Midnight in Paris: A Cool Experience

Definitely a good one for Woody Allen. It was perfectly light and lots of fun. Gil Pender, Owen Wilson, finds a portal to the 1920s while in Paris. He learns from writers and artists that he has admired that he should: be true to himself, enjoy life while it lasts, and embrace each situation you are in especially when you can't do anything about it- if he wants to write the best novel he can write. Wilson plays the role perfectly. And, just as in the story where Gil about giving control up and revealing in imaginative, creative thought, Allen does the same with his movie. Some might say, 'hey this is silly, Picasso wouldn't have said that.' or 'Hemingway would never just be wanting to box with a stranger,'. Maybe so. But if you are that much of a stick in the mud, then you are just like the couple at the beginning who may be labeled as experts or intellectuals by our society but who actually can not think outside of the box far enough to have an individual thought or concept. All great geniuses were creative thinkers. I'm not saying that I think Allen is one of the great conceptualists but he certainly one of the only film directors today that challenges the audience to let go of the control box and go for a ride.

Chinatown: What a Downer

But a really really good one. But, man, it starts off as if its going to be just your regular private detective movie, the good guys figures out the mystery and the bad guys pay. Not at all: the end, which Jack Nicholson perfectly expresses on his face, is extreme disappointment and a loss of faith in humanity. Throughout the film, Nicholson mentions that he used to work in Chinatown but has since moved on to more sophisticated police work. He learns his lesson after discovering the deeply embedded corruption that runs through all divisions of governance in the city of LA; from the police to water and power to, one can assume, the politicians who look the other way. Its beyond despicable. So Nicholson fights the best fight he can to find out who really is the firestarter and save the innocent. In the end, the worst that can happen, does and he is left completely helpless against the corruption. Its most disturbing to know that these things happen now, in real life, and its true, there is not much anyone can do because those who have power have money and create the "knowledge" that is accepted as truth. Good luck trying to save us from that. Bummer but heck if Jack Nicholson isn't one of the best actors out there. Faye Dunaway was awesome too.

The Fighter: A Winner

Yep. Really good. Better than I expected. Then again, put Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg together and you inevitably get great character dynamics. They are great actors. The others were all good supports. I love that they show how annoying families can be but then, in the end, the love and trust you can have for each other can mend destructive patterns or give someone the confidence they need to overcome their life obstacle. Bale, the recovering crack addict and "comeback" boxer loved his brother more than himself and in the end can act selflessly for him, freeing him from his restrictive vices. And Wahlberg loves his brother so much that he fights for them, not only himself. Really good acting. Very entertaining.

The Boondock Saints: A Religious Experience

Ha, not really a religious experience for me but definitely for Dafoe's cop character. Wow, he is great to watch. This movie could have easily been horrible if it weren't for Dafoe. There a lot of really cheesy parts, the beginning where the brothers come out of the church and put their sunglasses on and light up cigarettes for starters. THe script is well written, a little odd but entertaining for sure. The brothers are just cute, they act okay. A+ to Dafoe for saving this flick.

Talk to Her: Women are Mysterious

Another excellent movie by Pedro Almodovar, about the intricacies of the female gender. The two male characters express characteristics that are feminine; one learns to accept this quality and the other never questioned it. They both yearn to understand the true inner workings of female nature.

The acting is great, like his other films. The colors also play a role, though not as significant as in All About My Mother. I remember vivid pinks and reds in Talk to Her.

I'm thinking he might be one of my favorite directors for his consistently excellent films; both real and imaginary at the same time, but totally believable.

Bonnie and Clyde: When Criminals Had Morals

I think that this story shows how most crimes and violence is not done without some kind of regret. Today's images of guns, violence, rape, and abuse are often shown with people who feel nothing about killing someone, etc. It is strange because this is not human nature. Those that truly don't have a conscious are unusual and mentally or emotionally disturbed. Bonnie and Clyde was the first movie to show graphic violence and it is fitting that its story was about much more than their desire to be somebody that is remembered or that robs banks. They didn't want to kill anyone. They didn't want to rob the poor. Their love for each other is enough to show how human they are.

The other aspect that this film confronts is that of the law and its constituents who protect it. Before police, etc, popular justice would keep social balance by rising up against what they deemed wrong. THe law set standards and put a "neutral" judge to decide what was right and what was wrong. Because the upper income levels hold more sway, they inevitably effect the law and its judicial outcomes. Therefore, it is hard to say whether people like Bonnie and Clyde would have been seen as such criminals if it weren't for the fact that they broke the law of robbing banks, where the wealthy kept their money. Would the general society have banded together to rise against them? Probably not.

To great acting and great looking leads, Beatty and Farrow.

Please Give: An Honest and Sweet Story

This movie was about people that want to be a good person and those that don't care. Keener plays a worrier mother who owns an antique shop and always is wanting to help those in need. Her neighbor, a ninety year old crass and sometimes racist woman, is taken care of by her granddaughter, Hall, who is humble, selfless, and caring. The sister of the granddaughter, Peet, has a hard shell, or so she tries to portray. The teenager, don't know her real name, is the one who sees it all, as most children do. Throughout the movie, I found myself relating to Hall and Keener's characters. I find myself going back and forth on being a good person naturally but then worrying about if I'm being good enough or to the right people. My sister is like Peet- hard talking and blunt. But I know she does really care about people even though she can be extremely insensitive at times. Keener tried to volunteer at a few places but couldn't because she was too scared of those she wanted to help, or really too scared of not being able to help. Meanwhile, she withheld money that she obviously had, from her daughter but bought nice things for herself and gave money to the homeless. I think, in the end, everyone is good, they are just trying to get by in life and life can be hard. The most important thing is to not be afraid of being not good enough or making a mistake. When, at the end, Keener finally buys the jeans her daughter had been asking for for a while, and she sees her daughters excitement, she is relieved from her worries for a moment because she has given happiness.

You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger: What else could Woody be talking about?

Death, of course. To be fair, he is not always doing movies about death directly, but they are usually about the unstructured nature of life and the lack of control we have over life and death. Save 'Sweet and Lowdown' which was about regret (and his best film yet). Anyway, Stranger was interesting, but nothing new. The characters became slightly obnoxious about halfway through, and thats about the time you are thinking you get the point. new to his movies was the topic of fortune-telling/psychics. And how absolutely looney is but really what difference does it make if you base your actions on whether the planets are aligned correctly or your "gut" feeling or what your dog advises, or how much money you have in the bank. Either way, you don't know how any decision will turn out and you die in the end. Not a dark thought but a real one. I like that about Woody.

The Kids Are Alright: Is Alright

A little forced, in my opinion, contrived would be a better word. Specifically, the lesbian characters who are the stereotypical California lesbians to a tee. When they had their hands in their pant pockets, they seemed awkward so it was a mix of too much stereotype and actors with little experience playing that role. When I put my hands in my pockets, I look gumpy but natural because I do it a lot but when Bening did it, it looked like the director had to remind her every time. Moore was better, but I guess I like her acting moore any way;) I think that, this being a first of Hollywood's Lets-get-comfortable-with-gay family movies, it came off as trying way too hard to feel natural. What I did like about the story was that the children both emulated the parent who was not the parent that everyone compared them too. The son, who was less academic or "lost" was quick to judge their biological father, while the girl clearly wanted to be more open-minded and accepting of him. Though this was never discussed, I think this behavior was meant to show that children will pick up the behaviors of the parent who they admire more. The son felt criticized by his doctor mother and so he, in an innocent way, admired her. The daughter was growing out of this phase and was sick of the pressure put on her by this mother and so she admired Moore more. Parents have a lot of influence on their children's mentality and behavior.

Cassandra's Dream: Not My Dream Movie

Well, well. All the signs point to good movie: good actors, good director, cute accents. Bad assumption. I won't say it was horrible; it was too dark for me so that makes me bias against it. But I also felt that the acting or the accents, maybe both were just too much. It was annoying. The plot, which is just ridiculous and not realistic, was more like a Clint Eastwood! (See previous posting;) Its like they traded sets!!! In general, not that interesting and definitely creepy.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil:The Line of Truth

This movie was not like other Clint Eastwood movies, in my opinion. It was slightly more realistic of a story line, or less idealistic, than say Invictus. That was a good thing. It reminded me of a morally-based story line like Woody Allen's dark films, Cassandras Dream and Match Point. Both of those are too dark for my liking but Eastwood's film lightened the emotion enough to be easy to watch.

Another point about the film that I appreciated was the message of the story. The idea that truth is a personal choice. What you believe to be true is up to each individual. With the cross-dressing character Cheblez juxtaposed with Spacey's seemingly honest character, the movie prompted the viewer to consider what makes something to be true in their mind. I thought this was a unique and interesting concept to bring to film.

Chrysler Ad: Imported From Detroit

I know its not a movie, but I had to say something about how smart this commercial is. Of course, I am partial to it, being that it encourages financial investment in a Michigan made product. But it is the cleverness of the ad that really got me. Imported from...Detroit. Now more people will be thinking about where their car is made, even more than before. And because Eminiem is in cohorts with Chrysler, this feeling, usually found amongst the older folk, will spread to the younger and middle aged crowd- the people who are actually buying cars! Its only slightly cheesy but it verbally recognizes the poverty and crime that most people know about the city but only shows the sophistication that Detroit is capable of. I already knew this city was on the rebound because of the fast growing urban agriculture movement, but this will only help. Great stuff.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: I get it already

Its not that these were bad movies, because they were reasonably entertaining besides having ridiculously long battle scenes. But the simple story of good versus evil was just not enough and I'm guessing the book is about something deeper as well. I did think an interesting aspect of the story was how the powerful characters that were good, like Gandolf and the Lady of the Woods, could have been more powerful but they both contained any desire to become so and this kept any evil beginnings in check. They used their strongest powers only when necessary. The evil characters abused their powers, making them evil. It was neat to see that even the best people were enticed at least slightly by gaining more power, Frodo, Sam, and any one who encountered the ring. Power is like ice cream, once you start, its hard to stop but if you can stop at just enough, its wonderful. Too much and you'll get sick.

Gone Baby Gone: Ben Affleck did this?

Not what I thought it would be. An interesting look at the social rules determining what is good and what is bad and the unequal distribution of power that affords some people the opportunity to do bad things they think are good. The acting was better than average, directing also.

I would say that all the characters were well chosen to depict an average poor neighborhood in Boston, except for the girlfriend detective who was oddly immaculate looking compared to the others. Maybe they wanted some 'beauty' in the film.

To me, the most beautiful part was the very end when the young detective volunteers to babysit the recently returned little girl while her mother continues in her self-centered lifestyle. The best this guy, or anyone, can do to change what they think is wrong is to reflect what they think is right in their own actions. he decided not to take a self-righteous position of deciding what was best for the little girl, but instead thought that if no one was spending time with her, then he would. I like the message. good job ben affleck.

Ali: The Greatest is Not Always The Best

I liked this movie a bit more than I thought I would. Great music. Nice cinematography. Interesting directing. Good acting.

Ali was, if this movie is accurate of his life, one of the best athletes of our time. Able to focus on winning and, despite odds, win. He was so confident in himself and so sure he could win. The interesting part is that he also wanted to be a good person but struggled with this. The viewer sees this through his desire to be a Black Muslim and stand up for the cause he believed in. Yet in the end, is unfaithful to the Muslim religion because he cheats on his wife. He also goes back to the Nation of Islam even though he already knows they are using him. So he was the greatest fighter but that does not mean he has to be a great man in other ways. Malcolm X was his friend that he knew stood up for what he believed in and thought for himself and it seemed like Ali wanted to be that way to, after Malcolm's death.