Margot at the Wedding

Noah Baumbach follows up his last film, the lighthearted romp The Squid and the Whale with the equally well adjusted sort of family in Margot at the Wedding. Just joking of course - this is a movie about screwed up folks doing screwed up things to each other. Margot (Nicole Kidman) comes to visit her estranged sister and fiance (Jack Black). Kidman drags along her young son for the ride. Everyone talks a lot - and is intensely dysfunctional.

Many critics seem to really take the dislike of the onscreen family the extra step to hating the film. Personally I thought it wasn't exactly fun to watch but more engaging than Squid and the Whale. In Squid I just so disliked the parents it was hard to get past it. In this film the dialog held my attention longer and none of the kids seemed quite as badly put upon. So I guess it was more watchable to me. That's not to say the characters are ones you'd like to hang out with - or have raise you. They're thoroughly unlikeable as well. But at some level this film worked for me. But maybe it's just because after Atonement the bar for too depressing is way higher than it used to be. :-)

Atonement

This film is pretty amazing - both in how well it's done and how crazy depressing it really is. A young girl witnesses something she really doesn't understand. Rather than just asking someone she manages to essentially destroy the happiness and/or life of practically everyone involved. The boy ends up in prison for raping a child then shipped off the the front lines. The girl's sister ends up estranged from the family. And then things start to go badly...

Did you think I called it depressing for no reason?

Keira Knightley and the rest of the cast all do a great job - and I've been told it's faithful (if a lighter version) of the work. I'm sure it's going to do well during the movie awards season. But I basically was in a foul mood for the rest of the day after seeing it. Not generally the result I'm looking for when I head to the movies.

Southland Tales

The new much awaited - much reviled new film from Donnie Darko's Richard Kelly. For all the bile spilled in reviews and the oft mentioned boos it elicited at Cannes, critics clearly love this film. You can see the passion in the carefully crafted fun they have in ripping the movie apart. Take for example this review from the Seattle Times. A brief excerpt

"Southland Tales is such an incoherent, sprawling, irritating pileup that it gave me pangs of empathy-embarrassment for Kelly during its numerous awkward spots, and made me mouth "What the !@#$%?" so many times that I thought it was my new TM mantra. But at least it's really, really long. Consequently, I can recommend it to enhanced interrogation practitioners who are tired of waterboarding."

Here's my quick take
- It's no Donnie Darko.
- There's some very fun dialog that almost rises to the level of the Smurf's discussion in his first film.
- At times it's a complete mess - and every bit the train wreck you've been led to expect. But I sort of liked it.
- The scenes with Sarah Michelle Gellar are more than worth the price of admission. She plays entrepreneurial porn start Krysta Now (Krysta Kapowski). Her line of products ranging from a hit pop song (Teen horniness is not a crime) to her own version of The View is a continual kick to watch.
- It's an incomprehensible mess (I think I said that already) - and not always in a particularly fun way. Parts of it are really silly, and I really doubt it adds up to anything worth discussing in great depth after you see it. But on the other hand I've seen a lot of David Lynch movies that are equally random and not nearly as much fun. And none of his films has a music video set smack in the middle of it - and an entertaining one at that.
- One should really avoid casting so many people who worked at Saturday Night Live.
- It's a movie - don't take the whole thing so seriously. It's not your money they spent to make it. Most likely.

It's a long movie and I made the mistake of seeing it fairly late. I dozed off during the last few minutes so I don't quite know how it ends. But something tells me it wasn't all wrapped up in a little bow. It's hard to truly recommend this film - but I'm glad I saw it. When it's out on video I'll probably see it again just to catch the ending. Though I'm a little afraid to see what's likely going to be a 12 hour directors cut. :-)

Oh yeah - the story. It's set in Southern California in the aftermath of a nuclear terrorist attack in Texas that propels the country into an amped up response with many not too subtle comparisons to present/past events in the US. Oh yeah - The Rock stars. And he's actually pretty good. That may be the strangest part of all...

Whatever you think - if you see it - you can't say I didn't warn you. Clips below:

Dan in Real Life

Steve Carell stars in a cute but predictable little romantic comedy. A columnist specializing in writing about parenting who has problems raising his three daughters after their mother dies. Not bad, not amazing. If you're having serious withdrawal from not seeing him in The Office it won't help that much. But at least you'll have seen a cute little film. For everyone else - it won't lose anything as a rental.

Lions for Lambs

The best thing about this film is that it's under 2 hours. Any longer and it'd be hard to resist the urge to leave before the end. It's a bit of a boring mess without much in the way of redeeming qualities. It sledgehammers home the points that
- We don't have a strategy in Iraq
- The press hasn't been too helpful
- All new strategies are pretty shaky
- Robert Redford is always right

This is not a subtle film - the two soldiers you see in the trailer are literally stuck in place in a literal quagmire for most of the film. At the same time there are a few surprises. Most notably,
- Meryl Streep suddenly was completely unbelievable on screen.
- Even with such a cast there was practically no moment where I felt emotionally drawn in.

For the record, Tom Cruise does a pretty good job in his role. Not quite as smarmy as in Magnolia, but sort of fun in the same way.

Anyway - go see No End in Sight instead. It'll get you far more engaged and make pretty much the same points far more effectively. Or in a pinch see anything else...

American Gangster

Big crime drama based on the real life story of a Harlem Crime boss. Less violent than you'd think given the subject. Solid performances and an interesting - slowly building story. Worth a look - just don't expect to see The Godfather...

Lars and the Real Girl

Very light and breezy story of an introverted man who orders his new girlfriend in the mail. She may be from overseas - but she's not quite what you'd expect. Unless you were expecting a life sized, anatomically correct and expensive looking female doll. Ain't the Internet grand. ;-)

Given that setup it's surprising to learn that this is as sweet and non-pervy a movie as you're likely to see this year. He bought the doll for non-physical companionship and he seems completely convinced she's a real woman - introducing her to friends and family, etc. He even insists she not share a room with him at night. The guy's a bit messed up and his small town follows the advice of his doctor to go along and as if they believe. It's a romantic comedy of sorts - just not in the usual way.

I really respect the filmmakers trying to do something different and unexpected here. Most of the surprise is in the setup though - you'll pretty much know where it's going 15 minutes in. It's not an unpleasant ride - just a bit slight. Probably will make a good rental or a casual night out.