invalid robots (un-sci-fi)

I have not read or seen Hunger Games yet. Since it’s everywhere, and sounds relatively interesting (both book and film), I was curious to check it out, but I get more hesitate each time I read a review. Not because of the violence or the stuff the movie left out…but because of the names. The names are just too odd for me to not completely throw me off the story. I think that is a reason why I never got into sci-fi…the unusual names of characters and places. I know, it adds to the imaginative, different landscape – for the reader (or viewer) to escape into a different world… Clearly, I need to stick to the movie because if I was reading this, I think the spell check in my head would just make the names all pop up in bold red.

time spent in

I know my attention span is rapidly shrinking. I'm losing patience in people, in television, in books, in movies.

In an attempt to reverse this, I am trying to only watch slow, drawn out (and hopefully good) movies. Watch them all the way through, without skipping scenes. So far, I did this the other night with two movies (back to back - imagine my attention span just crying and freaking out) - The Science of Sleep (2005) which is drawn out and slow in a dreamy sort of delicate way and An Unmarried Woman (1978) which is unhurried because...well, I'm assuming because it was a 1970s movie and weren't most movies of that time, particularly dramas, kind of slow moving, to draw you in to the narrative?

sure 'nough

Well, hi, there. It's been, eep, ten days or so since my last blog. If you think I've been neglecting my blog, you should see my poor Netflix...I have not been watching movies on the regular.

I watched (a few weeks back but I won't dwell) Savage Grace (2007). It sounded interesting - based on a true story (I tend to like "true crime") about a dysfunctional rich family. They travel lots, look pretty, are super rich and, oh, in the last few minutes, the son kills the mother. Wah?

And that's what this film showed me. If you are going to have unlikeable characters (like this film) you have to either find a way to make them a smidge likable, somehow. To get the viewer to care at all, there has to be some investment. The son kills the mother and you kind of see it coming and don't really care either way. The movie has no soul, which is sad considering it is based on a true story, a crime of passion (I always disliked that phrase)..."passion" indicating there was something going on. I mean, a person kills his mother. There has to be some soul, something interesting, something glimmering behind it...but no, we have pretty characters in pretty settings and that's about it. There are crime reenactment shows on TV that do a better job (in a shorter time frame) about going deeper into the people involved, finding something likable or something for the viewer to latch on to/relate to.

girls on film

I'm undergoing some medical treatment (more on that later, maybe) and one of the side effects is a grumpy sort of mood. Might as well make the most of that and complain about some movies!

So, I don't like most of the roles for women in movies. Here are a few thoughts -

Drag Me to Hell (2009) - I know...it's a horror movie. Fantasy, etc. What annoyed me was 1) why did the gypsy woman curse the loan officer? Why didn't she curse the bank or someone higher up? 2) The female loan officer (and main character of the film) annoyed me so much. She was so passive with the men in her life - her boss, her boyfriend (and what a creepy and skeptical boyfriend Justin Long was in the film), yet, she is super aggressive with the gypsy in the parking lot (I get it, she's attacking her, physically, she must fight). It's also interesting to me that she is "punished" when she acts aggressively (masculine).

I Have Seen the Devil (2011) - A Korean thriller about a man seeking revenge on the man who killed his girlfriend. It was dark, violent and had brief comedic moments. I could see this remade as an American film. What I would love is if they re-imagine it to have the main character (the special agent) as a female. It's doable. She could be taking revenge on her sister's or life partner's death. One could dream.

Midnight in Paris (2011) - Owen Wilson was just miscast in this. That said - I hate, hate, hate the stereotypical mean and shallow girlfriend/love interest/typically a finance. This movie had one - one note Inez who is more cardboard cut out than believable character. Of course Wilson is unsure of marrying her (she doesn't appreciate his art! his not making any money art!) and flees into some sort of alternative universe of 1920s Paris. The movie was lovely to look at (and makes me want to go back to Paris), the cameos of famous artists and writers was amusing (but also felt a little check-listed - like, they didn't naturally flow together that well). BUT, Wilson finds an artist groupie and is just instantly attracted to her. She's cute and she likes "old stuff" too but they really don't explain why he falls for her (she isn't the opposite of Inez, just slightly less annoying). And why does she like Wilson? Especially considering he is up against cute and macho Ernest Hemingway. The chemistry is more assumed than explained. In the end, it turns out Artist Groupie wants to go further back in time and stay there, Wilson does not. I get it - don't hold onto old things (items, relationships), appreciate them, respect them but move on to the present (or else you might miss out of that cute French record vendor, Mr. Wilson).

to the nth degree

I watched Chinatown (1974) yesterday...but it left me with questions.

Questions I wish I could debate with someone, with a group of people. And that is what tends to happen after I see a movie I liked or loved (and sometimes, that I hated). I want to discuss it with someone, analyze it.

But, you say, you have a blog! Just post your analysis on that.

Yes, because that's not like talking to myself, just in print form.

I think I do see, however, where my love of 1920s-1940s came from. Chinatown was a very good 1970s treatment of 1930s-1940s Art Deco style (yes, I was paying more attention to the architecture, furniture and clothing than the dialogue). I think there was a revival of that style in the '70s which I was probably exposed to (particularly all my television watching as a child). When you can pinpoint an influence, a reason why you like something, that's a bit scary, a bit enlightening.

even better than the real thing

[originally posted on myspace on August 31, 2010]

...I got tagged to list 25 movies over on FB but I figured I'd post it over here...just, I don't know, because...because no one blogs anymore...so, here you go, 25 movies I'd recommend at this moment, without much thought...and in no order...

1. Zombieland
2. Milk
3. Empire Records
4. Whip It
5. Adventureland
6. Fight Club
7. Phantom of the Paradise
8. Religulous
9. This Film is Not Yet Rated
10. Fur
11. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
12. Napoleon Dynamite
13. Marie Antoinette
14. Peggy Sue Got Married
15. Heathers
16. Muriel's Wedding
17. Reality Bites
18. Gentlemen Broncos
19. Elsewhere
20. Summer School
21. She Devil
22. Monster
23. Children of the Corn
24. Next Stop Wonderland
25 The Fisher King

[and tacked on today, 12/6/10, just because]
26. Precious
27. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
28. Alice in Wonderland (the Tim Burton one)
29. Thank God It's Friday
30. 300 Cigarettes