I just watched Mamma Mia!, and while it’s a pretty flawed movie, it left me with this resolve: I will write a pirate* rock musical.
*As in pirated music, not Pirates of Penzance. I can’t write music, so I’m talking about appropriating other peoples’. Think Moulin Rouge.
I finally found a reviewer to help with my Batman: The Dark Knight thing. It’s OK if you’re all sick of it, but this guy is really good. He rests on the thread of sacrificing full disclosure for the sake of order: Alfred’s burning Rachel’s letter, the surveillance technology, and of course the climax. His reviews of The Dark Knight and of the Joker character are definitely worth ten minutes. Quotations after the jump if you don’t have time for the whole articles.
Ok, many of us have seen Dr. Horrible. Some even saw it of their own volition, as opposed to me forcing them. What did you think? Particularly of the ending. Spoilers after the jump. » Read the rest of this entry «
Mark Wahlberg at Comicon: “I remember The Happening had just came out and I walked into the editing room with it, the looping stage with John and he showed me some shit and I was just fuc—ing screaming with excitement. I was so happy that my career was saved. My life, my credibility, my ability to walk down the street was in a hood again. I was just like yeah. I really was. I was fuc—ing screaming at the top of my lungs for like five fuc—ing minutes. But this is the kind of thing that I want to go and see. I don’t want to be told what I can and can’t do, I want to try something different, I want to be able to play a lawyer, play a doctor but I feel most comfortable when I’m in a world like this.”
What. the. heck. Most people stop using “f— patois” when they hit 40. Also, The Happening confirmed that you still can’t act.
I just finished watching a truly remarkable film at Davey’s house. It’s called The Orphanage, was produced by Guillermo del Toro, and is in Spanish with subtitles. It’s a horror movie, but is better than any horror movie I’ve seen in years. A few things struck me after, so here goes.
The film has a long first act, wherein it lays the groundwork for a terrific horror movie. But then, suddenly, the villain is gruesomely killed. This changes things entirely, and is electrifying.
The movie then becomes a missing-persons drama. This is at first surprising, but the movie blends drama and horror perfectly. The characters help with this, especially the protagonist. Yes, she goes into the dark basement, but other than that little implausibility she is real, brave, the sort of person one would like to know. She anchors the entire movie.
The movie keeps you guessing right up until its two endings, the first horror and the other drama. If we use the workable old storytelling workshop axiom, that endings must be ’surprising but inevitable’, The Orphanage succeeds famously. The ending will be rolling around in my head for days.
For 1 hour and 45 minutes I was trying to hide that I was scared out of my mind, but as the credits rolled I was trying to hide that I was moved to tears. Driving home I felt very melancholy and very quiet, a feeling that has persisted until now.
It’s taken me awhile to write this, because I’m uncomfortable in the role of a critic. Criticism is just so easy, what with the alternating snark and enthusiasm. Critics sit above a movie, in judgment. I try to go into a movie theater prepared to give myself over to it. “Suspension of disbelief – no problem! How much suspension do you need?”
But it’s important to be discerning, because movies do have things to say. The better the movie, the stronger the themes and characters, and the more important it becomes to consider what we are being taught through story. Movies preach even more than most preachers do nowadays…
…and I have a few questions for The Dark Knight.
“And I think Dollhouse… I will never answer your question, by the way. Dollhouse is the question. I’ve said before: Movies are an answer, TV shows are a question. Because if you give a definite answer, what the hell is your next episode about?” – Joss Whedon
I like TV better than movies for a lot of reasons… and this quote from Joss Whedon adds another to the list.
I’m starting to get excited about a new documentary about Philippe Petit’s famous tightrope-walk between the Twin Towers called Man on Wire. A book about the same feat, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, won a Caldecott award. I don’t usually like dramatic reenactment footage in documentaries, but look at the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes!