by Ethan Johnson
March 14, 2004
And now, stuff you probably already saw at the theatre, or rented later:
The Hours: Hmmm.
I am still "digesting" this movie. My feeling is, Nicole Kidman is a better actress than I am willing to acknowledge. For all of the cranks that claimed that all she did was stick some silly putty on her nose and get an Oscar™ nomination, I now wonder what movie they went to go see.
Mar and I can't quite agree on the motivation of the character played by Julianne Moore. I say she was a closeted lesbian, who really shouldn't have gotten married, whereas Mar says she was suffering from depression. I think we agree on the "depression" angle, but considering the whole lesbian undertone of the film, I got the impression that there was a bit more to it.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico: Eh.
Not sure why Selma Hayek was on Oprah promoting this flick. And, on the plus side, at lease Robert Rodriguez knew he was making a bomb, and had the decency to label this movie as a "Robert Rodriguez flick" in the opening credits.
I learned that if you're in Mexico, and you have a grudge with the local cartel boss, looking pretty will mostly carry you through. Mostly.
Swimming Pool: Eh.
The good part: It was a great Travelogue for France. The mountains, the castle ruins, the country charm, ahh.
The bad part: The rest of it. Sorry, but the more we stew on this movie, the less we liked it.
And, will Hollywood please take Sir Mix-A-Lot's advice and understand that silicone parts are for toys? Just sayin'.
American Splendor: Meta!
In the spirit of Jambie the Genie, you too will be saying "meta-letta-hi, meta-hiney-ho".
In reality, there is Harvey Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner. But in the movie, there is Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis. But the real Harvey watches the "fake" Harvey and comments on how realistic he is being in his portrayal. Meta! But, the "fake" Harvey and Joyce go to a play, and watch Donal Logue and Molly Shannon portray them! Doubleplus meta!!
I suspected going into it that this was going to be Meta-Fest 2003, and I was right. On the up side, you really end up respecting everything Paul Giamatti did to deliver the essence of Harvey Pekar. In case people forgot that there was any skill in acting required anymore, what with the sequel to Scooby Doo coming out.
Welcome to Mooseport: It was OK.
It's really a "date" flick more than anything, it's not getting any awards for anything, and it's fluff. But they seem to have kept that in mind throughout the flick so it's OK. Really, this was meant to be Ray Romano's coming out party, but I'm not sure how successful that was. He is who he is, just like Gene Hackman is who he is. And they're going to do what they're going to do. Hey, don't forget to donate money to me through "PayPal" to keep reviews like this coming.
Runaway Jury: Of this crop, it was the best, for it's type. I suppose The Hours was better in terms of sheer acting, and so forth, but as far as being entertaining and engaging, in such away that Mar and I both agreed immediately on this point, it was the best.
She is a fool for John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman, so really, you didn't think this would be a complete flop, did you?
My only complaint is, the whole "courtroom drama" thing is really just background for the real story. One also gets the impression the ending got written first, and everything else is just filler to get us to the final 5 minutes. But it's worth it, so enjoy. <EM>
