Archive
Quickfire reviews. (2.6.10)
I’ve watched a bunch of different stuff the past couple weeks, and this edition of “Quickfire reviews” is long overdue and includes several Oscar nominees and 11 flicks in all. A new decision on my part: the order of reviews will begin with the bad and end on the good. I’ll save the best for last.
Big Fan. (Overall 2/10)
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Quickfire reviews. (1.11.10)
Last weekend I was searching for a movie to go see in theatres. I had seen The Princess and the Frog on Friday, and wanted to check out a matinee on Sunday. I couldn’t justify spending money to see Sherlock Holmes. I just can’t find any interest there. Why is Sherlock Holmes a borderline superhero engaging in bare-fist fighting? I just don’t get it. It has Netflix Watch Instantly written all over it.
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus? Ehhh…honestly, I think the trailer is cool as hell, but Terry Gilliam is too weird, and I’ve disliked too many of his films to believe that this will be any different. My main motivation is really just to see Heath Ledger’s final performance. I still want to see it, but I think I’ll wait for Netflix.
Anyway, here’s what I have seen the past two weeks, whether in theatres or at home, but still 2009 releases…
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Review: AVATAR.
James Cameron has done what I thought to be unachievable. Never did I think it was possible, nor had I even entertained the thought of it happening. But he’s done it. James Cameron has created a likable Michelle Rodriguez character. Bravo, Mr. Cameron. BRAVO.
Ok, seriously. (Although I was being serious about Michelle Rodriguez. I have never liked her before in anything she’s been in, she was capable of borderline ruining a film for me.) I was lucky enough to snag tickets to a 3D IMAX preview of Avatar on “Avatar Day” (August 21st). I was extremely pumped as anyone else would be who has been following the progress of the movie for quite some time and hearing the rumors of the technology and 3D immersion. It was just under 20 minutes long, and it was a few different sequences cut together, completely out of context. I had not watched the released trailer yet, because I felt it would spoil the IMAX experience. I was also seeing District 9 right afterwards and was able to go from seeing the IMAX 3D preview of the Avatar trailer to the regular 2D trailer running prior to District 9. I knew right away that anyone comparing the two, or knocking the 2D trailer for it’s realism or “wow” factor were vastly uninformed. There’s no comparison to seeing it in 3D. This is not opinion, it’s fact.
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Review: Invictus.
I’m a big fan of Clint Eastwood. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, The Outlaw Josey Whales, Dirty Harry. Clint is a badass. We all know this. The guy was born 11 pounds, 6 ounces. The average baby weighs 5 pounds, 6 ounces and, on average, doesn’t reach 10 pounds until 2 months. He’s more than twice the man the rest of us mere mortals are and the past decade he’s established his prowess as one of the best directors working today. From 2000 to 2009 Clint has directed 9 films, starred in 4 and composed the soundtracks for 5. He was nominated for 7 Oscars total and won 2, for Best Director and Best Picture on Million Dollar Baby, and nearly a 3rd for Best Actor if not for Jamie Foxx in Ray that same year. Keep in mind, this “man” turns 80 this May. As a result of this success I guess I’ve become conditioned to expect nothing but greatness from Clint. And when I saw the trailer for Invictus, I thought I was in for another gem.
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Review: Up In The Air.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) spends most of his life traveling; 322 days last year, according to his count. He fires people for a living, traveling across the country from office to office to handle mass layoffs that inept bosses fail to stomach. He also works part-time as a motivational speaker with his “What’s in your backpack” philosophy of minimizing your life. He’s great at his job, meets women on the road (Vera Farmiga plays love interest Alex Goran) and the lifestyle suits him perfectly. But his way of life is threatened when Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a young, hot-shot Cornell grad, comes in with plans to cut corporate costs by implementing a video chat system to fire employees. For his final trip “up in the air”, Bingham’s boss Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman) charges Bingham with showing Keener the ropes and reality of firing for on the job training before the company fully transitions to the new system.
We’ve all seen George Clooney be charming, and in that respect this role is perfect for him, and even written by Juno director Jason Reitman with Clooney in mind. But what makes this performance special is the complexity that comes with his charming, smooth nature. There’s a unique innocence to his charisma, a pleasure in enjoying his world and satisfaction in being great at what he does.
The Walken.
I’m going to introduce a new concept here that will affect how I rate films. It’s called the “Walken.” Look at a Walken like an x-factor. I’ve aptly named it a Walken because often if you see a film and it has Christopher Walken in it, it’s immediately more interesting than one without. He just makes things better. Is True Romance at all memorable if Christopher Walken isn’t in it? No. Who is involved in arguably the funniest SNL skit of all time? You guessed it — Christopher Walken (and if you don’t know what skit I’m talking about, I reject you as a reader of this site.)
Quickfire reviews. (11.29.09)
Let me preface this by explaining the scale of 10. Most sites will have ratings out of 5 or 4, something like that; I don’t think there’s enough variety there. Rotten Tomatoes has a great system, where they consider 60% of positive reviews certified “fresh” and anything below “rotten.” 6/10 sounds like a good breakpoint to me. Sometimes I’ll rate multiple aspects, and then give an overall, which isn’t an average, but will be weighted on my own personal opinions of the strength of those aspects. For A Christmas Carol, I’d give the visuals a 6, and the story a 3. But are the visuals that impressive that I’d even care about watching it again? No. So my overall is a 4. Get it? I will also be introducing something else later that will factor into reviews, but for now we’ll leave these as is. Without further adieu…
Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency…
Mad Men is one of those shows that makes you ask yourself, “How could it be this good?” So many shows get bogged down with too many characters, story-lines and subplots. So why not Mad Men? Because the writers never stray; they never lose sight of the story they know they need to tell, and they always keep the focus where it needs to be. These facts are some of the most powerful and necessary aspects of storytelling.
Review: Zombieland.
I’ll keep this short and sweet, but take what I say with a grain of salt, because I must admit up front, I am not a fan of zombie films. Having said that, I actually was interested and excited to see Zombieland. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “You don’t like 28 Days Later?” My answer…no, not really. It’s a good movie, and I enjoyed most of it, but for whatever reason, zombies just aren’t my thing. However, as I said, I actually wanted to see Zombieland.
cinéaste john 
Top 27 of the ‘Aughts
27. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) — Easily the most quotable movie of the decade. My face hurt from laughing so hard the first time I saw it in theatres. It’s this generations Caddyshack and only improves through repeated viewings. I hope they don’t follow through with the long rumored sequel, see Caddyshack 2 for supporting evidence. There’s no topping the original.
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