I went to see Country Strong last night. Based on the previews, I was expecting a formula movie - you know, a washed up singer hits rock bottom and wallows for 100 minutes, then has a mondo comeback concert. I make no apologies for liking formula movies - they're like comfort food and heaven knows I've put away enough comfort food over the years. Anyway, formula or not, it doesn't matter. Country Strong was nothing like the previews and I recommend that you skip it, even ten years from now when it's on cable and you've got nothing else to do. FIND something else to watch.
But here's the thing. I found myself chuckling over some of the country music cliches while I was watching the movie, then today, I realized that they used ALL of the country music cliches. I used Steve Goodman's song, You Never Even Called Me by My Name, as the guideline of what makes a country cliche.
Goodman said that the perfect country song would have to mention momma, trains, pick-up trucks, rain, prison and getting drunk. That's six elements. Country Strong features an alcoholic singer fresh out of rehab (1), who takes up with a saloon singer who drives a 1972 Ford F100 (2), who hops a ride on a freight train (3) and later finds our singer relapsing in a bar on a rainy night (4). There is also up & coming singer whose momma (and daddy) have been in prison (5 & 6). If I tried, I could probably put all of that into one sentence, but who cares? Skip the dang movie.
1:53
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
How I Met Your Mother - What the Hell?
I enjoy How I Met Your Mother. The premise of Ted annoying his kids by drawing out the story he tells them is pretty funny, the writing is great and the cast is pleasant. All good stuff.
Except for tonight's episode (season 6, ep 13). It was your basic episode, with hijinks and hilarity aplenty. I noticed right away that they had a countdown gag going on, with numbers prominently displayed, starting with 50. I had to rewind a couple of times to catch a few, more often that I lost count rather than they were hidden I'll admit. It was a legen - wait for it - dary gag - enjoy the show, have 50 bonus laughs with the numbers.
Except that they were counting down to a death in the family. When we got to 0001, the bad news was given. The show ends with two characters in tears. This was simply not the episode to have an extra thread of funny running through it.
So, to the How I Met Your Mother producers and writers, you guys owe us an extra-funny, APPROPRIATELY funny episode sometime soon. Above and beyond your normally funny standard. I will not forget this debt.
Except for tonight's episode (season 6, ep 13). It was your basic episode, with hijinks and hilarity aplenty. I noticed right away that they had a countdown gag going on, with numbers prominently displayed, starting with 50. I had to rewind a couple of times to catch a few, more often that I lost count rather than they were hidden I'll admit. It was a legen - wait for it - dary gag - enjoy the show, have 50 bonus laughs with the numbers.
Except that they were counting down to a death in the family. When we got to 0001, the bad news was given. The show ends with two characters in tears. This was simply not the episode to have an extra thread of funny running through it.
So, to the How I Met Your Mother producers and writers, you guys owe us an extra-funny, APPROPRIATELY funny episode sometime soon. Above and beyond your normally funny standard. I will not forget this debt.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Firefly/Serenity on DVD
As I mentioned earlier, I am methodically going through my DVD collection, currently focusing on TV series sets. Firefly (2002) was not on my initial schedule, but Amazon.com had the Blu-Ray version on sale in November, so I upgraded. Once I had it in hand, I had to watch it soonishly.
After a week of watching two episodes a day, I finished the 14 network episodes yesterday evening and capped it off with a viewing of the movie Serenity last night. The Blu-Ray versions look fantastic. I could scarcely tell the difference between the TV episodes and the feature film.
The show holds up remarkably well, with stories about human nature, dignity, avarice, belief and greed, all strung together by the main theme of chosen family. Perhaps because it tries to be more than just a western set in space, Firefly is very entertaining and never drags. Every episode is thoroughly good, an opinion probably colored by the knowledge that there are only 14 of them. Serenity, with its mega-budget, is a balls-to-the-wall thriller with amazing action sequences. I am still able to say these nice things about the shows after watching the series start-to-finish at least six times in the past six years, and seeing Serenity at least 15 times since it opened in the theater on September 30, 2005.
If you want to be nagged into enjoying Firefly and Serenity, follow this link and this one into the onvoymovies archives.
Where are they now?
Nathan Fillion is fabulous on Castle.
Morena Baccarin is the villainous Anna on V. Her character on Firefly/Serenity is nothing like Anna.
Adam Baldwin plays Major Casey on Chuck.
Summer Glau will be on NBC's new series The Cape, which I had no interest in watching until a few moments ago.
[Update 1/18/2011: I watched the premiere of The Cape, and even though Summer Glau has a decent-sized role, wears mini-skirts frequently, is growing into her looks and has never looked hotter, I'm not watching it again. On the plus side, The Cape will probably run 13 episodes and fade away, so Summer will be available for a new series this fall.
Another Where are they now?
Alan Tudyk will be in Transformers 3 this summer. Hey, A guy has to eat.]
After a week of watching two episodes a day, I finished the 14 network episodes yesterday evening and capped it off with a viewing of the movie Serenity last night. The Blu-Ray versions look fantastic. I could scarcely tell the difference between the TV episodes and the feature film.
The show holds up remarkably well, with stories about human nature, dignity, avarice, belief and greed, all strung together by the main theme of chosen family. Perhaps because it tries to be more than just a western set in space, Firefly is very entertaining and never drags. Every episode is thoroughly good, an opinion probably colored by the knowledge that there are only 14 of them. Serenity, with its mega-budget, is a balls-to-the-wall thriller with amazing action sequences. I am still able to say these nice things about the shows after watching the series start-to-finish at least six times in the past six years, and seeing Serenity at least 15 times since it opened in the theater on September 30, 2005.
If you want to be nagged into enjoying Firefly and Serenity, follow this link and this one into the onvoymovies archives.
Where are they now?
Nathan Fillion is fabulous on Castle.
Morena Baccarin is the villainous Anna on V. Her character on Firefly/Serenity is nothing like Anna.
Adam Baldwin plays Major Casey on Chuck.
Summer Glau will be on NBC's new series The Cape, which I had no interest in watching until a few moments ago.
[Update 1/18/2011: I watched the premiere of The Cape, and even though Summer Glau has a decent-sized role, wears mini-skirts frequently, is growing into her looks and has never looked hotter, I'm not watching it again. On the plus side, The Cape will probably run 13 episodes and fade away, so Summer will be available for a new series this fall.
Another Where are they now?
Alan Tudyk will be in Transformers 3 this summer. Hey, A guy has to eat.]
102
My final number for movies seen at a theater in 2010: 102.
Ten were movies that I went to see for the second time. There were another ten or so that I would have liked to see again but couldn't, mostly due to fast cycling-out of titles.
Twenty were part of Willow Creek Theater's retro program, where they show older titles on the weekends. At first, most of the retros could be considered classics or cool, but for the last few months, the titles have just been old (15-25 years) with little cachet. They just announced the titles for the next two months, none of which are must-sees for me. Retros are hereby caput unless they bring in something spectacular.
One of the reasons I won't miss the retro movies is that I noticed they cost me a few first-run viewings. It is the nature of the movie business these days to cycle titles really fast. And I mean fast - some movies that are promoted on TV and in previews for months have a big opening weekend and are gone in two or three weeks. The retro program took up 20 weekend slots that maybe would have been better spent going to a first-run movie instead.
My average ticket price for 2010 was $6.41. That's down almost a quarter from 2009, partly due to being comped by Willow Creek a few times and partly due to a new theater opening nearby with a matinee price of $5.00, which is nicely less than Willow Creek's $6.50. Maybe my New Year's resolution should be to see more movies at the less-expensive theater, but $1.50 isn't a bad premium for the convenience.
Most enjoyed movies in 2010 (in no particular order)
Secretariat
Hereafter
Easy A
Ramona and Beezus
She's Out of My League
Really good movies, even if they were downers
Never Let You Go
The Ghost Writer
Inception
The American
Worst movie of the year
Nine
Worst movie of the year, Dishonorable Mention
The Tourist
Picking a universally worst movie is problematic because you don't go to a movie you know you won't like. Most years, I would say I didn't see the truly worst movie of the year, because I skipped it. However, Nine was so bad, I think it may have been the worst movie of 2010 by any objective criteria. The Tourist deserves a mention not because it was bad, per se, but because it was such a disappointment. It had an A-List cast and fabulous Parisian & Venetian scenery, but the story sucked and some of the actors were sleepwalking. The Tourist should have been so much better.
How many movies will I see in 2011? Who knows? I'm not setting a quota, although I sure like round numbers and meaningless benchmarks. If we extrapolate from today - let's see, two days into the year and zero movies seen - I'll see NO movies this year. Well, the numbers don't lie but I think I'll buck the trend and see a few more than zero by December 31, 2011. Maybe a hundred more.
Ten were movies that I went to see for the second time. There were another ten or so that I would have liked to see again but couldn't, mostly due to fast cycling-out of titles.
Twenty were part of Willow Creek Theater's retro program, where they show older titles on the weekends. At first, most of the retros could be considered classics or cool, but for the last few months, the titles have just been old (15-25 years) with little cachet. They just announced the titles for the next two months, none of which are must-sees for me. Retros are hereby caput unless they bring in something spectacular.
One of the reasons I won't miss the retro movies is that I noticed they cost me a few first-run viewings. It is the nature of the movie business these days to cycle titles really fast. And I mean fast - some movies that are promoted on TV and in previews for months have a big opening weekend and are gone in two or three weeks. The retro program took up 20 weekend slots that maybe would have been better spent going to a first-run movie instead.
My average ticket price for 2010 was $6.41. That's down almost a quarter from 2009, partly due to being comped by Willow Creek a few times and partly due to a new theater opening nearby with a matinee price of $5.00, which is nicely less than Willow Creek's $6.50. Maybe my New Year's resolution should be to see more movies at the less-expensive theater, but $1.50 isn't a bad premium for the convenience.
Most enjoyed movies in 2010 (in no particular order)
Secretariat
Hereafter
Easy A
Ramona and Beezus
She's Out of My League
Really good movies, even if they were downers
Never Let You Go
The Ghost Writer
Inception
The American
Worst movie of the year
Nine
Worst movie of the year, Dishonorable Mention
The Tourist
Picking a universally worst movie is problematic because you don't go to a movie you know you won't like. Most years, I would say I didn't see the truly worst movie of the year, because I skipped it. However, Nine was so bad, I think it may have been the worst movie of 2010 by any objective criteria. The Tourist deserves a mention not because it was bad, per se, but because it was such a disappointment. It had an A-List cast and fabulous Parisian & Venetian scenery, but the story sucked and some of the actors were sleepwalking. The Tourist should have been so much better.
How many movies will I see in 2011? Who knows? I'm not setting a quota, although I sure like round numbers and meaningless benchmarks. If we extrapolate from today - let's see, two days into the year and zero movies seen - I'll see NO movies this year. Well, the numbers don't lie but I think I'll buck the trend and see a few more than zero by December 31, 2011. Maybe a hundred more.
Holy Crap, I've Really Let This Blog Go to Seed!
If ever there is evidence that I am a slacker, it's the lack of posts on this blog recently (Hey, I just proved a negative! Cool). I could make up some excuse or rationalization, but the self-admitted slackerdom would tarnish the justification so I won't bother.
I will, however, tell you about what's been going on lately. I'm working my way through my DVD collection, focusing, for the moment, on TV season sets. I just did a quick count and found I have 75 seasons of TV on DVD. Seventy-five sounds like a lot but I have the complete series of a fair dozen, some of which went seven seasons, so it's not that many titles, yet it's a massive number of hours of programming. It felt wrong to have spent hard-earned cash on these entertainment products but not watch them. Something had to be done.
My strategic plan is to run through shows I haven't seen for a while, with an occasional fave thrown in. I finished Firefly/Serenity last night, a favorite. Over the next few days, slackerness notwithstanding, I'll tell you about my recent adventures.
I will, however, tell you about what's been going on lately. I'm working my way through my DVD collection, focusing, for the moment, on TV season sets. I just did a quick count and found I have 75 seasons of TV on DVD. Seventy-five sounds like a lot but I have the complete series of a fair dozen, some of which went seven seasons, so it's not that many titles, yet it's a massive number of hours of programming. It felt wrong to have spent hard-earned cash on these entertainment products but not watch them. Something had to be done.
My strategic plan is to run through shows I haven't seen for a while, with an occasional fave thrown in. I finished Firefly/Serenity last night, a favorite. Over the next few days, slackerness notwithstanding, I'll tell you about my recent adventures.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Unstoppable
Whoa. They don't make a lot of movies like this. Set your adrenaline meters to 11 and hold on. Tony Scott is a master director, and although I don't always like his movies, they are always well constructed. With Unstoppable, Scott assembles a talented cast and tells a good story at high speed.
The plot is simple: due to a combination of bad judgment and bad luck, a long train with dangerous cargo heads toward a densely populated Pennsylvania city with no engineer on board. Dashing engineer Denzel Washington and barely adequate Chris Pine (the new James T Kirk) try to catch up to the runaway on another train. Thrills and spills happen, yada yada.
What I liked was that the movie didn't cheap out. It explained the inner workings of railways enough so that the audience knew the stakes, and fleshed out the characters enough so that we enjoyed their company. I was happy to overlook the implausibilities because it over-delivered everything else. For example, in some of the scenes where the train is supposedly going 60-75 mph, it doesn't look like it's going anywhere near that fast, or, for the entire length of the train's run, a railway guy in a red pickup is keeping tabs on it. They make it look like he's been driving along side the train most of the way rather than on the nearest parallel highway, which is more likely. Whatever.
Think of Unstoppable as a worthy companion to 1994's Speed. Unlike 1997's Speed II.
1:33
On a person note, that's number 90 for the year. 10 to go to hit 100.
The plot is simple: due to a combination of bad judgment and bad luck, a long train with dangerous cargo heads toward a densely populated Pennsylvania city with no engineer on board. Dashing engineer Denzel Washington and barely adequate Chris Pine (the new James T Kirk) try to catch up to the runaway on another train. Thrills and spills happen, yada yada.
What I liked was that the movie didn't cheap out. It explained the inner workings of railways enough so that the audience knew the stakes, and fleshed out the characters enough so that we enjoyed their company. I was happy to overlook the implausibilities because it over-delivered everything else. For example, in some of the scenes where the train is supposedly going 60-75 mph, it doesn't look like it's going anywhere near that fast, or, for the entire length of the train's run, a railway guy in a red pickup is keeping tabs on it. They make it look like he's been driving along side the train most of the way rather than on the nearest parallel highway, which is more likely. Whatever.
Think of Unstoppable as a worthy companion to 1994's Speed. Unlike 1997's Speed II.
1:33
On a person note, that's number 90 for the year. 10 to go to hit 100.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Catfish
I didn't now anything about Catfish going in other than what I learned by looking at an insert in a NetFlix mailing. The insert had a bunch of rave blurbs (of course, even a bad movie can round up a passel of rave blurbs) and a warning "Don't let anyone tell you what it's about."
In the spirit of the distributor's wish, I will write no review, because to write a review would be to spoil the experience. However, I will say this: Catfish is a documentary. Not a dry, after-the-fact sit-down docu, but a let's turn on the cameras and see what happens documentary.
If the surprising and unexpected is what you like, Catfish is worth seeking out.
1:24
In the spirit of the distributor's wish, I will write no review, because to write a review would be to spoil the experience. However, I will say this: Catfish is a documentary. Not a dry, after-the-fact sit-down docu, but a let's turn on the cameras and see what happens documentary.
If the surprising and unexpected is what you like, Catfish is worth seeking out.
1:24
Friday, October 15, 2010
It's Kind of a Funny Story
It's Kind of a Funny Story was sold as a farcical comedy, but it's really a basic drama with a few laughs thrown in. A depressed teenager checks himself into a psych ward, spends a few minutes there and realizes he doesn't belong there. He meets some colorful crazy people (straight out of central casting), becomes the catalyst for breakthroughs for other patients and starts dating Emma Roberts.
It's not bad but it's not really good, either. Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan are wasted as the kid's parents, and a running joke is a guy who quotes a Bob Dylan song claiming it as his own, but it's such an obscure song that it took me almost a minute to find a reference to it on Google. It's Kind of a Funny Story plays like the kind of video you would show to people in a psych ward.
1:35
It's not bad but it's not really good, either. Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan are wasted as the kid's parents, and a running joke is a guy who quotes a Bob Dylan song claiming it as his own, but it's such an obscure song that it took me almost a minute to find a reference to it on Google. It's Kind of a Funny Story plays like the kind of video you would show to people in a psych ward.
1:35
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go is good science fiction movie in the classic mold. The rules of science fiction are simple: set the story in a time or place where events that are not possible in the real world can happen; then set forth a story, often a parable or allegory. I need to avoid spoilers here, so I'll be circumscript. Never Let Me Go follows three children in a private school in England that are being raised for a specific purpose. The three are joined at the hip, but, inevitably, grow apart as adults.
The setting is pretty sweet - it doesn't exist in the real world for technological reasons but the story is set in the recent past, making the contrast even more stark. Before you know it, the sci fi part of the movie gives way to moral and ethical explorations.
It moves a little slowly, but I liked that. It allowed the human and sci fi parts to soak in. Two guys were loitering at the box office when I bought my ticket. When they heard that I was going to see Never Let You Go, they asked who starred in it. When I said Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan, their glances were as vacant as if I'd said "an apple and an orange." I hope they didn't follow me in. Utter disappointment would follow. They'll be first in line for Transformers 3, no doubt.
During a particular emotional scene, the multitasking part of my brain started comparing Never Let You Go to other sci fi movies. I was struck that most of what we call science fiction is really future fiction, and really isn't science fiction at all. It's car chases with cars that fly, fist fights with slow motion and gun fights with ray guns. I'll take thoughtful stories about the human condition any day. And a futuristic shoot 'em up once in a while.
1:36
The setting is pretty sweet - it doesn't exist in the real world for technological reasons but the story is set in the recent past, making the contrast even more stark. Before you know it, the sci fi part of the movie gives way to moral and ethical explorations.
It moves a little slowly, but I liked that. It allowed the human and sci fi parts to soak in. Two guys were loitering at the box office when I bought my ticket. When they heard that I was going to see Never Let You Go, they asked who starred in it. When I said Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan, their glances were as vacant as if I'd said "an apple and an orange." I hope they didn't follow me in. Utter disappointment would follow. They'll be first in line for Transformers 3, no doubt.
During a particular emotional scene, the multitasking part of my brain started comparing Never Let You Go to other sci fi movies. I was struck that most of what we call science fiction is really future fiction, and really isn't science fiction at all. It's car chases with cars that fly, fist fights with slow motion and gun fights with ray guns. I'll take thoughtful stories about the human condition any day. And a futuristic shoot 'em up once in a while.
1:36
Saturday, October 2, 2010
The Social Network
The Social Network is an engrossing film ostensibly about the first years of Facebook, but it could be about any company. The film moves quickly, cutting between the creation events and depositions in a current-day lawsuit. I take historical dramas with a grain of salt, so I don't care if it was accurate or not, but it was fun. When the credits rolled, I couldn't believe almost two hours had gone by.
I don't know much about Facebook, but if the movie is anywhere near accurate, everyone involved with it, save one guy, are complete douchebags. Sean Fanning, founder of Napster, is presented as a douchebag extraordinaire and I had no idea he was involved with Facebook whatsoever or that he was so sleazy. For the sake of politeness, let's assume there were liberties taken with personalities for dramatic effect.
The Social Network was written by Aaron Sorkin, the master of quick back & forth dialog. His resume includes writing The West Wing, Sports Night and The American President. Perhaps, ultimately, Sorkin's greatest contribution to pop culture is writing the line "You can't handle the truth!" from A Few Good Men but for great lines, I recommend any of the first season episodes of Sports Night (1998-1999), all of which were written by Sorkin.
1:55
I don't know much about Facebook, but if the movie is anywhere near accurate, everyone involved with it, save one guy, are complete douchebags. Sean Fanning, founder of Napster, is presented as a douchebag extraordinaire and I had no idea he was involved with Facebook whatsoever or that he was so sleazy. For the sake of politeness, let's assume there were liberties taken with personalities for dramatic effect.
The Social Network was written by Aaron Sorkin, the master of quick back & forth dialog. His resume includes writing The West Wing, Sports Night and The American President. Perhaps, ultimately, Sorkin's greatest contribution to pop culture is writing the line "You can't handle the truth!" from A Few Good Men but for great lines, I recommend any of the first season episodes of Sports Night (1998-1999), all of which were written by Sorkin.
1:55
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Town
The Town is an amazing movie. It tells the story of a bank robber, making him a sympathetic character, while not omitting any of the nitty-gritty of the world in which he exists. Director Ben Affleck and Movie Star Ben Affleck worked together to craft a story that slowly draws you in until you abruptly realize that the good guys aren't good guys and the bad guys are actually FBI. It's not something you see every day.
I missed Affleck's first directorial effort, Gone Baby Gone, but it received great critical acclaim at the time and it's at number five in my Netflix que at the moment. I hate to make this comparison, but I thought I was watching a Clint Eastwood move at times. Eastwood is known for telling gripping stories at a deliberate pace and not making protagonists too clean nor antagonists too cartoonish. That's exactly what The Town does.
A word of warning, though. Besides the liberal use of F-bombs, The Town is set in Charlestown, Massachusetts and was obviously filmed there. The characters all have seriously thick This Old House accents and I missed a few words here & there as my midwestern ears just couldn't keep up with the speech of the Bay Statahs, doncha know. Fer sure. Charlestown isn't far from where my beloved niece, Belle, is going to grad school. Maybe I should get used to the accent just in case she picks it up while she's out there.
1:58
I missed Affleck's first directorial effort, Gone Baby Gone, but it received great critical acclaim at the time and it's at number five in my Netflix que at the moment. I hate to make this comparison, but I thought I was watching a Clint Eastwood move at times. Eastwood is known for telling gripping stories at a deliberate pace and not making protagonists too clean nor antagonists too cartoonish. That's exactly what The Town does.
A word of warning, though. Besides the liberal use of F-bombs, The Town is set in Charlestown, Massachusetts and was obviously filmed there. The characters all have seriously thick This Old House accents and I missed a few words here & there as my midwestern ears just couldn't keep up with the speech of the Bay Statahs, doncha know. Fer sure. Charlestown isn't far from where my beloved niece, Belle, is going to grad school. Maybe I should get used to the accent just in case she picks it up while she's out there.
1:58
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Countdown to 100
I've seen a lot of movies in the theater in the past couple of decades, let's say it's in the neighborhood of 2000. Seeing movies in the theater is something I – obviously - enjoy. Some of my readers have probably seen that many or even multiples thereof on home video so I'm not bragging, just stating a fact.
I likes my movies.
I also like insignificant trivia. Today, for no good reason, I'm going to combine the two. I've seen 69 movies in the theater so far this year. I want to see 100. No real reason – I just want to.
It's been a while since I've seen 100 movies in the theater in a year. 2006 to be exact, and it was exactly 100 movies. 107 the year before; 113 the year before that. What about years since then? Well, I relocated in 2007 (81), so that killed a lot of movie slots. In 2008 (72), even though I bought my house mid-year and have a built-in excuse to not have seen movies the latter part of the year, it's actually the first half of the year that shows a low count. I think I was so depressed from subletting that hovel on Ford Road that I couldn't muster the energy to see what movies were playing. In 2009 (89), I think it's just that there weren't that many good movies out there.
So I have to watch 31 more by December 31, 2010, to hit 100. Not undoable – there are 103 days left in the year, so I only have to hit one every 3 days or average 2.1 per week to hit the goal. It can be done but consistency is difficult for me. I'll probably have to cram a few in late December.
If the release schedule cooperates, I could try to recreate my Iron Man feat from 2003. I saw thirteen movies in thirteen days between April 19 and May 1, 2003. I would love to try it again sometime, if only there were thirteen movies worth watching in a thirteen day period anymore. In the last seven years, the Big Hit mentality has become even more the modus operandi of the theater owners. More screens showing multiple copies of the same movies. Not very many independent movies or also-rans get shown. In addition, they move the big movies out faster than ever. If you don't see a new movie in its first two weeks, you might miss it. I've missed dozens over the years by dawdling.
So we're off and running - 31 movies to watch by the end of the year. Don't count on me blogging every one of 'em – see the dawdling comment in the previous paragraph – but I'll do what I can.
Easy A
Where to start? With Easy A's crisp dialog, natural pacing, funny story that doesn't play like it was written by a sitcomputer, perfect cast, or Emma Stone? All facets worked and are worthy of note. Let's start with Emma Stone.
The charismatic Emma first hit my radar in a short-run TV series called Drive in 2007. After that, she hit the big screen in Superbad. In Easy A, she carries the movie herself, being in virtually every scene. Her screen presence is amazing, giving us a high school heroine that is hot when needed, common when called for and smart constantly. This is one up & comer that, with good career choices, could be the next Sandra Bullock (no pressure, Emma).
Easy A is a retelling of The Scarlet Letter, using the novel both as inspiration and cautionary tale. A rumor spreads about our heroine, which she encourages at first, which later takes a life of its own. The movie is funny, breezy, never loses perspective and, much to my great joy, never delves into body function humor! Look out for the punchlines inside and outside of the bookstore (Literate humor! Who knew!).
The casting is perfect all around, with supporting roles played by Thomas Haden Church, Lisa Kudrow, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Malcolm McDowell and Amanda Bynes. There was some scenery chewing going on but it was all in good fun. Aly Michalka and her breasts played the self-absorbed best friend. Michalka and her breasts star in my Fall-TV season guilty pleasure Hellcats.
You know how I frequently say negative things about the style of today's comedies? Easy A is the antidote to those comedies.
An Open Letter to IMDB.com
Dear IMDB,
I hate your site's redesign. You've taken an intuitive, easy-to-use and ultra-informative site and made it icky. It's now a cluttered screenhog that is a chore to navigate and hides the most useful content.
Please fix it. I don't care that you return to the original design, but there are thousands of sites that provide entertainment industry hype with no useful information. Now, thanks to you, there's one more.
Sincerely,
Patrick
Friday, September 3, 2010
More From the Newsletter Archives
From 2001 through 2006, I wrote a movie column for the company newsletter, known by several names, notably The Onquirer and The Be...Connected Newsletter. I found many of my reviews archived on the Onvoy LAN, in draft form for some and in final form for others, and I posted 170-some in July, 2009.
Not all my reviews were archived electronically but I have printed copies of every issue of the newsletter (I think). I said last year that when I get enough gumption I'll scan the hard copies and post those reviews. Apparently, today is the day when my gumption hit critical mass because here are the scans.
I've attached a comment for a 2010 perspective to each of the reviews. I think you'll see a couple of patterns emerge, which can be summarized with the words Keira Knightley and marine mammals. If Keira ever appears in a movie with dolphins, I may disappear into a singularity of perfect happiness.
If you have trouble making out the detail in any of the scans that follow, click on the scan and it will zoom out to a larger size. Enjoy this trip back through time and enjoy the movies.
Not all my reviews were archived electronically but I have printed copies of every issue of the newsletter (I think). I said last year that when I get enough gumption I'll scan the hard copies and post those reviews. Apparently, today is the day when my gumption hit critical mass because here are the scans.
I've attached a comment for a 2010 perspective to each of the reviews. I think you'll see a couple of patterns emerge, which can be summarized with the words Keira Knightley and marine mammals. If Keira ever appears in a movie with dolphins, I may disappear into a singularity of perfect happiness.
If you have trouble making out the detail in any of the scans that follow, click on the scan and it will zoom out to a larger size. Enjoy this trip back through time and enjoy the movies.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)