The Air I Breathe

Let me start off by saying - way better than Cloverfield if only by the conspicuous absence of feeling an impending need to vomit during the screening.

Four interwoven stories around four emotional bases of life - defined here as Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow, and Love. I think I would have enjoyed it as a rental or a TV movie. But as a destination film to see in a theater it fell a bit short. Lots of well known folks such as Brendan Fraser, Forest Whitaker, Andy `Garcia, Julie Delpy and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Kevin Bacon also appears in a clear attempt to reduce the difficult in playing the separation game that bears his name. Nothing really wrong with the performances, I think the base story was most of what made it less than thrilling. I did enjoy Fraser's role the most as a thug tortured by his ability to see the future. Gellar seems to portray a toned down version of her way more enjoyable role in Southland Tales.

Cloverfield

First the good news. You can easily recreate the experience of going to see Colverfield along with a date in a fraction of the time and without leaving your home. Here's all you need to do. Take a pair of ten dollar bills. Take the first one and light it on fire. Then close your eyes, raise your arm out from your sides and spin around until you can't stand. And, repeat...

Then the bad news. What I just described is more emotionally involving than any any of what you'll see onscreen during the blissfully short train wreck that is Cloverfield. Which is honestly surprising at times because several of the performances are a cut above what you'd expect in a horror movie. Especially the fellow who provides the films only levity as the accidental cameraman, Hud.

If you've seen The Blair Witch Project you'll understand how nausea inducing purposefully jerky handheld camera work can be. This film copies that look wholesale - but manages to do it and still throw what looks like ten of millions into the film's production. It's not wasted in the sense that the special effects look bad. Just wasted in that it didn't really entertain me. Doesn't seem to be hurting though from the film's success at the box office. Unfortunately, while Blair Witch generated a lot of tension and suspense for many viewers I found myself strangely bored and detached from Cloverfield. It follows a set of friends through a night in which Manhattan comes under attack from a mysterious creature. Mayhem interrupts a going away party for one of the friends. They and their camera document the horror that ensues. I could tell you more about the plot but it's basically as though someone followed the cast of the OC through a Godzilla film. Just picture that, add a trite and none too subtle "live for today" theme and you've got it.

Best part about the night was getting to see the Ironman trailer on the big screen... In the meantime rent The Host from last year. 'nuff said.

Enchanted

Yes - I have sort of run out of things to see. Unless I wanted to see There Will Be Blood. I thought about that option. But then I took a look at the reason for their R rating - "some violence". Who would have guessed? ;-). Anyway...

Instead I decided to try something all the way on the other side of the seriousness extreme. Couldn't bring myself to try Walk Hard - so off to Enchanted I went.

I'd heard so many positive things about Enchanted I think my expectations may have been unfairly raised. A storybook/disney style cartoon of a young woman finding her prince starts off the film. The cartoon characters sing with the creatures of the forest as they help with housework, fight evil (but not too evil) trolls and fall in love based on not much more than a shared melody. All is simple and perfect. But the wicked queen isn't too thrilled with her son's bride and gives her the boot. Next thing our hero knows she's thrown out of the animated world and into the New York City of today. The rest of the story is the animated fish out of water tale you've seen in previews. The prince comes looking for her, she meets a physical world option and everyone looks for happily ever after. There's a lot of good opportunity here and the film hits some very clever notes at times - as well as one great role reversal towards the end. It straddles the line between kid and adult fair towards the kids side and at times I think that kept me from getting as drawn in as I'd have liked. I didn't love it but didn't hate it. Under the right circumstances it's definitely worth a try. It'll certainly leave you rethinking how cute it is when the neighborhood animals help with straightening up...

From what I've been hearing maybe this weekend I'll try the oil movie. But I think Enchanted was right for last weekend.