Last week I diverged from the best movies list and spent my evenings bouncing between genres. Classic movies are often very entertaining, but sometimes I just need a bit of fluff.
The week started with Hellboy II. I thought the first installment in this franchise was quite entertaining. The first movie storyline was imbued with really cool Nazi occult characters, fun dialog, and great special effects. So I was really looking forward to more of the same in the second movie. It was obvious that the second movie had a much larger budget because the special effects were amazing. The director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) created a wonderful world of odd characters. However, I got the feeling that the big budget was allowed to overwhelm the weak storyline. The creatures were very impressive, but the sequel did not live up to original.
Then I moved on to True Grit, which left me strangely empty. The film included all the quirky characters for which the Coen brothers' movies are famous. However, for some reason, I felt a little unsatisfied at its conclusion. It was well-crafted, beautifully filmed, rather violent, but for some reason there seemed to be a disjointed feel to it. More like a series of vignettes strung together into a revenge/quest movie. It reminded me a bit of O Brother, Where Art Thou? With that said, the actor's performances were all quite impressive - Matt Damon was quite humorous, particularly after the scene where he bites through his tongue. However, I think the quirky characters may have diluted the storyline just a bit. It is hard to really get into the revenge state of mind when you have no connection to the original victim, all the characters are a bit broken, and you don't have time to develop any sympathy or empathy for any of them.
And, with broken characters in mind, I ended the movie week with Blue Valentine. This movie was worth the wait. Fully formed characters, artful storytelling, and voyeuristic cinematography easily made this my pick of the week. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were both quite remarkable and believable in their roles as both teenagers and adults. The movie begins at the end of a relationship that has run its course. Interspersed into the telling of the final weekend of this relationship are flashbacks from each character’s perspective from their first dates. While this could have devolved into a chick-flicky, tear festival, the documentary style of filming kept the emotions just on the edge. And, believe me, as I have stated before, I will cry during a television commercial, but I was so engrossed in the characters and storytelling that the tears really never materialized. I am still not sure why this movie was almost slapped with an NC -17 rating as it is rather tame. Not to give anything away, but the ending, while not what you may be hoping for, is really the only way the movie could end.
Next week, I am focusing on the third seasons of True Blood and Rescue Me. So stay tuned…
I was glad to read your thoughts on Blue Valentine, as when I read about it when it was playing at The Carolina Theater, I thought, "I definitely would like to see that one."
ReplyDeleteAnd now, after reading your tease, "...while not what you may be hoping for [in an ending]," I'm even more excited. I like it when people die in the end. A murder-suicide is bonus. :-)
Have you seen the original John Wayne version of "True grit"? Watch that on netflix and then I would love to debate it with you. Much read the book too since the Coehn brothers hyped their movie as being so much closer to the book.
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