Hommage—sounds fancy
Preachy movies boo!
Creative, heartwarming movies yay!
Syriana
This scathing indictment of the oil industry and U.S. foreign policy vis-à-vis oil rich countries in the Middle East is a mediocre thriller, but I don’t think the movie makers were terribly interested in making an entertaining movie. It tells the story of a government cover-up in an impressionist series of vignettes and parallel stories that are but tenuously connected. (You got that sentence? Then you might get the movie.)
Ok, so they didn’t intend to entertain. What were they up to? I’d call it preaching. After all, it had the ham-fisted subtlety of a fire-and-brimstone sermon, only it seems they would have us believe all sinners go to America. And that last sentence is more subtle than anything you’re likely to find in the movie. Well, except maybe the way they managed to compare the employment of (presumably) illegal immigrants to the exploitation of suicide/homicide bombers overseas. Did anyone else catch that?
Cars
It’s Pixar. ‘enough said. Except that so many folks are saying this isn’t as good as the other Pixar flicks. Ok, so maybe the story is a little weak and predictable, but they did everything else so well—detail, characters, sincerely interesting and funny gags, action sequences—that it didn’t seem to hurt the movie.
I have to admit, when I saw the first trailers I was a little doubtful about the subject. Watching lap after repetitive lap of cars going in circles is slightly less interesting than watching a game of Pong. In reality, though, if I had to put a label to the subject of this film I would call it Americana. The movie is a breathtakingly beautiful, heartfelt hommage to automobiles, the freedom they represent and the bigger than life roads, towns and vistas of the American southwest. The film is beautiful to watch whatever you might say of the story.
Crash
Eight minutes is all I lasted. I'm done.
Creative, heartwarming movies yay!
Syriana
This scathing indictment of the oil industry and U.S. foreign policy vis-à-vis oil rich countries in the Middle East is a mediocre thriller, but I don’t think the movie makers were terribly interested in making an entertaining movie. It tells the story of a government cover-up in an impressionist series of vignettes and parallel stories that are but tenuously connected. (You got that sentence? Then you might get the movie.)
Ok, so they didn’t intend to entertain. What were they up to? I’d call it preaching. After all, it had the ham-fisted subtlety of a fire-and-brimstone sermon, only it seems they would have us believe all sinners go to America. And that last sentence is more subtle than anything you’re likely to find in the movie. Well, except maybe the way they managed to compare the employment of (presumably) illegal immigrants to the exploitation of suicide/homicide bombers overseas. Did anyone else catch that?
Cars
It’s Pixar. ‘enough said. Except that so many folks are saying this isn’t as good as the other Pixar flicks. Ok, so maybe the story is a little weak and predictable, but they did everything else so well—detail, characters, sincerely interesting and funny gags, action sequences—that it didn’t seem to hurt the movie.
I have to admit, when I saw the first trailers I was a little doubtful about the subject. Watching lap after repetitive lap of cars going in circles is slightly less interesting than watching a game of Pong. In reality, though, if I had to put a label to the subject of this film I would call it Americana. The movie is a breathtakingly beautiful, heartfelt hommage to automobiles, the freedom they represent and the bigger than life roads, towns and vistas of the American southwest. The film is beautiful to watch whatever you might say of the story.
Crash
Eight minutes is all I lasted. I'm done.
posted by anchovy @ 9:16 PM
3 Comments:
At 7:20 PM,
mal said…
weird, until today the last entry that would come up for me was "bummin around"
I struggle with movies like Syriana. It seems people are looking for conspiracies where none are likely to exist. I suspect it is easier (and more emotional) to find some one to blame rather than deal with the facts
I LOVED cars. I thought it was hilarious. Obviously light entertainment. So what? Thats what we paid our $5 for
At 12:53 PM,
anchovy said…
(Depending on settings, sometimes browsers will show cached versions of a page, sans latest posts. Of course, I went nuts and put up a bunch of 'em in the spanse of a couple days or so.)
Now you obviously meant to be provocative when you quoted a $5 price for a movie ticket! It's probably closer to $11 around here, though to tell the truth, I saw cars for $1.50 at thesecond run theater with my kid sister!
Syriana-type movies are a struggle. It would be too easy to dismiss them except that I'm interested in what others' viewpoints are, even if I have to grit my teeth throughout the movie. The problem is that the movie watching experience becomes more like taking your medicine rather than entertainment. There's a time and place, I suppose, but I wasn't in the mood for it that night. That's why I only got through the first few minutes of crash, I suppose.
Cars. I got teary-eyed at the panaramic views and the restored town scenes, but I'm a sucker for tear jerkers like that.
At 6:47 PM,
mal said…
$5 is the going matinee rate around here, Prime time is $9. Popcorn and soda for 2 is $10 for two. We usually catch the matinee when the weather is less than good around here....a fairly regular occurence
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