Some scattered movie thoughts.
Jan. 31st, 2004 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleYou might think that Brad and I go to a lot of movies because we both got gift cards for Christmas (which we did), but really we go to a lot of movies because we like the movies.
I've been thinking about Mona Lisa Smile, and I'm really bothered by Topher Grace's Tommy Donegal. He was more like Traffic's Seth than That '70s Show's Eric, which may be part of why I think in retrospect that Tommy was a little creepy. Sure, he says that he appreciates what Katherine is doing for Joan, but I didn't believe him. And when Joan tells Katherine that Tommy would have supported her, she looks worried, as if she's afraid Tommy will overhear or as if she doesn't believe it herself. I realize we needed someone to tell Katherine that being a housewife doesn't mean that she can't have an intellectual life, but it should have been someone who was more clearly supported by her husband.
Brad said that Mystic River was just another murder mystery, and in a lot of ways, I agree with him. It was better than the average murder mystery at showing how the effects of tragedy ripple out, but it was still not as spectacular as I'd been led to believe.
It was a little overwrought at the beginning, and I thought Sean Penn was a little over the top for most of it. I also thought his relationship, what we saw of it anyway, with Katie was a little on the creepy side.
I wondered through the whole movie why they'd advertised that Laura Linney was in it (I also tried desperately to figure out who played Celeste [Marcia Gay Harden]), and then she turned out to be the most chilling thing about the movie. My cousin sneered at her becoming Lady Macbeth, and I read a review that also referred to her as Lady Macbeth, but I don't think she is. Lady Macbeth actively urges Macbeth along, and she ends up tortured by it. Annabeth simply lets it happen, and I don't see her ever feeling any guilt over it.
Kevin Bacon was also notable. I think I liked his character best, and I thought he and Laurence Fishburne were fantastic as the cops.
I came out of the movie thinking about the contrast between the tragedy in Mystic River and that of House of Sand and Fog. I wasn't overwhelmed by the tragedies of Mystic River the way I was with House of Sand and Fog. Mystic River is a plain old murder mystery while House of Sand and Fog has an unfamiliar style of plot; the tragedy of Mystic River is much more pedestrian, more everyday, as far as movie tragedy goes.
I think The Perfect Score is the worst movie I have ever paid to see. It's unbelievably bad. We only went to see it for Scarlett Johansson, and she was as good as anyone could possibly be in something this awful. Deep down, it's really all about the Kyle/Matty/Francesca and the Roy/Desmond. Anna should become a lesbian.
I've been thinking about Mona Lisa Smile, and I'm really bothered by Topher Grace's Tommy Donegal. He was more like Traffic's Seth than That '70s Show's Eric, which may be part of why I think in retrospect that Tommy was a little creepy. Sure, he says that he appreciates what Katherine is doing for Joan, but I didn't believe him. And when Joan tells Katherine that Tommy would have supported her, she looks worried, as if she's afraid Tommy will overhear or as if she doesn't believe it herself. I realize we needed someone to tell Katherine that being a housewife doesn't mean that she can't have an intellectual life, but it should have been someone who was more clearly supported by her husband.
Brad said that Mystic River was just another murder mystery, and in a lot of ways, I agree with him. It was better than the average murder mystery at showing how the effects of tragedy ripple out, but it was still not as spectacular as I'd been led to believe.
It was a little overwrought at the beginning, and I thought Sean Penn was a little over the top for most of it. I also thought his relationship, what we saw of it anyway, with Katie was a little on the creepy side.
I wondered through the whole movie why they'd advertised that Laura Linney was in it (I also tried desperately to figure out who played Celeste [Marcia Gay Harden]), and then she turned out to be the most chilling thing about the movie. My cousin sneered at her becoming Lady Macbeth, and I read a review that also referred to her as Lady Macbeth, but I don't think she is. Lady Macbeth actively urges Macbeth along, and she ends up tortured by it. Annabeth simply lets it happen, and I don't see her ever feeling any guilt over it.
Kevin Bacon was also notable. I think I liked his character best, and I thought he and Laurence Fishburne were fantastic as the cops.
I came out of the movie thinking about the contrast between the tragedy in Mystic River and that of House of Sand and Fog. I wasn't overwhelmed by the tragedies of Mystic River the way I was with House of Sand and Fog. Mystic River is a plain old murder mystery while House of Sand and Fog has an unfamiliar style of plot; the tragedy of Mystic River is much more pedestrian, more everyday, as far as movie tragedy goes.
I think The Perfect Score is the worst movie I have ever paid to see. It's unbelievably bad. We only went to see it for Scarlett Johansson, and she was as good as anyone could possibly be in something this awful. Deep down, it's really all about the Kyle/Matty/Francesca and the Roy/Desmond. Anna should become a lesbian.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-01-31 09:21 pm (UTC)(And yes to all that Laura Linney stuff.)
Re:
Date: 2004-02-01 01:41 pm (UTC)(Wasn't she just fantastic?)