Magic Mike Review

Thanks Nathan for inspiring me to keep track of my movie reviews more systematically. Guess I'm reviving this blog once again, as per the summer usual.

Magic Mike (2012)
Yet another gem from the relatively successful, and critically divisive Steven Soderbergh. Magic Mike proves that Soderbergh is best when his subject matter is sex (Sex Lies & Videotape, by far is strongest film in my opinion). However, for a film about stripping, Magic Mike is strangely PG (minus one offhand shot with True Blood's Alceed - you'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen it). The lack of sexuality actually works in the film's favor, making Channing Tatum's Mike more a likeable everyman than an object of desire. The contrast between his character and Alex Pettyfer, established from the very beginning, works well and their chemistry is strongest in the film - in one of the more heartwarming moment, Adam asks Mike to be his best friend. Awwwww.

A lot of noise has been made about the cinematography. Duh. It's great. What's more surprising about the film is that it's moralistic without being preachy. Tatum is charming, but it's easy to see through his "Magic Mike" persona to Mike the furniture builder. However, one of the weaker elements is his relationship with Kristen Stewart's long lost sister, Cody Horn. Though their witty banter is well written, it's a hard sell on why he goes the extra mile to make it work with her but can't salvage things with Olivia Munn. I mean, have you seen Olivia Munn.

Tatum caught me by surprise, but after hearing Oscar buzz around McConaughey's Dallas, I had high expectations. Which he certainly did not disappoint. Reminiscent of Tom Cruise's fabulous, against type performance in Tropic Thunder, McConaughey played what could be interpreted as his worst self with bravado, style and unexpected subtly

Lot's of screaming females will go to see Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Bomer (yum), and Alceed in their undies. And they will not be disappointed. The film is full of fantastic dance routines and humping of random chicks (curious how much these ladies paid to be in this flick), but it's plot line works well, the actors pull it off (literally! Ha, puns) and delivers a well-rounded, thoughtful film.

Rating: 8.5/10

after a brief intermission...

Well, I decided it was about time to update, heh. So here it goes.

...

I don't really have anything to say, but eventually I will.

Inception: What I Would Have Done

So I finally saw Inception today. Obviously, it was somewhat enjoyable, but here are a couple more detailed thoughts. Spoilers throughout.

Bad:
1. Explosions
Seriously. There was an intense amount of action (explosions, gunfire, car chases, Bond-esque ski chases, etc) which I honestly think distracted from some of the better elements of the film, especially during the climax of the film which featured cuts to lots of skiing people doing...something? I understand the need to appeal to an average audience, but I think the film was strong enough without all of that.

2. Casting
As my previous post notes, I hate Ellen Page, but fortunately her character was just there to antagonize Leo periodically (more on character development later). And watching her fall off of a building was mildly fulfilling. But I also was uncomfortable with casting Leo as Cobbs. In the scenes with Marion Cotillard, he was alright--probably because her overall brilliance spilled over on him--but otherwise his character seemed to lack any real complexity.

3. Character development
I expect more from Christopher Nolan. Between the Prestige and Dark Knight, two fairly mainstream movies with impeccable character development, he has proven that he can do it. My suggestion would have been to cut the cast way down (the chemist, the forger and the professor come to mind as highly disposable characters. not to mention ellen page. grrr) and spend more time giving the other characters motive. And what a waste of Cotillard. She is incredible, but her character had so much potential. Tear.

I want to especially note the final few scenes of Inception, particularly the scene with the old Asian guy that the movie opens with. It was a truly profound emotional moment which would have been further enhanced had the character had more depth to begin with.

Overall, mediocre movie. No doubt it will get a best picture (and many other) nod(s) from the academy, though I'm less confident it will beat out some of the other character-driven pieces.

In other good news, the movies in the previews look great. Ben Affleck's new movie will be fantastic, though it's weird the trailer didn't credit him as the director of Gone Baby Gone. And how could George Clooney as an assassin not be delightful? And the sequel to Wall Street...haha. Well the Rolling Stones song was amusing, and the highlight was definitely Michael Douglas saying "It's about The Game" (there is no way that was accidental, right?).

Something Negative

In the past (brief as it's been), I've posted about things I like. This is a post about something (someone) I really don't like.

Ellen Page. Ellen Page is an awful actress. I don't only think this because I hated Juno (though that doesn't help my opinion of her). Ellen Page is an example of one of the recent trends towards overacting that seems so popular with the indie kids these days, particularly in female roles. Really great actresses never seem like so much like they are acting as just being themselves.

To be fair, Page hasn't exactly been cast in fantastic roles and no one expects her to be the next Meryl Streep, but I worry that the next generation of actresses is all Kristen Stewart and Zooey Deschanel and no Gwyneth Paltrow.

Right now, most of my hopes for the future of great female actresses lie in Carey Mulligan. Besides the unfortunate name, she truly embodies the subtly and class a great actress should have (or at least do a good job pretending to have). If you look back at the best actress nominees from last year, regardless of my feelings about Sanda Bullock's greatly undeserved win (oops, slipped out), they are some of the greatest actresses of their generation (Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep). But where are the great actresses of our generation? Gabourey Sidibe had an incredible performance in Precious but my best guess is that she's a one hit wonder.

All that to say...Ellen Page = lame, Carey Mulligan = awesome.

some days you just need a little Fellini

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that until fairly recently, I really had no appreciation for older films. I used to think this was because I wasn't really raised on classic American movies (I didn't see Casablanca or Gone With the Wind until I was at least 16). I am starting to think that I was merely introduced to the wrong kinds of old movies.

Now there are some classic old American movies (by old, I mean pre-James Dean in the US, and pre-70's elsewhere) I've more recently begun to enjoy: the two mentioned above, It Happened One Night, Chinatown (which I posted about last) and others.

While I'm beating around the bush, let me also note that as a rule I can't stand recent foreign films, or people who like foreign films (merely because they are foreign) for that matter.

All that to say that I am currently in love with the combination of two categories of films I have long detested: old foreign films, specifically, Bergman and Fellini's movies. Granted, they are wildly different from one another, but I think both explore the subtleties film can uniquely express (I use the word subtleties loosely; Fellini is anything but subtle).

My favorite Fellini film so far is La Dolce Vita, which, to be fair, it a poorly written and plotted movie, though no more so than many of its contemporaries. Also, it's hard to give Fellini credit for making a movie about himself. The brilliant thing about this movie is how ridiculous it is, and easily the best scene in the movie is the opening shot of the helicopter carrying the metallic statue of Jesus. It's also thoroughly unapologetic about itself, making it a delight to watch (I think).

Again, stifling my embarrassment, I have to own up to the fact that I saw Nine before I saw any of Fellini's films, which is what got me interested in them to begin with. I love love loved Nine. I was everything a musical should be, but it still got poor reviews. It was no Chicago (but then, what it?), but critics complained that it was disjointed, hard to follow and the great tunes didn't compensate for the lack of plot. Sidenote, how GREAT was DDL as Fellini? So great.

However, I think that if Fellini were alive today, he would make exactly the same kinds of movies as Rob Marshall (another sidenote: who is psyched about Marshall directing Pirates 4?? I didn't even like the others, and I know this one will be worth watching); extravagant, shiny and sometimes pointless (Memoirs of A Geisha...A movie with a plot as cliche as they come that still rocked).

Anyways, I doubt any old American movie can measure up to the delightful self-indulgent spectacle that is La Dolce Vita. But why should it?

chinatown

This may seem a bit obvious, but the more movies I see, the more convinced I am that Chinatown is the greatest movie of all time. Here are a few reasons why...

Everything You Could Want
Some movies have a lot of one thing. Romance. Suspense. Action. Violence. Drama. Some movies dabble in several genres, or nod to the minority in the audience (action movies with a token hot girl, chick flicks with a car chase, Transformers). Chinatown has and masters them all.

Killer Acting
Needless to say, Nicholson dominates this movie. The real genius in his performance is that he is a character with a story which is never really told. Too many films climax with a passionate tell-all between the main character and his love interest/adventurous sidekick. When Gittes haltingly relays his past to Evelyn, two crucial elements make this scene particularly touching. First, he really tells her very little. Secondly, and most importantly, Evelyn is a character who he does not trust. This is revealed when he readily believes she is guilty of her husband's murder. Gittes' character is deeply complex, and less than eager to share details about it.

Down-Ending
Call me a cynic all you want, but I contend that no truly great movie has a real positive ending. No matter how realistic or well written, it rings a little false when everything works out as it should. Chinatown's ending is truly redemptive for Gittes, but also tragic. Deep down, I think everyone has a sense that no matter how noble a protagonist, or compelling his sacrifice, "the man" will always win.

Emotional Roller-Coaster
I hate movies where the audience knows more than the protagonist. I know, I know; sometimes this is a useful plot device blah blah blah. But it drives me nuts. What I love about Chinatown is that it's a lot like life. Most of the time, you don't know who to trust, or who is guilty, or who to love, or what they know. Every man is Gittes, distrustful and imperfect, but trying to make the best of it.

There are so many brilliant facets to Chinatown. The writing, the acting, the effortless cinematography. I doubt any movie will ever rival this piece of genius in any of the genres it masters, much less all of them. Agree, disagree?

Flaws revisited

Normally, I agree wholeheartedly with Don Miller, but on this particular idea, I'm afraid I differ pretty thoroughly. Don notes that bad habits (like smoking pot) make you live an inferior story (to really understand this, you should read his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years).

In my experience, this is far from true. Under Don's paradigm of living a "story," we have to consider the kinds of lives we respect in others and mirror those habits in our own (very simplified version of his thoughts). Even a brief survey of great films shows our heroes to possess both profound and trivial defects. This is something I've written about elsewhere but I think it bears repeating.

If one wants to be a good hero, a good character, one's goal ought not be perfection. I don't just mean that we can't achieve perfection; I mean we shouldn't try. Obviously, there are independent reasons not to smoke pot or bite your nails (...okay, maybe not), but if you want to be a good character you can do everything wrong and still find redemption. Think of Charlton Heston's character in Planet of the Apes: rude, selfish, cynical and unapologetic. In the end, he rides off into the distance, complete with the his dignity, a horse and the damsel in distress. Incidentally, his character, though darkly complex, develops very little throughout the story. He never really overcomes the character flaws presented in the opening scenes, but his spark of humanity carries him to a heroic ending (until the very final moments, of course).

This spark should be the true aim of our actions. Even in our times of greatest failure, we should seek humanity, civility and rationality. To forget this is to lose any distinction between human and ape (if you haven't seen the movie, I promise I'm not just saying that to be cheesy--in the future we are enslaved by apes! for realz!)