I keep meaning to talk a little about the movies I’ve seen recently, except that “recently” keeps going back further to include more movies I haven’t yet talked about, except in passing on Twitter. So, anyway, here are some thoughts on the movies I’ve seen in the past couple of months, in the order I saw them.
Waydowntown — This was a little weirder than I expected…although, having never visited downtown Calgary before, I’m not sure I knew what to expect, given the film’s basic premise. (A bet on who can last the longest without going outside really couldn’t last as long in Manhattan.) Overall, though, I liked it. The movie is maybe not always as clever as it likes to think — Keith Phipps rightly calls it “slightly undernourished and padded” — and it feels just slightly dated, a product of the late ’90s, which is probably when I first saw the trailer — Phipps also says it resembles “an episode of Seinfeld taken to the big screen” — but it’s often very funny. (And I have it on pretty good authority that Calgary is not entirely a giant, hermetically sealed human ant farm, so that’s good.)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie — Also not entirely what I expected, if only because there’s no character here — least of all Jean Brodie herself — who is entirely sympathetic, or entirely the villain, for that matter. There are a lot of great performances here, but Dame Maggie Smith is particularly good, winning an Oscar for her work.
Up — In the end, I’m not sure the 3D really added to anything other than my ticket price, but the film itself, like just about every Pixar film, was delightful.
The Fall — Visually astounding, to the point where I genuinely regret not having seen it on the big screen, though with a sweet and often engaging story as well. Roger Ebert praises it as “a mad folly, an extravagant visual orgy, a free-fall from reality into uncharted realms,” while Tasha Robinson calls it “the most glorious, wonderful mess put onscreen since Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.”
Speed Racer — Surprisingly entertaining for what is essentially a sugar rush captured on film. For all the frenetic, visually assaultive eye-candy on screen, there’s a pretty simple and easy-to-follow story at its madly pulsating heart. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, and it’s certainly not the sort of film I’d be quick to re-watch anytime soon, but I think if taken on its own terms it’s actually kind of remarkable.
The Great Train Robbery — There’s nothing quite as much fun as a heist movie done well. This doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s very entertaining. Donald Sutherland’s accent may be questionable at times, but both he and Sean Connery have great fun with this.
The Shadow in the North — This was very disappointing, even more so than the first Sally Lockhart mystery — which, I’ll admit, I didn’t like too much to begin with. The flaws of the original felt much more exaggerated here and the strengths fewer in number. If there’s ever another — Philip Pullman wrote four books, apparently, though the momentum to film them all seems to have flagged — I think I’ll skip it.
Let the Right One In — An interesting take on the vampire genre, and possibly the creepiest love story I’ve ever seen. I’d rented this once before but received the poorly subtitled version. Thankfully, however, Netflix has the original theatrical version available in their Watch Instantly titles. As Keith Phipps notes, “the quieter moments are what make the movie heartwarming and unsettling.”
Pineapple Express — Not brilliant, but a funny stoner comedy nonetheless.