Women in Trouble

What if the actors in the Vagina Monologues were all sitting around in their undies? That’s Women in Trouble - a talky female bonding ensemble featuring a lot of porn stars and hookers in skimpy lingerie. I’m fine with that, especially if it’s Marley Shelton, Carla Gugino, or the slew of other beautiful women featured here. But all the talking I can do without.

Zombieland

After my second time, I still like it. In a lot of ways it’s a perfect movie because it accomplishes EXACTLY what it sets out to do. Try not to dissect the plot though. It doesn’t really work in a logical way. It’s really still about that nerd trying to get a date.

Where the Wild Things Are

This is not for kids, but it’s a wise examination of the emotional state of a kid. Some of the symbolic “wild things” reflect Max’s emotional state more clearly than others. It’s fascinating to hear Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini), Barney the dinosaur’s rough-and-tumble step-cousin with the voice of a New Jersey teamster, complain like child when he’s hurt, both physically and emotionally. In the “where” of Where the Wild Things Are, Max validates his own feelings, but also learns to empathize with his mother or sister when they come face-to-face with the hairy beast that is his developing emotional world. There are plenty of movies in which an adult learns how to understand their kid, but it’s rare to find a movie depicting a kid learning how to understand adults. The filmmaking and performances are first-rate and the expressive faces of the “things” are awesome, but it’s the ambitious goal of bringing a kid’s ungainly emotional world to life that makes this so unique.

Toy Story 2

Better, funnier, richer and deeper than its amazing predecessor.

Toy Story

It’s a treat to see this again in a theater. The 3-D adds a lot to what was already a pioneering movie. But despite the technical feat on display, it was always the story that made this so special.

Paranormal Activity

Some clever filmmaker thought, “Fuck the woods! Let's just remake The Blair Witch Project in a house!” And so this derivative, tedious, nerve-racking mind-fuck was born. Yes, some of it is suspenseful. But it’s all tension and no release. And it’s WAY too long. It could have been a 20-minute short film! It’s an admirable gimmick -- making video work for an ultra, ultra low budget. But it’s hard to sympathize with the dumbbell couple and the story is almost nil. And just like The Blair Witch Project, by the time something finally happens, you’ll be thinking to yourself, “I wish somebody would just DIE already so we can get this over with!”

Zombieland

…isn’t really about zombies! It’s really about a nerd (Jesse Eisenberg) trying to get a date. So thematically, it’s pretty light. Not a lot of heavy-duty zombie symbolism, “man’s inhumanity to man”, apart from “it’s rough out there when you’re trying to get a date.” (They're calling it a "zom-com".) The cast is funny, the pace is perfect, and the filmmakers have a lot of fun in post-production -- superimposing titles and little “nuggets” of advice – letting the audience in on a secret gag. There’s also a great, stylish exploitation of slow-motion. Lots of blood, goo and debris cascading through the air; suspended as though there’s no gravity. Eisenberg is less annoying than usual and the lack of a strong plot didn’t bother me. Because the nerd gets the girl. And to me that makes it the most inspirational movie in the world.

The Invention of Lying

The lying begins with the ad campaign. What this movie is REALLY about is the bible, and how it’s all a bunch of lies. You can’t really say that in the ads though. It won’t play in Peoria. Ultimately, Ricky Gervais and company’s subversive comedy gives-in to niceness and sentiment, and issues the proviso that sometimes lies, including things like the Bible, make people feel better and that’s not such a bad thing. It’s a passable comedy. It could be funnier, but it could be worse, too, and that’s excluding those religious viewers who might just be horribly offended.

Also, two movies asking questions about God in one weekend. (Re: A Serious Man) Is that a pattern? Is that meaningful in some way?

A Serious Man

Existentialism is a favorite milieu of the Coens. It’s a great backdrop for comedy and those big questions about God, faith, and why we’re all here. The stuff Barton Fink thought about, the things The Dude tries to avoid thinking about, and the questions J.K. Simmons asks himself in Burn After Reading, “Why did this happen. What did we learn?” “Is Judy Davis’ head in this box?” all point to the big question: Is there a God? Is God good?

Perhaps the character most haunted by this unanswered question was Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men. Until Now. Tommy Lee Jones doesn’t have shit on Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), the trampled on, emasculated, soul-searching and pure-hearted mensch trying to be A Serious Man. When he begins to lose the things in the world that he thinks are important, and his life begins to crumble, he turns to the community Rabbis looking for reasons and answers. Is there a God? Is God punishing him? The Coens seem to have some mixed feelings about these Jewish leaders, but still seem to hold the idea of faith in the highest regard. God for his part does send a signal to Gopnik, if you want to see it that way, in the jarring finale. Unlike No Country for Old Men, the Coens' regard for faith does manifest a shred of hope in the meaning of life, hidden in the most unlikely of places.

This movie knocked me out and I can’t stop thinking about it. Brush up on your Jefferson Airplane and see it.