In 2003, not many people were apt to catch Hayden Christenson and Peter Sarsgaard in the true-story-put-to-film “Shattered Glass,” and that is a shame. My second viewing tonight (first being at Castleton with Liz, Jammin’ and A.Guge) had me enjoying it much more this time around. The performances are all strong (and what a great cast it is—I mean, you’ve got Steve Zahn, Chloie Seveigny (sp?) and Hank Azaria….can you say “any better?”) although Sarsgaard stands out above them all, even sometimes overshadowing Christenson (who plays Stephen Glass, title character).
I think the thing about this movie that amazes me the most is how manipulative you can be if people like you. I mean, I watched and kept saying, “don’t they see this is as a bit extravagant—all these fantastical stories all coming from this one man?” and then I realized how most people could get away with something like this…if, that is, people like them. It’s kind of scary to think of the power you can have if you truly try and love people and care for them and try to be their friend. In turn, they’ll most likely be receptive, and one can bet on them standing up for you if someone were to ever question your integrity. If there’s a lesson to be learned from “Shattered Glass,” it really is difficult to spell out. Don’t trust friends? Kinda hard. Always be suspicious? Can we say paranoia? The list could go on and on, and really, I just don’t think you can pin it down. There’s no way to correct a situation like this or try to prevent it from happening (absolutely prevent it i mean). I suppose it’s one of those life things that happens in we—as human beings—are feeble and helpless in. Oh, and yes, I’m recommending this movie. See it again if you’ve seen it already (especially if you recently saw “Garden State”). Then you’ll be convinced of what Liz Boltz has been telling the world all along: “Peter Sarsgaard is fricken’ incredible!”
I wanted to see Garden State again, but the timing didn’t work, and yesterday I drove three hours to eat at Damon’s and see Without a Paddle. It was the company that was important — we did both with my brother Phil in Columbus.
It was a lot funnier than I expected it to be.
The plot is weak, but the set-up is good. The interaction between the three 10 years out of college friends is hilarious. Dax looks a little like Zach Braff, so sometimes I could pretend I was watching Garden State. Seth Green is hilarious and yes, let’s face it, very small. That was a running joke of the movie, and I can’t decide if it got old or not. For some reason, I don’t think it did. And as for Matthew Lillard? This is definitely his most realistic role to date, and his most normal looking.
There were some really funny moments, and a few sweet ones. I’m going to go ahead and recommend this movie, even if in the theater. I went in a skeptic, but I left quite satiated.
In this overlooked gem from 2002, a bunch of people basically are talking about one thing. Some think it’s “fate,” others believe it to be “jealousy,” but I really couldn’t say. This was my second time watching it and while I loved some of the scenes and the way they mimicked real-life to almost precise mundaneness, I also couldn’t help but think that it should’ve gone a little further or perhaps, a little longer. Maybe that’s just me though. I’m sure many people who watched it just wanted the stupid movie to end, and to those people, I politely dismiss them as ignorant, even if they don’t think they are (the first sign of ignorance perhaps?).
If you haven’t seen it, see it. The performances are great all around and the conversations are ones I’d be happy to get stuck in any time, any day. You can decide for yourself though.
Ok, can’t keep quiet about this one anymore. If you still haven’t seen it yet Neville, you better stop your ears…or as the great Vince Vaughn tells his silverscreen kids, “¡Muffs!” Saw it again tonight with Toll and Elaine. Definitely good company. Too bad Liz couldn’t be there. I hear her and Elaine’s friendship is on the rocks over it.
So we got a story here about a 25ish year old who’s been away from home for 9 years because he can’t stand his father and is now back because him mom has died. While he’s home he runs into some old friends, meets some new friends, starts really living life and deals with some of his past. That probably sounds like a lot…and it is. However, this is one of those movies that’s so good it’s all of a sudden over and you feel like you should only be an hour in.
Actors - we got Andrew played by Zach Braff, his dad played by Ian Holm, Sam played by Natalie Portman, and Mark played by Peter Sarsgaard. Quite an amazing cast. Natalie Portman and Zach Braff do such an awesome job in this film. It’s really sad how nobody has gotten to act in the Star Wars prequels cause that’s what most people look to when you mention Miss Portman. What about Heat, The Professional, Cold Mountain, or Beautiful Girls? Has nobody seen these? She’s a talented actress. Then you got Zach who is in Scrubs, one of the funniest sitcoms that I can remember. Ian Holm is definately a decorated veteran and then you have Sarsgaard who’s been in Dead Man Walking, The Cell, The Salton Sea, and Shattered Glass.
The cinematography in here is pretty good for a first time director. The story rocks, the lines are good, and nothing is just completely thrown out there and completely explained so you don’t have to think about it. There’s this really cool scene where Sam’s mom wants Andrew to hug here. Sam gets kinda embarrassed but Andrew plays it off like he’ll placate her. In reality a hug is something he really needs and is longing for and you can really tell. Hard to explain unless you see it. Another thing I really loved was the comedy in here. It just seems so real - like stuff you’d say to your own friends. So much comedy out there is funny, but non-realistic. This is definitely one movie that has sent viewers from crying to laughing to sniffling another tear all within the course of a minute. I saw it in the theater. This movie is so serious, so funny, and so real. Definitely something to buy when it comes out.
No, not Disney’s The Kid, but Charlie Chaplin’s.
This was on TV last night, and I was waiting for Nip/Tuck to come on at 9, so I decided to watch. I need to see more old movies anyway, right?
The Kid is a story of the Tramp. In this adventure, he finds and raises a little orphaned boy that he names John. He and John develop and loving routine in their lives — they take care of one another. This is disrupted when John gets sick and the authorities find out that the Tramp is raising a kid. They try to take the boy away, and the Tramp must try to save him.
Jackie Coogan, who grew up to be Uncle Fester on The Addam’s Family, is a really cute little boy. And, come on, it’s Charlie Chaplin. He’s great.
The movie is less than an hour long, and it was one of the first feature length films that Chaplin made. It was the first one he wrote, directed, produced, scored, and starred in, as well. There is one scene that is pretty random — the dreamland of angels and demons near the end — but the rest of the film flows well and is really entertaining.
There is a famous scene were the County Orphan Asylum comes to take John away. He’s in the back of the truth, crying and trying to get back to the Tramp, who is being held back by the authorities. Very sad. Very pre-Judging Amy and other children’s services TV shows.
If you get the chance, see this movie. Maybe we should have a Chaplin and Keaton marathon or something. Finish it up by watching Chaplin and Benny and Joon. That’d be fun.
You’ve been seeing previews for it all summer. Or at least, the last month or so. Everyone is calling it “THE SCARIEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!!!!” and after plenty of hype, I was convinced that I needed to see it and so, treaded out into the local otsego $3.50 movie theater and saw it. While it’s not one of those movies you love while walking out (i.e., think ‘requiem for a dream’….but not nearly as good, but kind of the same response in a way—if someone were to ask, ‘did you like the movie?’ you’d be confused as to how to really answer it). Like the movie? I suppose I liked it for it’s ability to get under your skin and swish you around in intensity and then quietly spit you back out again. I liked the way it was shot, although, it could’ve been a little more dramatized in its execution on screen. If this is a true story or based on true events, or whatever, it definitely feels true and is played out how you or I would probably experience it. There isn’t much hype in the movie itself and I felt like there should’ve been. Not a lot more, but just a little….to give it that edge it seemed to be missing.
It’s shot on DV so in some shots, you feel like dear old dad is the cameraman, and it’s just another vacation to a tropical island with him and the rest of the family. However, this turns out to be a positive and negative thing I think. On the one hand, it gives the movie a more personal, visceral feel. Its’ easier to get involved b/c it’s not all dressed up in the beauty film has to offer. Yet, it can be negative when the colors seem not quite as rich as they should be, or the sharpness is just a tad dull in further away shots.
Enough technical breakdown (why did i do that? i don’t know….it’s the kind of movie you notice that i guess). All in all, I’d recommend seeing it in the theater probably…if you don’t have to pay $8. Like i said, I paid $3.50, so it was definitely worth that. However, another warning: it isn’t your typical summer thriller. Most people in the theater i saw it in was liking it until near the end and then it seemed as though 90% of them hated it or just got fed up with or were laughing when should’n't have been, etc. I hate when people do that. (Oh, and one more odd thing that bugged me kind of—the random nudity near the beginning of the movie. it feels out of place, odd, awkward and very very cheap. i usually am not taken aback by nudity unless its gratuitous, but in this case, i believe it was. my opinion though i guess.) Tell me what YOU all think, for those who saw it. My sister tiff hated it i think, although she was really freaked out by it. It was pretty freaky in parts. Au revoir.
Well, I finally saw a movie! My mom bought me Flight of the Navigator. Ever see it? It’s from way back in the day…1986 to be exact. Just found out that Paul Rubens (aka PeeWee) was the voice of the ship robot thing. That makes so much more sense now with the way he laughed and talked in some of the parts. I always remembered it being a really cool movie as a kid and unlike many cartoons from my past, this movie was still cool.
The story is about a 12yr old kid that falls into a ravine while looking for his annoying little brother. When he climbs out 8 years have passed. He ends up going to a NASA base to be looked at, poked, prodded, and studied by a bunch of scientists and a young Sarah Jessica Parker is the only nice person in the joint who brings him his meals. He ends up escaping, finding a ship and flying around before finally making it back to “his” time. I don’t think there’s any real deep underlying morals to this story. You might call this a modern day Wizard of Oz without a lot of complications. Or a story of a kid who learns to appreciate his family. Anyways, check it out if the kid in you needs to be revived a bit.
Saw Runaway Jury with Joe and Cheryl and Jim (a.k.a Superjew from the Springs) and his very pregnant wife Nichole. I’m not exactly sure how much I liked it yet. There were definitely some cool aspects to it like John Cusack not in a High Fidelity - Grosse Pointe Blank - Say Anything role (even though I own and enjoy all 3), Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz, interesting plot, etc.
Some things I didn’t really like was how the movie kinda advocated that gun companies are responsible for the violence that people act out with them. I’m sure many people disagree with me on this, as I so easily found out being at Taylor, but I really don’t see the logic in that. Being a gun owner, I know that it takes a finger to pull the trigger. The gun is just a tool. More people die every year car related incidents then gun related incidents. So why don’t people get ‘up-in-arms’ (pun intended) over crappy drivers all the time and sue the car companies? Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox.
This movie was a decent court-room drama sort of thing that was a bit suspenseful and contained a few twist sorta things. If you’re a Cusack fan I’d definitely recommend this - especially if you enjoyed seeing him branch out in Identity.
Ok, you know how you’re walking through blockbuster and you make up your short list of movies to rent and then pick the top two or so? Well, Haiku Tunnel has always been on the list, but it’s never really gotten above a seven.
Now, as a newly married person, it behooves me to provide my family of two with an entertaining movie night. Needless to say, I didn’t think it wise to foist Leprechaun 4: In Space upon my blushing bride so early into our nuptial bliss. My eyes lit upon Haiku Tunnel and I found its lack of robots, leprechauns and lasers appealing, right along with the promise of funny- right on the box!
The director quite literally tells us the story of himself, Josh Kornbluth, a professional temp in the ever-so-slightly fictional city of San FrancLisco, California. When hardworking Josh is offered the chance to go ‘perm’ for his law firm (Yes, it’s called ‘S & M Attorneys at law’. Yes, there’s an obligatory leather joke. Can we continue now?) he leaves his role of isolated outsider behind and quickly spirals downward into a neurotic, work-avoiding, panic-stricken, and altogether entertaining mess.
To say that Haiku Tunnel is an Office Space clone and to leave it at that is really a cop-out. Although it bears some resemblance to that oft-quoted cult favorite, I think H.T. is really a different animal. To me, it really came across more like a play than anything else. Nothing as drastic as Dogville or Our Town, mind you, but there was definitely a small set of re-occurring sets, some great caricatures, frequent trips from the director past the fourth wall and a refreshing adherence to the plot that was a welcome relief from gag-ridden celebrity vehicles like Dodgeball.
All in all, definitely worth the two bucks, always good for a laugh and sent you back to thinking about that assignment that you never quite completed because you always knew that finishing it would just leave you empty inside.
People say that talking about this movie too much will ruin the surprise for people. I didn’t find there was much of a surprise, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.
In fact, I liked it a lot.
I would not say it’s as wholly entertaining or surprising as The Sixth Sense, but it’s more intelligent. It’s a movie to think and talk about.
Everybody does a great job. Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, and Bryce Dallas Howard were the most important characters and the best performances in movie. Finally, Adrien’s in another good movie. It’s about time.
People are freaking out over the fact that this movie doesn’t turn out to be a typical monster movie. Who wants to see the same movie over and over again? This is going to be one of those movies that divides people into the love it or hate it camp. I’m in the love it camp.
M. Night Shyamalan is a good director. The unusual decisions he made in this movie — shots from far away, extended and uncut close-ups, etc — all helped give The Village a unique and distinct feel. Yay for Night. I hope he continues to do well.
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