One of the benefits of my recent travels is the downtime that I have on flights because, truth be told, I’m far from the model employee when it comes to traveling to and fro. While theoretically this may represent some time for me to tap away at my laptop or attempt to make a dent on the mountain of work-related reading I have, I usually spend the time pursuing personal enjoyment in the form of reading books and watching movies. There just is something about flying that stifles my ability to work, which is only exacerbated during longer legs. It seems that there is an inverse correlation between the length of the flight and my productivity. For example, when I used to make regular trips from Chicago to NYC, I would actually get a fair amount of work done. Now, with most of my flights representing at least four hours worth of flying time, I usually just make peace with the idea that I will get little, if any, work done en route. That being said, my recent trips have been incredibly productive from a personal interest standpoint. For example, during the ten-hour hike from Melbourne to Tokyo, I took in three movies and read one book (the highly-enjoyable Absurdistan, written by a former correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation). In total, I’ve seen eight movies over the past couple weeks, including: 1) The Departed; 2) Children of Men; 3) The Prestige; 4) The Last King of Scotland; 5) Blood Diamond; 6) Babel; 7) Stranger than Fiction; and 8) For Your Consideration. Below are my thoughts on each, ranked in order of the enjoyment I derived from each. Be sure to click on the title for a link to that movie’s respective trailer (I’m a sucker for a good trailer).
1. The Departed – It’s great that Scorsese finally managed to take home the little golden statue, but I think this was more a makeup call for the multitude of blown calls on the part of the academy over the years. Seriously, how many movies can you count that were Oscar-worthy but that were passed over? I can count at least six: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Aviator and Goodfellas. In any event, the movie itself was great, but I would say that it definitely wasn’t Scorsese’s best film by any stretch. Nonetheless, the film easily passed the viewability test, whose logic follows that if you find yourself not wanting the movie to end when it ultimately does, then that there is a darn good film. That was me on one of my recent HK-Singapore flights, hoping that Matt Damon’s delivery of the groceries didn’t mark the finale of this dandy of a cop caper. This movie basically had it all – suspense, action, great directing, smart story, awesome cast and solid writing. And it had Boston accents, which are always fun to see being attempted. It was also fun to see Jack Nicholson’s character not even attempt the twang. It must be good to be Jack. Anyhow, this film solidified a few things for me. First, Leonardo DiCaprio is a fantastic actor who easily matches wits with anyone you put behind the camera or on the screen with him. He embraces his roles wholeheartedly and recently took the top spot of my list of guys I’d like to be in the world. This precious spot was previously occupied by David Beckham, but I gave up on him once I realized how annoying it would be to be married to Posh Spice, a realization exacerbated by the fact that his footballing career took a turn for the indifferent when he signed up for MLS. Rather, I’m throwing my envious weight behind Leo, who might be the hottest actor in Hollywood in terms of getting roles (and good ones at that), who has a habit of dating the most beautiful women on the planet (goodbye Giselle, hello super hot Israeli model chick, Bar Rafaeli), and who by now surely has more money than Hilary has detractors (though not by much, I’m sure). As always, Leo was great in this movie, and I found that he dominated some scenes, even amid the standout cast at his side. Second, Jack Nicholson can only play one role, and that’s Jack Nicholson. Seriously, I’m done trying to convince myself that he’s this awesome actor. He’s just not. The guy is fun to watch, no doubt, but he has about as much range as Chuck Knoblach. As an aside, I still can’t believe Morgan Freeman won an Oscar for playing, you guessed it, himself, in Million Dollar Baby. Just absurd. Third, Mark Wahlberg was pretty solid in spot duty, and Matt Damon did an admirable job of getting under my skin, which was what his character was supposed to do, so kudos to him. And Alec Baldwin was pretty good in spot duty as well, though he didn’t play the funny/annoying boss that he has done so well with in recent cameos. Wahlberg confuses me. He can go from absolutely nailing it (Boogie Nights) to sleepwalking (Invincible) to totally falling on his face (Planet of the Apes, though maybe I should blame the writing on that one, or the directing, or the casting). Deep down, though, I’m rooting for him because he has forever won my affection since I learned that he was the inspiration (and part of the brain trust) behind the creation of HBO’s Entourage, which might be the greatest show on TV when it’s not enjoying one of its many 36-month hiatuses. I was also quite happy to learn that Marky Mark has hooked up with Scorsese again to jointly develop yet another series for HBO, which will be a drama about the development of Atlantic City. Check out this link for details. On a separate note, HBO has really nailed it lately. Their shows have been totally solid and their roster of new ideas continues to impress. Well done. In any event, totally solid movie, definitely one of the best of the year (apparently, THE best) and certainly worth the fanfare and price of admission.
2. Children of Men – For some reason, this movie is totally under the radar despite its fantastic director (Alfonso Cuaron of Y Tu Mama Tambien fame) and great cast (Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Cain). It’s by no means a masterpiece, but it’s a totally solid sci-fi, futuristic film with the nitty-gritty feel that has come to epitomize the style of the great modern Mexican filmmakers (including Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu of Babel fame and Guillermo del Toro of Pan’s Labrynth, though his movies have more of a fantasy tilt). It’s a dark, largely depressing take on the future of civilization, set in a London grasping with the fate of a species that has suddenly been confronted with an inability to reproduce (exactly why they can’t reproduce is never fully explained, but I don’t let that deter me). An average, disinterested bloke (Owen) who is basically going through the motions in a life that clearly isn’t really worth living is suddenly thrust into the role of hero, a role that the character accepts without much of a fight. This is somewhat refreshing, as usually you see unlikely heroes fight the placing of the crown, but this guy just takes it in stride and runs with it. Kind of like he doesn’t have much else to do, so he may as well save the world. As with most action hero clichés, the protagonist is faced with a situation where the fate of civilization rests in his unspectacular hands, which is lame as far as storylines go, I know. However, the movie is good enough to make you look past the cliché and enjoy it for what it is – an interesting screenplay written for a great cast and told through the lens of a fantastic director who adds a texture to his films that is hard to mistake. The style of his movies is as recognizable as a familiar voice on the phone. He makes them feel so real and human, a fingerprint of sorts that definitely resonates with me. There isn’t a ton of dialogue (with the exception of Cain’s scenes), which is good. The director lets the story be told through the use of great camera work that captures thought and emotion not by words but simply by pointing the camera in the right direction and letting movie magic unfold. This is a technically superb movie, and Clive Owen is outstanding (one of my favorite actors at the moment). In the end, the real winner here is Cuaron, who now ranks as one of my favorite directors around. I highly recommend this movie. You may not be blown away, but if you have an appreciation for just plain old good moviemaking, you won’t be disappointed. As an added bonus, I think the movie has a great trailer, which you should check out for a test drive by clicking the link in the title above.
3. The Prestige – A buddy of mine who has a high hit ratio when it comes to recommendations of all sorts told me about this movie, and he didn’t disappoint. It stars my favorite actor of the moment, Christian Bale, as the magician Alfred Borden, who is in competition with another magician, Robert Angier, played by Hugh Jackman. The movie is based on the novel written by Christopher Priest, which follows a rivalry that develops between two magicians hellbent on discovering each other’s secrets, a game of one-upmanship that devolves into a story detailing the tragedy that can accompany the obsessive pursuit of power. As always, Christian Bale was fantastic, and Hugh Jackman was tolerable, which was a pleasant surprise for me. Scarlett Johansson looked great, and David Bowie had a spot role that was actually quite good. The film was directed by Christopher Nolan, who has emerged as yet another one of my favorite directors. He first made a name for himself with Memento, but he really solidified himself with his outstanding take on Batman Begins, which starred (again) the perfectly-cast Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne. That film made me a fan of comic book-based movies again, and I’m excited for the next installment, entitled The Dark Knight, starring Bale again as Batman and Heath Ledger as The Joker. It’s slated for a Summer 2008 release. Isn’t it great the we can now anticipate with genuine excitement the forthcoming releases for two long-distressed movie-making institutions? I’m referring to the revitalized Batman and Bond series, which are clearly headed in the right direction with great writing, directing and acting. Anyone who hasn’t seen Casino Royale yet absolutely should. Daniel Craig makes for a serious upgrade from Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, adding an edge that has long been missing. In any event, The Prestige is a smart film that provides a nice running commentary on obsession as well as a fun slight of hand technique that will keep you guessing throughout. The film also has a great tagline, “Are you watching closely?”, which suits the story perfectly. I highly recommend this movie not only for its technical expertise but also for the enjoyment of a good plot twist that isn’t particularly easy to pick out.
4. The Last King of Scotland – This movie combines two of my favorite things in life – good acting and a story about a crazed, power drunk dictator. The film documents the real life experience of a young, brash Scottish doctor who takes off for adventure by volunteering in a Ugandan clinic before being brought into the employ of the dictator Idi Amin. He becomes a close friend and confidante of sorts for the dictator, which opens his eyes to myriad misdeeds that force him into a battle of conscience. For those of you that know me well, you know I am fascinated with the idea of dictatorship. I devour any and all things related to the acquisition of power (often by force) by strongmen and the subsequent absurd folly of rule that inevitably follows. This story is prevalent across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and I can’t consume enough information describing how these megalomaniacs ruin their countries in pursuit of personal wealth and power at the expense of their populace. Just amazing. This fixation motivated me to watch this movie, which I would characterize as quite good but not great. But for the fascinating subject matter and the powerful acting of Forrest Whitaker, this film would rate a B-. The storyline is indeed fascinating, though I would’ve preferred more brutal treatment in the depiction of Amin, as most of his bad deeds went unseen and largely unsaid, which was a wasted opportunity to really rally the audience, if you ask me. Whitaker was awesome in his depiction of Amin and was absolutely deserving of an Oscar. He exploded onto the screen during his first scene and carried the role rather capably throughout. An underrated performance was turned in by James McAvoy, who in many spots was superior to his Oscar-annointed counterpart when they shared the screen. A worthwhile film but nothing to get too excited about.
5. Blood Diamond – I watched this during my one free night in Melbourne, which should’ve been a fun night to go out given that it was the Friday before the grand prix. However, I was incredibly tired and it was raining out, so I bagged it and decided to visit my buddy Leo, who now was patrolling the mean innards of war-torn Sierra Leone as Danny Archer in search of the whale of the diamond industry, the pink diamond. This included plenty of running, dodging bullets and explosions, and a nice, subtle love affair (thankfully not over the top) with the always beautiful Jennifer Connelly. He did this all while pulling off a rather convincing Rhodesian/Zimbabwean accent (I think he called it Afrikaans) and demonstrating a hankering for cigarettes that would’ve made Morton Downey, Jr. proud. He also somehow convinced me that he could kick Vandy’s ass, though he clearly was at least two weight classes below him. Vandy was the guy that Archer crossed with in their effort to track down the pink diamond. Vandy was a fisherman whose village was ransacked by the RUF (Revolutionary United Front), and he was taken as a forced worker for the rebels while the rest of his family was kidnapped. While digging for diamonds under the close and abusive watch of RUF soldiers, Vandy happens upon a massive diamond, which he manages to hide before the camp is attacked by government forces. During his escape, Vandy is arrested and sent to a jail in the city, whereby he happens upon Archer, who himself is a diamond trafficker in need of a good dimaond. This begins an adventure for the two that involves both the search for the diamond as well as the search for Vandy’s family, which includes an elder son in his early teens who was kidnapped by the RUF and forced to become a child soldier. This was a good movie, mainly because it told a story that needed to be told and was carried by solid acting. Not only did Leo fail to disappoint, but Djimon Honsou turned in a surprisingly solid performance as the downtrodden yet determined Vandy. Not just solid, actually, it was fantastic. He did a great job of capturing the anguished helplessness that must permeate parts of Africa dominated by the diamond trade (or any other commodity-based trade, for that matter), where greed and exploitation rule the day at the expense of humanity. A movie worth seeing on several levels.
6. Babel – This movie was yet another very well done one from an artistic perspective, directed by the aforementioned Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and starring a nice ensemble cast comrpised of, among others, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael Garcia Bernal. However, I found it incredibly difficult to watch. The story focuses on four interrelated sets of characters, whose storylines are loosely connected yet ultimatley converge in some pretty random ways. We follow the developments of: 1) Pitt and Blanchett as a husband/wife tandem running away from some family problems by taking a vacation in Morocco; 2) their children at home with their babysitter; 3) a poor family living a meager existence in rural Morocco; and 4) a deaf/mute Japanese girl (Chieko, played with astonishing clarity by Rinko Kikuchi) struggling with being an outcast in a conformist society as well as the suicide of her mother. The film is very well done and the acting is quite solid throughout, particulary that of the babysitter (Amelia, played by Adriana Barraza) and Kikuchi. Brad Pitt also provides a pretty solid turn as the grief-stricken husband dealing with an accident while being stuck in the middle of nowehere in a third world country. In the end, though, this movie was simply too much to stomach. Some of the situations were simply too disturbing and hard to watch, not from a gore perspective but more from a sad, miserable commentary on life perspective. Watching a bad situation turn progressiely worse just got a little old, and it seemed like Inarritu enjoyed putting his audience in an awkward spot, only to turn the knife a few more times for good measure. Towards the end, I had finally had enough with the outrageously depressing developments, and I found myself begging for the movie to put us all out of our misery and just end it already. Again, it was a very well done movie, but I will never find myself yearning for another go at this one. Have I seen Babel? Yes. Will I ever watch it again? Absolutely not.
7. Stranger Than Fiction – This was a decent film. I liked the thrust of the plot initially, though it did grow a bit tired as the movie wore on and eventually became too much before collapsing under its own weight. It’s basically about a guy, Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), who realizes that he’s a character in a novel that is being written by a famous, reclusive writer, Karen Eiffel (played by Emma Thompson). Once he realizes this, he tracks down a psychiatrist, Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), to help him sort things out. The story is clever and the writing is actually quite good. The screenplay was written by Zack Helm, a young up-and-coming graduate from DePaul’s Goodman School of Drama who has penned several well-received plays and is working on his directorial debut entitled Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, which stars Jason Bateman, Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman. Also noteworthy is the fact that he was engaged to Lucy Liu, who I quite like. In any event, the movie was pretty clever but I thought the acting of Will Ferrell was even better (he was nominated for a Golden Globe), which ultimately provides the biggest reason that the film should be recommended. Hoffman, on the other hand, annoyed the hell out of me. He’s started to play his recent roles with a flair for the arrogant that really rubs me the wrong way. The character he played in this movie seemed awfully similar to the ones we saw in Meet the Fockers and I Heart Huckabees. I’m hoping that Hoffman hasn’t jumped the shark, but it appears that he has finally allowed all of his success to get to him, which is clearly affecting his work. Two other notable facts about this movie – it was filmed in Chicago and its soundtrack is littered with one of my favorite bands, Spoon.
8. For Your Consideration – The latest Christopher Guest installment didn’t really move the needle with me. It was definitely in the same vein as some of his previous works such as A Mighty Wind and Best in Show, which I loved, but maybe I’m just a bit tired of the same old bits. However, the writing was sharp and there were definitely some funny moments. I just felt like there was some overacting involved here, and the storyline itself actually made me feel sorry for the characters. This is in stark contrast to his previous films, which made me feel like it was OK to just point and laugh at the sad lot in front of you. This one struck me as too realistic and almost heartfelt, which definitely dulled the humor.
In more movie news, I’m happy to report that one of the greatest actors of our time, Daniel Day-Lewis, has teamed up with one of my favorite directors, P.T. Anderson, to film There Will Be Blood, which is loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s novel “Oil!”. It’s a bout a turn-of-the-century Texas prospector and I’m sure it won’t disappoint. Also noteworthy is the casting of Paul Dano opposite Day-Lewis. He’s the son from everyone’s latest favorite movie about disfunctional families, Little Miss Sunshine. Also, for those of you out there that happen to agree with me on the topic of P.T. Anderson, check this link for a decent blog.
That’s all for now. I’m off for Chicago in a few days, which will involve even more opportunity for movie watching, particularly given that we are now in April. This means that United has replaced it’s March movie run with a fresh roster. Actually, just took a sneak peek at the roster and the only think on there that looks worthwhile is The Pursuit of Happyness. Oh well. Maybe I’ll be forced to actually get some work done.
