In Bruges

HOLY COW! How did I miss this film for sooo long?! All I can guess is that the marketing for this movie failed so utterly and completely. I saw plenty of trailers and ads for it, but was never compelled to view it. Even after its praise during awards season, I put off watching it. What a fool I was. This is most certainly an instant favorite in my life. I need to purchase it and show it to everyone that will sit and watch it with me. The writing is literally brilliant. That is a phrase I believe I tweeted numerous times while watching it last night, and it fits so well. I have not laughed out loud so much in a movie in a very long time. Brits just know how to make me laugh, end of story. Martin McDonagh is the British born Irish writer/director of this indie masterpiece. Colin Farrell wins the prize for my favorite performance from him to date. Brendan Gleeson was strong and warm and hilarious. Ralph Fiennes was spot on and genius. And the beautiful Clémence Poésy was so believable and majestic all at once. Some things I loved: the inn keeper, the bits about alcoves, the fairy-tale nature of Bruges, the racist dwarf, the fight with the Canadians, the liberal and appropriate usage of the 'f-word,' and the list goes on. Things that were not my favorite: the liberal and inappropriate usage of the 'r-word,' the heart breaking impetus for the entire plot, that may be it. I was certainly blown away by this film and will highly recommend it to you all. Please enjoy it! Someday I would love to visit Bruges.

P.S. I just found out that Martin McDonagh and I share a birthday!

American Teen

While this is not a scripted movie, fitting into the category of every other film I have written about thus far on this blog, this was a pretty freaking fantastic documentary. Maybe I love documentaries too much, maybe I love the lives of teenagers too much, maybe I love Indiana too much, but I still think this was a fascinating little film. These stories were just so complex and interesting. Even if the doc did seem a little scripted and manufactured, that does not make me love it any less. That may just make me love it more. It adds more art to the film, which I thought was very well crafted. If you are unfamiliar, this documentary follows four high school seniors through their final year at Warsaw Community High School in Warsaw, IN. Each of these young people are flawed and compelling characters that give depth to what most adults see as shallow youth. I kinda like everything about this documentary and would highly recommend it. I laughed, I (nearly) cried, I shouted with joy, and hurt with shared grief. It is into lives like these I hope to someday be able to intervene.

Tropic Thunder

How much can really be said about this silly silly movie. Tom Cruise was hilarious. Robert Downey Jr. was brilliant. Jack Black was stupid funny. Ben Stiller was stupid. Matthew McConaughey was good. I laughed kinda in my head a few times. I didn't not like it. I thought the device of killing the director was pretty absurd. It was oddly not hilarious at points. I liked elements of it. I think it could be a movie I watch a few more times and enjoy more and more with every viewing. I call that the 'Zoolander' effect. I am not really sure what else to say about it. I have few words. Goofy sums it up. So maybe someday soon I will watch it again and love it more.

Seven Pounds

I finally saw 'Seven Pounds' starring Will Smith and Rosario Dawson. This movie is so desperate to maintain its mystery that it leaves the viewer with too little information to actually care about the main character. I believe this beautifully sentimental story could easily have been told in a straight forward and understandable way. The plot for the first 45 minutes jumps from various points in the past to the present in such a way that confuses more than expounds. There is actually quite little that can be said about this movie that does not give away too much of the plot. Rosario was grand and saved the film for me. Her performance was real and her character had depth and beauty. Woody Harrelson's character even gave me more to care about than Will Smith's. I guess that isn't very fair, but I just wish this film could have been better in very small and fundamental ways. In this blog, it has been established that I cannot cry, but even if I were able to, I am not sure this very emotional and sentimental movie would have been able to bring it out of me. If you have not seen this movie and ever do watch it, please pay attention. You will be able to pick up pretty quickly on the mystery of the movie and you might even be able to enjoy it after that. I did figure out what was going on quite early, but was still unable to connect with the main character. I think I was distracted by the filmmaking choices. I guess that is all I have to say about that. Will Smith is getting pretty close to it, but he still has not been able to make a truly bad movie. Maybe someday he will slip up.

Heights

How did I not know about this movie? Why is it so freaking good? I stumbled upon this film while checking out facts about Rufus Wainwright online (so I don't fall behind on my obsessive knowledge of the man). Rufus has a small role in this brilliantly cast film about the city I love. 'Heights' takes place over the course of 24 hours telling the story of several interconnected individuals surviving in NYC. Glenn Close rocks it as Diana Lee with the help of the following individuals:

Elizabeth Banks - Isabel Lee
James Marsden - Jonathan Kestler
Jesse Bradford - Alec Lochka
John Light - Peter Cole
Rufus Wainwright - Jeremy
Eric Bogosian - Henry
George Segal - Rabbi Mendel
Andrew Howard - Ian
Isabella Rossellini - Liz
Matthew Davis - Mark
Michael Murphy - Jesse
Chandler Williams - Juliard Macbeth
Bess Wohl - Juilliard Lady Macbeth

Each of these individuals simply blew me away. There is nothing too dramatic, inspirational, life-altering, or profound about this movie, except in its simple and perfect way of telling a not too interesting story. The film just holds up in every possible way. The writing is strong and the plot keeps things moving. You know enough and are left guessing in all the right ways for all the right reasons. I could not call the ending happy, but it is very right. This movie just fits well. Its pieces fit well together. The actors fit into their roles. The drama fits well with the comedy. The theme fits well in the world. The whole thing fits me, as well. Set in NYC, starring Rufus Wainwright, about photographers, actors, and artists, featuring The Scottish Play; it just fits. I am so happy that I found this film. I may have talked it up too much, but I do hope you check it out. It is very simple, but very beautiful and just a nice movie.

Ponyo

'Ponyo' = adorable film. This Japanese film by Hayao Miyazaki is a simple and tender story with beautiful themes and very pretty art. Though I really did enjoy the voice actors in the English adaptation of this movie, I think I would have enjoyed the film just as much in the original Japanese with subtitles. Maybe that is just me. Regardless, I really liked this cute little film. The premise is a little more complicated than it needed to be, but the messages were pretty clear: humans are only mostly awful and don't judge based on appearances. The second theme was predominant in the film, thankfully. Early in the plot, Sōsuke's mother tells Sōsuke not to call the man she just referred to as a 'weirdo' because, it's not right to judge people on the way they look. Her words and this message are brought up again a few times throughout the film and then are revealed to be the basis of the test that Sōsuke must pass in order to save the world (for the most part). It is a very simple theme for a very simple movie. I don't mean this in a negative way at all. The plot held together well and I found myself laughing out loud at times and emotionally vulnerable at others. This is the point of this sort of film. All in all 'Ponyo' wins for me. I highly recommend a viewing of this adorable film when the opportunity arises. It is short and very sweet. Please enjoy it someday.