Sundance

So Ken and I scored tickets for three movies, including one tonight--SON OF NO ONE--that was hailed by one trade magazine as this season's first bomb at Sundance. Yes! I love it when Ken and I score tickets to bombs! It reminds me of the time we were in London and we saw a production of MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM that opened to the worst reviews in the history of British theater. (Memo to Directors: turning "fairies" into "flies" and "forests" into "dung heaps" is not likely to endear you to audience members who have spent a buttload of jack to see that particular play because of its light heart.) (But whatever.) (I'm guessing fancy pants directors aren't reading this blog.)

Anyhoodle. Earlier this week we saw TERRI, which struck me as an attempt to do Napoleon Dynamite in a darker hue, in a minor key. I really wanted to like it. And I did like John C. Reilly's performance. But beyond that I . . . just didn't buy it. (Further Memo to Directors: loose ends do not necessarily = artistic ambiguity. Sometimes loose ends just = loose ends. And they're distracting.)

This afternoon we saw SALVATION BOULEVARD, which I'm guessing will go into some kind of general release. Lots of A-listers in that movie, including two guys I love--Greg Kinnear and Pierce Brosnan. I've said this before, but the reason I love Brosnan is that he's a handsome guy who isn't afraid to be a NUTJOB. George Clooney is a little that way, too, only Clooney always manages to hang onto to a piece of cool, no matter how silly he behaves. Brosnan, on the other hand, has no pride. None whatsoever. And I admire that immensely.

SALVATION was funny, although predictably all the religious people in the movie are idiots. (Further Further Memo to Directors: P. J. O'Rourke was right when he said going after evangelicals is like shooting fish in a barrel. So come on. Surprise us for a change.) I don't know that I'd recommend the movie, but it did make me laugh.

Okay. That's it. And btw we're not going tonight. So if you want tickets to Sundance's first official bomb, give me a call.

Inception

So Ken, Q, and I went to the dollar movies tonight--saw INCEPTION finally. And the people I was YEARNING for a little more along the comic relief line. Or at least for an opportunity to catch my breath. The movie was a thrill ride for sure, but its level of unremitting intensity made me extremely uncomfortable, not unlike like a rock concert that's JUST. SO. LOUD. you're on the threshold of pain the whole time.

On the other hand, I did admire the smartness of the film. Fun to watch something that isn't completely formulaic, you know?

Bad endings, good beginnings

Ken and I went to that Polanski film "The Ghost Writer" last night. I really liked it until the last 30 seconds, in large part because of the the cast, which is AMAZING--it's easy to forget sometimes how good Pierce Brosnan is because he's spent so much of his life being really really ridiculously good-looking.

So yeah. I was feeling all happy and satisfied with the movie--also my popcorn--when suddenly the STUPIDEST thing in the world happens and BOOM CHAKALA it's all over, Rover. I was SO annoyed I told the ladies sitting in front of me that I felt ripped off and wanted my money back! Even though I didn't know them!

On the opposite end of the entertainment spectrum, I picked up a British novel called THE TOWERS OF TREBIZOND which opens with this line: "'Take my camel, dear,' said my Aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass."
THAT's a fine first sentence, I think.

Feel free to post your fave opening lines!

Movie musings

When Ken and I were in high school he worked at the old Uintah Theater in downtown Provo where he pretty much saw everything made in the late sixties and early seventies. One of his fave old movies was M*A*S*H, the iconic Robert Altman film. Anyhoo. He wanted to watch it again.

So here's the part where I interrupt with the following pertinent 411. Ken often wants to revisit old movies that he once loved. And in fact, he wants to revisit them with our grownup sons. He's sure they'll love (fill in the blank) as much as he did. Invariably the evening turns out to be disappointing. Turns out our kids don't think "The In-Laws" was that funny, that "The Three Musketeers" with Michael York was that thrilling, or "The Seven Percent Solution" with Alan Arkin was that clever. To them (and even to us) the movies look stagey, dated--as though they'd been shot with a home movie camera in someone's overlit garage. The only exception has been "Butch Cassidy," which holds up remarkably well.

Anyway. We got M*A*S*H and attempted to watch it this weekend. Within 30 minutes even Ken was going "why did I ever love this movie?" It was all attitude and posturing with not much narrative arc and no one to really root for. Yet at the time it was groundbreaking and Altman went on to have a brilliant, quirky career and my husband loved that movie with all his rebellious hippie adolescent heart.

Which broke last night because another movie failed to live up to his expectations.

Which brings me to this point. Is it ever a good idea to revisit a movie (or even a book) you once adored? Would you mind providing me with titles that disappointed? Or that didn't? I'm interested.

THE HURT LOCKER

Geoff asked me to post my reasons for liking THE HURT LOCKER, so here goes.

1. I was in awe of the film's ability to create and sustain suspense. As a writer I'm always interested in how to accomplish this. Frankly, the lessons of film don't always generalize to the printed page. I suspect camera work had A LOT to do with generating tension, but still. The sense of conflict was so real and urgent, it left me breathless.

2. I cared about the characters. Would they survive? Would they survive with body parts and humanity intact?

3. I think I better understand how it must feel to be there in the thick of action, which gave me a renewed sense of respect for our servicemen, including my daughter-in-law's father, who was in Baghdad for nine months. THE HURT LOCKER doesn't have any political message. Our decision to be in the Middle East--for good or bad--isn't the point. The point is what it FEELS like to be there. To this end, the film is graphic. Lots of real bombs. Lots of f-bombs. And that's exactly the kind of thing that folks get their undies in a twist about. But do you know what? I don't think any of it was gratuitous. And the film would NOT have been anywhere near as effective without the gritty look and language.

4. And because I'm shallow, I liked the full hit of testosterone I got while watching it. Which is one of the points of the movie, actually--how that rush of adrenalin one feels in the face of danger can be its own form of addiction.

Anyway. Wow. I'm glad I watched it.

Do I Even Remember How to Blog?

The answer is "no." Like, I even forgot how to "sign in." I AM SO LAME. But I'm gonna step up to the plate and take a few cuts and work on being less lame.

During my long silence I did manage to do a few things like drive to Oregon to see my law school son and his wife. While there we went to see the new Matt Damon flick, THE INFORMER. Or maybe it's THE INFORMANT. Whatever. Anyway. Seeing the movie gave me a chance to think about storytelling and risk.

For those of you who haven't seen the movie, it's about a corporate whistle blower. Sort of. Not surprisingly, Damon is great. Scott Bakas is great. The production values are great. It's a movie that's easy to admire. Which I did. EXCEPT I didn't like it. This happens sometimes--you can appreciate an artistic endeavor for all kinds of reasons, but in the end, the thing just leaves you cold.

I think the problem for me had to do with the whole "control of sympathy" issue. Generally speaking, we want to read about or watch characters we can root for--even if they're "bad guys." Think of Russell Crowe's character in THE 3:15 TO YUMA, for example. But Damon's character (for me, at least) was unlikable and even worse, uninteresting. I. Just. Didn't. Care. About. Him.

I can sort of see all the parties involved, sitting around a table going, "Let's try something different! So we won't be bored with ourselves as artists any more! Let's do a WHOLE MOVIE ABOUT A SCHMUCK!" Probably the process was interesting for those involved. But dudes. Come on. Think of the audience.

I ate a liverwurst sandwich today. I am the only person of my generation I know who likes liverwurst.