“Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There’s too much fraternizing with the enemy.” –Henry Kissinger
This quote came to mind as I sat in the theater for the opening night of New Moon. I had never heard of a male reading the Twilight series or watching the movie Twilight, not even my male friends who are obsessed with The O.C. or Gossip Girl. Yet here I was, surrounded by an audience that was at least 1/3 male. Poor guys, they had no idea what they were in for. I heard one clueless individual say to his girlfriend, “So is this movie a sequel to something?” Yet, in spite of their next two hours of utter shock, I’ll bet they got in some good kissing and cuddling on the way home.
Most of you are familiar with Twilight mania unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of years. This movie will delight all the fans. It is romantic and engaging with beautiful settings. The actors have matured and their delivery is slightly better, but from my point of view they aren’t given much to work with. For me, it was a cringe-worthy moment when they first showed Edward (the vampire hero/Romeo), striding along with the unnatural wind blowing back his long locks. Poor Robert Pattinson. He is a talented, handsome young actor with an amazing knack for landing roles in multi-billion dollar grossing movies. Yet he is being exposed to the most fawning and lustful side of human nature.
Ah, well. Don’t expect too much from this movie and you will truly enjoy it.
P.S. If you want to get more of Robert Pattinson, read his new quarter-centimeter-thick biography. As my roommate said, “You’d think a 109-year-old vampire would have more to say about his life.”
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
2012
2012 is a visual masterpiece, attentive to small details with a huge special effects budget. Go see it while it’s on the big screen. The only disadvantage to that is that you won’t be able to mute it. After seeing the entire thing, I concluded that you wouldn’t miss a thing by having it on mute the whole time, i.e. the dialogue was written by the same monkeys typing endlessly that everyone says could rewrite Shakespeare.
Besides its visual inventiveness, the best thing going for this movie is that it takes the phrase “defensive driving” to a whole new level. It may even have topped the little known but best car-chase scene of all time, from 1998’s Ronin.
But if you’re looking for those bits of human interest, humor, and, well, humanity that make these blockbusters memorable, this is not the movie for you. Sorry, John Cusack, but Tom Cruise did it better in War of the Worlds, naked emotion displayed in his eyes during his portrayal of a father fighting for what he loves.
I was hoping that with a topic that’s been explored in movie after movie, director Roland Emmerich would have added something new to the epic theme. There is so much to say about eternity, vulnerability, forgiveness, and love. But maybe I was looking for an end-of-the-world chick flick.
Go see this 2 hour, 38 minute movie if you love crazy driving, flying, and stand-alone visual effects. Otherwise, rent War of the Worlds.
Besides its visual inventiveness, the best thing going for this movie is that it takes the phrase “defensive driving” to a whole new level. It may even have topped the little known but best car-chase scene of all time, from 1998’s Ronin.
But if you’re looking for those bits of human interest, humor, and, well, humanity that make these blockbusters memorable, this is not the movie for you. Sorry, John Cusack, but Tom Cruise did it better in War of the Worlds, naked emotion displayed in his eyes during his portrayal of a father fighting for what he loves.
I was hoping that with a topic that’s been explored in movie after movie, director Roland Emmerich would have added something new to the epic theme. There is so much to say about eternity, vulnerability, forgiveness, and love. But maybe I was looking for an end-of-the-world chick flick.
Go see this 2 hour, 38 minute movie if you love crazy driving, flying, and stand-alone visual effects. Otherwise, rent War of the Worlds.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Box
What??????
That is what you will be thinking at every moment during this movie, including when you’re walking out of the theatre. Sometimes it will be from fascination or being spooked, sometimes it will be from cheesiness or just plain badness.
Whatever you think this movie is about, that’s not what it is.
I really can’t say much without giving anything away, but just a word on accents: Cameron Diaz sounds just plain fake, and her son, played by Sam Oz Stone, wasn’t a bad actor, but his Southern accent just made me long for scene-stealing, street savy, precocious Brad Renfro from The Client.
I will give The Box these three things: 1) It is stylistic 2) It is hard to predict what’s going to happen next and 3) you will laugh during this movie (but not because they wanted you to). It wasn’t necessarily a bad movie, just an odd one. I’m not going to say anything else because I don’t want to give anything away.
I recommend that most of you give this one a skip. Go see it for yourself if you can handle any kind of movie. If you only like crowd-pleasers, don’t bother.
For those of you looking for more movies like this, you’re on your own. I’ve never seen one.
That is what you will be thinking at every moment during this movie, including when you’re walking out of the theatre. Sometimes it will be from fascination or being spooked, sometimes it will be from cheesiness or just plain badness.
Whatever you think this movie is about, that’s not what it is.
I really can’t say much without giving anything away, but just a word on accents: Cameron Diaz sounds just plain fake, and her son, played by Sam Oz Stone, wasn’t a bad actor, but his Southern accent just made me long for scene-stealing, street savy, precocious Brad Renfro from The Client.
I will give The Box these three things: 1) It is stylistic 2) It is hard to predict what’s going to happen next and 3) you will laugh during this movie (but not because they wanted you to). It wasn’t necessarily a bad movie, just an odd one. I’m not going to say anything else because I don’t want to give anything away.
I recommend that most of you give this one a skip. Go see it for yourself if you can handle any kind of movie. If you only like crowd-pleasers, don’t bother.
For those of you looking for more movies like this, you’re on your own. I’ve never seen one.
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