you ever see a film with him where you didn't think he was good? No. That's because he's a damn good actor.
American Gangster really wants to be Heat. If there's been no Heat, maybe this wouldn't seem at all like a tired re-tread, and maybe a lot of people wouldn't have been put off.
I enjoyed it. I know, like a lot of these films, they've gone for the "authenticity" angle whilst massively lying through their teeth about the protagonists in this "true-life" story, but it's well done. If you like a long, juicy crime thriller, this is long and juicy. It's not original. It is polished.
Taken
Also not original. Liam Neeson IS ISN'T James Bond in a film that rides the cliche wave like a hero and just about makes it through.
This is a film where you can see everything coming. Liam "Jack Bauer" Neeson plays a guy so committed to his mustn't-tell-anyone secret service job that he's lost touch with his teenage daughter. His teenage daughter is as whiney and spoilt as the whiney, spoilt daughter in 24. His ex is a cocky pain in the arse SO cocky that she may as well be wearing a t-shirt that says, "Before this film is through, I will have to humbly eat my words".
So Liam's kid gets "Taken" (hence the title) and being the kind of hard-ass he is, he goes after her. No hold barred. You realise early on that you're going to have to suspend any kind of disbelief (and he didn't get arrested for that because...?...and he survived that certain death encounter because...?) but it's fine. As long as you start going "Hurgh!" during the predictable-as-fuck car-chase instead of "What the? As If!!" you'll be OK.
Neeson is great and doesn't disappoint. Worth an evening if anything I've said about it doesn't grate on your every last nerve.
Jackass 3-D
I know. i'm as surprised as you are.
My preconceptions about Jackass were that a) it involved people doing things that seemed blatantly stupid because you'd get hurt, and then subsequently getting hurt and b) that they particularly favoured blows to the manpacket. I therefore expected somewhat dull, mindless viewing.
I wasn't wrong, but I was impressed by the creativity by which blows to the manpacket were presented to the viewing public. I found I didn't mind at all watching people get mindlessly hurt as long as they fell down amusingly. Go figure, as they say across the pond.
A few musings.
1. I'm never going to like jokes that involve people who aren't a party to it beforehand. The ones in this were mild, not humiliating and quite imaginative but nevertheless I still find it much more uneasy than funny to watch.
2. I quickly got more interested in the Boy Dynamics than anything else. The heart of Jackass is that if you're prepared to do something massively unpleasant for the general amusement of all onlookers, you're In. Seeing how readily guys will partake in humiliating, scary and painful experiences as long as they think their mates will approve makes a whole lot more sense of things like, say, WW1.
3. I got particularly interested in how the wussier members of the cast got treated.
"Danger Ehren", for example, was clearly scared/put off at an number of points. The bully factor then kicked in.
4. I'd love to know how many times, off-camera, people really kicked off. Quite a lot, I suspect.
Watch it. But stop before the last stunt because, really, nobody needs that in their head.
Anita Shreve
I forget sometimes that I'm supposed to be doing books as well.
I've recently read Strange Fits Of Passion and Eden Close and I'm really impressed. Both books have been sitting around in my must-get-to-that pile for years because, based on the cover, it seems there's very little going on in them.
I'm kinda not wrong. In the cold light of day, when you think about what you've read, little happens - and the themes tend to be very uncomfortable, not experiences you'd initially want to share. What she makes up for in lack of action, though, is a very readble sense of tension, beautifully drawn characters that you can empathise with down to the last idle thought, and an incredibly atmospheric sense of place. If you read about something in her books, it's as real to you as a place you've visited. I've found myself itching to get back to the books just to lose myself in them again. That's the sign of a good writer for me.
30 Days of Night
I've had this in the pile waiting to be watched for ages because, tbh, it says "Vampire" and "horror" in big letters on the cover.
I've always hated vampires in any horrors I've seen. Weak yet predatory - sex offenders, basically - all of the bad stuff and none of the qualities I like in a good villain.
Horror films don't really do it for me as a genre. I don't seek out repulsion as an experience. I have seen decent horror films but it's not the horror element that makes them good.
So, expectations low, I stuck this in the DVD player - and I was impressed. Atmosphere is a big thing for me and this film had it in spades. I felt like I understood the dark little Alaskan town before anything really happened. I felt like I was there - and right with the peole wanting to get out before the darkness set in.
It was well acted and understated enough to stay believeable and edgy, and it never felt predictable or cliched. It fell short of being a classic - not enough character focus for me - but if it remotely sounds like your cup of tea, give it a go.
Thank you and goodnight.
@Jake West
Bad break-up, mate?
This is a movie about a stressed out individual who goes through a series of increasingly stressful situations, mainly created by an irritatingly stress-free character whose main function seems to be to cause the main character stress.
If you don't mind that premise, it's an OK film. Personally I didn't find it that funny - it has its moments, it's pretty well written - but it's essentially part of that "hilarious comedy" sub-genre with a road trip/race against time twist.
If it was a bit funnier, the fact that it's pretty silly at times and involves a spectacular character u-turn at around about the expected point in the running time without any real explanation, I maybe wouldn't have minded, but for me this is a film that wants to be a bit more meaningful than your average comedy. It doesn't hit the mark from this point of view at all.
It's not the worst thing I've ever seen, I quite like Robert Downey Jr and he's pretty good. If you're still not sure whether to watch it or not, see whether you find the following funny...
The angry, frustrated character gets shirty with an unhelpful Western Union clerk and makes disparaging remarks about his claims of having served in the Gulf. The clerk reveals that he's in a wheelchair and proceeds to give Angry Guy a beating.
So then. I'd been told how good this was, but I must admit I approached it with a certain amount of prejudice. British film...period drama...I was expecting something well-made and worthy, probably a bit slow-paced and dull in places though.
I was wrong. I enjoyed this from start to finish. In many ways it's a simple story, and the ending isn't going to be a surprise to anyone, but the journey is so enjoyable. The performance - all the performances - are just excellent. The casting is perfect. The pace is exactly right. The script is a treat - not overdone, well-judged, natural in feel but surprisingly profound in places. The film is really moving, in quite unexpected ways. As the credits started to roll in the cinema, there was a moment when I thought the audience were going to applaud. I felt like applauding.
I don't want to single any particular scene out, because I want you to go and see it for yourself. We'll talk after :)
