The Weekend Roundup
- Max was sick so we spent most of the weekend pummelling popsicles and baby Tylenol Cold into him. He was not a happy camper.
- Him being sick gave us a chance to watch a bunch of movies, which I’ll go into more detail on below and some surprisingly good NBA basketball.
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Now for the movies:
- Bandits: It had its moments, but overall, it was a disappointment. I’m not sure what I expected because I missed all buzz about it when it came through the theaters, but I expect more from Barry Levinson and Billy Bob. Speaking of Billy Bob…
- The Man Who Wasn’t There: So, this is what happens when the Coen’s make a film noir. This movie is beautiful, and I completely agree with the Coen’s decision to shoot it in black and white. The smoke, the shadows, everything about this movie had amazing texture and depth. Billy Bob gave a great performance, as did Tony Shalhoub (who should have received an Oscar nomination for his greasy lawyer… amazing). But, for some reason, it was still a disappointment. While it was beautiful, I wasn’t into it the whole time. I found myself looking at my watch, which I’ve never done in another Coen brothers movie. I can’t quite put my finger on it. On one hand, they’ve created a classic film noir, one that automatically ranks in the top 5 all time, yet it was still missing something. Can you make a great film noir and just make a decent movie?
- The Others: This was the real winner of the weekend. What an amazing film. Forgetting all the hype, it felt like the first time I watched The Sixth Sense. The director did an excellent job of setting the mood from the very beginning, and, while there weren’t a lot of real scary scenes, I was on edge throughout. The ending was perfect, and Nicole Kidman’s performance deserved the Oscar. What a great piece of work. The lighting, atmospherics, acting, everything were spot on. This could not have been done better.
- Metropolis: Not the old silent movie with Jocasta the lovely robot. This is an Anime film but some guy who’s name I can’t remember that the guys in the video store were watching. I haven’t finished it yet, but so far, it’s beautiful. It’s one of those complexly drawn animated movies I’ve ever seen. The characters and sets are a beautiful mix of cell and digital animation with hand-painted backgrounds. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s basically what A.I. should have been and wasn’t.
- Summer TV sucks. Almost all the season finale’s are done, and none of the guilty pleasure summer series have started yet (yes, I’m looking at you Big Brother). Thankfully, the NBA Conference Finals have been excellent and worth staying up for.