Collected Thoughts #1

With my final semester of college beginning, starting a job this week, buying and moving into my first house, and a first kid on the way, not to mention my several other Internet projects, I realize now that I can't continue writing full-fledged pieces on everything I watch. I will, however, try to do these capsule reviews every week or two on what I've watched since my last writing and my thoughts.

Pride and Gloryy (2008) was sterile and cold. The corrupt cop story has been done many times. The score was intrusive and manipulative. Edward Norton and Colin Farrell played close to their respective strengths, but neither hit any notes we haven't seen previously and done better.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) was enjoyable from the standpoint of someone who has loosely followed the franchise (through film adaptations only). It was noticeably darker, both visually and in terms of content. No real strokes of genius, but fairly strong character acting from series lynchpins like Alan Rickman and Michael Gambon helps. Sets up to the inevitable finale quite abruptly.

Inland Empire (2006) is a nearly three-hour journey through the nightmarish, bizarre mind of filmmaker David Lynch. Deals with the perception of reality, frightening forewarnings, prostitutes revealing their bare breasts, spousal abuse, murder, hypnosis, jealousy, adultery, and -- well, the list could go on and on. Lynch is certainly not for everybody. Amid disturbing imagery and the film's undeniable mysteriousness, Laura Dern gives a fantastic performance and anchors the film admirably, arguably its saving grace from devolving to a completely muddled misstep. Shot on digital video it has a certain grainy aesthetic that I liked. Despite its inherent weirdness, I did find myself fascinated by it, and it takes up residence in your mind long after it ends.

Morvern Callar (2002) is a quiet character study of a girl (Morvern Callar played by Samantha Morton) in the days following her boyfriend's unexpected suicide. We basically fill the role of voyeurs, watching on as Morvern picks up the pieces of her life, working at a supermarket, opening her Christmas presents, and chopping up her decaying lover's corpse in the bathtub. Callar erases her boyfriend's name from his manuscript and submits it as her own work. We don't know why Callar is as she is, unfortunately, we're only privy to the present as she pushes forward past grief and loss. It's a film that feels unresolved in some ways, but while it didn't appeal to me on some levels, Morton's performance is captivating, even with very little dialogue, and for it alone the film is worth a serious look.

Once (2006)

A really terrific, tender, beautiful film. A lot of its 85 minutes of running time consists of music, be it playing it in the streets, recording it, talking about, etc. This had me somewhat apprehensive beforehand but I can safely say my concerns were unwarranted. I wouldn't call it a musical, people don't break out into song randomly, etc. All the music is inherently tied to the storytelling.

In short, the plot is about a guy (the two lead characters are unnamed, credited as simply "Guy" and "Girl") in Dublin who works in his father's vacuum cleaner repair shop. When not at work he's working on his true love music. He plays in the streets and that's where he meets the "girl". They bond over music, as well as the shared experience of past loves gone awry. The story takes place within the confines of a week, wherein she helps him record a demo he'll be taking with him to London.

I don't want to explore the story in any more depth, I feel it'd be a disservice to this brilliant film. I do want to mention my three favorite scenes. First, when Guy plays his demo for his father for the first time. There's this pause while he's waiting for his dad's reaction. Will he like it? Will he think he's a fool and wasting his time? Secondly, during an all-night recording session, Guy and his ragtag band of other street performers and Girl fight off sleep. Even though everyone is thoroughly beat, they press forward, not allowing the night to end, taking a break from the confines of the studio to toss frisbee on the beach while the sun comes out. It reminded me of times I spent with friends, during that stretch right after high school, where nobody knew for sure where we'd be in the future but in the interim we were all about making the most out of every moment right then. Lastly, my favorite moment, was the first time Guy and Girl play music together in a downtown music shop. Its such an astoundingly beautiful scene. Really, truly, one of the better moments captured in film in the decade of the 2000's. They play Guy's original song "Falling Slowly". It's worth seeing the film for this scene alone.

Glen Hansard plays Guy and does a terrific job. His real life career is a musician, and he's clearly gifted in that regard, but he also was able to bring to the role a boyish enthusiasm and optimism that made the character so likable. Markéta Irglová plays Girl and is also fabulous. Remarkably, she was only seventeen at the time the movie was made. Her character has a practicality about her, fighting off youthful idealism, showing a sense she is much wiser beyond her years. This is one of the best films released in 2006.

The Jerk (1979)

I'd never seen this movie but have saw it sitting on video store shelves for nearly two decades now. I mistakenly thought the premise was that Martin was some sort of jerk, maybe an egoist, loudmouth, etc. In fact, that's not (quite) the case, Martin plays essentially the most gullible, naive man I've seen in cinema. From the first scene I knew I was in for something different, as Navin R. Johnson (Martin), now a bum living on the street, began retelling his story stating, "It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child." For those that don't get the inherent humor, or have never seen Steve Martin, he's about as white as rice.

They don't make comedies like this anymore. Nowadays, they'd (most likely) toss Seth Rogan or someone into the lead role, add in some contemporary music to boost soundtrack sales, boost up the foul language and toilet humor, etc. But here, they allow the film to rely on Martin and his immense comedic strengths. His timing is suburb. From the moment he hitchhikes away from his Mississippi home, everywhere he lands, from working as a gas station attendant, to traveling with a carnival, losing his virginity in a trailer to a punk rock stunt woman, we are kept interested and laughing by Martin's portrayal of lovable loser Navin.

It doesn't have the emotional heft of Martin comedic gem Planes, Trains & Automobiles, which I recently watched and wrote about, but does offer a hefty dose of quality laughs and moments. Navin's first love Marie (Bernadette Peters in a fantastically understated and cute performance) helps anchor the second-half of the film. As stated before, the film doesn't offer much in the way of an emotional punch, but there is one scene I found quite beautiful, as Navin (playing the ukulele) and Marie walk along the beach at night singing "Tonight You Belong to Me", ending sweetly with Marie doing a cornet solo.

Angels & Demons (2009)

It doesn't get as muddled in the details as its predecessor The Da Vinci Code, but the end results are still pretty uneven. One thing I noticed fairly early and irked me is that the characters are constantly talking "at" each other and not "to" each other. To clarify, it never feels as if anyone is having a genuine conversation. Everything spoken (typically shouted) is constantly driving the plot forward endlessly, there's never moments of pause or reflection. I can understand that Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is a Harvard professor, and thus, understandably quite brilliant. How come everyone else is so smart? One of his partners, running around Rome from one plot device to the next, is Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer). Vetra is a scientist, yet, somehow without clear explanation during the proceedings she appears as nearly Langdon's equal in his own field (symbols), helping him translate Latin, extrapolate on theological riddles, etc. Even it seems the local security force doubles as art historians, driving from one sculpture to the next as if adrenaline junkie taxi drivers.

Once the ball gets rolling on the suspense portion of the film, it is fairly entertaining and compelling save you don't get bogged down in all religious drudgery. Its never riveting but fairly innocuous entertainment.

My Summer of Love (2004)

Am emotionally exhausting film about despair. I'm quite sure despair is not the right word, although hope is in short order, and melancholy permeates throughout. It never hits a false note yet is tirelessly discordant. It's about two girls and their summer together, one full of love, lust, deceit, and ultimately disappointment. Mona (Natalie Press) is a girl with no family outside of her "born again" brother. The only other man in her life is an adulterous cretin who has no ambitions for them beyond his own selfish design. Then along comes Tamsin (Emily Blunt in a terrific performance), fresh from boarding school, a dangerously smart, cavalier soul who befriends Mona. But what are Tamsin's intentions? Is she just bored and lonely?

The girls are quite different. Mona is all "what you see is what you get" with her sharp tongue and homeyness. Tamsin is very pretty, but prattles off about Nietzsche, using her intelligence as a defense mechanism to disguise her own woes. Their first kiss, in a creek, is awkward, later, naked together in the emptiness of Mona's summer home, their affection is more natural. But, this isn't a love story, not by the numbers. It's much more than that. And, as the third act draws nearer to its close, its almost difficult to watch as revelations are made, composure is crushed, and even faith itself is questioned. The Yorkshire countryside makes for a beautiful backdrop for a story that itself isn't so glamourous.