At the Cinema - July 09

The Hurt Locker – 10 out of 10
Can you hold your breath for 2 hours?
You’ll feel like that’s what you’ve been doing when the credits finally roll on The Hurt Locker. Now this is movie-making! Real characters – ones you care about and ones that you watch evolve during the course of the movie. Real Action – not CGI. Real Emotion that you can feel as the characters cope with each other.

Where do I begin? Let’s start with Kathryn Bigelow, the director. She and her partners financed this on their own. The Army famously didn’t cooperate in the filming (too busy with Transformers I guess.) I’ll admit I’ve always liked her movies, and Point Break is one of my guilty pleasures. I love the fact that the action in her movies is real and visible – not blurry.

Let’s talk about Jeremy Renner in a star making performance as Staff Sgt William James, a bomb-defuser in Iraq. I hope the word of mouth grows throughout the year so Bigelow and Renner aren’t forgotten when the awards presentations begin.

The movie revolves around a crew of three who specialize in defusing road side bombs. I honestly don’t want to tell you much more except that the movie crackles with the kind of real tension most movies only dream of. When it comes to your town – go see it. More than just a great war movie, it’s a study in how war is a drug for some.

I’m by no means a war-movie fanatic, but this is the best war movie since Saving Private Ryan. I always look at the D-day scene in Ryan as one of the greatest 20 minutes in movie history and I’ve always thought that the 2 bookends of heart-tugging that Spielberg framed this movie with greatly distracted from its greatness. I thought he should have not let people in the theatre after the movie started, like Hitchcock did with Psycho, and assaulted us with the beach scene right from the beginning. Think how stunning it would have been! Just my 2 cents.


Whatever Works – 8
The latest Woody Allen movie is going to be purely a matter of taste. If you like Woody’s humorous take on the relationship arc, and you like Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm) you’ll probably like this. The fact that three of the four main characters are from Mississippi and are fairly realistic is a plus.
But, what elevated this movie for me is Evan Rachel Wood who is stunning as the Mississippi runaway who lands in New York and in crotchety Larry’s lap. I first noticed her in “Across the Universe” where her singing stood out, liked her in “The Wrestler” but here she lifts her game to a new level. She’s wonderful here and she’s the number one reason to see this movie. This is a pass at the greatness of “Annie Hall” and while it doesn’t get there, let’s just say Evan Rachell Wood reaches Mira Sorvino status.


Bruno -7
I went to this expecting a vile piece of excrement and I was only partially disappointed.
I had heard that this was the official end of civilization and that there would never be another NC-17 rating if this movie didn’t get it.
Sorry to disappoint you. Maybe I’ve hardened along with my arteries but I just didn’t think it was that racy. Way out there yes, but maybe I’m just used to what passes for movie humor these days, and I’m just not easily shocked anymore.
Tasteless and often hilarious, I only had to look away once or twice, and I was only grossed out once or twice. The movie never comes together into anything great, but I don’t think it was meant to do anything but entertain the target audience. If that’s you, go see it.

The Answer Man – 6
Mildly Interesting, and very gentle love story that didn’t really demonstrate a compelling reason for being made other than as a vehicle for Jeff Daniels.

Public Enemies – 5
Here is proof positive that a movie can be glitzy, well written, well acted, well directed, historically accurate, and still be totally bland and boring. Sometimes you just sit there, and you never buy in. You aren’t engaged. The movie just sits on the screen, going through the motions and so are you, trying to stay awake through all the gunfire.
I’m thinking this movie will go away rather quickly, and rightfully so.

Now, I’ll admit I’m not that crazy about mob/mafia/gangster movies, so I’m not the best one to judge, but one of my favorite old movies is shown in this one. John Dillinger went to see Manhattan Melodrama the night he was gunned down coming out of a Chicago Theatre, and they show several pieces of it here. I couldn’t help but wish as I watched Public Enemies that I was watching Manhattan Melodrama instead. So, rent it instead of this one – great old movie.

The McCartney Curse

I love the guy, but it's beginning to look like Paul McCartney isn't the greatest person to sing with if you're worried about your longevity. Am I the only one who has noticed?

Linda McCartney
John Lennon
George Harrison
Billy Preston
Michael Jackson

Who am I missing?

I'm not trying to be cruel here, but if I'm Stevie Wonder, I'm going on high alert.

Remember the "Paul is dead" rumor? Doesn't that seem a little ironic at this point?
I'm just saying....

This is like the "Gone with the Wind" curse. Did you know that almost everyone who was in that movie has died now? Makes you think, doesn't it?