Making It Awkward Since 1981
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
366 Days/366 Movies: FAILED
I attempted to watch 366 films in 366 days. I got through 26 days of movie viewing goodness before life got in the way. I'm going to continue viewing a lot of movies this year and will blog about them here, but unfortunately the streak was broken due to my trip back to Ohio. :(
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
366 Days/366 Movies: Day 25 - A Little Help
I will be attempting to see 366 films in 366 days. I am challenging myself to watching one movie I have not seen every day over the course of 2012. Today I viewed A Little Help on Netflix Streaming.
Jenna Fisher finally comes into her own with this quirky indy dramedy. A long island housewife has to try to maintain some sense of sanity after her husband dies and she is left to sort through the fragile pieces left behind. Her son lies about his dad's death to gain social acceptance and Fischer is forced to go along with it to salvage any relationship she has with her son.
This movie would make an excellent double feature with the Descendants, as both take very pleasant, human looks at loss, regret and moving forward.
Highlights: Jenna Fischer is great as a suburban mom stumbling through parenthood.
Disappointments: The utter ridiculousness of her son's lie and her going along with it.
Weird timing seeing this after Descendants and that Tom Hanks-9/11 piece of... oscar bait. This movie touched on both subjects very simply and eloquently.
Jenna Fisher finally comes into her own with this quirky indy dramedy. A long island housewife has to try to maintain some sense of sanity after her husband dies and she is left to sort through the fragile pieces left behind. Her son lies about his dad's death to gain social acceptance and Fischer is forced to go along with it to salvage any relationship she has with her son.
This movie would make an excellent double feature with the Descendants, as both take very pleasant, human looks at loss, regret and moving forward.
Highlights: Jenna Fischer is great as a suburban mom stumbling through parenthood.
Disappointments: The utter ridiculousness of her son's lie and her going along with it.
Weird timing seeing this after Descendants and that Tom Hanks-9/11 piece of... oscar bait. This movie touched on both subjects very simply and eloquently.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
366 Days/366 Movies: Day 24 -Tamara Drewe
I will be attempting to see 366 films in 366 days. I am challenging myself to watching one movie I have not seen every day over the course of 2012. Today I viewed Tamara Drewe on DVD.
Tamara Drewe stars Gemma Arterton as a young writer who returns to her childhood home to make arraingements after her mother dies. A bizarre love square develops as Tamara is pursued by a former flame, the author next door that she once had a crush on and a drummer from an indie band that she is assigned to interview. The film is based on a graphic novel of the same name.
Highlights: Gemma Arterton is magnetic as Tamara. You could watch her read the phone book.
Disappointments: It lacks the sentimentality I've come to expect from British Romantic comedies. Everyone in the film is rather harsh, making for no sympathetic characters.
Tamara Drewe stars Gemma Arterton as a young writer who returns to her childhood home to make arraingements after her mother dies. A bizarre love square develops as Tamara is pursued by a former flame, the author next door that she once had a crush on and a drummer from an indie band that she is assigned to interview. The film is based on a graphic novel of the same name.
Highlights: Gemma Arterton is magnetic as Tamara. You could watch her read the phone book.
Disappointments: It lacks the sentimentality I've come to expect from British Romantic comedies. Everyone in the film is rather harsh, making for no sympathetic characters.
366 Days/366 Movies: Day 23 - You Again
I will be attempting to see 366 films in 366 days. I am challenging myself to watching one movie I have not seen every day over the course of 2012. Today I viewed You Again on Netflix Streaming.
Kristen Bell goes to her brother's wedding and is shocked to find that her brother is about to marry her highschool nemesis played by Odette Annable. At the same time Jamie Lee Curtis is forced to reconnect with her former best friend and rival, Sigourney Weaver, Odette's aunt.
The two pairs of women begin an emotional battle of wills for some sense of domination. The catty cheap jokes never rise above the lame premise.
Kristen Bell goes to her brother's wedding and is shocked to find that her brother is about to marry her highschool nemesis played by Odette Annable. At the same time Jamie Lee Curtis is forced to reconnect with her former best friend and rival, Sigourney Weaver, Odette's aunt.
The two pairs of women begin an emotional battle of wills for some sense of domination. The catty cheap jokes never rise above the lame premise.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
366 Days/366 Movies: Day 22 - Shame
I will be attempting to see 366 films in 366 days. I am challenging myself to watching one movie I have not seen every day over the course of 2012. Today I viewed Shame at The Los Feliz 3 in Los Feliz.
Michael Fassbender is magnetic in this tragic movie about addiction and obsession. He plays a sex addict who's life is interrupted when his sister comes to visit.
It's interesting to see a film about addiction where the protagonists life isn't spiraling out of control. He maintains his addiction and hides it carefully. Only a few time does he let the facade slip.
I liken Fassbender's performance to Christian Bale in American Psycho, but instead of hiding a murderous streak, he is hiding a shameful secret.
If you liked Last Tango in Paris and American Psycho, you'll like Shame.
Michael Fassbender is magnetic in this tragic movie about addiction and obsession. He plays a sex addict who's life is interrupted when his sister comes to visit.
It's interesting to see a film about addiction where the protagonists life isn't spiraling out of control. He maintains his addiction and hides it carefully. Only a few time does he let the facade slip.
I liken Fassbender's performance to Christian Bale in American Psycho, but instead of hiding a murderous streak, he is hiding a shameful secret.
If you liked Last Tango in Paris and American Psycho, you'll like Shame.
366 Days/366 Movies: Day 21 - In Time
I will be attempting to see 366 films in 366 days. I am challenging myself to watching one movie I have not seen every day over the course of 2012. Today I viewed In Time at The Valley Plaza 6 in North Hollywood.
Justin Timberlake plays a working class joe in the slums of future LA. The human race has been genetically engineered to stop aging at 25, but you only get to live for another year and have to work for any additional time.
Time is the new currency and the movie bashes you over the head with the metaphor.
After being given over a century of time and having his mom taken from him after she uses all of her time to pay a loan, JT takes it to the Richie Riches in "New Greenwich" (Century City/West LA). The daughter of head Richie decides to go all Che on dear old daddy and start helping Mr. Sexyback Robin-hood all of the time.
Olivia Wilde is hot... and wasted in this movie.
Mildly entertaining. Worth a rental or Netflix stream. Don't bother with ownership. Beer.
Justin Timberlake plays a working class joe in the slums of future LA. The human race has been genetically engineered to stop aging at 25, but you only get to live for another year and have to work for any additional time.
Time is the new currency and the movie bashes you over the head with the metaphor.
After being given over a century of time and having his mom taken from him after she uses all of her time to pay a loan, JT takes it to the Richie Riches in "New Greenwich" (Century City/West LA). The daughter of head Richie decides to go all Che on dear old daddy and start helping Mr. Sexyback Robin-hood all of the time.
Olivia Wilde is hot... and wasted in this movie.
Mildly entertaining. Worth a rental or Netflix stream. Don't bother with ownership. Beer.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
366 Days/366 Movies: Day 20 - My Week With Marilyn
I will be attempting to see 366 films in 366 days. I am challenging myself to watching one movie I have not seen every day over the course of 2012. Today I viewed My Week With Marilyn at The Chinese 6 in Hollywood.
I've never quite understood the appeal of Marilyn Monroe. While she is quite good in Some Like It Hot, I've never been particularly drawn to her the way so many others seem to have. It would seem that any young woman who wants to be an actress is required to tout an obsession with her. It is in this mindset I saw My Week With Marilyn.
My Week With Marilyn is based on the trues story of Marilyn Monroe's brief affair with the 3rd Assistant Director on the film the Prince and the Showgirl. The movie is based on the memoirs of Colin Clark, the AD in question. The film begins a few weeks before Marilyn was cast by Sir Laurence Olivier to star opposite him in "The Sleeping Prince." (The working title of the Prince and the Showgirl) Olivier was hoping to get a chance to woo Monroe during the production, but finds their approaches to acting so different that he begins clashing with her almost immediately.
Highlights: Michelle Williams is amazing. She gives an Oscar calibre performance as Marilyn. It is rare that I can say I lost an actor in a role, but Williams was gone in this, she left no trace of herself in her performance. Kenneth Branagh as Olivier is spot on and well played. He's still Branagh, but it really is a part he was destined to play. Dame Judi Dench injects so much fun into every scene she's in, it makes me want to see a follow up film about her character, Dame Sybil Thorndike, an actress with near 50 titles to her name.
The script did a great job of humanizing all the parties involved and painting no one as either hero or villain, while still maintaining a compelling narrative.
Disappointments: A secondary story about Colin's budding relationship with a costumer played by Emma Watson is pointless. It's abandoned before it gets anywhere and Watson isn't charming enough in the role to make you feel bad for her. The cinematography is pretty point and shoot, making for a fairly claustrophobic movie, even in the scenes where Colin and Marilyn are escaping into the world.
After seeing My Week With Marilyn, I will probably rewatch a few of her films, starting with The Prince and the Showgirl. The movie paints her as a sympathetic victim of a long line of people ready to exploit her. There may be something to that, but Laurence Olivier says it best, "I think directing a movie is the best job ever created, but Marilyn has cured me of ever wanting to do it again." The film is worth it for two enthralling performances, but comes off feeling like a movie of the week in spite of Williams stellar turn as Monroe.
I've never quite understood the appeal of Marilyn Monroe. While she is quite good in Some Like It Hot, I've never been particularly drawn to her the way so many others seem to have. It would seem that any young woman who wants to be an actress is required to tout an obsession with her. It is in this mindset I saw My Week With Marilyn.
My Week With Marilyn is based on the trues story of Marilyn Monroe's brief affair with the 3rd Assistant Director on the film the Prince and the Showgirl. The movie is based on the memoirs of Colin Clark, the AD in question. The film begins a few weeks before Marilyn was cast by Sir Laurence Olivier to star opposite him in "The Sleeping Prince." (The working title of the Prince and the Showgirl) Olivier was hoping to get a chance to woo Monroe during the production, but finds their approaches to acting so different that he begins clashing with her almost immediately.
Highlights: Michelle Williams is amazing. She gives an Oscar calibre performance as Marilyn. It is rare that I can say I lost an actor in a role, but Williams was gone in this, she left no trace of herself in her performance. Kenneth Branagh as Olivier is spot on and well played. He's still Branagh, but it really is a part he was destined to play. Dame Judi Dench injects so much fun into every scene she's in, it makes me want to see a follow up film about her character, Dame Sybil Thorndike, an actress with near 50 titles to her name.
The script did a great job of humanizing all the parties involved and painting no one as either hero or villain, while still maintaining a compelling narrative.
Disappointments: A secondary story about Colin's budding relationship with a costumer played by Emma Watson is pointless. It's abandoned before it gets anywhere and Watson isn't charming enough in the role to make you feel bad for her. The cinematography is pretty point and shoot, making for a fairly claustrophobic movie, even in the scenes where Colin and Marilyn are escaping into the world.
After seeing My Week With Marilyn, I will probably rewatch a few of her films, starting with The Prince and the Showgirl. The movie paints her as a sympathetic victim of a long line of people ready to exploit her. There may be something to that, but Laurence Olivier says it best, "I think directing a movie is the best job ever created, but Marilyn has cured me of ever wanting to do it again." The film is worth it for two enthralling performances, but comes off feeling like a movie of the week in spite of Williams stellar turn as Monroe.
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