Movies You Need Not Watch

First entry: Leatherheads, a 2008 comedy written and directed by George Clooney, patron saint of attractive gray hair. Leatherheads stars Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski (Jim from The Office) and is about the start of the National Football League in 1925. Clooney is the aging star, Krasinski is the war hero star and Zellweger is the snappy female reporter for the Chicago Tribune.Notice in the above picture that George seems drunk, John seems constipated and Renee seems airbrushed. These are all true and are the bases (basises?) of their respective characters in the movie. Which is unfortunate.
Let's start with Johnny Boy. While on The Office he is cute, warm and quite funny (or at least in the first three seasons of the show), in this he is, well, constipated. I do not know whether he was just intimidated to be in a movie with George, but he had little to no personality, and what he did have could be attributed to either an impersonation of himself as Jim or halfway decent writing. Either he needs to humble himself with acting classes or he just needs a decent part to actually showcase his range rather than his looks.
George plays a drunker, more aggressive version of himself in the film, or at least from what I've heard of him. His chemistry with Z is minimal, he makes funny faces, and while he gets socked in the jaw plenty he rarely has any bruising. Kind of like watching a UFC fighter get hit in slow motion- It's painful and yet slightly sadistically funny to watch and you know he will not be having children for a long, long time. It seems that Leatherheads was a vanity project for him- clearly he likes football, himself and has had a relationship of some sort with Renee in the past, so if you mix the three together and add a rising star, the outcome has to be good, right?
As Dwight would say, False. All I have to say about Renee, because I have had a bias against her ever since forever and probably could not judge her fairly in any circumstance, is that 1. She should fire her makeup artist from the film because she looked absolutely terrible and 2. Please stop being annoying and cutesy. I know that the movie was supposed to be a bit of a romantic farce, but I can only roll my eyes so many times before they are permanently stuck in my skull, and let's just say that I am having imminent surgery to fix this problem.
On top of these acting challenges, the movie has to overcome 3+ montages (and no movie has had that many, ever. I looked it up) a running time just shy of two hours (for a movie about gentlemen in leather hats) and is severely lacking a... hmmm.... it rhymes with yacht? Oh, right, plot. You know, the thing that shapes the entire movie and is the whole reason for filming? I guess it's not that important. For me, movies lacking a plot and containing corniness, cheesiness and Renee Zellweger are doomed for failure, but that's just my humble opinion. And I'm right.

Image via http://movieboxx.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/leatherheads_header.jpg.

Oscar Watch Begins!

My gorgeous friend sent me this and I think it is the perfect way to kick off anticipation for the awards season, or as it is sometimes known, Movie Season. Regardless of The Dark Knight's chances this season, this poster is clever enough to star in its campaign:

I sincerely hope that whoever is advertising for The Dark Knight in the trades comes across this and uses it. It would be a breath of fresh air and could bring even more positive attention to a movie that is poised already for an unheard-of nomination amount from a simple "action movie."


Image via joshmc at http://fanartexhibit.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/my-support-for-the-dark-knights-oscar-bid/

The Dark Knight

As a lifetime movie lover, I find it a rare occurrence that a movie lives up to my expectations. Even rarer does it surpass them even after years of waiting, and The Dark Knight does this as a sequel. It is a well known fact that sequels are often crap, and The Dark Knight seemingly had all the chances to be so: Batman Begins was a new breed of superhero movie, TDK's main villain passed in real life, and there was an actor change from the now infamous Katie Holmes to the blockbuster virgin Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Instead, TDK surpasses your expectations. I say your because there is no way, no comic book or movie nerd who exists, who could have had higher expectations than me. I had been looking forward to this movie since Batman Begins ended, and my anxiety reached a fever pitch once it was announced that Heath Ledger was to become the Joker. All in all, about three years of waiting.

The actors are so good in TDK that Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne seems almost a supporting character in the rich plot of twisting evil: creating evil vs. becoming it. As always, it seems, his skills shine as he creates a flawed and impossibly righteous man who creates a superhero and skirts the line of right and wrong; justice-server and vigilante.

Gary Oldman as Gordon plays a larger role in the movie and it serves him well- at points he reminded me of Ian McKellan in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and he continues to be the moral center of the movie. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman reprise their roles as Alfred and Lucius Fox respectively, and they are fabulous as always.

The replacement of Ms Holmes with Ms Gyllenhaal does not amount to as much as I had hoped for, because as with all superhero movies it seems, the lady takes a backseat to the plot and the action. She does have the advantage, however, of creating, in my humble and correct opinion, the most interesting, real and strong female character to support a superhero in a movie, thereby cinematically kicking Gwyneth Paltrow in the face.

I was most surprised by the performance of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, Gotham DA. I believed in Eckhart as an actor, but he truly transformed himself into the righteous a-hole who is twisted away from his goals both by himself, circumstances out of his control, and his drive for true justice. Because while Batman is righteous as well, he has the luxury of public apathy, while Dent lives his life totally in the public sphere with no secrets.

You know that a movie is something special when even the smallest of supporting roles are meaty: William Fichtner as the mob bank manager turns his image 180 degrees around by kicking butt, and Eric Roberts, brother of le Julia, is surprisingly controlled, convincing, and dare I say perfect as the mob boss Moscone.

Finally, there is the late Heath. I have been parasocially in love with him since I was approximately 12, or whenever 10 Things I Hate About You came out. I thought he was something special back then, and he truly delivers on all of the hoopla surrounding his final completed role. He is intense, intelligent, brutal, and hilarious, the latter being the main case in proving his humanity- that he actually is human, and not just a total monster. When I saw La Vie En Rose after Marion Cotillard won the Best Actress Oscar, I said that without her extraordinary makeup and lip-synching there was something missing in her performance. What she was missing Ledger owns. He becomes the Joker to a chilling degree, and while he is not so charismatic as to have the audience cheering for him, no one wishes him a quick and unsatisfying death either. My main goal for the movie season will be to see the other four movies that will contain his competition for Best Supporting Actor, to prove that it is his performance that deserves the award, not the sadness so many felt from an actor being taken before his time.

Overall TDK delivers on all and any promises, and I give it
/5 Stars for Entertainment Value;


/ 5 Stars for Goodness/ Award-worthiness.