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Movies from 2009.
Mar. 8th, 2010 03:21 pm[Cross-posted and expanded from The Other Place:]
The 'h' in 'IMHO' stands for hubristic, not humble.
A Serious Man is probably the best 2009 movie I've seen. (District 9 has a lot going for it and in terms of sheer entertainment value is probably the better bet.) I was going to dis ASM by saying, 'I remember this movie when it was called Barton Fink' but that's not fair. It a bit hard to watch, as is 'Barton Fink' or any movie that beats up extensively on its protagonist (see Welcome to the Dollhouse, After Hours), but it ends up being a beguiling rhapsody on Judaism and Job and, finally, on principles and the precise point—where life doesn't even pretend anymore to be anything but absurd—that we're willing to abandon them.
There are other similarities to Barton Fink: both movies are deadly black comedies whose protagonists' misfortunes lead to utter (if quiet) catastrophe. But where Barton is a loser character from the start—a playwright with exactly one good idea, a generally unpleasant person, lacking in all the graces—whom the universe seemingly punishes for being a schlemiel, Larry Gopnik is a newborn schlimazel, punished in spite of being a smart, successful, stand-up guy. Also, the endings of both movies are unresolved and rather scary-disturbing.
Barton Fink has always been one of my favorite Coen Bros. movies. It's difficult to make a fair comparison after just one viewing of the new one... But it certainly holds up as an intriguing piece of storytelling.
Inglourious Basterds is a lavish, sometimes luscious, piece of douchery. You just want to scream at Hollywood money, 'Jeebus, if you want the 17-year-old-male-douchebag perspective, why not throw some funding at an actual, biological 17-year-old male douchebag, instead of a developmentally stunted 47-year-old male douchebag?' What's worse, he makes Brad Pitt—a really fine actor, whatever else you may say about him—play a douchebag throughout. Oh, and Quentin? Frontal crania don't do that, you stupid fucking douchebag.
Up in the Air is a solid and safe movie whose conclusions seem foregone and unevolving (viz: Clooney's armor must erode and show us his vulnerability, his need for real human contact—because dog forbid anybody should be self-sufficient and happy about it); but at least it has the decency to leave the ending a little ambiguous.
The Hurt Locker—well, I just don't get it. I mean, it's a decent character study, I guess... I really cannot fathom what's supposed to be so good about it. If the whole point is to demonstrate that war dis-accustoms some soldiers to any life that is not warlike, there were certain episodes of M*A*S*H that made that point better and more succinctly. And that's more'n a little sad.
I still need to watch Up, An Education, and Precious... I really have no interest in The Blind Side except to see what in the hell Ms. Bullock did to win Best Actress... I mean, I do like her, but... She did Demolition Man. We're fêting an actress who starred in Demolition Man. Some albatrosses really ought never leave one. She needs a big 'DM' tattoo or a subcutaneous button that, when pressed, plays a soundtrack sample that says, 'We're going to Taco BELL!'
The 'h' in 'IMHO' stands for hubristic, not humble.
A Serious Man is probably the best 2009 movie I've seen. (District 9 has a lot going for it and in terms of sheer entertainment value is probably the better bet.) I was going to dis ASM by saying, 'I remember this movie when it was called Barton Fink' but that's not fair. It a bit hard to watch, as is 'Barton Fink' or any movie that beats up extensively on its protagonist (see Welcome to the Dollhouse, After Hours), but it ends up being a beguiling rhapsody on Judaism and Job and, finally, on principles and the precise point—where life doesn't even pretend anymore to be anything but absurd—that we're willing to abandon them.
There are other similarities to Barton Fink: both movies are deadly black comedies whose protagonists' misfortunes lead to utter (if quiet) catastrophe. But where Barton is a loser character from the start—a playwright with exactly one good idea, a generally unpleasant person, lacking in all the graces—whom the universe seemingly punishes for being a schlemiel, Larry Gopnik is a newborn schlimazel, punished in spite of being a smart, successful, stand-up guy. Also, the endings of both movies are unresolved and rather scary-disturbing.
Barton Fink has always been one of my favorite Coen Bros. movies. It's difficult to make a fair comparison after just one viewing of the new one... But it certainly holds up as an intriguing piece of storytelling.
Inglourious Basterds is a lavish, sometimes luscious, piece of douchery. You just want to scream at Hollywood money, 'Jeebus, if you want the 17-year-old-male-douchebag perspective, why not throw some funding at an actual, biological 17-year-old male douchebag, instead of a developmentally stunted 47-year-old male douchebag?' What's worse, he makes Brad Pitt—a really fine actor, whatever else you may say about him—play a douchebag throughout. Oh, and Quentin? Frontal crania don't do that, you stupid fucking douchebag.
Up in the Air is a solid and safe movie whose conclusions seem foregone and unevolving (viz: Clooney's armor must erode and show us his vulnerability, his need for real human contact—because dog forbid anybody should be self-sufficient and happy about it); but at least it has the decency to leave the ending a little ambiguous.
The Hurt Locker—well, I just don't get it. I mean, it's a decent character study, I guess... I really cannot fathom what's supposed to be so good about it. If the whole point is to demonstrate that war dis-accustoms some soldiers to any life that is not warlike, there were certain episodes of M*A*S*H that made that point better and more succinctly. And that's more'n a little sad.
I still need to watch Up, An Education, and Precious... I really have no interest in The Blind Side except to see what in the hell Ms. Bullock did to win Best Actress... I mean, I do like her, but... She did Demolition Man. We're fêting an actress who starred in Demolition Man. Some albatrosses really ought never leave one. She needs a big 'DM' tattoo or a subcutaneous button that, when pressed, plays a soundtrack sample that says, 'We're going to Taco BELL!'
