Apprentice Writer is all admiration for bloggers who provide thorough, insightful, nuanced movie reviews. But today she takes a different approach: short and shortest. Choose your brevity!
SHERLOCK HOLMES
One Word: Fabuloso
More: AW cannot understand why this got lukewarm reviews. She adored the humor, the music, the care with which gritty details of period London came to life, the perfect balance between Watson and Holmes (in contrast to all earlier versions in which Watson is a complete imbecile), RDJ's noteperfect over-the-topness. The only aspect that didn't work for her was the casting of Rachel MacAdams as Irene Adler. She has resigned herself to a grungy half-naked boxing scene in every Guy Ritchie film she sees, and forgives him for this indulgence because of how well he's returned to form after the lacklustre 'Rocknrolla' (she doesn't count the appalling 'Swept Away', because that wasn't really a Ritchie film. It was a Mr. Madonna film).
BODY OF LIES
One word: Pointless.
More: Long-feeling film with Russell Crowe indulging a god complex and Leo DiCaprio begin a remarkably ineffective secret agent. No particular resolution, no message, utterly unconvincing romantic attraction subplot.
INVICTUS
One word: Inspiring.
More: To watch this film, AW had to decide if her admiration for Nelson Mandela outweighed her distaste for Morgan Freeman. It did (despite the IRLcrossover irony of a scene where Mandela's character informs an interested lady that he is not a polygamist), and she found the story of utilizing every circumstance and unlikely hero for reconciliation rewarding. She also learned two things about the hitherto totally unknown-to-her sport of rugby: players can pass the ball only to the side or back. And teams are made up of astonishingly beefy men, having the size and shape of fully suited up American football players - but without the suit.
MANAGEMENT
One word: Feel-good.
More: AW has liked Steve Zahn ever since seeing his endearingly non-competent criminal character in the excellent George Clooney vehicle 'Out of Sight'. Here he maintains his quirk and sincerity in a low-key tale of an average guy trying to figure out how to stay true to himself, despite the curves thrown by life, Jennifer Aniston, and Woody Harrelson.
and speaking of George....
UP IN THE AIR
One word: Excellent.
More: Clooney for President, Prime Minister, and anything else that needs smarts and thoughtfulness. If this doesn't score some Oscars, there is something very wrong with the Academy's sense of zeitgeist.
TOY STORY 3
One word: Disappointing.
More: Not enough laughs, WAY too much tension for the younger set (which is, after all, the target demographic), villain from Toy Story 2 recycled, the only truly enjoyable bit Buzz Lightyear en espanol - this was a shameful cash-grab by Pixar by jumping on the 3-D bandwagon.
And what have you watched lately?
where a budding comedy writer marks milestones on the road to dropping the 'apprentice' portion of her name
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5 comments:
I completely agree re TS3! I couldn't believe how well received it was. I felt like it couldn't decide if it was to be a nostalgia pic for adults or a 'toon for kids. Moot point I guess since it failed at both as far as I am concerned. Ugh! Badly done.
I also loved the en espanol portion! Super awesome!
Rachel - I'm looking forward to Disney's 'Tangled', though. Not only to see it with my 3 y.o. girl, but, amazingly, by 13 y.o. boy said he'd come. I guess he's secure enough in his masculinity, or can pass it off as 'forced to accompany his baby sister' in case any of his friends see him.
Rachel - I'm looking forward to Disney's 'Tangled', though. Not only to see it with my 3 y.o. girl, but, amazingly, by 13 y.o. boy said he'd come. I guess he's secure enough in his masculinity, or can pass it off as 'forced to accompany his baby sister' in case any of his friends see him.
Hey! You'll have to tell me how it is (review maybe?:) as it looks to be an interesting reinterpretation. I don't see very many kids movies...
I think it's great that your son wants to go. I wish that more parents would take their kids to see opposite gender movies. I think media (and often we) reinforce the idea that women can relate to women AND men but men can only relate to men. As such, things that are "girly" aren't viewed as being as valuable and they certainly aren't viewed as being for boys and girls.
And how has girly become an insult? It's not just guys that use this in a bad way but the gals, too. I just want to deck gals that do this! Are you mad? You're going to stand there insulting your own gender group on the basis of nothing other than gender stereotyping? ugh!
Rachel - hear, hear! And, haha on the not wanting to have anything to do with girliness, because the movie was originally called 'Rapuzel', and retitled 'Tangled' in deference to the boys who didn't see 'Princess and the Frog' because it sounded too, you guessed it, girly.
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