by Ethan Johnson
July 16, 2006
More, more, more!
The Devil Wears Prada: Wow, what a movie. Having read How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young about his failed stint at Vanity Fair magazine, which mentions the Anna Wintour pheonomenon in passing, I was interested in seeing this movie about Not Anna Wintour. Not sure who it is patterned after then, as the list of suspects could fit on a garment tag. Baby garments. The story is great, Anne Hathaway and Meryl Steep are superb, and Stanley Tucci ices the cake quite nicely. Worth seeing, any which way you can.
Match Point: Speaking of Not [whoever], this is so not a Woody Allen movie. And what a movie it is. The story and circumstances seem cardboard-y and predictable at first, but the punchline is worth the wait. A quiet little movie that deserves everything it gets. Worth the rental. Don't sweat the details, just see it.
Syriana: I once read a complaint that one needs a flowchart to follow the plot. This is true. This DVD is also plagued by whisper-quiet audio, which really put a crimp in following what was going on. Seriously, I had the TV volume CRANKED to one bar below max and I still couldn't make out half of the fooking dialogue. If you can stay focused on who is doing what, and why, it's worth seeing, if only to be inspired by the end to sell off your car(s) and walk or bike everywhere, forever. And switch to barter as an economic system. And maybe move to another planet. And not leave a forwarding address. Not sure if I'd give the Oscar to George Clooney for this, but it's worth the rental IF you're prepared to pay really close attention. To everything. And then apply this skill to, you know, reality.
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: While we were on a movie-rental tear, I took Beth's advice and checked this flick out. Holy crap! How did we miss this the first time around? It was a shame when Robert Downey Jr. was getting busted and running through the revolving doors of rehab, but the bottom line is, he is too "utility" of an actor to not have in your movie. Plus he's kinda like John Cusack in that if you love him, you love him. Val Kilmer is great, and I went nuts trying to place Michelle Monaghan, and I last saw her in Boston Public. The less you obsess over the movie before seeing it, the better. Just rent it and enjoy. NOW! (We just bought it. First DVD in a lonnng time, which should say something.)
Brokeback Mountain: Yup. Considering how sent up and lampooned this movie has been since opening day, I really didn't want to see it after awhile. I presumed it to be something like Soylent Green or The Crying Game - a one-trick pony that once out of the bag pretty much negates any reason to sit through the movie. I read once that the point of this movie was that at root this was a love story, not a shock piece featuring gay cowboys, though that's the impression that is given by the lampooning and wave-of-the-hand dismissals. This movie was rather slow (probably to capture the laid-back atmosphere of rural Wyoming) and suffered a severe case of the "mumbles". But it was well-made and a very human drama. Worth the rent, but be prepared to settle in for a 2+ hour movie that rivals paint drying in parts.
Off the Map: I dunno, if I hadn't seen x number of movies and TV shows already featuring hyper-precocious 10-11 year-old girls, this might have had more sway with me. I learned two things from this movie: New Mexico is amazingly beautiful (yet strangely sweat-free in the dead of summer, with a long-sleeved dress shirt on - WTF!) and home-schooling makes you intolerably uh, chatty. On the up-side, I found out what "thematic elements" means in terms of film ratings. Uh, pretty sad that this is a factor for film ratings. Honestly, the intent or tone? I'm not sure that I want to sit through a movie that didn't at least have intent. Worth renting if you're into amazing scenery and you go apeshit over Sundance-style indie flicks, but as for me, "eh".
My Tiny Universe: Avoid. Like the plague. Unless you want a 90-minute eye-clawing lesson in how not to write a screenplay. Or perhaps how not to act one out. Or perhaps how not to direct it. Ugh. Whatever, avoid it. Not recommended, and I am probably being too subtle about this. Here is a hint: Many plots rely on the movement of the so-called "plot-driving Maguffin". The idea is to use the Maguffin in a carrot-and-stick way to keep the plot advancing. If the Maguffin is a stolen purse and it is recovered mid-story, there better be something missing from the purse that requires additional resolution, or other circumstances should be in play to keep moving forward. You can honestly see the air fall out of the sails of the plot only to be half-assedly puffed up again. Aaaagh! Anyway, skip it.
Milwaukee, Minnesota: Gaaah! My slump continued with this unknown-to-me-yet-award-winning movie that should have set off alarm bells when it was solely endorsed on the back cover by Rex Reed. Doh! I don't have much to say about this except that we ended up ejecting the disc about 25-30 minutes into it. Which is a shame because I think the male lead did a good job. The supporting cast however was painful. I can forgive a lot if the story is going places (such as with Saw), but not so with this. Again, probably a must-see if you have the "I am addicted to indie films indiscriminately" gene.
Amores Perros: I wanted to enjoy this film, I heard nothing but good things about it, and I even deigned to rent it on VHS since DVD wasn't an option. Gaaaah! As an owner and dad to three butthead dogs, there are only so many blood-soaked dogs I can sit through before I'm reaching for the "off" switch. Whatever, maybe it was brilliant and "gritty" or whatever, but I leave the rest of you to those happy memories while I go hug my dogs. And no, I'm not usually this prude-ish about the movies I watch. Recommended only to those who can sit through gratuitous dog violence and dog gore. I will say that the production blew away the previous two movies on this page, if that helps anyone.
Here's hoping I can turn around this slump and get back to the good stuff! More reviews in a week or two, at this rate. <EM>
