Rachel and I caught The Hunger Games last weekend. Neither of us had read the book, but I was pretty eager to see it regardless. I’d heard great things, and when we saw that it was playing on three screens at Empire Theatres in Charlottetown, we figured it wouldn’t be completely packed. continue reading →
A couple of weeks ago, Rachel and I went to see The Grey. As with all films I’ve seen in the past few months, I intended to write up a little review. So, before going to bed, I tapped away on my phone making some notes.
Weeks went by, and I forgot to write it up. I finally decided that tonight I would draft it, though upon thinking about it, it’s been too long since I watched it, and my review really wouldn’t do it justice. So, I’ll just go ahead and post my notes and you can try to decipher (as I am doing) what I thought of the film:
Liam Neeson is tough. Movie about men, and in many ways, masculinity. What is masculinity?
Wolves are like monsters. Interestingly filmed flashback moments.
Few times where I felt like the actor was telling us what was going on. Not over the top, but not necessary.
Visual effects are mediocre by times. Distracting. Took me out of the moment.
Heard rumours of the film having an Oscar run in the fall. Can’t see it.
There we have it. If you’ve seen it, I’d be curious to know what you thought of it too. No spoilers, kids.
Jackie Brown has been near the top of my Embarrassed-That-I-Haven’t-Seen-These-Movies list for a long time. Finally, over the holidays, I moved it from that column to my Netflix Recently Watched page.
Jackie Brown is, without a doubt, the most un-Tarantino movie in the director’s filmography. It’s incredibly conventional, and if not for the tell-tale dialogue—which is much more subtle than most his movies—one would have a difficult time pinning it on the auteur.
That’s not to say it’s a bad movie. It’s one of the finest heist/con films I’ve seen in a while. The script is sharp and the acting is fantastic. Samuel L. Jackson is turned up to 11, and it’s one of my favorite performances of his, though I have no idea what Robert De Nero is doing in this movie. De Niro feels so out of place his scenes are borderline awkward. I’ve a feeling Tarantino wrote his character with Harvey Keitel in mind, which would have been a much better fit here.
Pam Grier is an amazing woman. I’ve only seen one of her Blaxploitation films (Coffy), so can’t comment on her career as a whole, but her performance here as the title character is stellar.
Normally, “strong female characters” get on my nerves. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I think that female characters should be one-dimensional floozies. It’s just that the majority of times, the attempt to inject a “strong female character” into a film results in her being a one-dimensional woman-who-happens-to-know-how-to-fight, and she loses any and all “character.”
Ms. Jackie Brown, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. We never see her fight, but we certainly see her defend herself, and know that should she need to she’s willing to pull the trigger and make a mess. She might be running cash for a ruthless mobster, but she’s not afraid to make him play by her rules. She is the love interest of one of the supporting characters but never the object of his desire, and (SPOILER) when she falls in love herself and gets turned down, she’s upset. She’s tough, feminine, and above all, human. In a genre that rarely features strong female characters, she is certainly my favorite.
Jackie Brown is available on Netflix Canada, if you so desire.
All I had read about ‘Up in the Air‘ before seeing it lead me to believe that it was directed by Jason Reitman, and that it was mainly about a man flying around the world trying to earn ten million frequent-flier miles. Beyond that, I had no idea what I was getting into.
Well, the first thing was correct: the film is directed by Jason Reitman, who before directing ‘Up in the Air,’ was nominated for and Oscar for directing ‘Juno.’ Reitman (a Canadian I might add), knows what he’s doing with this film as much as he did with Juno. Though the script suffers in comparison (thanks to it not being written by Diablo Cody), Reitman proves that he’s one of the most competent directors working today. The movie is both visually and dramatically interesting.
The second thing I thought I knew about this movie was not true: it isn’t merely about George Clooney flying all over the planet racking up miles.
Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a professional “downsizer” whose company flys him around the U.S. firing people on behalf of their employer. He spends more than 3oo days/year on the road (or, in the air, if you will). Jumping from city to city is his passion and he’s miserable when he’s home. When his company decides to ground it’s downsizer crew, Bingham’s life crashes on the tarmac and high drama ensues.
I always enjoy George Clooney, but really, he tends to be the same in just about every movie. He may as well have been playing Daniel Ocean here.
The other performances are good. Don’t be fooled by seeing Zach Galifianakis so highly billed, either. He has a cameo at the first of the flick and that’s all we get of him. Shame, really.
I grabbed ‘Up in the Air’ from the Confederation Centre Public Library. If you have the chance, you oughta reserve it yourself.