Like all patriotic Americans, I lent a helping hand (or glued eyeball) over the 3-day weekend to aid Hollywood's biggest box office take ever by seeing not one by three movies in a row on Christmas day. Like all respecting Jews, I interposed these screenings with Chinese food. Or so I thought, until a surprise crab cake snuck into the mix, botching 15 years of vegetarianism and certainly any semblance of Judaism.
This is the sixth year I have participated in a holiday Trifecta. It is not for the faint of heart or tight of wallet. In some yuletide delusion I added three bucks to my ticket to It's Complicated in order to select my seat and have concession service (marked up from the stand right outside the theatre). Note the theatre was 1/4 full. The seat preference would have been mine for free. I ordered not a single cheesy pretzel. Que sera sera.
The line-up (much discussed, highly-anticipated) turned out to be sort of average.
Avatar (in 3-D, yes, I get it, better experience) was such a wash of a million films I'd seen (TwilightFerngullyDanceswithWolvesPochantasStarshipTroopersYearOneHarryPotter) that I couldn't be in awe of it. I actually nodded off after my morning caffeine wore off and I was lulled to sleep by James Horner's score, soaring panoramas of swooping crane/teradactyls. If I were planning to fix this movie I would 1-make it shorter, tighter by about 40 minutes (three extra endings were unnecessary), 2-enhance some of the sub-plots (e.g. the Sigourney Weaver characer, the backstory with the scientist brother, the competition with the tribesman or the other nerdy scientist), 3-provide some overall context for what the mystical mineral would provide for this world. We weren't given a context for Pandora other than it was dangerous. I wanted to understand what made this world unique, desirable, needed contrast. 4-the dialogue. Classic Cameron. But sometimes (especially with hardened military commander) was just bad. While I appreciate that I am not the demographic for this film which screams teenage boy, I am certainly a fan of the epics and could have easily gotten aboard if I had deemed the trip worthwhile.
It's Complicated -- while not bad struck me as sort of inconsequential. All the principal actors were fine -- Streep, Baldwin, Martin, Krasinski... I guess middle-class middle-aged women will see this and feel hopeful? Vindicated? Not sure. There is something always missing with Nancy Myers films for me (What Women Want, Something's Gotta Give) and I think its a bit of self-awareness that separates the romantcized world view (your own personal Dean and Deluca, a garden, squeaky clean kids) from something more relatable or even funny. It's too much so we don't believe it. It was a funny contrast -- male Avatar and female It's Complicated. But perhaps not as funny as the line-up of a friend who marathoned The Road with A Squeakquel. Yikes.
Sherlock Holmes -- in a word, gay. If the Ambiguously Gay duo SNL sketch took place in the early twentieth century in London...well, here you are. Downey Jr. and Law are amusing in their pairing, some good special effects sequences (especially where Holmes forecasts fights or discovers key clues), but it was a little too rambling and maybe needed some additional wry dialogue (little "gotcha" moments. Set itself up very obviously for a sequel/franchise. We'll see if they can make it work.
Until next time, the balcony is closed.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Nine and Crazy Heart
Two films:- Star studded cinematic musical revival centered on an Italian film director struggling with writers' block and the women who unlock him
- Low-key character piece about a has been country singer negotiating addictions and the woman who rediscovers him
Why they soar?
Nine, with an ensemble filled with every hot actress of now (Marion Cotilliard, Penelope Cruz) with leading ladies of the past (Judi Dench, Sophia Loren). Not to mention Daniel Day-Lewis who slips seamlessly into every role (Guido? Bill the Butcher? John Proctor? There may be blood, but there should be Oscars...always) Crazy Heart, with a cast of hot actors/resses of now (Colin Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal) and legends of the past (Robert Duvall, Jeff Bridges).
Because art and the creation of art is inherently performative. We like seeing inebriated Bad Blake strum his guitar because he is in his element and actually producing some great tunes. We get characterization and a concert. In Nine, the production numbers which fuel the production of the film within the film are cinematic grandeur (Chicago director Rob Marshall is up to all of his old tricks, songs are contained within the characters' heads rather than displayed as bursts of spontaneous emotion) and also reveal Guido's past liasons which have led to his current predictament.
Why they falter?
Writers' block is internal. The only person the male protagonist has to fight with is himself. He may project/displace his tortured anxieties but it doesn't lead to equal interplay. Mostly it provides one-sided whining about missing muses.
Abusive personalities are tiresome. How interesting is it to see drunks puking over the toilet? Awakening in debilitating stupors? No wonder neither main female love interest (Maggie and Marion) agree to return to them. Who wants to be subject to that emotional recklessness? Meanwhile I found the child abandonment scene in Crazy Heart to be completely manipulative, sheer plot device to impose conflict. Cheating.
What we take away?
The music. Both films have terrific and infectious soundtracks which capture a mood or engage an emotion that support otherwise simple scripts. Do I currently have Be Italian on repeat? Yes. Do I recognize that Cinema Italiano is completely Marty Yeston's plea for a Best Original Song nom? Yes. Doesn't change a thing.
However, I don't forecast humming either tune come next year. But I'll sing the films' praises for a little bit.
Union Square Xmas market...get your hot cider for $2. Perfect holiday fare with this double billing.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Lovely Bones and Twilight: New Moon
I am embarrassed that I am reviewing these films in tandem, but frankly, they deserve it.
Peter Jackson should not have gotten the rights to direct the adaptation of a novel told from the perspective of a 14 year old girl. What about Peter Jackson says girl? Or subtlety? Instead of a thoughtful and uplifting meditation on relationships formed out of loss, we are presented with a 70s music video, purely fanciful without any backbone and zero journey. No one changes in the story. The narrative lives in "the in between," like a piece of performance art rather than working with the novel's arch (the very title, the Lovely Bones, suggests growth, rebuilding). This failed to find a rhythm, to engage us in storytelling, to avoid the cliches (starcrossed lovers, dissatisfied housewife, the crazy grandmother, the creepy neighbor) which the novel did so grandly. There were so many cringe-worthy scenes both in dialogue and in CGI. I am sad to discourage others from seeing this. But frankly, read the book and imagine what could have been.
On that note, don't read the book or see the movie of Twilight New Moon. Like really? What?! Maybe you are supposed to just laugh. To ogle Robert Pattinson in all his sparkles. Ignore the inconsistencies (like even though vampires can fly and appear instantly, they drive fancy cars and take planes to get places in an emergency), the angsty set-ups (the adrenaline junkie who jumps off cliffs, drives motorcycles, wakes up in the middle of the night screaming for six months over her ex-boyfriends, and the boy who relentlessly pursues her after being rebuffed a million times and turns into a werewolf), the filmmaking that seems more in sync with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers than a Hollywood blockbuster. Hmmm...but there is an audience for this shlock. A big one. Third biggest opening weekend ever. And you can't walk by a bookstore or billboard in Times Square without seeing signage. Someone is taking sexually repressed teen vampires seriously. And then you consider, which would I rather see at the end of a long day at high school, this or A Serious Man? Right. This is no Harry Potter. It is the Jonas brothers gone goth. Easy, pure and brainless.
The Oscar noms will be here before we know it. And I am ready. However, if either of these films show up on the list it's a rough road ahead.
Peter Jackson should not have gotten the rights to direct the adaptation of a novel told from the perspective of a 14 year old girl. What about Peter Jackson says girl? Or subtlety? Instead of a thoughtful and uplifting meditation on relationships formed out of loss, we are presented with a 70s music video, purely fanciful without any backbone and zero journey. No one changes in the story. The narrative lives in "the in between," like a piece of performance art rather than working with the novel's arch (the very title, the Lovely Bones, suggests growth, rebuilding). This failed to find a rhythm, to engage us in storytelling, to avoid the cliches (starcrossed lovers, dissatisfied housewife, the crazy grandmother, the creepy neighbor) which the novel did so grandly. There were so many cringe-worthy scenes both in dialogue and in CGI. I am sad to discourage others from seeing this. But frankly, read the book and imagine what could have been.
On that note, don't read the book or see the movie of Twilight New Moon. Like really? What?! Maybe you are supposed to just laugh. To ogle Robert Pattinson in all his sparkles. Ignore the inconsistencies (like even though vampires can fly and appear instantly, they drive fancy cars and take planes to get places in an emergency), the angsty set-ups (the adrenaline junkie who jumps off cliffs, drives motorcycles, wakes up in the middle of the night screaming for six months over her ex-boyfriends, and the boy who relentlessly pursues her after being rebuffed a million times and turns into a werewolf), the filmmaking that seems more in sync with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers than a Hollywood blockbuster. Hmmm...but there is an audience for this shlock. A big one. Third biggest opening weekend ever. And you can't walk by a bookstore or billboard in Times Square without seeing signage. Someone is taking sexually repressed teen vampires seriously. And then you consider, which would I rather see at the end of a long day at high school, this or A Serious Man? Right. This is no Harry Potter. It is the Jonas brothers gone goth. Easy, pure and brainless.
The Oscar noms will be here before we know it. And I am ready. However, if either of these films show up on the list it's a rough road ahead.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Manhattan Movie Marathon: Part 2
I wish I could say I am drinking cocoa and watching movies on this blistering Friday in the City. Alas, I am sipping spicy lemonade (Juice Generation on Ninth Ave)at work, cleansing for bad behavior, sleepy from another midnight showing. But first, the rest of my movie marathon reporting
A Serious Man
There is a lot to like here. The Cohen brothers are notorious for dropping you off in conventional circumstances (a university, a bar mitzvah) with nonconformist characters (Richard Kind as the confused outcast brother). As an audience member you are stranded in their misfortunes (e.g. Fargo, Burn Without Reading, No Country For Old Man) but amused by their motives and tactics. The silly with the "Serious." With A Serious Man, we are given the framing device of an ancestral curse which we are to believe explains the unfortunate trajectory of our central character's life. What appears like the "very bad day" of suburban Jewish middle-class professor assumes a more cosmic significance as he places the events in context with a religious identity crisis. There is some great acting and stellar moments -- the essence of the Cohens' ensemble style. I can't put my finger on why this didn't all add up. I think I was somewhat drained by all the rabbis and the ending which fails to complete the journey. I will recommend this to a certain audience.
Up In the Air
This may be in my top five of the year. And why? Because it told so many topical and yet fresh stories. What could have simply been Office Space meets The Accidental Tourist, or sort of an Enron twist on the Jerry Maguire archetype turned out to be about families, relationships, workplace, growing up. Since this was the fourth in my movie marathon I think I am a bit fragmented in my wrap-up so I will see it again and spend less time being swept up by George Clooney (seriously though, is he Cary Grant?) and more thought on how this film works. And doesn't at points (and is forgiven) such as the twist which really seemed like convenient plot point rather than honest character development. Maybe I am being too sentimental in saying this film speaks to this year. That is subjective to one's experience. Maybe if my world outlook were more bleak, I would say Precious.
In the meantime, Juice Generation's Supa Dupa Greens is my drug of choice.
A Serious Man
There is a lot to like here. The Cohen brothers are notorious for dropping you off in conventional circumstances (a university, a bar mitzvah) with nonconformist characters (Richard Kind as the confused outcast brother). As an audience member you are stranded in their misfortunes (e.g. Fargo, Burn Without Reading, No Country For Old Man) but amused by their motives and tactics. The silly with the "Serious." With A Serious Man, we are given the framing device of an ancestral curse which we are to believe explains the unfortunate trajectory of our central character's life. What appears like the "very bad day" of suburban Jewish middle-class professor assumes a more cosmic significance as he places the events in context with a religious identity crisis. There is some great acting and stellar moments -- the essence of the Cohens' ensemble style. I can't put my finger on why this didn't all add up. I think I was somewhat drained by all the rabbis and the ending which fails to complete the journey. I will recommend this to a certain audience.
Up In the Air
This may be in my top five of the year. And why? Because it told so many topical and yet fresh stories. What could have simply been Office Space meets The Accidental Tourist, or sort of an Enron twist on the Jerry Maguire archetype turned out to be about families, relationships, workplace, growing up. Since this was the fourth in my movie marathon I think I am a bit fragmented in my wrap-up so I will see it again and spend less time being swept up by George Clooney (seriously though, is he Cary Grant?) and more thought on how this film works. And doesn't at points (and is forgiven) such as the twist which really seemed like convenient plot point rather than honest character development. Maybe I am being too sentimental in saying this film speaks to this year. That is subjective to one's experience. Maybe if my world outlook were more bleak, I would say Precious.
In the meantime, Juice Generation's Supa Dupa Greens is my drug of choice.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The Manhattan Movie Marathon: Part 1
The bad weather posed problems for a lot of New Yorkers this weekend. But I could ask for no greater climate for my epic (indoor) film challenge -- four movies in 48 hours. On the slate: An Education, Broken Embraces, A Serious Man, and Up in the Air. The theme threading these selections was simply a jumpstart on the approaching Oscar season (all buzz-worthy choices). However, the films linked in other ways, notably their collective meditations on the institution of marriage through perspectives mediated by era, ethnicities, age, and social status.
First up:
An Education -- this plucky British import penned by Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) has the morality of a John Patrick Shanley play combined with the slickness of the 60s drama Mad Men. Before I start issuing my own Oscars for this phenom ensemble (Alfred Molina, Carey Mulligan, Peter Saarsgard and all the supporting actors turn in first rate stylized performances), I want to look at what is being said here about marriage.
First we have Jenny's protective parents -- crippled by their lower-middle class sensibilities, simply hopeful for the possibility of upward mobility and excitement. Marriage to them is a necessity, an expectation, the financially responsible thing to do.
Helen and Danny -- the playboy pals of young Jenny's older boyfriend. For them marriage is a joke -- not sure if they ever reveal their own marital status, too busy throwing back the booze and stealing paintings from the homes of senile ladies. I categorized Danny as gay a few times, though that might not change any of his relationships. I briefly considered a plot twist involving a reveal of his feelings for David.
Then we have all these prudish schoolteachers overly cautious of their students affairs, who we are to believe live the life of nuns.
So Jenny is given only a few models for behavior -- the boredom and domestic unrest of her parents, the freedom of Helen and Danny's relationship (drinks, flashy cars, clothes, and jazz clubs), and then spinsterhood. Ultimately she learns the only person she can rely on is herself and marriage/another person will never be a replacement for a life's education.
I certainly enjoyed this film. Just as Jenny got to float through these opulent environments, playing hooky from a more tiresome reality, I too savored the escape. But we all know we will have to confront our obligations eventually. Hard to be Audrey Hepburn day in and out.
Broken Embraces, the latest by Spanish film auteur Pedro Almodovar, seduces us with noirish intrigue and love triangles from the first shot. Marriage here plays less of a role than attraction, romantic jealousy and obsessive revenge. Sex, violence and filmmaking seem to link all the characters' dangerous activities. No one is married but certainly everyone has several key obligational relationships. Penelope Cruz as Lena uses marriage as a lure for the mogul Martel to finance her film activities, meanwhile she sleeps with the director. Without giving too much away, everyone seems to be connected by one tryst or another. Almodovar paints a society in complete anarchy devoid of social institutions, where players simply screw each other over for personal or professional gain.
With elements of Matchpoint (Woody Allen) and some of the voyeurism of the Hitchcock canon (maybe North by Northwest or Rear Window), Broken Embraces is certainly a slick little film with a lot of tricks. Highly recommended.
Back tomrw with more from the marathon...nourished by the Love Coffee truck and Whole Foods vegan scones (a wonderful combo if you are willing to brave the epic "Express" lines on a Sunday in Union Square). But first a minor complaint:
Dear Fellow Film-Goers, If the film hasn't started yet. I mean, if the film hasn't started with preview coming attraction trailers, you actually can't shush me, or direct me to sit all the way back in my seat. Don't snap at me, or my friends during the film. Don't tell me where I can and cannot place my bag. Or yell at me for checking my watch. I understand you are angry about $12.50 for a film and feel you have acquired certain rights with your ticket. You are telling me. I paid $3.75 for a first-run movie in Ohio last week. However, you don't get to be rude. That doesn't come with your stub. The great thing about seeing a movie in the theatre vs. on your netflix cue is that collective audience experience as we all observe humanity in performance. Don't be a spoil sport. If you don't like people, stay at home and get premium cable.
First up:
An Education -- this plucky British import penned by Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) has the morality of a John Patrick Shanley play combined with the slickness of the 60s drama Mad Men. Before I start issuing my own Oscars for this phenom ensemble (Alfred Molina, Carey Mulligan, Peter Saarsgard and all the supporting actors turn in first rate stylized performances), I want to look at what is being said here about marriage.
First we have Jenny's protective parents -- crippled by their lower-middle class sensibilities, simply hopeful for the possibility of upward mobility and excitement. Marriage to them is a necessity, an expectation, the financially responsible thing to do.
Helen and Danny -- the playboy pals of young Jenny's older boyfriend. For them marriage is a joke -- not sure if they ever reveal their own marital status, too busy throwing back the booze and stealing paintings from the homes of senile ladies. I categorized Danny as gay a few times, though that might not change any of his relationships. I briefly considered a plot twist involving a reveal of his feelings for David.
Then we have all these prudish schoolteachers overly cautious of their students affairs, who we are to believe live the life of nuns.
So Jenny is given only a few models for behavior -- the boredom and domestic unrest of her parents, the freedom of Helen and Danny's relationship (drinks, flashy cars, clothes, and jazz clubs), and then spinsterhood. Ultimately she learns the only person she can rely on is herself and marriage/another person will never be a replacement for a life's education.
I certainly enjoyed this film. Just as Jenny got to float through these opulent environments, playing hooky from a more tiresome reality, I too savored the escape. But we all know we will have to confront our obligations eventually. Hard to be Audrey Hepburn day in and out.
Broken Embraces, the latest by Spanish film auteur Pedro Almodovar, seduces us with noirish intrigue and love triangles from the first shot. Marriage here plays less of a role than attraction, romantic jealousy and obsessive revenge. Sex, violence and filmmaking seem to link all the characters' dangerous activities. No one is married but certainly everyone has several key obligational relationships. Penelope Cruz as Lena uses marriage as a lure for the mogul Martel to finance her film activities, meanwhile she sleeps with the director. Without giving too much away, everyone seems to be connected by one tryst or another. Almodovar paints a society in complete anarchy devoid of social institutions, where players simply screw each other over for personal or professional gain.
With elements of Matchpoint (Woody Allen) and some of the voyeurism of the Hitchcock canon (maybe North by Northwest or Rear Window), Broken Embraces is certainly a slick little film with a lot of tricks. Highly recommended.
Back tomrw with more from the marathon...nourished by the Love Coffee truck and Whole Foods vegan scones (a wonderful combo if you are willing to brave the epic "Express" lines on a Sunday in Union Square). But first a minor complaint:
Dear Fellow Film-Goers, If the film hasn't started yet. I mean, if the film hasn't started with preview coming attraction trailers, you actually can't shush me, or direct me to sit all the way back in my seat. Don't snap at me, or my friends during the film. Don't tell me where I can and cannot place my bag. Or yell at me for checking my watch. I understand you are angry about $12.50 for a film and feel you have acquired certain rights with your ticket. You are telling me. I paid $3.75 for a first-run movie in Ohio last week. However, you don't get to be rude. That doesn't come with your stub. The great thing about seeing a movie in the theatre vs. on your netflix cue is that collective audience experience as we all observe humanity in performance. Don't be a spoil sport. If you don't like people, stay at home and get premium cable.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The weather outside is frightful and film blogging isn't as spiteful
How did we already get to Oscar season? Pretty soon we'll be marathoning Elizabethan costume dramas and Clint Eastwood war movies just to pick up a spare nomination or two. Thankfully the fall provided a few brainless popcorn flicks before we have to pretend to have our thoughts provoked again:
2012
Not sure why this film snuck into the autumn gravitas lineup when it clearly belongs to the class of Day After Tomorrow May/June releases. No matter, I wasn't fooled Mr. Emmerich. The world will end if the government is unable to prevent a geological armageddon discovered by an Indian scientist. Easy enough. Or is it. So many terrible subplots, so cheesy they upset my lactose racism. Why the failed novelist played by John Cusack couldn't lift a boombox to the heavens to stop the madness I don't know. Nor do I know what happens to the tyrant Oliver Platt's character in the final frames. Perhaps he was such an oily politician that he floated away on an ice flow in the Himalayas (a horrible place to put a giant arch if you ask me). Check your cynicism at the door and marvel in the CGI global takeover. You probably won't like this film, so might as well be amused.
Zombieland
Woody Harrelson sure had a busy fall and surprises us with this shockingly delightful campy flick where armageddon means zombie takeover. The only hope for human civilization is a ragtag bunch of outcasts -- a geek, a babe, her kid sis, and a muscled-freak (Mr. Harrelson). And also Bill Murray in one of the best performances of his career. I am going to go out on a limb and call this one of my favorites of the year. Why? Because it is resourceful, doesn't portend to be anything it is not, but a self-effacing horror spoof. The opening sequence about the rules of survival in ZLand is a riot and the fun doesn't stop there, but in each little awkward zing.
And how about the latest fantastic animated film?
Fantastic Mr. Fox
A kids film of the highest order -- smart, lovable, satirical, and true to the source text. Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach have found a kindred spirit in the work of Roald Dahl, a snarky genre of underdogs outwitting witless authorities, and the barnyard/forest world they create is simply sensational, further enhanced by all-star animal voices and textured by a unique score. We root for all the characters in this piece and relate to the domestic conflict, the cousin rivalry, the desire to be "wild animals" rather than mature adults. This is a fresh film and hopefully a new precedent for the family audience.
Or the latest tearjerker championed by Oprah?
Precious
Could not have disliked more...I quote my friend, a fellow film buff with whom I agree on most movies, "I felt so used, but i also feel like ive never seen mariah carey act before, and she looked like shit, and monique was sort of wonderful but the story was trite and cliche and had no reason to be told except to kick you in the stomach and then provide an unearned and, I think, irresponsible sense of hope." Precious to me seemed like the kind of film seen by the American middle class to make them feel connected to a class of people they will never interact with. They leave the theatre savaged by this emotional freeforall and some how feel better/more socially conscious because they have experienced this 2 hour roller coaster. I am sure many people will fight me on this point, but I think Precious doesn't serve anyone. Sure it is visceral, graphic, and likely an accurate portrayal, but what does it accomplish but shoving a morality play down our gullets. I felt manipulated.
On the coffee front, these days I am chugging Starbucks, but recently discovered Think Coffee on the Bowery and can't sing its praises enough. The service is the slowest, but the brew is delightful and accompanied by a lot of fun pastries and hearty sandwiches. Plus there is plenty of space to spread out and unwind post-Precious.
2012
Not sure why this film snuck into the autumn gravitas lineup when it clearly belongs to the class of Day After Tomorrow May/June releases. No matter, I wasn't fooled Mr. Emmerich. The world will end if the government is unable to prevent a geological armageddon discovered by an Indian scientist. Easy enough. Or is it. So many terrible subplots, so cheesy they upset my lactose racism. Why the failed novelist played by John Cusack couldn't lift a boombox to the heavens to stop the madness I don't know. Nor do I know what happens to the tyrant Oliver Platt's character in the final frames. Perhaps he was such an oily politician that he floated away on an ice flow in the Himalayas (a horrible place to put a giant arch if you ask me). Check your cynicism at the door and marvel in the CGI global takeover. You probably won't like this film, so might as well be amused.
Zombieland
Woody Harrelson sure had a busy fall and surprises us with this shockingly delightful campy flick where armageddon means zombie takeover. The only hope for human civilization is a ragtag bunch of outcasts -- a geek, a babe, her kid sis, and a muscled-freak (Mr. Harrelson). And also Bill Murray in one of the best performances of his career. I am going to go out on a limb and call this one of my favorites of the year. Why? Because it is resourceful, doesn't portend to be anything it is not, but a self-effacing horror spoof. The opening sequence about the rules of survival in ZLand is a riot and the fun doesn't stop there, but in each little awkward zing.
And how about the latest fantastic animated film?
Fantastic Mr. Fox
A kids film of the highest order -- smart, lovable, satirical, and true to the source text. Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach have found a kindred spirit in the work of Roald Dahl, a snarky genre of underdogs outwitting witless authorities, and the barnyard/forest world they create is simply sensational, further enhanced by all-star animal voices and textured by a unique score. We root for all the characters in this piece and relate to the domestic conflict, the cousin rivalry, the desire to be "wild animals" rather than mature adults. This is a fresh film and hopefully a new precedent for the family audience.
Or the latest tearjerker championed by Oprah?
Precious
Could not have disliked more...I quote my friend, a fellow film buff with whom I agree on most movies, "I felt so used, but i also feel like ive never seen mariah carey act before, and she looked like shit, and monique was sort of wonderful but the story was trite and cliche and had no reason to be told except to kick you in the stomach and then provide an unearned and, I think, irresponsible sense of hope." Precious to me seemed like the kind of film seen by the American middle class to make them feel connected to a class of people they will never interact with. They leave the theatre savaged by this emotional freeforall and some how feel better/more socially conscious because they have experienced this 2 hour roller coaster. I am sure many people will fight me on this point, but I think Precious doesn't serve anyone. Sure it is visceral, graphic, and likely an accurate portrayal, but what does it accomplish but shoving a morality play down our gullets. I felt manipulated.
On the coffee front, these days I am chugging Starbucks, but recently discovered Think Coffee on the Bowery and can't sing its praises enough. The service is the slowest, but the brew is delightful and accompanied by a lot of fun pastries and hearty sandwiches. Plus there is plenty of space to spread out and unwind post-Precious.
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