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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment