Saw “Saw III“.
Didn’t love it.
Of course, $34.3 million in ticket sales suggests my opinion ain’t worth all that much at the moment …
Monthly Archives: October 2006
Picking Up the Pieces
Family comes first, obviously. But I did get some work done this week …
“Catch a Fire“: Talented director, true story, impassioned performances, massive Oscar campaign. And if the movie worked, that would be worth something.
“Death of a President“: Roger Ebert said it best: It’s not what a movie is about, but how it is about it. This is a textbook proof.
“Deliver Us from Evil“: Unrelenting and remorseless, until Amy Berg gets just a tad greedy in the last reel. But still entirely deserving of attention.
“Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing“: It’s the Southern-fried version of “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster”, except all the introspection actually improves the music.
“Saw III”: The review will run in Monday’s Metro, but the short take is … yeah, great, it’s the goriest and most cynical in the series. Whee!
Seen “The Departed” yet? Even if you haven’t, this is still really funny.
It Can Always Get Worse
You know, “surrounded by family” is one of those phrases I never really considered literally, until last night.
The funeral’s tomorrow at noon. Benjamin’s Park Memorial Chapel, 2401 Steeles Avenue West. Firefox 2.0 is acting a little wonky at the moment, so click on the URL below for further details:
www.benjamins.ca
Regular programming will resume eventually.
Shiny Happy Football
I haven’t had much to say about the high-def DVD wars lately, partly because I’ve been distracted with family stuff and partly because there’s just been nothing to say about them for the last little while. Sony’s readying the PlayStation 3 launch, Microsoft’s prepping the Xbox 360’s HD-DVD external drive, and the studios are trickling out titles to both formats.
But here’s something. With its second wave of Blu-ray discs newly in stores, Disney has announced the format’s first day-and-date release will be “Invincible“, on December 14th. Smart choice: The movie was popular and heavily advertised, and its football content practically guarantees it’ll be used as a demo disc in every Best Buy in North America, just in time to push those big-ticket Christmas purchases.
And hey, by December 14th, we might even be seeing Sony’s oft-delayed Blu-ray player on the shelves.
(Yes, yes, I know Disney’s also releasing a Blu-ray edition of “Pearl Harbor” on the same day, which negates any positive mojo from “Invincible”. But take heart: At least it doesn’t appear to be a port of the four-disc SE, which has the capacity to destroy people’s lives.)
The Waiting Game
The intensive care unit’s a fine and sterile place, but none, I think, do there embrace.
Meanwhile, I’m told the mistakes that crept into my work in Friday’s paper were the result of “editing oversights”. I’m told it won’t happen again.
Yes, that’d be nice.
Oh, and I saw “Flicka” over the weekend. No one seems too bothered by the likelihood that Maria Bello would have had to have given birth to Alison Lohman when she was about eleven or twelve, but maybe that’s just the way of things in today’s Wyoming.
This is Interesting
Hey, guess what? I gave “The Prestige” four stars in yesterday’s Metro!
Except that … um … I didn’t. I gave it two stars in the copy I filed to the paper on Thursday. Also, I spelled Sofia Coppola’s name correctly.
No idea how this happened. But it’s a huge “WTF” moment, editorially speaking … I’ve been working with the same people at Metro for several years now, and whenever there’s been any kind of change to my text they’ve always called to double-check with me first. You can be sure I’ll investigate this further when the office reopens tomorrow.
(Thanks to Adam for the tip-off.)
All the Pretty Pictures
It must be Oscar season or something — look at all the self-importance on display!
“The Prestige“: Gorgeous to look at, entertainingly performed, elegantly assembled, but built on a concept so fundamentally illogical that the foundation collapses about five minutes before the credits roll … landing right on top of a second ridiculous idea. Really, I’d have been happier watching “Batman vs. Wolverine”.
“Tideland“: Terry Gilliam makes a movie on his own, uncompromising terms, and it’s the worst thing he’s ever done. Terry, you know I love you, and I’m telling you this for your own good: Make “Watchmen”. Now.
“Running with Scissors“: It doesn’t matter if Augusten Burroughs’ memoir is telling the truth about his turbulent adolescence; it only matters that Ryan Murphy’s film is so hideously affected that it’s impossible to perceive the characters as anything more than cartoons. By the third redemptive musical montage, I was hating this like poison. Still, Annette Bening has a shot at an Oscar, so that’s something.
“Flags of Our Fathers“: Clint Eastwood’s look at the Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima often feels like it was directed by remote control — or by a particularly competent second unit. When one considers how small Eastwood’s films have become over the last decade (even “Mystic River” is really only about the three guys at its center), one has to wonder why Steven Spielberg thought he’d be a good fit for this material.
Fortunately, there are a couple of good pictures opening amidst all the posturing: Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette” isn’t a classic for the ages or anything, but Kirsten Dunst is terrific, and Coppola’s hermetic approach to the courts of Louis XV and XIV is never less than intriguing. Plus, it has Steve Coogan in it.
And though it’s dividing critics a little more fiercely than I’d expected, I found Todd Field’s “Little Children” to be an involving character piece quite in step with his last film, “In the Bedroom”. Same undercurrent of dissatisfaction, same gathering dread, but Tom Perotta’s novel also supplies a streak of mordant wit before everything goes to hell.
The only film left is “Flicka”, which I’ll be seeing this afternoon, because the work never ends.
Hope
It’s been a rough month. And today was particularly bad, for a variety of reasons. (Let’s just say grandparents on morphine aren’t nearly as entertaining as Hollywood would have you believe.)
But then I came home, wandered over to Callaghan‘s blog, and found this: Two teaser trailers for Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s upcoming “Hot Fuzz”.
Pegg and Wright — along with invaluable sidekick Nick Frost — previously collaborated on the Channel 4 series “Spaced” and the brilliant feature film “Shaun of the Dead”, which I continue to believe was the best movie of 2004.
I love them and want to have their babies, and I cannot wait to see their new picture.
Why?
The Digital Bits reports that Warner Home Video has announced the full specs for its two-disc special edition of “The Green Mile”:
The disc will include the six-part Miracles and Mystery: Creating ‘The Green Mile’, a new interview with star Tom Hanks, audio commentary by writer-director Frank Darabont, additional scenes, makeup and screen tests, and the “Walking the Mile” documentary from the original DVD release.
I could understand the huge demand for extras on “The Shawshank Redemption” … but for this? Really?
And doesn’t that artwork kind of … suck?
Review Roundup
Having spent the weekend playing catch-up with Friday’s theatrical releases and visiting my grandparents in the hospital (they’re both doing fine at the moment, thankfully), here’s another wave of reviews:
“The Marine“: Like I said, you can’t exactly call it good or anything, but it has its moments. (And props to Jason for working a reference to “Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe”, perhaps the ultimate misuse-of-a-wrestler movie, into his Globe and Mail review.)
“The Grudge 2“: Takashi Shimizu can still muster a creepy moment when he wants to, but the “Ju-On” franchise really just has the one trick, and it’s getting pretty used up. (And further props to Adam for quoting the Smiths in his Eye review, which made me wonder whether the next “Grudge” would be scarier if they got Morrissey to play one of the spooks.)
“Kardia“: There was precisely one other person in attendance at the Saturday afternoon screening, so it seems almost excessive to point out how absolutely banal this movie is. And yet, you gots to fill the page.
More hospital visits today, plus “Marie Antoinette”. Now, there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.