Movies

Since graduating and getting a job, I'm catching up on my movie watching. I know that I'm venturing into a ridiculously crowded field, but I humbly offer the following reviews of movies I've seen recently, either at the theater or on DVD/TV.

Iron Man: Robert Downey, Jr. is really the only highlight of this movie. Good to see him putting his personal struggle with booze and drugs behind him by playing a guy who's hooked on booze and drugs. The movie is just what anyone would expect - lots of explosions, obvious bad guys (I had it figured out in the first 10 minutes of the movie), and mindless dialogue ("I'm going to kill you." "No you're not." - you see what I mean). At least Iron Man doesn't seem to need Prozac, unlike his superhero buddies Spiderman and Batman. I imagine the writers will explore Iron Man's tortured soul in subsequent sequels, and that's when he'll visit the Shrink to the Superheroes for his prescription. I realize that they're just trying to make our favorite superheroes more "complex," but I actually prefer my superheroes to be one-dimensional - particularly if the alternative is for them to be depressed and angst-ridden. Lighten up!

Lars and the Real Girl: I loved this movie! The premise is original, the writing is fantastic, and everyone is great. I'm not big on "suspension of reality," but I was completely taken in and I actually cried at the end (won't give the ending away). The humor is so well done. Rather than big set-ups to punchlines, the writers just seamlessly slip really funny comments into the dialogue - which makes it even funnier. And the interview with Ryan Gosling in the DVD extras - there is nothing like a man with a dry sense of humor.

Enchanted: I was determined not to watch this movie. Too much suspension of reality, too predictable, and too much Patrick Dempsey. Yeah, yeah, he's cute and has great hair. I got it. Enough already. But - I visited my brother's family last weekend and they'd just purchased the movie. So, being the good aunt, I took my appointed seat between my 5 year old nieces and watched. I was particularly disappointed in myself when I found that I was actually following the story and could explain it to my niece. Here's what I learned from the movie: if you're cheerful and beautiful, a rich man with great hair will rescue you even if you appear to be bat-shit crazy. If you just continue to be bat-shit crazy (breaking into song at a moment's notice, inviting pigeons and rodents into the house, and making clothes out of drapes), you can completely change the rich man's life so now he sings and dances too and he will set you up in your own clothing store. Oh, and if you're not as attractive and cheerful, you can still get a prince, but you have to become a cartoon. There's two hours of my life that I'll never get back.

I'm Not There: I think you're supposed to drop acid before you watch this movie. I did not, and I paid the price. This movie is exhausting. I totally fast-forwarded through the Richard Gere parts because I just didn't have the energy to try to figure out what the hell was going on. Runaway dogs, Civil War soldiers, bands playing in a gazebo, girls in coffins, old men yelling at Gere in a plastic mask...???? The Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger parts were easier to follow, but by the end, I was totally wiped out. I decided that I wasn't deep enough for this movie. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I was too deep for "Enchanted."

The Jane Austen Book Club: I enjoyed the book, and was a bit nervous about the movie. The thing that captivated me about the book was the author's use of voice. Throughout the book, the reader views individual book club members from the collective book club's perspective. I wasn't sure how this would translate on screen. It didn't, but I ended up enjoying the movie anyway. It's one of the few movies with a happy ending that didn't completely piss me off. And, it has a great soundtrack. Sure, they could have done more character development and the ending comes together too neatly, but who wants to watch a 4-hour movie? My new goal in life is to find Grigg.

The Family Stone: Caught this movie on FX one night. It's not a good movie. It's like the writers sat down and said, "OK, we're making a holiday family movie. What would tug at an audience's heartstrings?" They came up with dying mother, gay couple where one has a physical handicap (seriously), painfully socially awkward newcomer, painfully pent-up son, painfully pregnant sister... The list goes on and on. Then instead of choosing one or two, they decided to throw them all into the movie. No one's character makes any sense because no one gets enough air time to explain themselves. Sarah Jessica Parker is particularly hard to watch as she goes from one painfully awkward moment to the next, only to be redeemed at the end by giving everyone the same Christmas gift. Then, she loses her boyfriend to her much more down-to-earth sister. But not to worry because she hooks up with her boyfriend's free-spirit brother, so it's all good. Happy ending, pissed me off.

That's all for now. More as I continue to work my way through my Netflix queue.