Review: The Blind Side February 6, 2010

I put off watching ‘The Blind Side‘ because, quite frankly, it seemed like a bunch of the same-old, same-old. Well, it is, but at least it is watchable.

It is not watchable because of Sandra Bullock’s leading role, but in spite of it. She does a good job with the part, but what’s with all these awards? Oh, I forgot, Hollywood is almost completely politics. Bullock has been around the (acting) block and made some decent movies. It’s time to award her career with an Oscar. Sorry, but I’ll be damned if I support that. The award should go to the best performance, and both Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep were in better and more challenging roles. Too bad Bullock was the only one in a crowd-pleaser.

But enough of Bullock. ‘The Blind Side’ is a moderately true story about a big, unfortunate black child who receives a home, an education, and some love from a wealthy Memphis family. Not surprisingly, the family that helps him is white. I suppose by now you will be aware of the movie and know that that child is Michael Oher, who now plays for the Baltimore Ravens. It ruins a bit of the magic when you know how things will end up (this is why I’m rarely a supporter of biopics).

Great Film Clips: Alec Baldwin in GGR October 29, 2009

Here is the Alec Baldwin scene in David Mamet’s ‘Glengarry Glen Ross‘. It’s his only scene in the film, but wow, is it great. He also looks so young compared to his ’30 Rock’ self.

This is close to the beginning of the film, so if you haven’t seen it you may still enjoy it, though it’s not as effective out of context.

Note: Clip is definitely NSFW.

What’s great is Baldwin’s commanding presence in the room. He’s definitely younger than all of the salesmen but with arrogance, humor, and what can be boiled down to true sales-talk he takes what can almost be called a “cameo” and makes it awesome.

Christian Bale Has Been Slacking May 23, 2009

I used to like Christian Bale. I used to think he was a good actor. ‘Terminator Salvation’ has fixed that. It is partially because he went off on his DP, and partially because he has never risen above his source material.

One thing that makes an actor great is that even when they star in a bad film (it happens to everyone), they still manage to pull a strong, or at least humorous, performance. ‘Miss Congeniality’ is a horrible movie, but Michael Caine almost saves it. Kate Winslet, probably the best working actress today (other than Meryl) made ‘The Holiday’ a little more bearable. There are plenty of examples out there. Has Christian Bale ever done that? Nah.

‘American Psycho’ was a decent movie for the first 2/3s, but then, in an attempt to leave the film up to interpretation, does not make sense any way you want to think about it. Not only that, but Bale was campy and not the way Patrick Bateman should have been. He may look exactly how Patrick Bateman would look, but he didn’t pull it off. Is it his fault that the movie was bad? Certainly not. But did he salvage anything for himself? No.

Skip to ‘Equilibrium,’ which, again, was decent until the end. Bale played the part of a strong, stoic alpha male, but that’s not anything new. That seems to be the only part he can play. Give us some variety!

‘3:10 to Yuma’ was a strong Western, but not because of him. Again, anyone could have played his part and done it just as well. Russell Crowe carried that movie.

‘Batman Begins’ was a great movie, but that’s because Chris Nolan wrote and directed a great script. Bale is a good Batman, but that’s because all Batman has to do is be a hard-ass. ‘The Dark Knight’ was much worse than ‘Batman Begins’ (though still good), and here we see even less diversity from Bruce Wayne and he is again heavily overshadowed by the villains.

‘The Prestige’ is a great film, but again, because the source material was good. Any actor could have played his part. He plays the stoic magician (half of the time) who only cares about his magic. It looks like it hurts to smile or show emotion. Also, easily upstaged by Michael Caine and Hugh Jackman.

And, of course, ‘Terminator Salvation,’ which is complete trash across the board. Bad plot, bad script, bad action, bad acting. Maybe Christian Bale was convincing as an action star in Batman, but here it falls flat. I would’ve been more entertained watching Kermit fight Skynet.

‘Terminator Salvation’ May 22, 2009

Bad. Really, really bad. I will go into more detail later. I have determined that Christian Bale is not a good actor. More details on that later as well.

If you get this message in time, do us all a favor and just watch the second Terminator again. Or the first one. Hell, even the third one was better than the newest one.

‘Anatomy of a Murder’ and the Jimmy Stewart May 3, 2009

I typically balance my Netflix queue with recent movies I missed and older classics which I need to see. I put off watching ‘Anatomy of a Murder‘ for almost half a month (clearly not getting my Netflix money’s worth) because of its runtime of 2:40. Last night I popped it in, and the time went by very quickly. I love when a ~3 hour movie goes by quickly (see: The Godfather, The Departed), and ‘Anatomy of a Murder’ is one of those.

I first became interested in this film when I saw the poster (which is also ranked by Premiere as the best movie poster of all time). So simple, yet so effective. But also, the film stars James Stewart, who is my favorite actor of all time. Since I like lists, here is a quick rundown of some great movies he has been in:

• Vertigo
• Rear Window
• The Philadelphia Story
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
• It’s a Wonderful Life
• Anatomy of a Murder

And a handful of others. Plenty of actors have one or two great performances, but actors that deliver great work consistently are rare, especially these days.

But I digress.

‘Anatomy of a Murder’ is a film about a lawyer, who was a former DA, defending a man who committed murder. He murdered a man who raped his wife earlier that night. He is trying to get the man off with a temporary insanity plea. What’s so effective is that through a majority of the story, and possibly even after the film is over, we are unsure of what really happened. Sure, we know that Lt. Manion killed the bartender, but did the bartender actually rape Manion’s wife? Who knows? This film reminded me much of ‘Doubt,’ a great movie, where, even at the end of the rope, only the parties immediately involved know what happened. Often that bugs me, but when done right, it’s perfect.