Movies Watched The Week of 7/19 - 7/25

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, we got another blog.  Yes, surprise surprise.  I have nothing better to do than do another of these.  It’s a down week after the sort of marathon that last week was.    Pretty good all around, with the low point sadly being the new release.  But it’s not bad, so that’s cool.  So sit back and relax, read my nonsense and stay tuned next week.  

Y Tu Mama Tambien (July 19th, 2015)

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, and Maribel Verdu

t’s gotta be said.  Of the “Three Amigos” of cinema from Mexico, Cuaron is most definitely better than his compatriot Alejandro Gonzalez Innarritu, but not better than Guillermo Del Toro.  I’m gonna make the comparison to Innarritu because they have both won Best Director Oscars in recent memory, back to back in 2014 and 2015.  They make artful films with a heaping of technical prowess and an affinity for getting great performances from their actors.  But the difference between the two is that Cuaron is a more human director, someone who doesn’t let his cynicism overwhelm the movie.  Nor does he muddle up his message he’s trying to send, getting stuck up his own ass.  Because Innarittu hasn’t even come close to making something as human as this flick.  This isn’t a movie that deals in Hollywood happy endings and hand holding.  No.  But this isn’t a miserable movie where it’s all bullshit.  This is a movie about growing up, learning some truths about the world and one’s self and those they considered family.  Luna and Bernal are best friends almost done with high school when their girlfriends go on vacation in Italy for the summer.  They plan to be debauched and have a good time, but things aren’t going that way until they meet Verdu.  She’s a woman who isn’t happy with life and decides to experience life for the first time without fear.  The why’s of that are revealed in the end is heartbreaking, yet kind of beautiful in a way.  The two boys aren’t played to look like assholes or to be idealized ways of life the way Amblin movie made them.  They’re just kids, ignorant to the way of things and how their actions can hurt others.  This movie is filled with little moments informing us of these stories going on around them that they are oblivious too because they just want base pleasures.  And Verdu isn’t the typical cougar that other movies would make her.  She just wants to have some experiences she hasn’t had before and they fit the bill at the moment.  And what Luna and Bernal learn about each other and themselves is painful but real.  Innarritu couldn’t have done this.  I don’t even think Del Toro could have.  But Cuaron did something special here, giving us a totally real experience of growing up that doesn’t play easy.  It doesn’t get a perfect 10 for me because I didn’t connect as strongly to the stories at play, but I could empathize enough to realize what a movie it was.  Hell of a flick and I hope Cuaron can do something like it again, although he’ll probably never top Children of Men again.

Rating: 9/10

Vernon, Florida (July 20th, 2015)

Director: Errol Morris

After the masterpiece that is The Thin Blue Line, I decided to check out something from Errol Morris before that. I settled on this one because it was real short and fit into the day better than something else.  And while it isn’t as perfect as that flick, or as game changing.  But it has a certain charm to it, a modest charm.  It’s simple.  Morris just has some regular folks in Vernon talk to the camera about some of the stuff they like to do.  Simple enough.  It’s not laughing at them, just observing the regular folk that make up a town.  For me, it’s kinda mindblowing to be seeing people that are probably dead at this point just talk about life.  Seeing people who were probably born at the beginning of the 20th century is wild to me, one of those existential oddities that can sometimes happen watching cinema.  I don’t have much else to say really.  It’s a charming little movie that gives some idea of what a talent that Morris was.

Rating: 9/10

Trainwreck (July 21st, 2015)
Director: Judd Apatow
Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Vanessa Bayer, and Lebron James

I don’t have much of a connection with Amy Schumer.  Don’t watch her show or her standup.  And despite some preconceived notions I had about myself, I am not a white girl with an english degree and a twitter connection who thinks she is the second coming of comedy Christ.  So the only thing that really had me interested in seeing this movie was Judd Apatow, a man who hadn’t made a movie I disliked yet. Even This is 40 was pretty much enjoyable for me, even though it had some rough patches.  And I’m a big supporter of the under appreciated Funny People.  So I thought he could maybe wrangle something out of her or she could wrangle something out of him, perhaps a good union of minds.  But that really isn’t the case here.  It’s a funny movie, but it’s also chock full of really dead moments.  Moments where you can see them going for so called “jokes” that just don’t land.  Apatow is a man who likes to use improv on his sets, and it doesn’t seem like most here were ready or good at improv.  Hader gets good moments going that seem off the head, as does Bayer and Colin Quinn.  Schumer tries but doesn’t either have the acting talent or the improv skills, but she doesn’t have the presence that many of Apatows prior leads have had.  She gets good laughs but some just groaners too, trying very hard to be like the guys in Knocked Up in riffitude.  But also what doesn’t do it any favors is that it really is just a typical rom com, but filthy.  And like my problem with many of the rom coms this is in league with is that I don’t buy these people as interested in each other at all.  It would have been more true for Hader to just realize what a lunatic this woman is and realize he’s had fun but a relationship wouldn’t be healthy while Schumer still having the growth to finally mature a bit.  It could have been in line with Knocked Up, where it has some happiness to the ending but it isn’t all neat and such with love conquering all.  Nope.  All typical shit.  And as typical with Apatow movies, it’s too long.  But this time, I fully agree with this in a very strong way.  There are just scenes that don’t need to exist and scenes that run too long.  For all the negatives though, it is a funny enough movie.  It does have funny folks in it and they get some stuff going.  Tilda Swinton has an almost unrecognizable turn as a magazine editor, and she’s a riot.  Bayer might very well steal the movie, not Lebron who is ok but is given too much to do.  And Hader tries but he has to play the straight man and doesn’t even really get to cut loose, but still makes the most of such a white bread role.  This could have been a feminist flip to Knocked Up, but it really just plays like a dirty Maid in Manhattan or some such. 

Rating: 7/10

Rushmore (July 24th, 2015)
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, and Brian Cox

With my interests and dislikes forming a personality as ornery as mine, you’d assume that I wouldn’t have the time or energy to gain much enjoyment from Wes Anderson and his brand of childish whimsy.  But, shockingly enough, I do.  Prior to watching this movie, I’d greatly enjoyed 3 of his flicks.  Those being The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.  Sure, I hate The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.  But hey, no one’s perfect.  So I go back into his early work to see if my enjoyment with him grew as his abilities did, or if his style in general was something I jived with.  Well, based on Aquatic, it’s not an automatic I’d like his stuff.  And even though I liked this, it’s still not something about his style that automatically gets me going.  When his story is interesting, I can enjoy it.  And that depends on how good it is to enjoy it.  So this isn’t as strong as the three others I listed, so my patience with him wasn’t as strong.  Mainly because he wants to be whimsical and light with a main character who is essentially someone who would probably end up shooting a public place in a mental health tragedy that has nothing to do with gun laws.  Max Fisher is a sick fuck, a sociopathic little shit that I never cared for.   And if we aren’t supposed to care for him and care more about those he affects,  that’s works a little better.  With Murray and Williams, we have people who are upset with their places in life.  Williams because things haven’t gone to plan and Murray because they have and it isn’t as enjoyable as he’d like.  So to have these two swept up in the whirlwhind that is a future mens rights activist and get shaken out of their ruts is cool.  The acting is good and Anderson shows his usual visual flair but not as over the top as he gets down the line.  The movie is more outright funny than some of his other stuff though, so that helps in some of the rougher spots.  It’s a cute enough flick but one that shows more promise than actual talent. 

Rating: 8/10







Top Movies

1. Y Tu Mama Tambien
2. Vernon, Florida
3. Rushmore
4. Trainwreck

- Tom Lorenzo