It's been a while...

It's been a while but I should have more posts coming up.  

I did write a review for The Avengers recently.   

Upcoming Movies 

When I went to see Prometheus, there was a teaser for Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee (!!)  I was *excited* to see something from Ang Lee- he hasn't had a new movie in years, but I wasn't too impressed  by the teaser.  The teaser features Pi and the tiger stranded at sea when suddenly, a barrage of fish fly into boat, and Pi establishes his dominance over the tiger.  It's a critical scene, for sure, but everything about it seemed off.  The sky and water are too blue, the life boat is too polished looking for having been at sea for ages, and Pi also just felt unnatural.  Everything is too blatant and unsubtle.  

But then again, Life of Pi was about stories.  In my mind, the "real" story of what happened in Life of Pi, is the one Pi tells at the very end- the grim one he goes over quickly where there were no animals, just people, including one extremely aggressive cook.  I hope Ang Lee's approach is to view Life of Pi  through the stories that people tell themselves to cope, instead of the literal and fantastical tale about a boy stuck on a life boat with a tiger.   

Prometheus 

I've been looking forward to Prometheus since I saw the trailer for it.  The trailer is eerie and tense - almost claustrophobic.  While Prometheus doesn't quite deliver on that intense claustrophobia and the eeriness, it's a decent movie.  It's certainly engrossing and I like that it sparks conversation about the Alien universe and back story.  

The visuals are also stunning in this one.  I haven't seen a movie this gorgeous in a while.  I like that for a change (minus Pandora in Avatar), the alien planet they land on isn't just barren rock and gravel, but a mountainous, lush terrain.  The visuals in this movie really are fantastic and probably one of my favorite parts of the movie   

With that being said, one of the weak points of the movie are some of the characters.  This isn't to say that there isn't character development.  There certainly is great character development for quite a few of the characters, but the decisions that most of them make are idiotic, foolish, and unreasonable.  Even though a lot of them are supposed to be intelligent, logically grounded scientists.  Prometheus seriously features some of the worst, dumbest scientists that I've ever seen  depicted on screen (in a serious manner).  

I really wanted to like Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), the protagonist, but found her frustrating.  Shaw along with her boyfriend Charlie Holloway, are the scientists leading the group's expedition to find life.  While I liked that Shaw was a strong female character, it was difficult to buy her as a scientist since she is so dead set on her beliefs.  She's essentially a creationist.         

I usually never root for the antagonists, and while no one is really a villain (there are "monsters" certainly but no real villains), I found myself rooting for the primary two antagonists David (Michael Fassbender) and Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron).  David is an andriod and he is one of the most fascinating characters in the movie.  You're not quite sure of his motives and Fassbender does such a great job portraying David- you never doubt he's an android b/c there's just something un-humanlike about him (he's too calm).  Vickers is probably the most reasonable character in the whole movie.  She has her head in the right place and even though she's brutal, her actions made sense.  Another stand out was Idris Elba (Janek), the ship's captain.  I really wish the movie spent more time on him since he was so much more interesting than the main protagonists Dr. Shaw and Dr. Holloway.  Elba really does a great job making Janek have more development than just a peripheral character.  Janek seems like he has a fascinating backstory- I only wish we got to hear it.

Prometheus doesn't live up to what it promised but it's still a decent movie.  Worth seeing in theaters for the visuals.      

The Hunger Games and Stage Fright

The Hunger Games

(Mild Spoilers)

It's been a while since I've seen a movie in theaters.  It's been an even longer while since I've come out of a newly released movie and just been unabashedly excited about the movie.  The Hunger Games is awesome!  However, I have not read the books so I am very curious to hear what fans of the book think of the movie.

The movie is well crafted.  It draws you into the dystopian reality of The Hunger Games immediately.  You can tell that there are rules, customs, and traditions to the world: the contrast between the capital and wealthier districts and the poorer districts, the mocking jay, the horrendously bright fashion of the people in the cities, the sick tradition of the Reapings, and the games themselves.  It also does a good job building the suspense.  Even though I knew something was going to pop out from the woods or that the countdown clock was going to get to the start soon, I was nervous for the characters for what was going to happen next.

Katniss Everdeen is a fantastic heroine.  She's genuinely tough (nicely played by Jennifer Lawrence)-rough around the edges.  I appreciated that she was motivated by her family to make it through the games.  It's refreshing to see a heroine motivated not by romantic love but by something else- the sheer will to survive and familial love.  I wish we got to see more of Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and I'm interested to learn more about him as the series progresses.  He had a very natural chemistry with Katniss.  And then there's Peeta (Josh Hutcherson).  I appreciated that early on, they establish Katniss and Peeta as having different strengths, and in many ways their strengths are complementary.  (On a side note, don't you love the unstated rule of how YAs have characters with fascinating names?)  Another little thing I also appreciated was the nod to fans and fandoms.  There're the viewing parties as well as the snarky note from the parachute for Katniss and Peeta ("You call that a kiss?").    

I'm not sure how great of a movie it'll be on a second viewing.  It tells a good story well, but I feel like knowing the story already takes away from the excitement of the initial viewing.  I am, however, fascinated by the world in the Hunger Games and I want to learn more- I want to learn about the background- how did the districts come about?  Why hasn't there been an uprising already?  Overall, great movie and great performances.  I'm excited to see what happens in the series (if I don't pick up the books before then).  


Stage Fright

I caught this on TCM the other day with the movie about 30 minutes in.  Not knowing the name of the movie or too much about it, I was drawn in.  I was even more captivated when Hitchcock popped on the screen in one of his signature cameos.

Stage Fright is about Eve Gill (Jane Wyman) who involves herself in a murder mystery when her friend Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd) comes to her with a problem: the police suspect Jonathan of murdering his lover-actress Charlotte Inwood's (Marlene Dietrich) husband.  Eve is convinced of Jonathan's innocence and sets out with her father (Alastair Sim) to gather evidence to prove Jonathan's innocence.

The characters are all well developed and likable.  In particular, the female characters in this film were really great.  Eve's a great heroine to root for- she's plucky and smart.  And Charlotte, just when you think you know her, you see another facet of her and you almost feel bad for her in the end.  I liked the relationship between Eve and her father- in many ways, it reminded me of my favorite father-daughter duo Keith and Veronica Mars.  The only character who didn't really work was Ordinary Smith, the detective, who for plot purposes was important but generally just felt flat and one-dimensional.  He seemed to get more boring as the movie continued.        

There are some really gorgeous, well made scenes in this movie.  One of my favorites is when Jonathan finally hugs Eve-it's all she thinks she's wanted for a long time, but right then and there, all she wants is to hear Smith play the piano again.  While Stage Fright, for the most part, maintains a humorous tone, you also learn why Hitchcock is known as the master of suspense.

The Descendants and Once Upon a Time

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The Descendants 

The Descendants is about Matt King (George Clooney), a real estate lawyer, whose wife is in the hospital after a boating accident.  He has to reconnect with his two daughters Alex (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller) and also make a big decision about his inherited family land.  

I had the pleasure of watching this movie last weekend.  It's a fine, grown up adult movie with really great performances.  Clooney, who just keeps getting better and better, is excellent in this.  I was also very impressed by Woodley and Miller.  It's nice to see children not depicted as cliches or stereotypes.  

All in all, a really intimate story that felt immensely personal.  There are moments from it that you stick with you long afterwards, in particular Matt's final exchange with his wife.    

Once Upon a Time 

Once Upon a Time is a new series on ABC about fairy tale characters trapped in the quaint town of Storybrooke.  Emma Swan, a newcomer to the town, is the only one who can break the spell.  

I love fairy tales so I was really excited about this show.  I like that it has leaned more towards the darker elements of the stories instead of just going for the candy coated Disney versions that I loved when I was a kid.  Both can be done well (see Enchanted for the later).  

So far, Once Upon a Time is interesting.  There are overarching mysteries and characters that you really want to root for: Emma, her son, Snow White, the Prince, and even Rumpelstiltskin who actually plays a large role.  There've been a few moments that have just blown me away and I'm really hoping to see more of those  moments, like the ending of the pilot when the clock starts ticking or the Snow White and Prince Charming story.   A few weak points: their version of Cinderella has so far been the weakest of the stories and also sometimes Regina, the queen just falls flat.         

The Godfather

So I finally watched the Godfather (I and II only).

Some thoughts:

• As a big Simpsons fan, I watched some of the episode commentaries. At one point, someone said that they'd done so many parodies of the Godfather that they could probably do a Simpsons version of the Godfather with just Simpson clips.  After watching the Godfather and having those awesome "oh that's where that reference comes from," it looks entirely possible.  
• On the note of those classic moments- those very famous scenes and moments- they are all completely worth it in the Godfather Part I.  Even though I knew roughly what was going to happen (e.g. what the movie producer would find in his bed), it didn't take away from how great the scenes were. 
• Part I >>>Part II.  
• There's the storytelling where I liked how they kept certain aspects of the story ambiguous throughout so that there was always that mystery, whereas, early on in part II, we find the answer to one of the big questions so it's not nearly as satisfying as it should be when we see the characters finally figuring it out.   
• Brando.  Brando. Brando.  In a lot of ways, he really made part I.  After watching part I, I just wanted to snatch up all the Brando movies I could find and watch them.  Part II really felt like it was missing something and even though we got to see Vito Corleone's early days (by De Niro who does very well), there wasn't quite enough of Vito.  
• I experienced the Benjamin Button effect watching part II.  Let me explain, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Forrest Gump but not nearly as good) is an okay movie, but the last 20 minutes or so are really quite good (compared to the rest of the movie).  I'm not sure if I would have thought the last 20 minutes were good on their own, but having gone through the whole 2 hour long + movie, it really was a good ending.   
• In part II, the flashback at the end to the Corleones when they're all still back in New York was fantastic.  My favorite scene of the movie hands down.  It really makes you miss how things used to be and it was nice to see some old faces again and quite sad to see how things have changed.  
• In some ways, the Godfather is an awesome Thanksgiving movie.  It's about family and there's constantly food around and...anyhow, I'm stretching it.   Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

On TV Shows: Underappreciated

Party Down:

Party Down was a fantastic show on Starz (Wait Starz has TV shows?  Yes, apparently.) that only lasted 2 seasons, for a total of 20 awesome episodes.  Party Down is about the Party Down catering company- a group of aspiring Hollywood hopefuls (many of them delusionally so) who half-assly cater various parties.  There's Henry Pollard (Adam Scott who's now on Parks and Recreation) a failed actor who's known for his one line in a commercial, aspiring comedian Casey (Lizzy Caplan), always trying his best caterer manager Ron Donald (Ken Marino), blindly optimistic Constance (Jane Lynch), nerdy sci-fi writer Roman (Martin Starr), and dumb blonde Kyle (Ryan Hansen) who's in the "handsome business."  Lydia (Megan Mullally), a single mom, joins the second season.  


Party Down starts falling into a great groove three episodes in.  Everyone is funny and  likable.  It's TV-MA so it can and often does do a lot of great raunchy humor.  The characters really meld well together and they establish a really great dynamic and rhythm.  Scott and Caplan also have fantastic chemistry, and Henry and Casey probably fall on my list of all time favorite fictional couples.  It's also a treat for former Veronica Mars fans b/c a lot of the characters make guest appearances on the show.  Hansen and Marino were consequently characters on Veronica Mars.    




Party Down is a really great show.  It's one of those shows I still get excited about when I hear that someone has watched it before.  Catch it on Netflicks sometime.  


Community

There's recent news that Community is probably not going to get a 4th season.  I can see how Community is a unique comedy that doesn't appeal to everyone- it's quirky and very meta, but it is a really great show.  I've rarely seen a show that's delved so deeply into the meta and done it well.  


Community is about a group of friends who all go to the same crazy community college.  I still like Season 1 of Community the best.  Every episode was balanced funny and touching aspects.  The show features very unique characters you don't often see featured on TV shows like a senior citizen (Chevy Chase) or a nerdy athlete (Donald Glover) or a movie nerd who potentially has Asperger's (Danny Pudi).  The characters grew over time and by the end of season 1, all of them have become quite likable- you buy them as a group of friends and each of the characters are funny in their own way.  I'm still very impressed with how they really do try to get all the characters to interact with each other.    


Season 2 felt very experimental- the show went off and tried lots of different tones.  Some worked well like the fake documentary episode and the fantastic Dungeons and Dragons episode, while others had more mixed results like the more serious the Group takes a trip to the bar episode.  It was still fascinating to watch, and even got into some uncomfortable territory when the Group starts excluding one of its own members.  


Season 3, so far, seems more balanced than season 2 and features one of the best Alternate Universe episodes ever.  Here's to hoping it doesn't stay off the air for too long.    

Better Off Ted 

Better Off Ted is another short lived comedy that was canceled just after ~26 episodes.  It was really funny, entertaining, featured a really strong cast of characters (including Portia de Rossi), and had an insanely cheerful score.   


Better Off Ted is about an evil corporation- Veridian Dynamics.  There's the protagonist and moral center of the show, Ted (Jay Harrington), who as one reviewer described perfectly, is a cross between Woody (Toy Story) and George Clooney.  There's also his super aggressive boss Veronica (really great performance by de Rossi), adorable meek scientists who are joined at the hip (figuratively) Phill and Lem, and rebellious product tester, Linda.  

A few trailers

I'm procrastinating so here's a quick update:

Here are three of the best trailers I've seen in the past few months.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo : One of the best trailers I have seen in a long time.  It's eye catching- the cutting and the music (I cannot wait to listen to the full version of that song- it sounds amazing) are really well done.  Although watching the trailer again after watching the original Swedish version of the film, if you know the story, I feel like you can place the scenes you get quick glimpses of really quickly.  I thought the original film was fine.  It was a solid movie with an interesting mystery, but it was definitely one of those movies that relied more on plot than characters.  There are various reasons why I'd rewatch a movie, but I can't imagine myself wanting to go out of my way to rewatch this one (not that it was a bad movie, it was interesting and solid) since I already know what happens.        

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: There's a newer trailer for this one floating around online but I far prefer the first one.  It really uses the music well to establish this great, taut, tense mood.  I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie.

Take Shelter: this looks intriguing.

Also a kudos for the Muppets for their parody trailers.    

Here's to hoping there're good movies as well.

Art

I work in a pretty technical field so I don't think about art, in the general sense often.  I still remember in one of my literature classes as an undergraduate, one of the most striking things I learned was the power of art.  My professor gave a simple example: in World War II, after both of the atomic bombs had been dropped, there were the devastating statistics, of course, of just how many people died and how many people would continue to die much later from radiation poisoning. But it really wasn't until she and many other people saw this picture, a school girl's tin lunch box where the peas in her lunch had carbonized that they really connected to something human and emotional about the bombings.  (see here)

In light of a recent decade anniversary, here is a youtube video from Story Corps.  I've seen a few of Story Corps videos and they are fantastic.  They are a national project to record people's stories and memories.  There's some really moving stuff of the site.