Away We Go

After a couple of weeks waiting, Charlotte finally got Away We Go in a theater. I don't understand why it takes so long for us to get certain things (if we get them at all). Charlotte's a big enough city, right? I know I'm not the only one interested in critically acclaimed, art house films.

Anyway, Sam Mendes has easily become one of my favorite directors who also happens to be married to one of my favorite actresses Kate Winslet. I think what I like most about his pictures is his talent at capturing the mood and emotions of his films' characters through stunning visuals and a good soundtrack.

Away We Go is a story centered around a couple who are having their first child. The couple is portrayed quite brilliantly by John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. Is it too much/early Academy to ask for a Best Actress nomination for Rudolph?

The characters Burt and Verona are looking for a place in which to raise said unborn child. They lose their original location after Burt's parents decide to move out of country, so they go on a journey across North America in search of an ideal place, which leads to self-discovery along the journey obviously.

It's a bit of a cliche, yes, but it's done quite well. There's originality in this piece present in great dialogue and rich characters, and originality is something difficult to come by given this time of year. Away We Go is quite refreshing in that regard as well as funny. Viewers will no doubt love (and quite possibly hate at the same time) Alison Janney and Maggie Gyllenhall's characters.

It's just a film where everyone kind of just knocks it out of the park, and while I'll admit, I'm not exactly sure Away We Go takes off or finishes off properly for that matter, I'm okay with it because I was satisfied with its poignancy.

4 out of 5 stars.

Movie Night: The Machinist

I didn't care much for this film. I originally thought it was a Holocaust movie (not that I like those sort of films but because of the drastic weight loss Christian Bale undertook for the part), but it's a story about a character suffering from a year long case of insomnia, which is unrealistic. It kind of plays out like Memento meets Fight Club, which was how it was described to me. The character finds Post-its on his fridge he may or may not have left there because he seems to have trouble remembering things. I guess not sleeping in a year will do that to you, but the note's more of a game. It's hangman.

I admit this was kind of an interesting plot point, but I just didn't quite feel the payoff was big enough. With Memento, it's more of a whodunnit, and The Machinist is more of a whyareyou....ingwithme, which can be interesting if there's actually someone ....ing with you. I just felt Memento did a better job of confusing not only its characters' reality but ours as well, which was the point. I never had any doubt in The Machinist that Trevor (Bale's character) was somewhat insane.

The good thing though is I do feel for him, and when he finally confesses his sin- the reason he hasn't slept in a year and his disgustingly thin frame- I am happy he has found peace and sleep.

I found the music odd in this film. My fellow movie-goers tell me it was very Hitchcock-ian, but I thought it detracted from the film. It seemed more fitting in a quirkier setting than something this dark.

The Machinist is probably a good film, just not my cup of tea. But you have to admire Bale's dedication to this role.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

Year One

I normally try to decide how I feel about things for myself, but maybe I'll start listening to the general public who decided not to see this film and the critics who panned it.

There was nothing enjoyable about Year One. It was odd and not in a quirky art house kind of way. I think it was a neat idea (a historic parody), and the casting I initially thought would be great. But Cera or Black don't have much comedic duo chemistry. No one's funny, which is unbelievable to me since a good majority of these people are comedians or comedic actors.

The editing is awful, which is quite possibly due to the hard rating this film supposedly had originally that was toned down to a PG-13 to appeal to a wider audience. But there's a scene, for example, where Cera's character has a menacing snake wrapped around his neck. And the next cut has him and Black sitting around a camp fire at a village party sans the snake where we're left kind of wondering how he got out of his predicament.

The humor was childish. It attacked religion and did so in a way that wasn't clever.

It almost seemed like this film was meant to be terrible, which is disappointing because a number of good movies quite possibly could have been made for the cost of this one.

It was seriously like watching a student film with a big budget and big name actors. The potential existed but somehow went untapped, probably because the idea just wasn't a solid enough idea to warrant a feature film.

Extremely disappointing. 0 out of 5 stars. This should not have been made.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Let me begin by saying I thought the Transformers sequel was awesome. I liked the action. The plot wasn't as bad as I had anticipated (a bit of a stretch maybe, but I like that the robots have a history with Earth prior to the first film).

Megan Fox is still very much hot, but you knew that already. Isabel Lucas- not so much in my opinion. She looked kind of weird, but maybe there's a reason for that given her character.

Shia Labeouf does a good job in this one. There's still a lot of him running with a very wanted object, but it's a lot less, "No, no, no, no"'s.

I'm kind of jumping on the Shia bandwagon here, but I think he's actually talented. He's both charming and funny, has good comedic timing, and strong delivery. I believe his acting was significantly better in this one. I mean, it's a summer movie, but he showed growth for me. I'm not sure I could like him as a person though, which for the sole purpose of entertainment works in his favor.

So the things I like about this movie were the action as I mentioned above. It's more shit exploding, more robots, big battles, and they're wicked hot. The picture moves for the most part, which is good given it's runtime is just shy of 3 hours.

Some characters you like. Others, you don't, like Sam's conspiracy theory roommate who got way too much screentime for not knowing who the hell he was. I wonder if that was originally Jonah Hill's role although I can't really see him running as much as they ran in this film.

The most controversial are the twin hatchback transformers people are deeming racist. I was put off by these characters 'cause they were annoying moreso than I found them racist. I do think they played off stereotypes, but I'm not sure if they were specific to Blacks. They're definitely rooted in what some consider to be a piece of Black culture, but at this point, I'm not exactly sure I would call them caricatures because there is an interest in that aspect of Black culture by other races for reasons other than exploitation, which may or may not have been the case here but probably the case by way of ignorance as opposed to intent.

But these characters were annoying to me because I don't particularly find that type of humor in movies funny. I like mine to be a bit more clever than what these characters were meant for. I mean, one of the voice actors for the Twins also voices Spongebob Squarepants, which I happen to enjoy but don't necessarily want in my Transformers movie.

Character development was a bit lacking in this. I submit examples Tyrese Gibson (who I still find laughable as an actor with his awful delivery), Josh Duhamel, and the Autobots save BumbleBee and Optimus Prime. They're all still the same people/beings pretty much, which is the point of a sequel- familiarity with the characters. But they hardly get any screen time.

It felt very much to me like the writers didn't know what to do with these characters. I think there were just too many to give them personality or room to grow. So they either sacrifice them to quick deaths or don't change them with the exception of Sam's mom. I think they went a little overboard with her, but again, that's just not the type of humor I appreciate.

I didn't really think this movie was appropriate for young kids who will no doubt want to see it. There's a lot more swearing than I remember in the first one, and some of the humor is a bit adult in content. The violence is a little over the top but made enjoyable since most of it is robot on robot.

Putting the flaws aside, Revenge of the Fallen is a great summer movie with great special effects and riveting action.

3.5 stars out of 5.

Movie Night: Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken

Finally, movie night became what I had hoped it would become with Becca's choice Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.

WHCBB is a story about a young woman named Sonora who has dreams of becoming a horse diving showwoman. Her parents have passed, leaving her and her younger sister on a farm with her aunt. Sonora is a dreamer, and this unfortunately causes conflict between her and her aunt who decides to give her away to the State after Sonora gets into some trouble at school. This leads Sonora to run away and join a traveling show where she is introduced to Doctor Carver and his son Al. Al becomes Sonora's love interest, which I must admit is a little awkward considering Sonora's youthful appearance, particularly in the first act. Then again, this is a) the South and B) Depression era America.

Sonora, herself, is a wonderful character. I feel the actress that portrayed her did a fairly decent job. No, she's no Meryl Streep, but you really believe in the character. She's very likable, and she very much embodies the spirit of the films title.

WHCBB has quite a bit of cheese, but it appeals to the romantic inside of me. It's very much a chick flick. The idea seems apparent since the horse gets top billing, but it's worth viewing if you can get past the lackluster cinematography the director neglected. Visually, it could have been better. They were no doubt filming in some beautiful locations. I also think the potential use of a lense filter detracted from the film. I believe this was a stylistic choice made to achieve an old, Depression era look, but it desaturated the colors too much for me.

What especially made this viewing fun though was a couple of things actually. One, I had already seen it years ago. I remembered very little about it though, and it's interesting to watch things you liked as a kid as an adult. Two, it was fun to pause and comment on the film, and three, you could really tell that Becca was into it. It was like seeing her as a child, which I missed since I didn't grow up around her. And that was cool.

So the movie gets a 3 but the entire experience a 5. I think it's the best film we've watched since we began movie night.

Good job Becca!

Movie Night: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Plus 2 Other Reviews

I'm going to start by saying Monty Python humor is very hit or miss with me. I loved the Holy Grail. Hated Life of Brian. They're now 1 and 2.

Meaning of Life in one word was just strange. Bizarre even. It begins in an office where the workers take over the building, which becomes a pirate ship. The workers become pirates, and they force, presumably, their boss to walk the plank. They then attack another corporate building, which is quite fantastical (a plus) but random (minus?).

The film is cleverly divided into chapters like a novel, and there is a musical number on the sacredness of sperm as well as a demonstration of how to perform sex. These were the film's highlights for me. After that, the picture became RIDICULOUS to follow, which is typical for Monty Python films. It's absurdist humor. British absurdist humor, which is very different from what I normally consume given my American sensibilities and generation.

Somehow though, the filmmakers do tie every random vignette together, which is either brilliant or tacky. I can't decide. The ending is still a big WTF! But there are boobies.

2 out of 5 stars and ???

FYI: I've now gone to a 5 point scale when rating movies. I recently came to the conclusion it's the best way to rate films for me as I generally like or dislike something, so if I start from a three with the film being average, I only need two points of variation to praise or condemn it.

UP gets 3 out of 5. I wanted to like it given all the praise it's received from critics and friends, but I have to say I was disappointed with this one Pixar. The first fifteen minutes though sad provide an incredible set-up, but the events that follow didn't provide a big enough pay off for me. Also too short.

The Hangover gets 3.5 out of 5. I won't give 1/2 very often, but I wanted to indicate I enjoyed this more than UP. There's some unnecessary and undesirably nudity in this one, and it's essentially a more adulterated Dude, Where's My Car where the car is actually the dude. But it's a hell of a lot more fun. Check out Stu's song from the film.

Down to One

Second rejection letter is in (CSU-Northridge), which leaves me with only one more school my hope now resides in- Chapman. And it doesn't look good seeing how I met the priority deadline of Feb. 1. It's now June 16, and I've been visiting this site studentfilms.com where they have an online forum designated specifically for Chapman admissions news. And acceptances are being handed out.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't taking any of this news hard. I haven't worked this hard towards something in a really long time, and to feel like I've failed (which I know I still have one more school out there), it's really been tough on me emotionally. I'm trying to be resilient to prevent a defeatist attitude, but I honestly don't know if I want to go through the admissions process again. I know for certain I'm not ready to this year, but I hate the thought of taking another year off.

The strange thing is the graduate coordinator offered me two choices. One, I can defer my application until next year for Fall 2010 admission, or I can change my focus from screenwriting to be considered for something else, which seems useless to me since that's the only Master's program of theirs I'm interested in. It's both confusing and frustrating. I'm going to have to e-mail him. It might sting less if this weren't a flat out no, but it's a no nonetheless when I want to hear yes.

Movie Night: Punch Drunk Love

This week's pick for movie night was Punch Drunk Love starring Adam Sandler. For those that hate Sandler because of his usual schtick might find themselves enjoying this film. I, however, did not. Don't get me wrong. I love when actors challenge themselves, and for that, I give Adam Sandler some mad cred. But I just didn't care for this film, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson who I generally like. I totally dig that he's a writer and director, which are also my aspirations, and I've enjoyed a good majority of his films from Boogie Nights to There Will Be Blood. I even liked Magnolia- strange as it was. But Punch Drunk was just painfully slow. And it just didn't feel like it had a point. It was strange but lacked the humor of movies it reminded me of like Burn After Reading and The Big Lebowski.

There were definitely neat things about it. Sandler's performance in this is the closest he's ever come to acting, and there are a number of well-framed shots. The music adds to the quirkiness of the piece, so there is a distinct mood that's present and painted well via that, the characters, their dialogue, and the dingy lighting. From a technical standpoint, I think it's brilliant. I suppose it was just the story that was lacking for me. It made love seem boring. The characters weren't interesting, which is unfortunate because they seemed to be the driving force behind the picture, but I don't really feel like I understood them or the emotions that drove their actions. Still, it's neat to have seen but not one of my favorites.