1. I really enjoyed "Thank You for Smoking." It's a very well-done, tight satire about a tobacco industry lobbyist—or really about lobbyists in general. (Interestingly enough, I'm not positive, but I think there was not a single lit cigarette in the entire movie.) Regardless, it made its point(s), and with good humor. Robert Duvall has a terrific, albeit brief, role, and I finally got a good look at Katie Holmes. Huh? She does nothing for me. Is it me, or is something just plain wrong about her looks?
2. I really, really wanted to enjoy "Akeelah and the Bee." Instead, I felt trapped inside an Afterschool Special. Try to name a cliche that wasn't in it. You can't. He needs a daughter! She needs a father! Oy, on and on. There were two "twists" at the end; I saw both of them coming a mile away. There was never any doubt in my mind how it would end. There was never any doubt of anything, for that matter. If I had taken Steph to see this (she has no interest), I would have thought, "Hey, this isn't a bad kids' movie." Watching it with Andy after hours, over dinner and wine, however, and I just wanted to throttle someone. Don't bother seeing this (unless your kids want to); see "Spellbound" instead, which is, well, spellbinding.
3. We finally got to see "Fearless," and I'm glad, because it is most definitely a big-screen movie. This is not as good as the other movies that I lump together in this genre ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "The House of Flying Daggers," "Hero," any others?), but it's still good and worth seeing. Jet Li plays Huo Yuanjia, although the details of his life and death are sketchy. My main complaint with the movie was the Matrix-y feel; instead of graceful, swoopy martial arts, we got weird quick-cuts. It felt jarring and too modern. The subtitles were horrible; I had trouble controlling a giggle-fit when some spectators kept shouting, "He's so great!" But Jet Li is really, really cool, and he really, really shows us what wushu is all about.
That's the first review I've read of Fearless, it's about the only thing I'd pay full price to see right now I think. Where are all the great movies at?
Posted by: Michelle | October 14, 2006 at 06:38 PM
We are DYING to see "The Departed." As David Edelstein said in his Fresh Air review, " Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin in a film by Martin Scorsese. Do you think anyone will want to see it?" Plus, it's set a Boston, so it's getting HUGE press here.
Posted by: Karen | October 14, 2006 at 06:47 PM
I hadn't heard of the Departed, I'll have to look up the trailer.
Posted by: Michelle | October 14, 2006 at 06:52 PM
Every time I see the name "Fearless," I think "The Jeff Bridges movie! GREAT film!" Then I realize it's something completely different, and feel very stupid.
(Which, in and of itself, isn't at that unusual. But this is certainly a new way for me to get there.)
Posted by: TwoBusy | October 14, 2006 at 08:23 PM
Maybe that's why this one seems to always appear under the name "Jet Li's Fearless"!
And, if that's the stupidest thing you've thought all week, I'm light years beyond you.
Posted by: Karen | October 14, 2006 at 08:47 PM