More recent movies: The Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Lincoln, Les Miserables, Moonrise Kingdom, Magic Mike, Ruby Sparks and Safety Not Guaranteed

More movies recently seen: 

2012 The Life of Pi

Pi Patel: So which story do you prefer?
Writer: The one with the tiger.  That's the better story.
Pi Patel: Thank you.  And so it goes with God.

I enjoyed The Life of Pi.  The story was interesting, and the ending is a thinker -it's been on my mind for a few days now.  It's an ending that's completely open to interpretation, but I think the basic idea it poses is that you get to choose whether to believe in the miraculous (meaning God) or not.  What I did not enjoy was the CGI.  I know others found the movie to be beautiful, but it felt fake to me, and fake is not beautiful in my mind.  They did an excellent job with the tiger, and sometimes he looked pretty close to real, but I could tell when he wasn't real.  I understand that filming with a real tiger is difficult, but it can be done.  Same with the whale breaching scene -it's supposed to be magnificent, but it's not real.  A real whale would have been incredible, a fake one is not.  If you have to go fake, I almost always prefer models or puppets (The best job I've ever seen was in Jurassic Park, though I know they did use some CGI.  I like to compare the original Star Wars movies with the puppets to the later ones with the CGI characters -the CGI characters look like video game creatures, so they seem silly to me).  Other than the CGI, I did enjoy the movie, though it's tough to watch poor Pi suffer so much.  They do a good job keeping the movie interesting even with the inherent challenge of having the central relationship of the story be between a boy and a tiger.  We see their relationship develop, and find humor in their dealings: "I can eat the biscuits, but God made tigers carnivorous, so I must learn to catch fish.  If I don't, I'm afraid his last meal would be a skinny vegetarian boy."

2012 Silver Linings Playbook

Tiffany: Are you going to walk me home?
Pat: Are you looking at me?

Pat: You have poor social skills. You have a problem.
Tiffany: I have a problem?  You say more inappropriate things than appropriate things.

This was an interesting movie.  It's a romantic comedy that also deals with more serious issues, such as mental health problems.  Bradley Cooper plays mentally ill and emotionally tormented Pat, portraying him with great depth.  He has just been released from a mental institution after an eight month stint mandated by the courts after he almost kills a man when he catches him in the shower with his wife (with their wedding song playing in the background -cold -a fact that causes him to fly into a rage whenever he hears the song).  He is staying with his parents, who are worried about his still fragile mental health (he has been diagnosed as bipolar, which we see in its raw form when he flies into a manic state over the location of his wedding video one night), as he continues to dwell on getting in contact with his wife in spite of a restraining order requiring him to stay away from her.  He becomes friends with a young widow named Tiffany (played excellently by Jennifer Lawrence), who suffers from mental issues of her own.  Their blossoming friendship is the crux of the story, and their characters are both complicated and interesting. 

While Jennifer Lawrence was great, as the critics have indicated, I was particularly impressed by Bradley Cooper.  He captures the manic rage, the fragility, and the desperate longing of Pat as he continues to mourn the incident that broke up his marriage and longs to prove to his wife that he is ready to be a good husband (he exercises constantly to lose weight for her, reads all the books she assigns to her students, and is trying to improve himself in general).  It includes some fun music and dancing, which I liked, of course, and a budding romance.  I was a little baffled by Robert DeNiro's character, Pat's father, who is extremely obsessed with the Philadelphia Eagles and oddly superstitious about the effect every little thing will have on their performance, but he did a good job with the part.  Tiffany is an enjoyable character, deeply damaged after the death of her husband (and she had already suffered with some depression prior to this).  His death led to some self-destructive promiscuity ("I was a slut.  There will always be a part of me that is dirty and sloppy, but I like that, just like all the other parts of myself.  I can forgive.  Can you say the same for yourself, fucker?  Can you forgive?  Are you capable of that?") and sometimes rage, but she is spirited and smart, not to mention hilarious when she keeps popping out and startling Pat on his runs and persists in following him:

Pat [As Tiffany pops out behind him running]: What the hell?
Tiffany: What happened to your face?
Pat: Weight lifting accident.
Tiffany: That sounds like bullshit.  Why’d you run by my house?  Did our little conversation get you upset last night?
Pat: Hey, this is my route, okay?  Just back off.
Tiffany: This is my neighborhood.  You just ran by my house.
Pat: I like to run by myself, okay?
Tiffany: Me too. [Continues to follow him]
Pat: Hey, I like to run alone!  Will you stop?
Tiffany: What?
Pat: Okay?  I’m running here!
Tiffany: Me too!
Pat: Well then, why don’t you run somewhere else?  There’s a fucking ton of roads to run in!  What are you trying to do?
Tiffany: I like this road.  This is my neighborhood.
Pat: Oh, come on, please!
Tiffany: Calm down, crazy.

I'll definitely want to see it again when it comes out on video.

2012 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey


"Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found.  I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay.  Small acts of kindness and love.  Why Bilbo Baggins?  Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage." -Gandalf

"I know you doubt me.  I know you always have, and you're right.  I often think of Bag End.  I miss my books, and my arm chair, and my garden.  See, that's where I belong.  That's home, and that's why I came cause you don't have one -a home. It was taken from you, but I will help you take it back if I can." -Bilbo Baggins

I did not have very high expectations of The Hobbit after hearing some negative word of mouth, but I enjoyed it a great deal.  Very entertaining, kept my interest -humor and excitement.  Martin Freeman was great as Bilbo, the reluctant adventurer who becomes a hero, and I liked all the dwarfs (though I can't remember any of their names).  They all had a lot of character.  It was interesting, because the dwarfs look a lot taller in this movie, because they are mostly standing next to Bilbo, as opposed to elves and humans, so we see a different perspective.  It was funny when they visited Rivendale, because they are such fish out of water, being served vegetables for dinner and listening to elves play harps.  Richard Armitage (from North and South) plays the lead dwarf, and he was perfect as the king trying to restore the homeland of his people.  We get to see a lighter side of Galadriel, which I liked, and Gandalf is back to his fun, loveable self (as opposed to his uptight, ever serious self when he becomes Gandalf the White in The Two Towers).  Peter Jackson did a good job of making the scene with Bilbo and Gollum match the flashback in The Fellowship of the Ring perfectly.  Some of the battles were a little (okay a lot) unbelievable, with the characters surviving incredible things, but that's okay.  I would have liked to see more orcs portrayed by actors in costumes instead of manufactured with CGI, but oh well, it wasn't very distracting.  There was also a pretty bad one-liner from the Orc king that really should have been left out, but overall it kept my attention and was quite satisfying.  I'll enjoy watching it again when it is released on DVD.

2012 Lincoln

"I could write shorter sermons but when I get started I'm too lazy to stop." -Abraham Lincoln




I had very high hopes for this movie, but I have to admit I found it lackluster.  Daniel Day Lewis did a good job as Lincoln, but he was just kind of boring.  He soliloquizes so often and so long I almost fell asleep (the quote above pretty much sums it up).  I really didn't need to hear every thought that went through his head.  I enjoyed Tommy Lee Jones a lot (he played Thaddeus Stevens) -I thought his character showed a lot of strength when he agreed to compromise his moral ideals in order to get the 13th amendment passed.  It hurt him a lot, but he finally recognized that getting the amendment passed was so important that he needed to compromise -for the moment at least.  One step at a time.  Progress had to be made, even if it wasn't complete equality all at once like he wanted -he was right, of course, but at least it was an important step forward.  It was also funny when the mention of women getting the vote was mentioned and there was a huge chorus of outraged "No!"s from both sides -even the most forward thinking of the men couldn't handle that!  I guess I was just hoping for more -something a little more gripping, like Amistad.  Tyler would have liked at least a couple of short battles.  Instead, we got to watch as practically every House Representative cast their vote, one at a time, on the amendment -this may have been suspenseful if we didn't already know that of course it would be passed, so it was instead rather tedious.  As Lister from Red Dwarf would say, Tyler and I were "un-gripped."

2012 Les Miserables

"To love another person is to see the face of God." -Jean Valjean

"Here they talked of revolution.  Here it was they lit the flame.  Here they sang about tomorrow, and tomorrow never came." -Marius

I saw Les Miserables on opening day (Christmas), and was very pleased.  I pretty much got exactly what I expected.  The acting was terrific -if you listen to the soundtrack clips, the songs don't seem quite right, because you really need to see the performances, not just hear the songs.  For listening quality, the Broadway soundtracks are better.  Hugh Jackman was great, and Colm Wilkinson (originator of the role of Jean Valjean) had a guest role as the bishop.  Eddie Redmayne (from My Week with Marilyn) was truly excellent as Marius.  His performance of Empty Chairs as Empty Tables was so powerful -it's the best I've seen that number done.

I liked Samantha Barks as Eponine (one flaw -during On My Own you get a glimpse of a perfectly manicured thumb nailed -Mahala noticed it too!), though A Little Fall of Rain didn't have the punch I was hoping for, but I guess that was more on Eddie Redmayne's side, and was probably a decision by the director.  I would have preferred he show a little more surprise when he realizes that she's been in love with him all this time, and I would have liked it if he has seemed a little more upset and kissed her, as I've seen in some versions (not just on the forehead).  Ah well, director's prerogative.  It's hard to top Lea Salonga in my mind.  I have high standards because Eponine has always been my favorite character -I was annoyed that Samantha Barks was never listed with the cast even though she plays a major character just because she is unknown in Hollywood (she plays Eponine on Broadway).

 

Russell Crowe as Javert was the weakest singer of the bunch, but it didn't bother me much, because I liked his performance.  His suicide was pretty intense.  I heard that some didn't like Amanda Seyfried as Cosette, but I thought she was fine -I never liked the adult Cosette much anyway, because I am team Eponine, but Cosette isn't actually in the movie all that much.  Young Cosette was a charming child, and had a perfect face for the poster.  Gavroche was okay, not my first pick.  Anne Hathaway was incredible.  When she sings I Dreamed a Dream, they basically shot it in one long take zoomed in on her face -talk about an intense performance.  That must have been so difficult.  I see an Oscar in her future.  I loved the finale, when Valjean dies and is lead to heaven by Colm Wilkinson (perfect) and rejoins all those lost at the barricade in a triumphant reprisal of Do You Hear the People Sing.  Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter weren't amazing musically, but were comically great at the Thenardiers.  The opening sequence when the prisoners are hauling in a ship while singing Look Down was amazing.  Such a visually powerful scene.  It was overall a very satisfying adaptation, and I look forward to it coming out on video -the music has been stuck in my head ever since.

Rentals:

I have been reading online to see which movies are likely to receive nominations for Oscars this year (not just for Best Picture, but for the other categories as well), so that I can get a head start and have seen as many as possible before the ceremony.  This means watching some movies that I wouldn't normally watch, which included, last night, Moonrise Kingdom and Magic Mike (Matthew McConaughey may receive a Best Supporting nomination).

2012 Moonrise Kingdom

"We're in love.  We just want to be together.  What's wrong with that?" -Suzy


Moonrise Kingdom is a very quirky, oddly directed movie.  The characters don't act or speak much like real people, which I found amusing, and Tyler hated.  It's overall pretty unbelievable, but I think that's beside the point.  It's about two twelve year olds, Sam and Suzy, that fall in love and decide to run away, and the people trying to track them down.  I thought the love story was sweet -the two kids are dysfunctional, but work together, and are likeable.  Bruce Willis was great as the police captain helping to find them, and Edward Norton plays a humorous Khaki Scout Master.  Frances McDormand and Bill Murray play Suzy's parents, and they feel a little flat.  It wasn't a great movie, but it kept me entertained, and the ending was satisfying.

2012 Magic Mike

Mike: I have, like, $13,000 saved.
Paige: Wow.  That's a lot of ones.
Mike: There are some fives in there.
Paige: Oh, ok.  No twenties?
Mike: Oh, you don't wanna know what I have to do for twenties.


I really had no interest in seeing Magic Mike, and didn't force Tyler to sit through it.  It wasn't as bad as I expected.  It wasn't great, but it did show a different side of the world -the world of male strippers.  It's kind of a seedy underbelly of society movie, with lots of swearing, sex, drugs, and partying.  The main character, Mike (Channing Tatum), was a likeable enough guy, and I wanted to see him succeed in escaping the life he's in to start his own business as he dreams of doing.  It wasn't terrible, and now if Matthew McConaughey wins, I'll be able to have an opinion on the matter -before form that opinion, I'll have to see the other performances of course!


I have also checked out a couple of movies that I just saw previews for that looked kind of interesting to me, including Ruby Sparks and Safety Not Guaranteed.

2012 Ruby Sparks

"This is the true and impossible story of my very great love.  In the hope that she will not read this and reproach me, I have withheld many telling details: her name, the particulars of her birth and upbringing, and any identifying scars or birth marks.  All the same, I cannot help but write this for her, to tell her "I'm sorry for every word I wrote to change you, I'm sorry for so many things.  I couldn't see you when you were here and, now that you're gone, I see you everywhere."  One may read this and think it's magic, but falling in love is an act of magic, so is writing.  It was once said of Catcher In The Rye, "That rare miracle of fiction has again come to pass: a human being has been created out of ink, paper and the imagination."  I am no J.D. Salinger, but I have witnessed a rare miracle.  Any writer can attest: in the luckiest, happiest state, the words are not coming from you, but through you.  She came to me wholly herself, I was just lucky enough to be there to catch her." -Calvin



In Ruby Sparks, Calvin Weir-Fields is a novelist whose first book was a huge hit.  He is now struggling to write his next book.  After having a dream about a girl, he begins to write about her.  She is Ruby Sparks, his dream woman, and he falls in love with her.  His love, or magic (or something), miraculously brings her to life.  Things go well until he becomes worried that she will leave him, and he breaks his vow to never change her, and begins writing her again, with disastrous consequences.  He isn't able to undo the damage he has done, and Ruby's character becomes increasingly unstable, until Calvin completely loses it and makes her do a bunch of crazy things, such as barking like a dog:

Ruby: You don't get to decide what I do.
Calvin: Wanna bet?

He then realizes that the only way to fix this, is to set her free, and he writes, "She's no longer Calvin's creation.  She is free," though it is devastating for him to lose her.  He has seen that there cannot be love where there is no free will, where he has total control.  She becomes the inspiration for his next bestseller, and the movie has a sweet ending, full of possibility.  It was a different sort of movie, and Tyler particularly liked it.

2012 Safety Not Guaranteed

Kenneth: You ever face certain death?
Darius: If it was so certain, I wouldn't be here, would I?

I preferred Safety Not Guaranteed, also a very unique movie, which Tyler didn't like as much, over Ruby Sparks.  It is about Darius Britt (Aubrey Plaza), a quirky, depressed young woman working as an intern at Seattle Magazine.  She is unhappy, but doesn't really know why.  She, another intern, and one of the writers go to investigate an ad they find in the classifieds to see if it would make for a good story.  The ad reads: "Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me.  This is not a joke.  P.O. Box 91 Ocean View, WA 99393.  You'll get paid after we get back.  Must bring your own weapons.  Safety not guaranteed.  I have only done this once before."  Darius poses as the person answering the ad, and begins training with the writer, Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass), who sincerely believe that he is able to time travel, and that government agents are following him.  She reports their activities back to her co-workers, including an incident when she accompanies Kenneth when he breaks into a building to steal lasers:

Jeff: Fuckin' lasers?
Arnau: What kind of lasers?
Darius: I don't know, I'm not a freakin' storm trooper.
Arnau: Stormtroopers don't know anything about lasers or time travel.  They're blue collar workers.

As she and Kenneth get to know each other, and continue to train for their mission, we see Darius finally finding happiness in this peculiar situation, the cloud finally lifting from her.  Somehow, this all fits for her, and her attraction to Kenneth grows.  Is Kenneth crazy?  Can he really time travel?  It's a fun story with a great ending.