The Short Take: Neglect 2009 - Part I

Oh, blog, how you have been neglected in the last year plus. I think now my ticket stubs have hit critical mass: the pile is so big that it seems impossible to tackle them. I've decided that I am just going to work my way through them until they disappear. No system, no plan. Write a phrase, write a paragraph until they're all gone. Might back date the posts to break them up, but that's it. You with me?

Red Cliff (2008)

Plays at times like a John Woo parody rather than a John Woo movie, but then Takeshi Kaneshiro shows up as the hottest damn war strategist ever and makes it all worthwhile. Between that and Tony Leung's badassery, it's definitely worth checking out. Too bad we slow North Americans can't enjoy the two movie version they got in China. B

Mary and Max (2009)

I think I'm a little sensitive to movies where people finally get what they want when what they want is something small. Instead of beating us over the head with how deserving the protagonists are or what hard lives they live, Mary and Max's lives are presented as matter of fact (and odd and adorable) that the idea that all they each want is a friend is enough to break your heart. It's also nice to hear Philip Seymour Hoffman outside of his wheelhouse. Makes me want to send him a pom. A-

A Single Man (2009)

A Single Man is a sensory delight from start to finish, though perhaps not for the reasons Tom Ford would like me to point out. From John Hamm's rich voice on the other end of a phone line to Lee Pace showing up with a calabash pipe,* this movie is delicious. Ford's direction is, at times, too formal and too fussy, and Julianne Moore kind of goes off the rails. I never thought of her as an actress in need of direction, but there it is. Colin Firth finally found the exact right role for his cerebral, internal, occasionally sensual gifts, but he won't win the Oscar. It's a shame, really, because when is a role like this, one that takes place entirely behind a mask, going to come up again? A-

Crazy Heart (2009)

Crazy Heart is exactly the kind of small movie that showcases brilliant acting and little else. The story is shopworn and the coda unnecessary, but, man, who wouldn't want to draw near as Jeff Bridges worked out a melody sitting on his porch? Maybe Maggie Gyllenhaal is just inside by an open window, typing away at her computer. Robert Duvall's going to be here any minute now, and somehow you agree that it's a good idea for him to bring Colin Farrell along. You'd line up for that, wouldn't you? So the story hits its beats a little too hard and characters that could have been more are either buried under exposition or given short shrift. But the view is beautiful (thanks, DP Barry Markowitz), and how many more times are you going to get invited to a party like this? P.S. Bridges will obviously win. B+

Good Hair (2009)

Your $1000 weave is on layaway. At what point do you realize that your priorities are seriously out of whack? The movie delivers a lot of new, surprising information (you'll practically do a double take when Raven-Symoné starts sliding her weave around) but shows no real interest in diving into the socio-political-economic reasons behind why black women approach their hair in such a way. On the other hand, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of "creamy crack." B

Legion (2010)

I'm a big fan of bad movies (almost as good as great movies, I say, and just as valuable), so how bad does it have to be that I would tell people that not see it? Pretty fucking bad. Paul Bettany is kind of awesome in that his idea of showing Michael's love for humanity is to act like he wants to make out with whomever he's talking to (it helps that he's lookin' good in this movie), and there's something wonderfully offbeat about Kevin Durand. Aside from that, there's nothing redeem a movie so messy it can't even follow its inner logic. D-

The Wolfman (2010)

Emily Blunt, you sure do look good in period clothes. Anthony Hopkins, you've got some sort of Alan Rickman thing going on here with the way you add syllables to words (Rickman is the king of turning words you thought you knew and understood against you). Rest of the movie? You're cool for the first act, big on scares and atmosphere. The work that goes into the Benicio Del Toro's transformation is genius, the rest of the movie is not. Way too much atmosphere, not enough plot. Hugo Weaving's still cool beans. Should have told half the movie from his point of view and had it go ramming into Del Toro's. That would have been something. C

*Whoo! Foxy TV men!