The State of the Cabins (1/19/11)

Things to Click On
* If you are a LAMB member and have not yet taken the LIONS for LAMBs poll for 2010, DO IT NOW! The link can be found here. (the Large Association of Movie Blogs)

* Hatter and I bicker about the plots of The Social Network and Citizen Kane, even though even if we hadn't seen them, the internet is full of plot summaries. (The Dark of the Matinee)

* Steve counts down his list of the top 10 directors that set the tone for the last decade. Feel free to disagree with some of his choices *coughSamRaimicough*. (The Film Cynics)

* First, Rachel noticed an odd trend in Jennifer Connelly movies; then she did a double-bill I've been meaning to do for years now...I own both DVDs, just never find a reason to. (Rachel's Reel Reviews)

* Kai's gonna become just the second movie blogging buddy that I'll meet in person; but first, he's gonna list his favorite Gary Busey flicks. (The List)

Quick sidenote: speaking of Busey, this Family Guy gag from their Christmas episode had me laughing more than anything from them in two years.




Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
* Knowing
If I tell you I was disappointed with a Nic Cage flick, you're likely to roll your eyes and call me Captain Obvious or something. But just wait...


Knowing is actually a pretty good movie. Sure, director Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City) does his usual "third act gets friggin' loopy" business, but I was okay with that. If you think of the movie as an adult version of The Last Mimzy (I know, you didn't see that one, either), the nuttiness doesn't come across as so nutty. But see, that's just the problem. I had heard a little something about Nic Cage taking whacks at a tree with a baseball bat. Something or someone had me under the impression that he was doing battle against tree people. I knew there was something apocalyptic going down.

And yet, Knowing isn't all that crazy. It's a gloomy sci-fi thriller with some weird elements, but it never feels as though it's going off the rails. Proyas keeps a pretty steady hand and doles out the bizarro stuff just enough - this isn't The Happening, after all. And our buddy Nic - well, he never really does his Cage thing.

So, as you can imagine, I was pretty let down. Here I was looking for more mockery material and I ended up with a worthy viewing. Knowing won't knock your socks off, but it ain't a waste of your time, either.

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "Whatever."
	Reality: "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."

LAMBScore:

* Oldboy
I went into this new classic pretty damn cold, and I'm glad I did. All I really knew was "hammer fight" and the chief image used of Oh Dae-Su cocked and loaded with said hammer.

Admittedly, I'm not much a fan of Asian cinema, so perhaps Oldboy isn't as fresh feeling to others as it was to me, but I got a real sense that, despite having a plot that could be narrowed down to "revenge story," it really felt like I was watching something new and completely original, a la Fight Club or Eternal Sunshine. Like the rules of predictable cinema had flown out the window and all I could do was sit back and enjoy the ride. This is the reason I defend the work of Richard Kelly (and Southland Tales in general) so much - I looooove that feeling of 'anything goes' (so long as it's still somewhat comprehensible; hence my disclaimers about Southland and distaste for the work of someone like David Lynch).

And boy does it ever in Oldboy. This movie's a great mindf*#k of a film.


Choi Min-sik puts on a hell of show - barely recognizable from the opening shots to the next scene to the rest of the film. Thankfully, I wasn't watching this in a theater - I could back up and catch lines of shots multiple times when needed, and it certainly was for a while there. It's funny at all the right and wrong times. And Lee Woo-jin and Mr. Han make for a terrific pair of villains - one stoic and mysterious, the other suave and vulnerable.

Oh, and to the fellas I talked to the other day, where I said I was a tad unimpressed with the hammer fight...my apologies: I did not realize it was a one-taker! Read that there was just a tad of CGI thrown in to perfect it, but for the most part, au naturel! Makes me want to watch it again.

I'll get to the rest of the Vengeance trilogy soon enough. Oh, and Choi Min-sik's hair is awesome. That is all.

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "You're the best...around!"
	Reality: "It's in the hole!"

LAMBScore:

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
* Is it possible to be obsessed with a song or album that you've not yet even heard?

I woke up one morning this week with the words "halycon days" on the tip of my tongue. Didn't know why. Guess I just like the word "halycon," even though I have no idea what it is (I do that sometimes). Finally, another Best of 2010 reading brings it all back to me - Halycon Digest is the name of the latest Deerhunter album, and it's at or near the top of just about every indie music fan's list for 2010. I'm still not sure if I've ever even heard any Deerhunter songs, but I'd say that, given the universal love, there's probably an 80% I will dig it. I know I could just go to YouTube and listen to something from the album, but something's telling me to just buy it cold (an extreme rarity for music). Why not? Go crazy...

Book I'm currently reading:
* I'm still not finished with Stone Cold, but after having been away from it for a few weeks, I am back to it. Nearing the climax, and it's getting good - quite possibly my favorite of the three Camel Club books thus far.

Now, for the important question of what to read next. Commenter and goody buddy Buffett35 has lent me his copy of The Green Mile after seeing the film on my Films to Watch in 2011 list, telling me I pretty much "gotta" read the books first. Okie doke. Believe it or not, it'll be the first Stephen King book I've ever read...

And then...

Fletch's Film Review: Lions for Lambs; Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

A couple short takes so that I can catch up before the holiday:

Lions for Lambs
When your in high school (or maybe college), often times, though not often enough, your teachers might bring in a movie to demonstrate a theme or analogy to the current events of the day. Covering the Civil War in history class? Watch Glory. Covering Watergate? How bout All the President's Men? Not coincidentally, the star of that film is the director/co-star of this one, which I might show if I were covering the ongoing war in the Middle East.

A bit unfortunately though, the movie feels a bit too much like class, which (as I alluded to with the marketing efforts previously) is probably the chief reason it's failing at the box office. It's preachy. It's lecture-y. It doesn't feature splashy action or much of a plot to speak of, and the sets are sparse, to say the least.

But that's a shame, because Robert Redford has a clear message for its audience, and it's a powerful one that gives the film an edge over most political thrillers these days. It's not ambiguous - in fact, the message smacks you over the face. You! Are you pissed about what's going on with the war, or in general with this country of yours? Do something about it!

It resonated with me, and it's worth seeing.


Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Do yourself a favor and don't read reviews for this movie (except this one, of course). I read two for this heist-gone-wrong flick, after the fact, and was glad I didn't beforehand, as both revealed a pretty significant spoiler pretty nonchalantly. Don't make the same mistake.

This is an actor's showcase, a film with few characters that is owned by each of them. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke play a pair of brothers seemingly on different paths in the world. A plan to grab some cash is hatched, it goes horribly wrong, and what's left is a pretty gripping drama of desperate people doing desperate things that only pile up as time goes by.

Worth a look for the performances by Hoffman and co-star Albert Finney alone. The fact that it was made by 80-something Sidney Lumet is just icing on the cake.

Fletch's Film Rating (for both):

"Darn tootin!"

And then...

TGITDNMAR (11/9/07)

It's that time again for TGITDNMAR, which (obviously) stands for Thank God It's The Day New Movies Are Released.

Lions for Lambs
The Kingdom bombed. Rendition ain't doing so hot, either. The buzz now is, will Lions for Lambs, the latest current events/Iraq war film, share the same fate? I tend to think so, but not just for the shared theme. Personally, I'd like to see the film, but even I admit that I know almost nothing about it. In other words, for the style of film that it is, the trailer is awful.

Sci-fi flicks and comic book movies can get away with teasers, either due to some really cool sh*t in the teaser or because the audience may already be somewhat familiar with the characters/story, but that's not the case with a "serious drama." Sure, star power plays a role, but not so much here. Neither Redford nor Streep have been box office draws in decades (to say nothing of their quality), and Cruise has been plagued by craziness and/or bad press for the past three years.

Short story long: I don't see L4L doing big business, and I think it was badly marketed. Oh, and people might be tiring of Iraq war-themed movies.
Fletch’s Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 62%

No Country for Old Men
Can't you hear it already? "The Coen Brothers return to form!" "Call up Oscar and save the Coens a seat!" "Blah blah blah Coens blah blah Blood Simple!"

There's a good chance I'll be on board as well, though I never really felt like the Coens fell off the track or anything. I must be one or four people that liked Intolerable Cruelty, though I never saw The Ladykillers or The Man Who Wasn't There. The fact is, they've yet to make anything close to a bad movie, so it should be no surprise that this more serious entry is getting broad kudos. Though it does mark the next step towards Josh Brolin slowly taking over the world. First The Goonies, then a whole lot of not much, then Hollow Man (where everyone looked awesome compared to Bacon and Shue), then Planet Terror, and now this and In the Valley of Elah and American Gangster all coming out within weeks of each other. It's a banner year for James' son.
Fletch’s Chance of Viewing: 89%

P2
Whither Wes Bentley? The onetime hot name from American Beauty is now starring as a creepy bad guy in some awful parking lot torture-porn flick? Really?
By the way, the tagline for the film is "A new level of fear." I find this highly entertaining. I just might have to break down and catch this on cable, though I still can't get over what happened to Bentley's career. He was good in Beauty! Really good! I'm flabbergasted. Meanwhile, Matthew McConnauasadfadghey ought to be releasing some lame man-child romantic comedy within the next 12 minutes.
Fletch’s Chance of Viewing: uh, no

Fred Claus
A couple weeks ago, I got the idea to do a "Build 'Em Up, Tear 'Em Down" feature for Vince Vaughn, as I was convinced that he was worthy. Here's a guy that had the world handed to him after Swingers, and yet I wasn't thinking that he had done all that much with his stardom.

Well, I was right and wrong. Though it seems like the comedies of the 00s pale in comparison to prior decades, he has been involved in some of the better ones lately (Old School, Wedding Crashers), and though he seems to have all but given up on dramas, he was in some interesting ones (The Cell, Clay Pigeons). Sure, there were a few misses and/or clunkers along the way (Psycho, Made, Domestic Disturbance), but nothing that I would deem as being pure evil or anything like that. I guess, if anything, it's his settling on what's essentially the same role over and over that bothers me more than anything, since he's a more-than-capable dramatic actor. Then again, he'd probably be getting grief from someone else for not doing enough comedy if he avoided it. Can't please all the people all the time, I guess.

Anyway, this one looks bad. Real bad. Despite an all-star cast, it's hard not to see this as North Pole Crasher. And no one wants to see Paul Giamatti naked.
Fletch’s Chance of Viewing: 6%

And then...