Anonymous (the movie)

Magnificent. Not that I necessarily believe any of it, but it combined delicious snippets of Shakespearean performances, an intricate story with considerable human interest, plausible history (although not 100% accurate, I recommend checking the Wikipedia article for some inconsistencies - but consider that some of those inconsistencies are results of not accepting the reconstruction of publishing orders of the plays), and some interesting variations on the power of the word.

The performances were touching, not only those of Vanessa Redgrave and Rhys Ifans but those of many minor players, some with just a few lines here and there. One criticism is that the transitions between different times were jarring.

Anyway, I loved the way events in the plays found parallels in the events of the story.

The cleverest comment of the critics noted in the Wikipedia article above was "the devious message must be that a shlock-merchant like Emmerich wasn't involved, but, like the film plot itself, must conceal the hand of some more experienced filmmaker, whose identity will be much debated for centuries to come."

Quote of the day

"He urged me not to fall into the trap that so many aging directors fall into – that the women get younger and younger and nuder and nuder. That's all I needed to hear. I most definitely intend for the women in my films to get younger and younger and nuder and nuder."
- Lars von Trier

Midnight in Paris

I already mentioned on Facebook that I liked this movie, but I didn't say why.  The movie has a dash of wish fulfillment (who hasn't wanted to be able to engage with their long-dead heroes?), some amusing brief character sketches, and an over-all framework that actually works.  Meeting with people of the past has been done before in writing and in film (the Odyssey, Dante's Inferno, and the Riverworld series take the people OUT of their native environment; this movie and many time-travel stories allow them to be viewed in their native time), and their is a danger of getting carried away by dumping too many past characters into the story to the detriment of the main character.  In this movie, the other characters are enjoyable but actually bring the main character into better focus.

My wife Jocelyn loves movies with costumes and scenery from other places and times, but she was a bit worried at the beginning that the director seemed obsessed with displaying too many Parisian vistas.  Do not fear, this does not degenerate into a family travel album.

My favorites in this movie were Adriana (Cotillard), Hemingway (Stoll), and Dali (Brody).   I never noticed how much Owen Wilson resembled Woody Allen before, but he seemed to absorb Allen's character in a younger body.

Teach like an Egyptian

Saw Agora last night at the Little Theatre.

I'd read a lot about it, and already knew there were some historical inaccuracies (and unfounded plot points, such as crediting her with the discovery of elliptical orbits), but I wasn't much bothered by having the satellite view include the Aswan dam.  It is a story about a leading female intellectual from a time where females where better off staying out of the limelight, blended with religious strife between Christians, Pagans, and Jews.

Hypatia was acted brilliantly, and the movie had quite a few high points.  Overall, I found it dragged in parts, and a few other parts seemed a bit preachy - but I was still impressed and touched.  At the end of the movie, a manly tear welled in the corner of my eye, but I managed to stop it from spilling.

I'd recommend it to anybody fascinated by the subject matter, but not to everybody.

Cliff Notes for Movies!

Via Prettier Than Napoleon, who used "ALIENS: An unplanned pregnancy leads to complications." as her post title, Uncomfortable Plot Summaries tells you everything you need to know about the movies, but you might not recognize the movie without thinking a bit.

My three favorites:

BATMAN: Wealthy man assaults the mentally ill.
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST: Mel Gibson fulfills fantasy of showing a Jew beaten to a bloody pulp and killed on-screen.
TWILIGHT: Girl gives up college for stalker.

Invictus

Normally, you'd find it hard to get me to go to a sports movie with a cattle prod. But with Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela (reportedly, Mandela had been quoted as saying that if somebody were to play him, and he could choose the actor, he'd pick Freeman) and Clint Eastwood directing, I didn't put up much of a fight.

Touching, great performances, not a boring moment. Worth seeing, even if you didn't think the original poem "..I am the captain of my soul..." was all that.

Wolverine...

Another good one. Some critics thought that they tried to cram too many characters into the movie at once, and they were probably right. The other just criticism was that we just HAD an origin story for the Wolverine in the FIRST X-Men movie, so why have another?

None the less, the story line was good, the performances were convincing, and the surfeit of characters mostly left you wanting more detail about the ones that were given short shrift.

Star Trek Zero.....

Saw it tonight. Verdict - enjoyable, touching, nostalgic.

I am especially impressed with the way they found young actors that really seemed like plausible younger version of "The Old Series."

Review: Duplicity

If you don't like to spend even a little time reading reviews, just go see it. You won't regret it (unless you absolutely must have car chase scenes and shootings, the movie is kind of deficient in those).

This is a movie about two bad people, but unlike too many movies about bad people these are people you are actually going to care about. It is witty, clever, and complex, but does not insist on leaving you baffled. For example, there is a particular conversation in the movie that you hear four times: the first time, it is just clever; the second time, it is puzzling; the third time, there is a good chance that you have figured it out; and the fourth time it makes complete sense unless you fell asleep during the movie, which isn't very likely.

The performances are uniformly impressive, with not just our stars shining but with their supporting cast fully equal to their tasks. Especially enjoyable are the two executives whose struggle forms the framework for the plot. Another spot I particularly enjoyed was the lady who was cruelly (but enjoyably) used at the airport.

Even the previews of other movies were unusually good last night, but I really don't think I liked it just because I was in a good mood. Go see it.

Goldfish Memories

I watched an enjoyable movie tonight with Jocelyn. It's a bit slow starting, and it's quite a challenge to keep all the characters straight (no pun intended, since most of them are not "straight"), but it is very sweet and gently humorous.

My favorite exchange (paraphrased from memory)

girl: "He's NOT my type"
friend: "Well, YOUR type is currently making love to another man, so maybe you should expand your range."