“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” — Gone With the Wind (1939)
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The Fall (2006) That movies like this can even be made is a hopeful sign that not every single miserable thing in this cynical world is about money. The film is visually spectacular, and there’s no CGI . . . it’s all real, and sometimes, as the landscape morphs from arid mountain to lush terraced valley, you feel as if you’ve stepped off a cliff. During the first half of the movie I wanted to call my son and tell him to rent it for my grandchildren. During the second half I decided that if it is up to me they won’t see it until they’re in their thirties. This is a profoundly adult movie with a profoundly adult theme, and you’ll need to be strong to come out the other end with your normal chipper outlook. A surprisingly moving experience. |
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Cadillac Records (2008) There’s too much history crammed into this 1 hr, 48 min movie. The result is that it hurries over two important chapters: the cheating of black artists by recording studios, and the theft of black artists’ music by white artists. To be fair, the movie does touch on these topics, just enough to make you want to know more. The music is brilliant, and if you watch it only for the tunes, you’ll be richly rewarded. |
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Transporter 3 (2008) Steven Seagal movies were okay for a long time, only getting crappy after the first dozen. The Transporter franchise got there in two . . . and this is the third. It’s not so much Jason Statham: he’s decent (as was Steven Seagal, back in the days when he could do his own fight scenes and fit into his yak hair serape). No, it’s the movies themselves: cheesy fight scenes, fakey CGI, mindless violence, impossible feats . . . maybe we’re supposed to watch these films in the same way we “read” comic books. But they’re not even that good. I wonder if the Crank series is any better. |
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Rocknrolla (2008) When did gangster flicks start being charming? Actually, I think I know: in 1972, with Sam Peckinpah’s “The Getaway,” starring Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw. Rent it & you’ll see what I mean. Before Peckinpah, the Hays Code ensured that whenever movies depicted criminal or immoral activity, suffering and remorse would immediately ensue. Today, movies tell us that the life of crime is nonstop fun & games, and the suffering — even the dire suffering depicted in RocknRolla, as gangsters beat, stab, shoot, run over, and dunk one another into carnivorous crawfish-infested waters — seems more an extreme sport than brutality. It’s those cute British accents, innit? I sound like I’m ranting and raving about the moral message of this movie, and I suppose I am a bit (see, I worry about what happens when the Truk Nutz crowd sees movies glorifying crime and mayhem), but I have to admit I quite enjoyed RocknRolla, was utterly charmed by the characters, had a jolly good time, and will certainly watch the promised sequel. |
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Choke (2008) I was disappointed. Everything about the movie was forced, artificial, superficial; there’s not one single genuine moment in it. The plot was, mainly, an excuse for T&A, and things that were supposed to be funny weren’t. It’s Transformers for boys who’ve outgrown Hot Wheels and are now interested in sex. |
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Star Trek (2009) This isn’t a DVD review since the movie doesn’t have a DVD release date yet, but I did see the movie (on opening night, yet), and here’s my review: A sci-fi fan will always have something to say about the science in sci-fi movies, so I’ll just get that out of the way now: what science? Why’d they even hire a science advisor (Carolyn Porco, the leader of the Imaging Science team on NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn) if they were going to blow off science? But hey, there was no fealty to science in the original TV series, and the movie’s not about science anyway: it’s about how the original TV characters — Kirk, Bones, Spock, Scotty, Uhura, Chekoff, and Sulu — came to be. Simon Pegg as Scotty is, to me, the most stand-out casting choice, but everyone else is excellent too. Non-stop action? I’m still exhausted, weeks later (actually, there’s so much action the overall effect is numbing; this is a movie for people afflicted with ADD). You will love the movie. You’ll love the DVD, when it finally comes out. |