Ok, not that this is suprising but I have watched a lot of movies this week, so I will give you a review of what I think is worth renting or worth checking out in the theatres.
Transformers
From the first minute of this movie to about the hour and half mark I really enjoyed this movie. I mean there was great action, interesting characters, and some really funny lines. However as the movie was getting close to its climax I realized why I think Michael Bay is a terrible director (Armegeddan, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys II). He is obviously gifted in creating awesome effects. However there is a point where too much CGI can take away from a movie. In this case 20 minute action sequences with nothing but computer generated shots, actually took away from the flow of the movie and even for a great director to make robots interesting characters that an audience can care about is very difficult. I know you cannot say that a computer generated character can be a bad actor but in this case I think making the robots talk and care about humans hurt the movie. I would give this movie a reccomendation to go see at the big screen to enjoy some of the amazing scenes and cool effects, but dont expect too much from this movie.
Rentals
Oldboy
Now this is one of the craziest movies I have seen in a long time and thank you Irv for the reccomendation. This is a Korean film that has been dubbed in English and it has a feel of a Tarentino or Robert Rodriguez movie. The whole thing is narrated kind of like Fight Club is and the twists and turns really make this an entertaining movie albeit a dark one. The story is based on a man imprisoned for something, but he cannot understand why. After 15 years he finally is released and he searches for his revenge, only to find out that the outside can be worse than the inside. The character goes through a great struggle trying to find out the truth and when he does it is not what he wants to here. I really like Revenge type movies and this one is a definate must rent.
Sherry Baby
I am not going to lie I rented this movie because I wanted to see Maggie Gyllenhaal naked. Well I got to see that and i was also pretty entertained by this movie. It is about a young woman, who is a drug addict, and her trying to cope with life outside of prison, including being in her childs life after her brother had raised her while she was away. This movie starts out very good and the character you begin to really care about. However as the movie goes on you realize you shouldnt care about this character and she really has no redemption qualities what so ever. I think the writing for this movie is a little poor as they hint at the character falling back into addiction and they also hint at her turning the corner, but in the end we dont really know if the character made any changes. Gyllenhaal delivers a strong performance as she usually does, but there is something about this movie that didnt do it for me. However worth a rent.
Last King of Scotland
This is one of the best movies I have seen so far this year. Forest Whitaker is wonderful as Uguanda dictator Idi Amin and the story follows a young doctor as he works into favor with the charismatic yet ruthless dictator. This is based on a book with the same name and I really would like to read it as i really like fictional stories based around real life events. Unlike the Da Vinci code i really think this works well on film and the performances by James McAvoy and Whitaker truly make this film one of last years best. This is a story that I new very little about, but was fascinated by it and you really end up caring and even rooting for this ruthless man even though you shouldnt. Probably why he came to power in the first place.
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4 comments:
I too really thought Last King of Scotland was amazing. Great story, great script, great performances. The relationship with the doctor really showed how Idi Amin was such a charismatic personality and such a madman at the same time. Idi Amin actually once said, "I, consider myself to be the most powerful figure in the world." Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.
I think I liked "Sherrybaby" more than you did. Maggie was very good. I thought they gave a nice subtle background into how she got to be such a mess, without having her spill it all out in detail in some heart-to-heart conversation scene in classic bullshit Hollywood fashion. They just let us see her creepy ass father being his creepy ass self. I also thought it gave a pretty realistic picture of someone in her situation, and I think the important change in the main character was that, even though she came out of prison ready to take her kid and start over, she realized that she didn't have everything under control and that she wasn't ready to be a full-time mother to her daughter. Plus, she got naked.
Have you seen "Children of Heaven"? It's an Iranian movie in Farsi with English subtitles, but it was one the best I've rented lately. A very simple story, but amazing child performances and a great theme about the innocence of childhood, even in extreme poverty. Worth the time.
TK as always I appreciate your posts. Interesting that you thought the realization the character Sherry had was that she thought she would get out of prison and be ready to take care of a child, but realized she wasnt ready. I dont see this as development at all. At the end of the movie she asks her brother if he will help her raise her child, hello, he has raised your child for probably 4 or 5 years. The relationship with the father was interesting and sort of explained her drug addiction, but they didnt dive into that very much either, one seen I believe. She obviously didnt have her life in order when she got out, but I wish this movie would have explored some more possibilities, instead of just relying on the performance of Gyllenhaal. Like I said I enjoyed it, but thought it could have had a better script.
I must disagree. I think a person's life is shaped in their moments of realization and decision. American audiences tend to want to see characters like Sherry turn everything around, get a high-paying job, become mother of the year, bake a big birthday cake and paint the picket fence, etc. Changes in a person's life are much more subtle than that. The simple fact is that by coming back to her brother with the little girl and admitting she couldn't do it on her own, for the first time ever, Sherry put what was best for her daughter ahead of what Sherry wanted for herself. That tells you everything you need to know about where Sherry is headed.
I thought it was refreshing to see that fundamental turning point in a character's soul without having to roll my eyes at all of the future scenes where Sherry wins the mother of the year award, her daughter graduates valedictorian and gives a graduation speech about how her mother is her hero. Of course, if that scene had been included, it may have won best picture in the U.S.
Tim, I feel the same way you do about hollywood endings and how a movie that follows a certain feel fits the bill with the academy however that wasnt my point about the movie. I have no problem with her not being able to take care of her child on her own, but I could have told you that the first seen that she was with her child 10 minutes into the film. I thought this film wanted to explore some different things, but never really dove into any of these. The only person Sherry confides in is Danny Trejo's character, and that is not much more than sex and a feeling of her being safe. You say a persons life is based on decisions, but I dont think she really made any throughout this movie? I just thought that at the end when I found out that the only thing that changed about her was she thought she could raise a child on her own, which is pretty crazy to think, being a convicted fellon and having a child when you have no prior experience, is that she is not ready to be a parent. Then I am little dissapointed of the flow of this movie. Let me ask you this what was the climax to the movie to you, my thought would be when Sherry sits on her favors lap. I mean it explained a lot but then that just died, her brother never mentions anythiny? I dont know I didnt mind that this doesnt have a happy ending, and I wouldnt watch these types of movies if I wanted the hollywood fairy tale ending, I just wanted more out of this movie, because I thought could have been really good, with the performances.
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