confessions of an amateur cineaste

Since I see basically all Fox Searchlight releases for free, it’s not surprising I found a screening of The Namesake. I had high hopes for it because it was directed by Mira Nair, but it was visually disappointing after her previous work. (Randomly, did you know that she was approached to direct a Harry Potter movie? I still think that would have been pretty awesome.)

I’ve not read the book, so I don’t know how it compares, but I did think all the performances were strong, except for Gogol’s love interests. Were they weak? Or did I just find their characters irritating? Six of one…

Irfan Khan & Tabu were amazing, though, as Gogol’s parents, and I was pleasantly surprised by Kal Penn’s performance. Overall compelling, but not required in-theater viewing.

We saw Zodiac on opening night, in a packed house. I was excited because I had enjoyed Fincher’s previous work (Se7en, Fight Club, Panic Room) and I had great fondness for pretty much the entire cast. (I read a comment recently about Mark Ruffalo, full of “who is this guy and where has he been?” and I was like, “Hello! You Can Count on Me! Where have -you- been?”) ((Also, he was on an episode of “due South.” Hee.))

BUT ANYWAY. I thought the movie was fantastic. Of course, I was going in expecting a movie about obsession and not a movie about a murderer, and I suspect that might have made a difference. It just totally and completely sucked me into that world for nearly three hours, and when the movie ended I was really dazed to return to the real world. Which isn’t something that happens a lot to me, at least not to that degree.

(Also, in a film with an all-around great cast, I was delighted by two unexpected cameos — Clea DuVall & Ione Skye.)

A restored print of Becket is making the rounds, and hit Seattle last month. Awesome. I try to take advantage of revival film as much as possible, because there’s nothing like seeing movies on the big screen, and this was no exception.

It was both funnier and more queer than I had expected. And it was fantastic to see young O’Toole, so soon after seeing Venus. Now I need to put a hold on The Lion in Winter.