Yeah, I don’t think I’ll pay for Stooges
Young Adult 4/5…I forget that Charlize Theron can act from time to time…this film was a reminder of that….she plays a completely unlikable self involved ex prom queen who decides to recapture her glory days by winning back her high school boyfriend. Patton Oswalt it excellent in a supporting role. Better than Juno.
This Angry Age 1958
René Clément directs and Diego Fabbri provides the screenplay
Dispiriting 5/10
LINK
North by Northwest (1959, Alfred Hitchcock) – 4/5
Phoenix (Dir. Keisuke Kinoshita, 1947)
It can be difficult to buy into a melodrama when you agree with the wrong characters. That small problem aside, Phoenix was very enjoyable as a portrait of a woman.
@Rgrimes – I got the impression that Young Adult was the work of someone who hadn’t let go of her grudge against all those popular high school bitches. We’re supposed to see that Mavis Gary is pitiful, but it occurred to me that Diablo Cody might be the pitiful one here. I kept thinking to myself, ‘Diablo, you are 33 now. Get over it.’
The Cabin in the Wood 7.5/10
Really good fun and as a fan of the horror genre, it was made me pretty giddy which I think it was aiming for than scares. It was a film that I wish was a little longer, about 15 minutes more to at least give off more of the off-beat nature of the change in character behavior. The ending was also a little rushed but for the core of what it was doing, it was doing it well. I know the issues were financial but it pretty amazing how long this was in post-production limbo.
@ Nathan:
I thought Young Adult was a much more mature work than Juno. It’s hard to create a good film where the lead character is so unlikable. I thought that this film succeeded in doing that. Mavis is pitiful…….I think she’s a familiar type of person though…one who can’t let go of her past high school glory…..which is pretty pathetic as high school means virtually nothing in the scope of a whole human life. You aren’t even the person you are going to become in high school yet. Mavis had a life of disappointment and regret and her desperate grasp to return to her former glory rang true.
Even if Diablo Cody is still nursing a grudge against her high school nemesis, I thought it still translated into a pretty fine piece of film work.
@Rgrimes:
My take is that Mavis’ pitifulness translated into Diablo Cody’s pitifulness. That she could not bring herself to create something less cruel is indicative of her own character.
At any rate, Young Adult does include a heavy dose of Teenage Fanclub, which is always a plus in my book.
For me, having likeable characters is only important in a certain kind of film. Specifically, films where the characters start with a goal and the film is about the achievement of that goal, like action films or science fiction. For films that are more along the lines of dry comedy and culture satire, it’s okay for characters to be a little less likeable so long as the film has some kind of decent moral core.
Personally when I see a character who basically means well but has personal flaws that prevent them from expressing it socially, that’s when I feel most compelled to root for them.
I didn’t really like Young Adult, Jason Reitman movies and I are not really simpatico, but I thought it was not so much Mavis’ flaws but that everybody but Patton Oswalt’s Matt seemed to just be victims of Mavis or bystanders who are not really well fleshed-out. Buddy in particular was a frustrating character though that might have been Patrick Wilson as an unconvincing small-town guy. I do agree that Cody revealed a lot about herself, especially scenes of Mavis overhearing teenager and taking cues from them about what is ‘realistic’, compelling teenager dialogue, but I wish there was more there around Mavis and Matt.
TV seems to do better than current mainstream cinema of creating unlikeable characters who are still compelling to watch like Don Draper and Walter White. Even Cody’s Tara Gregson went from whimsy, quirky to really dark in a realistic way. I guess there is more time to build and mold episode to episode.
@Jirin – I don’t need to have likable characters at all. The problem I have with Young Adult is that Cody made a construct and then heaped all of her scorn and hatred on to that construct. She buried Mavis in as many disgusting character details as possible and then surrounded her with a supporting cast that acted unrealistically at best. The movie itself is cruel to Mavis. I don’t have any big love for popular high school girls or stuck up adult bitches, but I reached a point in Young Adult where I thought, ‘Okay, I get it, adults still living in a high school mentality are pathetic. Next.’
THE GANG’S ALL HERE 5/5
Saw THE GANG’S ALL HERE yesterday, a cleaned up and restored print of the Busby Berkeley Technicolor Freakout. A lot of fun, no doubt, with the sublime Carmen Miranda wiping up the screen with absolutely everyone and everything — you kind of start to feel bad for anyone unlucky enough to share the screen with her. Only Edward Everett Horton comes close, the old fox manages to rise to her wackadoo level in one scene.
This is the movie with the great mad number “The Lady With The Tutti Frutti Hat” featuring all those chorus girls waving really really large bananas. There’s plenty of weird stuff going on, especially in that delirious final number that just goes on and on and on, wow.
Very strange film — I can’t say it is particularly good by most standards, but it feels like they’re on to themselves. The storytelling is virtually non-existent. What passes for a plot is wrapped up in what has to be the most perfunctory resolution in the history of dramatic presentation. Somehow I give it a pass for this — the movie isn’t even really trying for a tight well-written story. It’s about silly outlandish musical numbers and quick burlesque type scenes and energetic weirdness and Carmen Miranda referring to Mr. Potter as Mr. Potty. Take it seriously at your own risk, but don’t write it off completely, as you’ll miss some of the best color cinematography you’ll ever see.
Pretty Poison- 3 1/2 out of 4
Medianeiras, argentine film, 9/10
Amarcord – 1/5
Terrible.
How the hell is this in the TSPDT top 100!?!?!
^ My favorite Fellini film
Goodbye, First Love – 4 stars
My favorite film of the year (thus far). This is sort of like the French version of Like Crazy – well acted, well written, and confidently directed. After seeing two stunning films from her, I’m officially a fan of Mia Hansen-Love.
@ Ari -
“Give the guy a break, Santino, he hasn’t made a film in 13 years.”
I’m not talking about his films. I’m talking about the man. He’s no good. No good at all.
Pretty Poison is awesome.
I’m generally not much of a Fellini fan, but I love Amarcord.
“I’m not talking about his films. I’m talking about the man. He’s no good. No good at all.”
Why do you say that?
The Professional “Le Professionnel” Dir. Georges Lautner
Rated: 3/5
The Professional “Le Professionnel” Dir. Georges Lautner
Rated: 3/5
The Professional “Le Professionnel” Dir. Georges Lautner
Rated: 3/5
@ Ari – From what I know of him, he’s just douchey. Unnecessarily pretentious.
I can’t really get into more specifics. Just take my word for it. haha!
@Santino
When I’m watching a Fellini movie, I imagine Fellini is touching himself to the sound of his own loud, angry ranting. Still, even though his films are unnecessarily pretentious, outrageous, and f’n annoying, I love his movies. He is a guy who hates himself and everything around him, I suspect even his wife considering he dragged her through the mud in La Strada and Nights of Cabiria. I think La Dolce Vita was his way of realizing what a douche he really is, and makes the risky decision to end his film in bleak despair. Sorry for intruding.
Ahem, anyway…
The Double Life of Veronique
my rating: A
Fantastic performance by Irene Jacob and fantastical enough to get lost in. Photography is gorgeous, nearly everything works. Just felt like the Irene Jacob character was becoming too much like the Monica Vitti character in L’Eclisse (except when Jacob fell in love, the world didn’t end).
House
my rating: B
…What the hell? Funny, visually delightful, all around good film. I just don’t see what is so great about it…
@ Lover – I was talking about Whit Stillman. I have no opinion of Fellini. lol
Shit…. lol… I was thinking about Fellini…. apologies…
^ I’ll take your word for it (he doesn’t come off that well from the characters he writes). But so what if he is an asshole? Or is it that he’s the kind of asshole you don’t like? (I recall you saying the same thing about Alexander Payne).
Do we expect our filmmakers to be nice people? Why?
Dennis Brian
I may have to sneak into something next time I go.
So many things I kind of want to see but not enough to pay for or seek out.