Tenderness (John Polson, US 2009). Two seriously troubled young souls cross paths. Russell Crowe in a surprisingly mature and non-macho role, btw.
Wasn't sure what to make of this. Part tacky and leaving too much in the open, part suspenseful and not conveniently filling in any of the dots for you, indeed. Looking it up, critics seem to mostly have taken it at face value, and so find it lacking for not answering any of the questions raised. May have been just my mood, but I thought it raises some questions that leave one to linger. (Then looking up the original book's plot btw, some of those open ends do appear to get filled in more in it than they may here.)
Probably not recommended for the quite young among us, btw. There are disturbing themes, and open-ended questions inviting to endless existential pondering, indeed. Neither probably would be:
Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, US 2008). Featuring the now late Philip Seymour Hoffman, it is the directorial debut of the writer of Being John Malkovich.
Reading the storyline had me thinking probably demanding artsy intellectual stuff that I doubt if I'm currently up to; that it was, but gripping throughout, LOL Hoffman plays a theater director veering off into sickness & hence into a dreamscape where it and reality gets impossibly blurred and intertwined. Great, great acting by all involved (Samantha Morton!, Emily Watson!), and indeed plenty of food for endless further thought. As for Hoffman, one can see again how a sensitive soul he must have been.
I watched Lone Survivor in theater not to long ago. I loved it, but I found it hard to believe that they could survive as long as they did after receiving such severe wounds. I mean like falling of a cliff 3 times and being shot up 10 times each before finally succumbing is a little hard to believe.
Just now and finally, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, US 2004, screenplay again by Charlie Kaufman).
What can I say, another splendid movie. Two lovers have one another erased from memory, with all the reflections on memory itself, love and betrayal and wider ethics that entails.
Always fun to see Carrey in a non-comical role, and Winslet gives another swell performance. Mark Ruffalo plays that annoying geek he does so well.
I'm usually disappointed in his serious performances, or at least the ones where he doesn't break into the classic Jim Carrey role at some point. He was born to play that role, and he does it so perfectly, but as a serious actor, he just doesn't do it for me.
As for the last film I watched, Mr. Bean's Holiday. What happened to that kind of humor?
Ride Along. Kevin Hart and Ice Cube were great together. I was surprised to see Laurence Fishburne show up though; I'm only used to seeing him in serious roles.
Kingdom of Heaven. Orlando Bloom does the siege of Minas Tirith again, LOL
Was cooking me up a Dutch potato stew so can't say I paid it much attention. Looked entertaining and mildly eye-catching alright. & I guess Ridley Scottt still knows how to direct a mass action scene. (Hey, seriously, the look and feel didn't strike me as bad )
Usual liberties taken with historical accuracy, one suspects. And that closing caption pretty much blows it: "A near thousand years later, the country is still ill at peace," or so. How's that for claiming an air of contemporary relevance to what is otherwise pretty much a run-of-the-mill action flic, indeed :/
(Oh, and now Sliver's just starting. & Here's me typing away at AG Reckon I must already know it, but lemme check.)
I saw The Monuments Men yesterday. It was actually a pretty good movie. I wish there would have been more historical ties in with it, and maybe not so much sadness, but it was beautiful in comparison to I, Frankenstein.
