A.O. Scott

One of the things I have enjoyed the most about the New York Times is the movie reviews in the Arts section. Often I find myself reading reviews of movies I have zero interest in watching just to read how others think of them. My favorite reviewer is A. O. Scott and until tonight I had never seen his face.

He review "Mad Max" in their video section of their website in this clip. Its short so there's not much there, but for other fans of his, I thought it might be interesting.

The mind of an unemployed person

So, I may be on a little bit of a blogging kick.

Last year I was informed of the foreign policy blog "Passport" by the magazine (wait for it) Foreign Policy. Everyday they do a Morning Brief entry with the day's most important goings on, etc. The title of this morning's post tickled me a little bit (I'm weird) because it reminded me of this.

Also, in case you just click the link and don't get to see the posts, there is this little piece of news that is sort of interesting. The post has a very snarky tone to it, which may or may not be appropriate.

VIVA LA HYPERLINK!

Let's open up the vault

If you're reading this you probably know me and that I'm willing to watch just about anything (also stated "I'm interested in seeing crappy movies"). There are some movies over the years that have escaped me for one reason or another and now with the invention of the Netflix queue and my laziness some of those movies arrive in my mailbox.

Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones star in Double Jeopardy, a thriller where Ashley Judd's character (I think they said her name but she'd probably prefer it if you call her Ashley Judd's character) is framed for murdering her husband and sent to jail only to discover while in jail that her husband is still alive and has started a new life with her son and best friend. That is approximately the first 15 minutes. I'm not sure what happens in the next hour and a half because I blacked out from ODing on obvious plot "twists" and assertions of the strength of Ashley Judd's character (think Not Without My Daughter). Tom Lee Jones plays somebody that does something and we're supposed to be interested but JHC its terrible. I could've just written this: Double Jeopardy: its bad, don't see it. However, I know my readers expect- nay, demand an explanation.

I watched Confessions of A Dangerous Mind last week. I didn't want to write a review of that because I was only half paying attention but it was worth watching. Interesting for sure. I wish they'd played up the fact that his CIA experiences may not have actually happened and sort of taken a bigger picture (like Adaptation) view of his autobiography: a movie both about and from the book. Not a lot to write about it b/c I wasn't immersed in it but its got some spy stuff and the visual effects are pretty neat (I was reminded at some points of Europa, Europa- I don't remember why).

OH, OH. A movie I watched that I really liked was Bloody Sunday. It was done in 2002 and won an indy award for making a political statement or promoting peace (something like that). Its about the Sunday in Dairy, Ireland (the Northern part) where British paratroopers killed a bunch (13) of innocent* people. Never having learned the story and knowing disappointingly little about the event (the one from the U2 song) I was amazed about the story. The frustrating sequence of events that led to unnecessary death was displayed masterfully. I was moved. The acting is phenomenal and art (camera work and lighting, especially) are amazing. I would watch this again for sure.

*= asterisk.

Royal disappointment

On my friend Danielle's recommendation I started watching the six episodes of Kings that they aired this past year. The premise was interesting- it is loosely based on the story of the great Jewish kings- and I'm a sucker for a new TV show so away I went last night and today.

The pilot (Goliath pts 1 and 2) is EPIC. If it were a movie I would've paid to watch it (luckily it is free at NBC.com and Hulu.com until Sept. 20). My crappy internet connection made it take a LONG time to watch, but I had to. It is incredible. So full of promise. The best parts were the character of David Shepherd (as in David vs. Goliath- a name that also makes an appearance) and the romance between David and the King's daughter. Plus they threw a plethora of story lines out there, so it looked like it was going to be an incredible show.

Oh, what could have been! Watching episodes 2-5 was so disappointing. David becomes a naive, impotent boy. The greatest story line- the rise of a smart, daring, passionate man to power based on a sense of fairness- gets thrown in the trash in favor of palace intrigue. All of the power plays that were alluded in the first episode (great and terrible people doing great and terrible things) become cloak and dagger boring minutiae.  Oh, and Macaulay Culkin shows up in the 5th episode. 

The actress who plays the princess is the best, by far. The actor who plays the king es no bueno. He's got no range and his character has some serious issues that need someone to show something besides arrogance.

I'll probably watch this one until they stop making them (a la The Black Donnellys- one of whom plays one of David's brother in Kings) but this show is unsustainable. For some reason I heard that it was cancelled/not picked up for the fall but have not confirmed.

Recommendation: watch the pilot and then wait until you hear some buzz (from me or someone else) about the show. 

UPDATE: The end of Episode 6 is better and more intriguing than the rest...

I forgot to mention that the music is terrible and that the use of the butterfly (a MONARCH naturally) is weird and does not work.

But is such happiness sustainable?

On my brother's recommendation I checked out the pilot for Glee. I liked it and will be watching when it comes on again in the fall(?). The action centers around the Glee Club's advisor and the kids in the club itself (focusing on a couple, with the others not receiving much attention). 

The setting is in a stereotypical high school with the standard cliques (jocks, cheerleaders, etc.). Very similar to High School Musical there are stigmas attached to artistic activities and crossing over is taboo. Also similar to HSM one of the main characters is a jock unsatisfied with being just one thing. There are a lot of characters and the pilot sets up many possible story lines within and among characters.

The question is, though, can all of the story lines be original and entertaining? High school has been the setting for many different stories (too many to list) so I can see it getting stale quickly. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Back and Bloodier than ever.

The school year ended and I have some packing to avoid, so I'm back at the reviewing game.

Talking about Blood Diamond last night neither Jake nor Geoff could come up with a happy movie set in Africa in the past 10 years (Lion King is too old). And that's the way this goes. Set in Sierra Leone, Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou of Amistad and Gladiator) is separated from his family and forced to mine for diamonds. He finds a big 'un and is about to get killed over it when he miraculously is able to escape after hiding the diamond. Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a Zimbabwean (nee Rhodesian) profiteer who learns of the diamond and tries to get Solomon to take it to him. Add the American Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) as the reporter who is trying to land a big story on the diamond trade and we've got a movie.

Two thoughts jumped out at me: 1) The plot is pretty standard and some of the action seems unreal. Coincidences and close calls make some of the movie eye-rollingly unoriginal. To be clear, the plot isn't bad, just nothing surprising. 2) A lot of it is too real, baring the atrocities in an un-gratuitous and revealing way. The violence isn't shocking for how it is depicted, it is shocking for what it is. Included in that is the violence committed against the young boys who are changed into child soldiers.

A big interesting theme that runs throughout the movie is the question of what should the rest of the world be doing in Sierra Leone? At times that question is uncomfortable as American culture and attention to suffering around the world is indicted. However, the movie is ultimately thought-provoking rather than accusatory.

I recommend Blood Diamonds with the caveat that its not great and you will see women and children die.

No time for the Jibba Jabba

From the Presidents- they're just like us! files here is an article about Barack Obama's TV preferences. 

No time for long posts but here is some quick hits:

TV

Lost- loving it, the plot is moving fast.

House- thanks, world, for ruining the major change to the show before I had a chance to watch it.

Movies

Zack and Miri make a Porno- don't see. I was excited to see the movie because I like most of the elements (Kevin Smith, Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, etc.) but it was bad. The best part was Jason Mewes (Jay of Jay and Silent Bob) who played a dumb guy instead of his normal character.