Cinephemera

So this is the second week in a row that my roundup has been late. I think it’s the long weekends that I’ve had lately that have been throwing me off. Next week will be on time as scheduled even if I’m dead. That’s just how dedicated I am.

Hamlet 2
Rating: Unworthy

This was a weird viewing experience. Me and my roommate watched it together and more than several times we looked at each other with a look that said, “Am I supposed to be laughing at this?” I knew that there were funnies happening on screen but the laughter just wasn’t coming. In a way, it reminded me quite a bit of the first time I watched Napoleon Dynamite. I didn’t like it at all. The quirky humor didn’t latch onto my funny bone right away and it wasn’t until the second viewing that I was able to laugh at it. I don’t know if that’s the case with this quirky movie but somehow I doubt it. I got a few mild chuckles out of this but a few chuckles are not worth sitting through this.

The Pacifier
Rating: Unworthy

I didn’t expect much from this Disney flick and that’s exactly what I got. Really, what else can you expect from Disney these days? This is nothing more than the usual this and that. It goes through all the motions that we’ve seen a couple dozen times before. Nothing to see here people, move along. On a related note, I really, really, really don’t understand why kids in these kind of movies are always such jackasses to whatever authority figure is in their lives. It’s always like, “SHUT UP! YOU’RE NOT MY DAD! WAH!” or “YOU SUCK! STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!” or “YOU’RE RUINING MY LIFE!” It seems like every single movie that deals with kids has to have one or more of these lines in it at some point. For reals you dumb kids, just shut up already.You’re ruining my life!

 There Will Be Blood
Rating: Worthy

Let me get a few things out of the way here. First of all, this is a stunning technical achievement. The directing, cinematography and music are all fantastic. The acting is superb, blah blah blah. I think Paul Dano is vastly overlooked being in Daniel Day Lewis’ shadow but I found both of their performances to be amazing. Bottom line, this is a fantastically made movie.

All that said, I didn’t really like the movie that much. In the end, nobody grew, nobody changed, nothing really happened to any of these characters. Daniel Plainview is a greedy bastard at the beginning of the movie and at the end, he’s still a greedy bastard. Eli Sunday is a egotistical faith healer at the beginning of the movie and at the end, he’s still an egotistical faith healer. The only thing that changes is Plainview gets richer. Nobody is sympathetic or even likeable. There’s no reason to care about what happens to anybody. Now despite these words of critique I still think that this is a must see movie for its artistic prowess. I only wish the story had been more interesting or payed off somehow.

Bullitt
Rating: Worthy

What makes nearly every 60s action movie so cool? Pretty much everything that Bullitt has. A cool and smoothly dressed detective, sweet cars, high speed chases in sweet cars, bullets, blood, intrigue, hot ladies, and did I mention high speed car chases? In sweet cars? Yep, this detective thriller has everything you’d ever want. Honestly, what else do you need?

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