Three movies watched out of boredom. The good: Knocked Up. (I could've selected Sicko or La Vie en Rose, but they're too obvious.) Seriously, it was quite entertaining and, at times, even hilarious. It was raining, our neighbors were being annoying, there was nothing else playing in the n'hood - and we weren't about to get on the subway on a weekend - so we begrudgingly stumbled into this seemingly lame flick. Yes, ample potty humor, but brutally honest at times. Highly recommended comedic relief! The bad: Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus. It actually has another subtitle: "A Love Story." Yikes. This movie had so much potential, but sucked so badly. First question: why make an "imaginary" movie about such an interesting historical figure? Arbus was a real person who died only recently - it's not like she made her mark during the French and Indian War when history was a bit murky. It was the 1970s. You couldn't ask for a better subject. Second, why not just make another, more engaging story with imaginary characters? All the right ingredients were there: love, loneliness, photography, freaks. The ugly: 1408. (Another all too obvious choice for this category: Spiderman 3, which, for me, has taken the place of Congo as the worse movie I have ever seen, ever.) I have no excuse for this one. We were already in Stinky Town proper, but found ourselves yearning for a movie without having bought tix in advance. Not good. It was the first theater we came across and this movie was playing in five minutes. "Hey, let's go - it'll be fun! Cusack and Jackson - how bad could it be?" It was awful. It was funny, too, but not intentionally. Wait for the (second of four) end scene when the hotel room floods. Classic cinema.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Il buono, il brutto & il cattivo (Movie Review #4)
Three movies watched out of boredom. The good: Knocked Up. (I could've selected Sicko or La Vie en Rose, but they're too obvious.) Seriously, it was quite entertaining and, at times, even hilarious. It was raining, our neighbors were being annoying, there was nothing else playing in the n'hood - and we weren't about to get on the subway on a weekend - so we begrudgingly stumbled into this seemingly lame flick. Yes, ample potty humor, but brutally honest at times. Highly recommended comedic relief! The bad: Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus. It actually has another subtitle: "A Love Story." Yikes. This movie had so much potential, but sucked so badly. First question: why make an "imaginary" movie about such an interesting historical figure? Arbus was a real person who died only recently - it's not like she made her mark during the French and Indian War when history was a bit murky. It was the 1970s. You couldn't ask for a better subject. Second, why not just make another, more engaging story with imaginary characters? All the right ingredients were there: love, loneliness, photography, freaks. The ugly: 1408. (Another all too obvious choice for this category: Spiderman 3, which, for me, has taken the place of Congo as the worse movie I have ever seen, ever.) I have no excuse for this one. We were already in Stinky Town proper, but found ourselves yearning for a movie without having bought tix in advance. Not good. It was the first theater we came across and this movie was playing in five minutes. "Hey, let's go - it'll be fun! Cusack and Jackson - how bad could it be?" It was awful. It was funny, too, but not intentionally. Wait for the (second of four) end scene when the hotel room floods. Classic cinema.
2 comments:
Thanks for the reviews, D. I've been trying to make it over to the grand Orinda Theatre for a showing of Knocked Up but haven't yet. Now the car's in the shop, beginning tomorrow.
Did you guys ever see a film here during your San Francisco years?
http://www.renaissancerialto.com/images/orinda.jpg
Would've been a hike for you so I'm guessing not. It's a short drive from my Oakland n'hood and it looks like a beautiful theatre. When you move back out here and make the east bay your home, we'll make this place a destination.
And...I'm afraid I may have to see Spiderman 3 now.
Never been to that lovely cinema palace, but look forward to it come the Fall! In the meantime, I guess you could go see Spidey III. Either that or grind up some glass in your blender and jam in into your eyes - that may be more fun.
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