| Jun. 29th, 2009 @ 08:47 pm Quick Reviews |
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Fallen behind a lot with the massive library project sucking out a lot of my normal off-work time and some of the energy. So here are some fast reviews to catch up with:
Flirting With Disaster: Part of my library haul, I had heard good things about this 1996 Ben Stiller film. While it's certainly different from most Stiller vehicles-no doubt to due to David O. Russell's direction and a great cast that includes Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, David Patrick Kelley, Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins, Patricia Arquette, Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda, ultimately there's a lot of the same kind of "uncomfortable" humor that the Baroness really doesn't like, so she was not a fan. I enjoyed some of the weird places the story went and there are definitely great moments here and there due to the ensemble cast.
Synecdoche, New York: I know this is going to prove once again that I'm a middle brow film lover, at best, but I just could not get into this film. I ended up fast forwarding it and then finally giving up entirely after about the half-way mark. I felt like the ever building layers of artifice and the house of cards structure that was being built, along with the ever increasing misery and unpleasantness was just too much for me. The cast is quite good, but in the middle of an exhausting project at work I just wasn't in the mood for this kind of film.
Punisher: War Zone: A totally irredeemable exercise in extreme violence for extreme violence's sake that borders on self parody should probably not end up being highly entertaining, but somehow it was. While I feel that the third time was not the charm, at least at finding whatever I found so appealing about the Punisher comics back when I was a huge fan in the late 80s, the film certainly gets closer than either of the previous outings. The film had me laughing at its absurdity/shittiness but I do wish they'd put in a little more effort-some bits I thought were going to take the film to even more ludicrous heights were merely forgotten/left out. Similarly, I thought that including more characters from the comic-Microchip, Jigsaw-was a good idea, but then the film either didn't do anything with them, subordinated them to another "PUNISHER SEARCHES FOR HIS SOUL" plot done even worse than in the previous two adaptations, or changed them in ways that hurt the original idea's charm (specifically, I always liked that originally Jigsaw was just a no-name punk who the Punisher threw through a plate glass window, rather than a low budget version of The Joker). Watching this immediately after starting The Wire was a little odd since Dominic West is in both, as very different characters.
And Then There Were None: Okay 1945 Christie adaptation with Barry Fitzgerald and Walter Huston headlining. Definitely entertaining, but the copy I had was a low budget DVD and I felt that the comedy was a little OTT for a murder mystery. Easy to see how this was a big influence on the slasher genre that would follow.
Harvey: Jimmy Stewart has his life ruined by a Pooka. Wackiness ensues. Okay but I have a feeling this was more fun on the stage.
Let the Right One In: I really need to watch this again on a cold winter night, preferably with snow on the ground, then try and walk down the road to the liquor store. I have a feeling that would decide if I really liked it. I thought it was atmospheric but I couldn't quite get into it.
Executive Decision: Caught this randomly on cable; totally, utterly ridiculous, and thus fairly entertaining. The fact that it has Kurt Russell, Oliver Platt and Joe Morton AND features Steven Segal going down like a moron helps too.
Happy-Go-Lucky: I liked this for the most part but I found that the lead character did not wear on me well, but on the plus side it was nice to have a movie like this that did not focus on a romantic relationship but was basically just a character study; I enjoyed seeing the "happy go lucky" mask finally come down as well. Good performances all around.
The Wire: Amazing! I can't wait to get into Season 2. Should've listened to everyone who said to watch it much, much sooner. Great performances all around, great multi-dimensional characters, real emotion.
Cowboy Bebop: Still working my way through the series, still really digging it. Again, I waited WAY too long to get around to checking this out. |
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