confessions of an amateur cineaste

I saw one movie a month for a while, which didn’t seem worth posting about, but now all of a sudden I have found my groove again. Let’s catch up. (Which is possibly the most-typed phrase on this blog. Oh well.)

* Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Exactly what you think it will be, and probably all the more effective because I got to see it with some of my favorite ladies in the world.

* The Pineapple Express. Loved it. Shut up, all of you. I can’t help it. Saul+Dale=BFFF.

* Burn After Reading. People have such short memories. When No Country For Old Men came out, people were surprised, as if there had never been Blood Simple. Then this year the Coens come out with this, and there’s, like, collective whiplash. Catch up, folks. It’s a wicked amount of fun, but it didn’t stick with me, which is totally fine.

* The Lucky Ones. Three clichés on a road trip, while on leave from the war in Iraq. Terrible, but not in an interesting way. I suspected as much going in, but Rachel McAdams is cute, the movie was free, and what else am I going to do on a Sunday morning?

* The Godfather. Recently restored & reissued, it played at the Cinerama, which is basically the best thing ever. Just as utterly captivating as always.

* Richard III. The Ian McKellen version. Fabulous. Obviously. I am not even close to a Shakespeare purist, so my toes curl for interesting updated. 1930s Fascist England? Why not? Also, the music is *fantastic*.

* Looking for Richard. Shown as part of a double feature with the above (and also in the same weekend that I saw The Godfather. Quite a lineup.) I love basically everything about Richard, from the high propaganda of Shakespeare to the back-to-the-source telling of The Daughter of Time, and in this piece, we get a peek on on actors approaching the text. Great fun.

* The Secret Life of Bees. Another free movie. I am ashamed to admit that its treacly sentimentality totally worked on me (hey, sometimes it happens) but oh MAN. Can we please, for the love of god, someday have this movie without the damn white people? Thanks.

* Ashes of Time Redux. Gorgeous. Can’t wait for the DVD. (Please, don’t bother with the original DVD. It is literally unwatchable.)

* Zack and Miri Make a Porno. One more for free. I love Kevin Smith, I love Seth Rogen, & I loved the surprising number of featured handknits. I also love that the couple sitting next to me got up and walked out a half-hour into it. I mean, seriously. Seriously. It’s not like *anything* in the movie was a surprise. I mean, come on. It is exactly what you think it will be.

* The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. This is a lot of movie. It is also a *beautiful* movie, which should be no surprise as it’s lit by Roger Deakins, one of the few cinematographers I manage to know the name of. The others include Christopher Doyle, of course, and Conrad Hall, who made Sam Mendes’s films look much better than they actually were. (Famously, when Hall passed away, I wondered who on earth Mendes would get next. Mendes is no fool. He now works with Deakins. Who, by the way, also works a lot with the Coens.) ANYWAY. This was a horribly mis-managed film from a marketing perspective. I mean, this is a Brad Pitt film fer crissakes, but it sat around for ages, and then when it was finally released, in many cities reviewers weren’t even given the chance to see it. It’s long, the pacing is a little weird, it’s clearly influenced by Malick (which for me is a good thing, but I am not normal), Mary-Louise Parker is desperately underused, but Pitt is excellent, and the film is carried on Casey Affleck’s surprisingly capable shoulders. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I am really curious about a longer cut.

* Also lit by Deakins, No Country for Old Men is one freaky movie. I have two favorite moments. First, when Brolin & Macdonald are sitting on the couch early on in the film, both looking straight ahead, but in their demeanor & dialogue you can totally tell the depth & strength of their relationship. Second, when Bardem exits a house and checks the bottom of his shoes. Bardem, who I have long adored, and now? He terrifies me. THANKS, GUYS. Good thing Tommy Lee Jones was there being awesome. Also, it is probably worth noting that I had read the book a few weeks before seeing the film, and it was still totally engaging.

* I had really been looking forward to American Gangster, but it seemed to spend the whole time hanging on the edge of being a great film. It was good, well-cast, etc, but I couldn’t help comparing it to Zodiac which I loved. AG pales in comparison.

* I really enjoyed Michael Clayton, for Clooney, of course, but also for Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson & his touch of scenery-chewing. Satisfying!

* Finally, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead sort of destroyed me. I respect it, it was full of strong performances, but it was really draining to watch. Now I am looking for a film that will not make me want to slit my wrists. Suggestions?