Inspired by the Golden Globes
Jan. 16th, 2005 10:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lotusbiosmThought I'd finally write about the movies I saw the week before coming back to DC.
The Aviator was good. Long, but good. It drags in some spots, but it's very visually beautiful, and I learned things about Howard Hughes I hadn't known. Cate Blanchett is really good as Katherine Hepburn. It's not the best biopic ever, but I'm a fan of the clothes of the period, so I'm happy to watch a movie with movie stars in gorgeous dresses and men in three piece suits. Leo DiCaprio does a good job of playing obsessive, I think. It has the problem of having some famous characters. The problem with this is sort of dramatic irony. You know how when you see Romeo and Juliet you know that they're going to die, and that knowledge colors the whole story? Same thing here. I know that Katherine Hepburn is going to fall in love with Spencer Tracey, and I know that Ava Gardner has a fling with Frank Sinatra, so I know that Howard Hughes doesn't marry them. But they're pretty to look at anyway. So, overall, a good film, but not a great one.
ETA: Leo just won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for The Aviator.
ETA: It just won the Golden Globe for Best Picture.
The Motorcycle Diaries was made in Brazil. It's about Che Guevara. This is another one of those "I know what happens and that ruins the suspense" kind of things. You know he's going to survive his dramatic swim across the river because you know he goes off to lead revolutions and have his image worn on t-shirts by college students who think idolizing communist revolutionaries is intellectual. For part of the movie, I kept doing this thing where I was trying to figure out who Gael García Bernal reminded me of. I knew he was a sex symbol from Y tu mamá también, even though I've not seen that film yet. But he looked familiar, like someone else famous. Then it hit me- he looks kinda like Freddie Prinze Jr. And also like Gabe (and my mother agrees with me, so that's not just me imagining that my boy is more handsome than he is).
Ok, enough about who looks like whom. It's a decent film. Being foreign, it has a different pace than a lot of American (US) films. It doesn't really explain why he became the leader he did. It's more of a coming-of-age road trip buddy film that just happens to have characters who end up being famous than a biopic. Again, really beautiful to look at. I think it's probably better if you speak Spanish, because there's probably a good deal of subtlety to the dialogue that gets lost in the subtitles. It's also probably better if you know more about Latin American history than I do. This is another take it or leave it film, in my opinion. I'm not going to tell you to go see it right this second, but I don't think you'll feel as though you wasted your time and/or money if you do see it.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
OMG WTF? Wacky, bizzare and just "wow." I've not seen any of Wes Anderson's other films, so I can't compare it to those. It's got some funny lines, and some funny visuals. And the line wherein Jeff Goldblum's character says he's "part gay" which is just amusing as a concept. But we couldn't help thinking that it was long and that it dragged. The soundtrack is weird- half of it sounds like it should be a cell phone ringtone, and the other half is acoustic versions of David Bowie songs in Portugese. It's not a typical Hollywood film, but it's also not the kind of weird that really does it for me- I love Being John Malkovich, but I don't know what to make of this film. I think the problem is that it's not quite parody, but not quite serious film, but not comedy, but not wild fantasy. It's the kind of movie that makes you think, "wow, these guys would be cool to hang out with" and that they must have really interesting conversations at meals, the kind of people who'd fit in the asylum at Alfred really well. But my parents and I definitely were impatient for it to end. It may be your kind of film, but I wasn't all that crazy about it.
And now for some quasi- reviews, based on my parents reports:
They hated Tarnation. Dad said you just couldn't get really connected to the characters in it.
They thought Coach Carter was good, if predictable. Your typical "coach comes in and teaches his troubled team important life lessons while they win games" film, I guess, but better than others of its kind.
They really enjoyed In Good Company. I'm glad to hear about the last one b/c I really want to see it. It looks like a nice feel-good movie, with actors I respect. I might go see it by myself- anyone in the DC area want to go with? If I do, I'll write up a more thorough review. Dad said he and Mom got all teary-eyed when Scarlett Johannson's character goes off to college.
The Aviator was good. Long, but good. It drags in some spots, but it's very visually beautiful, and I learned things about Howard Hughes I hadn't known. Cate Blanchett is really good as Katherine Hepburn. It's not the best biopic ever, but I'm a fan of the clothes of the period, so I'm happy to watch a movie with movie stars in gorgeous dresses and men in three piece suits. Leo DiCaprio does a good job of playing obsessive, I think. It has the problem of having some famous characters. The problem with this is sort of dramatic irony. You know how when you see Romeo and Juliet you know that they're going to die, and that knowledge colors the whole story? Same thing here. I know that Katherine Hepburn is going to fall in love with Spencer Tracey, and I know that Ava Gardner has a fling with Frank Sinatra, so I know that Howard Hughes doesn't marry them. But they're pretty to look at anyway. So, overall, a good film, but not a great one.
ETA: Leo just won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for The Aviator.
ETA: It just won the Golden Globe for Best Picture.
The Motorcycle Diaries was made in Brazil. It's about Che Guevara. This is another one of those "I know what happens and that ruins the suspense" kind of things. You know he's going to survive his dramatic swim across the river because you know he goes off to lead revolutions and have his image worn on t-shirts by college students who think idolizing communist revolutionaries is intellectual. For part of the movie, I kept doing this thing where I was trying to figure out who Gael García Bernal reminded me of. I knew he was a sex symbol from Y tu mamá también, even though I've not seen that film yet. But he looked familiar, like someone else famous. Then it hit me- he looks kinda like Freddie Prinze Jr. And also like Gabe (and my mother agrees with me, so that's not just me imagining that my boy is more handsome than he is).
Ok, enough about who looks like whom. It's a decent film. Being foreign, it has a different pace than a lot of American (US) films. It doesn't really explain why he became the leader he did. It's more of a coming-of-age road trip buddy film that just happens to have characters who end up being famous than a biopic. Again, really beautiful to look at. I think it's probably better if you speak Spanish, because there's probably a good deal of subtlety to the dialogue that gets lost in the subtitles. It's also probably better if you know more about Latin American history than I do. This is another take it or leave it film, in my opinion. I'm not going to tell you to go see it right this second, but I don't think you'll feel as though you wasted your time and/or money if you do see it.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
OMG WTF? Wacky, bizzare and just "wow." I've not seen any of Wes Anderson's other films, so I can't compare it to those. It's got some funny lines, and some funny visuals. And the line wherein Jeff Goldblum's character says he's "part gay" which is just amusing as a concept. But we couldn't help thinking that it was long and that it dragged. The soundtrack is weird- half of it sounds like it should be a cell phone ringtone, and the other half is acoustic versions of David Bowie songs in Portugese. It's not a typical Hollywood film, but it's also not the kind of weird that really does it for me- I love Being John Malkovich, but I don't know what to make of this film. I think the problem is that it's not quite parody, but not quite serious film, but not comedy, but not wild fantasy. It's the kind of movie that makes you think, "wow, these guys would be cool to hang out with" and that they must have really interesting conversations at meals, the kind of people who'd fit in the asylum at Alfred really well. But my parents and I definitely were impatient for it to end. It may be your kind of film, but I wasn't all that crazy about it.
And now for some quasi- reviews, based on my parents reports:
They hated Tarnation. Dad said you just couldn't get really connected to the characters in it.
They thought Coach Carter was good, if predictable. Your typical "coach comes in and teaches his troubled team important life lessons while they win games" film, I guess, but better than others of its kind.
They really enjoyed In Good Company. I'm glad to hear about the last one b/c I really want to see it. It looks like a nice feel-good movie, with actors I respect. I might go see it by myself- anyone in the DC area want to go with? If I do, I'll write up a more thorough review. Dad said he and Mom got all teary-eyed when Scarlett Johannson's character goes off to college.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-01-17 04:56 am (UTC)Two, if you'll allow me to be a bit graphically explicit here, (and you will, since it'd be hard to stop me) go rent Y Tu Mama Tambien if you're um, feeling, er, a bit frisky but don't want the public shame of going to your local porn shop. I know, I know, nudity and sex in spanish speaking mexico is arty and sensual (and really, it is) but this film is mostly about making love. Lots and lots of arty, sensual hot love. The ending love scene would make Mike and Bubba of cell block six blush.
Gee whiz, did I ever like it.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-17 05:22 am (UTC)