Review: Inception

WHOA.

Verbatim: Movie Review

Sheba went to see "Twilight" today. She gave a one-sentence review.

"Twilight's like soccer: they run around for two hours, nobody scores, and its billion fans insist you just don't understand."

Update: Apparently she's quoting this review that is all over the InterWebs. I still like it, no matter the author.

Review: Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges has a slow, easy way that has served him well for most of the roles he’s portrayed over the years. He came to my attention in “Starman” and I’ve enjoyed watching him ever since.

Even with impressive support from versatile Colin Farrell (in what really amounts to a cameo role) and great chemistry with beauty Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bridges is the reason to see “Crazy Heart.”

Bridges plays country legend Bad Blake, mentor to Farrell’s country star Tommy Sweet and now a has-been relegated to playing in bowling alleys to support his drinking habit. Bridges doesn’t have quite the nuance that Colin Firth portrays in “A Single Man,” but nonetheless this role warrants the nominations he’s received. His character’s struggle with the ultimate consequences of the choices he’s made makes the audience nod in sympathetic understanding.

Once again the writing leaves something to be desired; gaps in the plot leave us guessing the reasons why Blake descends to such depths in his drinking. Clues from the interview with journalist Jean Craddock (Gyllenhaal) tell us a little about his many marriages and former partnership with Sweet, but I suspect that the book by Thomas Cobb would reveal the mysteries left unanswered.

The movie features a small role from Robert Duvall, one of my favorite actors and one of the film’s many, many producers*. Both Bridges and Farrell—whose casting was an interesting surprise to me—do a decent job singing country tunes that are easy on the ears.

Ultimately, watching Bridges evolve and find his redemption makes “Crazy Heart” a worthwhile reason to spend the money and the time to see this in a theatre.


*Nine producers? What’s up with that?

Review: A Single Man

“A Single Man” opened this week after buzz for weeks about its excellence. Produced, directed and co-written by designer Tom Ford, it is a beautiful film. Some movies are clearly the vehicle for the director’s vision—Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” is a great example—and I knew to anticipate this for Ford’s first film. He succeeds on all levels, bringing us into the 60s with lush visuals that are rich with color, texture and emotion. The lingering pace makes it intimate: the camera becomes another character, narrating the story with movement, light, and close-ups. The story (co-written by the author of the novella, Christopher Isherwood) covers one day in the life of George Falconer, a gay man who has lost his partner in a tragic accident.

Colin Firth and Julianne Moore are outstanding as Falconer and his best friend Charley. Their nuanced performances reveal the complexities of love and enhance the intimacy we feel as the story unfolds. Both of them should be nominated for Academy awards, as should Ford for his directing. Go see this movie.

Review: Avatar

Well, the hype is true. You really should see this movie, and you should see it in 3D as the director intended. It is a visceral, visual feast that should not be missed.

James Cameron has made his reputation on movies that overwhelm visually. He knows how he wants his scenes to look, and if the technology doesn’t exist to give him exactly what he wants, he invents it. He owns patents from technology he created each time in order to make “The Abyss,” “Terminator,” “Titanic,” and now “Avatar.”

The one caveat I have is the same complaint I had for “Titanic:” Cameron really needs to let someone else do the writing. In the disaster flick, I found young Rose an irritating shrew and the romance a side plot to the real story. I can say, though, that I agree with a critic’s assertion that Cameron’s greatest achievement in “Titanic” was making us sorry to see Leo DiCaprio die.

“Terminator” appeared to be his greatest writing achievement until a lawsuit revealed that Cameron borrowed heavily from Harlan Ellison’s writing on episodes of “Outer Limits.” In “Avatar,” my husband said he recognized plot elements from C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series. Even though I haven’t read them, the plot remains predictable. There are no surprises in the story line; but like in all the movies mentioned, it’s a forgivable weakness that is compensated by visual splendor. Cameron’s ability to make real the images of his mind’s eye combined with another writer’s fine, complex characterization and plot would make the masterpiece he has yet to create.

"Westley, What About the R.O.U.S.es?"

"Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist."


Westley would be wrong. This guy comes out from the hedge next door every evening at dusk.

Update: He was out again this morning. Here's a better shot.