TWILIGHT
Ah, the much debated vampire movie based on that ever popular book series. Now, I'll be up front and totally honest with you: I had no desire to see this movie. Based on the previews, the plot and the, let's be honest here, overall demographic of fans (insane preteen/teen girls) of this series, I didn't think it was for me. But there's this guy I was working with at the time who assured me it wasn't nearly as girly as it was made out to be and I should give it a shot. So I did and, frankly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Do I still get all the hoopla? Not really. I understand the Harry Potter craze (and still easily prefer the boy wizard over this stuff), but I just don't get the craziness surrounding this. The movie was entertaining and and well done for the most part, but if I were so inclined, I could probably rip it to shreds. But I found myself drawn into the story and the acting was decent enough, so it didn't bore me to tears for two hours. My main problem with it was there didn't seem to be much conflict until the end where it was as if the movie decided "Hey, we're making a movie about vampires here, we better have some bad guys fight some good guys", and seemed a bit rushed. Of course, this is just part one of a larger story, so I'm sure that plays into it, but I was just viewing it as one movie, not a part of a larger whole. Anyways, the movie was enjoyable enough that I'll probably check out the sequel but not mind blowingly awesome that I'll check it out the moment it hits theaters.
ADVENTURELAND
I've seen it said that this movie suffered from false advertising, and it most certainly did. The commercials and trailers told us to expect another wacky comedy in the vein of such films as Superbad and Knocked Up! Not that I saw those movies, but when I watched Adventureland, it was because I was in the mood for something funny and for better or worse, it wasn't exactly a comedy. More of a classic coming of age type movie where we meet all these characters working at the amusement park as they are at certain crossroads of their lives. With my background and the way I grew up, I didn't exactly relate to these characters a whole lot, but it was interesting to watch them deal with the things that popped up in their various experiences. I can see why critics loved this thing. But I thought it was well made, well acted and it did a good job of capturing it's time period (mid to late 80s) that brought to mind other movies that are age setting specific, such as American Graffiti or Dazed and Confused, and it fits well into that type of genre. Not what I expected, but I enjoyed it.
KNOWING
Another movie that turned out much different than what I thought going in. It's one that I can't really get into without ruining it for those that haven't seen it. We have Nic Cage and his son finding a page full of numbers from a 50 year old time capsule at the son's school. Nic Cage, being the brilliant mind that his character is, deciphers the meaning of these numbers and comes up with specific dates and victim numbers of catastrophes that happened on those dates. Every major catastrophe in the last 50 years is covered plus a few more dates yet to happen. Nic Cage and his hair decide that perhaps these catastrophes can be avoided with the prior knowledge of their occurrence. After a couple of really nifty disasters (the plane crash is really chilling), this movie in which Nic Cage and the daughter of the person who wrote the numbers fight to avert disaster takes a turn that takes the movie to a deeper, horrifying, more unpredictable and (in my opinion) much cooler place that leaves what went on up to the viewer and up for debate. I went into this movie thinking I'd like it, ended up liking it a lot.
DOLORES CLAIBORNE
Based on the novel by Stephen King and staring Kathy Bates, this isn't as good as Misery but is still pretty decent in its own right. What's genius about this movie isn't the storyline, but how the storyline is constructed. We go into it not knowing a whole lot about what's going on and finding out that even what we did know didn't exactly happen how we thought. Dolores Claiborne is accused of killing the rich lady that she had been a housekeeper for for the previous 20 years. Things about Dolores' past might indicate that she would be capable of it. Even her disturbed journalist daughter thinks she's capable of it. The only one in the movie who sees the whole picture is Dolores and it comes out piece by piece in the form of flashbacks that don't fully come together until the last flashback (by a different character) is seen. None of these characters are particularly likable, but you will root for them. Christopher Plummer as the lead homicide cop on the case really makes you want to kick him in the teeth. While there are tense moments and bits of unease and violence, this isn't the type of horror or thriller you expect from Stephen King. Just a good old fashioned drama with good acting.
STATE OF PLAY
It's said they don't make this type of movie much anymore in lue of the special effect blockbusters and raunchy comedies that permeate the theaters these days and it's a shame. There's something refreshing about watching a bunch of well known actors (Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Robin Wright Penn, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren) navigate a well written and directed dramatic thriller. Russell Crowe is the old school newspaper man who takes a blogger (another interesting kind of side theme to the movie, the death of the classic newspaper and the rise of internet news) under his wing to investigate a scandal involving Ben Affleck's congressman who just happens to be an old roommate and friend of his. It's interesting to watch him juggle going after the story while at the same time watching out for his buddy's interest. Despite the fact that this could have turned into a boring movie, there's an energy to it, an unease that permeates through the movie that keeps you glued to it, watching these people uncover bits and facts and try to put it all together and then the movie takes you where you didn't expect it to, using the relationships established before to put a twist on everything that went down earlier. (What a run on sentence that turned out to be). I really liked this
movie and it'd be nice to see more of it's ilk being put on screens nowadays.
