Mega Movies
3 this past weekend, so there are now 5 that I have not written about. Let's start with the easy ones:
"Hancock?" A disappointment. I have had a special spot in my heart for Will Smith since I was dating someone who looked like him during the "Fresh Prince" sitcom days, and the basic premise of the movie (flawed superhero who screws everything up) seemed promising. But, yeah, just as the reviews said, they fucked it all up with a razzle-dazzle plot twist that turned it into an entirely different movie. And not one I'd have wanted to see.
"Mamma Mia?" Ditto. Man, I love Meryl Streep, and I was surprised at how well she could sing, and the music is great, and Amanda Seyfried, so cute and welcome on the big screen after her stand-out roles on "Veronica Mars" and "Big Love." (Oh, and "Mean Girls" of course, but she was just a sidekick to the kick-ass Rachel McAdams.) But, it's a musical, and I still don't really like musicals, even if it's one centered on more palatable music than Broadway (yawn) show tunes (yawn, yawn.) Even, so, I was prepared to like it, but something just doesn't quite gel. It's awkward, and uneven, and stage-y. (I never had a full sense of the hotel Streep's character owned and ran - it seemed to consist of two rooms and an old goat shed, surrounding a stone deck.) And then, lord god, there is the moment when Pierce Brosnan sings. Or "sings." People around me in the theater were laughing. I don't think it was meant to be camp, but... well, maybe it was? If so, the film just wasn't campy enough. I wanted to dance my way out of the theater, singing an ABBA song in my head. Instead, I walked out, somewhat embarrassed.
"Tell No One" is a French thriller that is being lauded as one of the best films of the year. It's definitely a smart, well-acted mystery, with twists and turns you both expect and are surprised by. Someone likened it to one of Dennis Lehane's Boston-set police movies, and it does have that tone, and additionally, that last scene confessional/flashback sequence that was such a letdown for me in his "Gone Baby Gone." But I think it was more effective here, because it isn't really the final word. The acting is very good, too, and the glimpse you see of Paris (the real Paris that people live in, not the romantic Paris people visit) are intriguing. I really liked it, although I'm not sure if I'm on the "best films so far this year" bandwagon.
more later, on "The Wackness" and "The Last Mistress"
"Hancock?" A disappointment. I have had a special spot in my heart for Will Smith since I was dating someone who looked like him during the "Fresh Prince" sitcom days, and the basic premise of the movie (flawed superhero who screws everything up) seemed promising. But, yeah, just as the reviews said, they fucked it all up with a razzle-dazzle plot twist that turned it into an entirely different movie. And not one I'd have wanted to see.
"Mamma Mia?" Ditto. Man, I love Meryl Streep, and I was surprised at how well she could sing, and the music is great, and Amanda Seyfried, so cute and welcome on the big screen after her stand-out roles on "Veronica Mars" and "Big Love." (Oh, and "Mean Girls" of course, but she was just a sidekick to the kick-ass Rachel McAdams.) But, it's a musical, and I still don't really like musicals, even if it's one centered on more palatable music than Broadway (yawn) show tunes (yawn, yawn.) Even, so, I was prepared to like it, but something just doesn't quite gel. It's awkward, and uneven, and stage-y. (I never had a full sense of the hotel Streep's character owned and ran - it seemed to consist of two rooms and an old goat shed, surrounding a stone deck.) And then, lord god, there is the moment when Pierce Brosnan sings. Or "sings." People around me in the theater were laughing. I don't think it was meant to be camp, but... well, maybe it was? If so, the film just wasn't campy enough. I wanted to dance my way out of the theater, singing an ABBA song in my head. Instead, I walked out, somewhat embarrassed.
"Tell No One" is a French thriller that is being lauded as one of the best films of the year. It's definitely a smart, well-acted mystery, with twists and turns you both expect and are surprised by. Someone likened it to one of Dennis Lehane's Boston-set police movies, and it does have that tone, and additionally, that last scene confessional/flashback sequence that was such a letdown for me in his "Gone Baby Gone." But I think it was more effective here, because it isn't really the final word. The acting is very good, too, and the glimpse you see of Paris (the real Paris that people live in, not the romantic Paris people visit) are intriguing. I really liked it, although I'm not sure if I'm on the "best films so far this year" bandwagon.
more later, on "The Wackness" and "The Last Mistress"
posted by medusa at 9:06 AM
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