Okay okay, so it's been a while since I updated this. Get over it.
Since the last post i've watched a whole bunch of movies, so let's get started.
i went through the entire Star Wars Series, in order, Episode I to Episode VI. It was really awesome. Here's what i realized: the new movies aren't that bad! Really, truly, they're actually pretty good movies. Do they have weaknesses? Of course. Especially Episode II has some pretty bad writing and an particularly annoying performance from Hayden Christiansen. But the differences between the original and new trilogies isn't a matter of quality. (The originals had some awkward writing and bad performance moments as well.) The new movies are more complicated movies. They're political, and actually a kind of smart political - they're complex and intricate. Senates and chancellors, trade agreements and armies, allegiances and betrayals. The original trilogy had a rebellion and an empire. It was one versus the other, and we were supposed to root for the good guys. End of story. Now, the new movies don't always handle their complexity well, but they frequently do. It's a different kind of story in the same kind of environment our responsibility as viewers is to adapt our expectations. Otherwise, we'll always be disappointed.
i also think i picked up on some interesting Old Testament elements to the prequel trilogy. The originals, what with their fulfillment of prophecies and tame sort of messiah figure, have some mild New Testament themes we can see if we really want them. But there was something interesting, I thought, in the way the Jedi once felt they had everything figured out with Anakin and the prophecy, only to find out they were wrong - the Republic and the Jedi were forced into a sort of exile, a decades long suffering under the evil of the Empire. It's really a pretty loose sort of Biblical parallel, i know - i'm not saying it's profound or deep or anything. But there was an overall "things get worse before they get better" thing going on over the course of the entire series and i couldn't help noticing a bit of the Christian worldview kind of thing happening.
Okay, other movies, briefly:
The Invention of Lying - cute, maybe worth a redbox rental, some really good laughs, but not exactly mindblowing.
Crazy Heart - fantastic performance from Jeff Bridges in a really good movie. Worth checking out.
Also, I re-watched Cinderella Man. I saw it in theaters, I've seen it once or twice on DVD since, but it had been a while, so I went back to it. Guys, seriously, this is such a good movie. Aside from one of Russell Crowe's best performances, and the turn from Paul Giamatti (who deserved the Oscar that George Clooney didn't), it's just so emotionally driven you can't help but be pulled in to the story. By the end, when Braddock is fighting in that last boxing match, you know what has to happen. You know who has to win, but you won't let yourself be sure. I remember watching it in the theater and being so tense, cheering so hard for Braddock to win, and I just couldn't loosen up until after the winner is announced. Then again, the same feelings, the same tenseness, even on my 4th or 5th viewing. It takes a really special movie to stir up the same strong emotions time after time. If you haven't seen it, go rent it right now. If you have, go watch it again. It'll be worth it.
As for awards and stuff - I'm still not sure how Crowe didn't get an Oscar nomination for this. It also deserved a cinematography nod, and maybe art direction as well. It might should have won the film editing and makeup awards it was nominated for as well. For some reason, the Oscar for makeup tends to acknowledge wounds and more subtle makeup for nominations, but always goes with the more over the top mask-type work for the win. Which isn't fair. 2004-2006 should have gone to The Passion of the Christ, Cinderella Man, and Apocalypto, in my opinion, but instead went to (the also impressive and deserving) Lemony Snickett, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Pan's Labyrinth. Those are just a matter of personal preference though.
Okay, all for now, be back later with some classic Woody Allen movies, and maybe a book review.
No comments:
Post a Comment