Movie Review #8: State of Play
(DVD release date: 08/04/09)
Directed by: Kevin Macdonald, Rated PG-13
Reviewer Rating: A
This was an extremely well done movie. To date this year, I've watched two new Russell Crowe movies, Body of Lies and State of Play, and both, while in a very similar genre (drama/action), were extremely satisfying films.
The plot, through all of the scathing criticisms (spoken in dialogue or quietly implied) of the federal government's political system and acts which impact the world at large, is really a classic who-dun-it. This is extremely refreshing. What is also refreshing is Ben Affleck who seems to have reinvigorated his career with this film. It's now way past the point that he got done making silly romantic comedies and such (was that the last decade) and lower-rated action thrillers and started working again on some serious material (like Good Will Hunting). And as much as many people dislike Ben Affleck, I, personally, have always sort of rooted for him because I remember watching the Academy Awards the night that he and Matt Damon won the Oscar for that movie.
Then of course you have Helen Mirren and Jeff Daniels in a movie, and I really can't pass up movies with Jeff Daniels. Except for Dumb & Dumber. I have no time for that movie. Why, Jeff Daniels, WHY?
The other subject that this film examines is behind-the-scenes at the source of media writing. I adore Russell Crowe's character as nostalgic for quality writing and him being upset at Rachel McAdams' and her silly blog-like column in the paper, but what I really like more is the implied depression her character is in at being stuck in such lame, lame stories. That idea really kicks in to high gear when you think about all of the things the media obsesses about and about how little those items really mean.
I love the lines "that's wrath of God money" and "this is about as big and connected as it gets" and I really enjoy the fact that the writer's really thought about what they were makign when they wrote the script for this film.
A note of caution to families: this film is rated PG-13, but it is not a good movie for children or young teenagers (15 and under). To be honest, I think that the vast majority of them would be bored with this film, but high schoolers should watch it and would enjoy it. The rating system is so entirely messed up, that in this film's case, just think that it is like The Dark Knight (psychological/reflection of society-wise), and if you don't think that was appropriate for your teenager, etc., then this film is probably not appropriate either.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Watchmen
Movie Review #7: Watchmen
(DVD release date: 07/21/09)
Directed by: Zack Snyder, Rated R, 2 hr. 42 min. (Director's Cut: 3 hr. 6 min.)
Reviewer Rating: B+
This is a movie that I really wanted to watch in the theaters. It's large scale and epic and full of special effects. If you're going to spend over $10 at a movie theater for a ticket, it might as well be for a movie like this one. However, I did nto get to go to the theaters to see Watchmen, and so I watched it at home instead.
It held up to basically all of the expectations that I had for the film: namely those things mentioned prior: epic, large scale and special effects heavy. I was pleased to note that the tone is the exact same kind of tone for the film that, say, The Dark Knight had, and the cinematography was similar. I also enjoyed the acting in the movie, and the script was taken almost word for word from the book, at least in the opening. The book's vocabulary and prose is a real delight.
The only thing I can say for it though, is that it is dated subject matter. While I was amused with some of the items in the movie, Nixon in his third term and so on, I don't think the message at the finale at the film is one for the 21st century. Everyone's used to the hero's journey story by now, even if we are not consciously aware of it, and we know (in most stories and films), that doing things for the greater good by sacrificing even one person is not a good thing at all, and those sorts of actions are to be despised. This movie, with a plot created in the 1980s, basically states that this idea is debatable. This is where I felt uncomfortable with the film. It didn't say outright that things can and should be sacrificed for the greater good, but it does pull the issue up to mind. And this is an issue we should be beyond. This is the difference between Watchmen and Superman or Star Wars or Harry Potter. We know, without a doubt, that choosing the greater good by sacrificing others, is the wrong thing to do. We know that we should learn to sacrifice ourselves for our beliefs, to die to ourselves and succeed in that way. Watchmen calls this into question. Perhaps it should, perhaps its point is to question this and to shake our resolve (or at least shake us in the shoulders to make us resolve something). Perhaps it is a lesson for us should we turn down the wrong path.
All in all, this makes for a very philosophical and political movie. And for that I give it two thumbs up, because it makes one think. But you have to be thinking to watch this one (especially at its length) in order to get the message, or the one we should understand at the end of the film since we're not in the 1980s. Since this is the 21st century.
Ozymandias was completely wrong. Don't doubt it.
(DVD release date: 07/21/09)
Directed by: Zack Snyder, Rated R, 2 hr. 42 min. (Director's Cut: 3 hr. 6 min.)
Reviewer Rating: B+
This is a movie that I really wanted to watch in the theaters. It's large scale and epic and full of special effects. If you're going to spend over $10 at a movie theater for a ticket, it might as well be for a movie like this one. However, I did nto get to go to the theaters to see Watchmen, and so I watched it at home instead.
It held up to basically all of the expectations that I had for the film: namely those things mentioned prior: epic, large scale and special effects heavy. I was pleased to note that the tone is the exact same kind of tone for the film that, say, The Dark Knight had, and the cinematography was similar. I also enjoyed the acting in the movie, and the script was taken almost word for word from the book, at least in the opening. The book's vocabulary and prose is a real delight.
The only thing I can say for it though, is that it is dated subject matter. While I was amused with some of the items in the movie, Nixon in his third term and so on, I don't think the message at the finale at the film is one for the 21st century. Everyone's used to the hero's journey story by now, even if we are not consciously aware of it, and we know (in most stories and films), that doing things for the greater good by sacrificing even one person is not a good thing at all, and those sorts of actions are to be despised. This movie, with a plot created in the 1980s, basically states that this idea is debatable. This is where I felt uncomfortable with the film. It didn't say outright that things can and should be sacrificed for the greater good, but it does pull the issue up to mind. And this is an issue we should be beyond. This is the difference between Watchmen and Superman or Star Wars or Harry Potter. We know, without a doubt, that choosing the greater good by sacrificing others, is the wrong thing to do. We know that we should learn to sacrifice ourselves for our beliefs, to die to ourselves and succeed in that way. Watchmen calls this into question. Perhaps it should, perhaps its point is to question this and to shake our resolve (or at least shake us in the shoulders to make us resolve something). Perhaps it is a lesson for us should we turn down the wrong path.
All in all, this makes for a very philosophical and political movie. And for that I give it two thumbs up, because it makes one think. But you have to be thinking to watch this one (especially at its length) in order to get the message, or the one we should understand at the end of the film since we're not in the 1980s. Since this is the 21st century.
Ozymandias was completely wrong. Don't doubt it.
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