I AM

Tom Shadyac, an extremely successful Hollywood director, had all the toys and luxuries that money could buy but still wasn't happy.  Then he had a mountain biking accident which left him with post-concussive syndrome.  As he dealt with his injuries and continued to question, he set out on a journey that resulted in the uplifting documentary, I AM.  

I AM illustrates its message, "We're all connected" persuasively in scientific and straightforward terms.  It makes the case that cooperation, not competition, is far more important to the Darwinian world we inhabit and that the smallest of actions can have impact.  Rather than be paralyzed by the enormity of the problems, I AM encourages us to act with empathy and sympathy.

Shadyac did a Q&A session after the movie and I was impressed with the level of intelligence present in his discourse.  Some in the audience wished to take his message into the realm of new age spirituality and Shadyac did an admirable job of validating their views while still maintaining a grounded realism.  It seems to me that there is something to this idea that while we can't yet scientifically explain it, we are all connected on a physical, biological but mysterious level.  He uses an Einstein example of two spinning atoms separated by a great distance, each of which simultaneously mirrors changes made in the other's rotation.  We don't yet understand why it occurs, but we know it does.  The linear, rational being that I am appreciated Shadyac's well-reasoned argument.

I saw the movie, What the #$*! Do We Know, a few years back and left the theater feeling like I had just been fed a bunch of weird mumbo-jumbo.  It was just too over the top.  I AM strikes me as similar but much more plausibly presented than What the #$*! Do We Know. 

And taking its message to heart can't hurt.

The Other Guys' End Credits

We went to see The Other Guys on Friday night. While there were laugh out loud moments, it wasn't as consistently strong as Anchorman or Talladega Nights. It does leave you with funny takeaway moments, you know, the kind you laugh about as you're walking out of the theater.

The best part, though, was the surprisingly sobering end credits which laid out in eyegrabbing detail exactly how appalling the financial crimes shaking our economy are. Moviefone has an article about it and you can watch the end credits in their entirety below. If the video below won't play, here's the link.

Recent movies

The lazy man's reviews:

Up in the Air - Yes

Sherlock Holmes - No

Avatar - Yes

Pirate Radio - Yes

It's Complicated - Yes

Wings of Defeat

Rachel brought this DVD home to watch tonight for homework or more accurately, as a make up for the IB history class she missed last Monday when we were in Chicago.

A documentary done by a Japanese American born in New York whose uncle was a Kamikaze pilot who survived World War II, Wings of Defeat is a thoughtful, almost peaceful dissection of the oft-misunderstood and demonized Tokkotai which is what the Kamikazes called themselves.  The film features former Japanese pilots telling their stories of becoming Tokkotai, fighting as Tokkotai and most surprisingly, especially to themselves, surviving the war.  Also included are interviews with survivors of the USS Drexler, a destroyer sunk by a Kamikaze attack.

In English and Japanese with English subtitles depending on who's being interviewed, Wings of Defeat puts a sympathetic human face on young boys who were simply doing their duty as they understood it, even after they understood the futility of it.

Disney's A Christmas Carol

A new holiday classic?

Hard to say.

Maybe for the first time viewer.

It was visually engaging but suffered from familiarity.  I kept trying to watch it through fresh eyes and could see where it might have some staying power.

It was also odd watching it so early in the season.  Whatever Disney's rationale was for releasing it so early, it just made me wonder.

This Is It

This Is It isn't it.  (How clever am I?)

I wanted to see it because, although I never considered myself a Michael Jackson fan, I did grow up with his music and  certainly enjoyed a lot of it.

The movie spoke to that nostalgia in that did make me want to listen to Michael's old standards and see some of the old videos.  It was interesting to see the process behind putting together a concert extravaganza.

But it was too long, Michael's voice was too ragged, and the cinematography too obviously not intended for a full length major motion picture.

To my mind, the execs at Sony Pictures are delusional if they think it's Oscar worthy.

But what do I know?

Away We Go

I liked it.

Rachel wasn't sure.

Funny. But in a thoughtful, delicate way. (I stole the word delicate from the Rolling Stone review because I thought it was perfect.)

Full of characters you're glad you don't know and some you wish you did.

Poignant.

What a beautiful journey . . .

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Harry Potter movies face an imposing task. In order to be truly successful, they must satisfy the faithful with their knowledge of the most inconsequential details, retell the story for those who've read the books but forgotten, and present a stand-alone experience for those who haven't read the books (yes, they do exist).

Because I fall in the middle group, it's difficult for me to assess how successful the sixth movie is at accomplishing all of those goals. But, speaking for my constituency, the movie performed admirably. The movie has an overall more ominous tone (these are not the more carefree days of yore) and yet still manages to inject humor and charm. The scene where Ron is under the spell of the love potion is pure frivolity.

Rachel and I both remarked that we're glad we've already read the seventh book, in that we have some insight into where things are headed. But it would also have been interesting to have experienced the movie without that knowledge.

Public Enemies

Johnny Depp - plus.

Violent criminal - minus.

Loyal lover/boyfriend - plus.

Alone, betrayed and anachronistic at the end - minus.

Marion Cotillard - plus

Public Enemies is not an easy movie to characterize. It's violent and Dillinger is hardly someone to like. Of course, as portrayed, he has his moments of rakish attractiveness but there's also little illusion regarding his inevitable end.

It's an engrossing eyes wide open look at America's most wanted criminal and the agent who brought him down.

Every Little Step

A Chorus Line was a vivid part of my high school years. It came to Chicago around the time I was a junior and I went downtown to see it. I bought the album which I still have. A high school classmate, a year ahead of me, got hired for the touring company.

When I saw a preview for Every Little Step which the Aspen Filmfest was bringing to Aspen as part of its summer film series, I was immediately interested.

Every Little Step is a documentary which uses the casting of the current revival of A Chorus Line as a vehicle to explore the creation of the original Broadway smash. It is at times touching, heartrending, hilarious, nostalgic and always fascinating. 5 of us went to see it and all 5 came away well-pleased.

Even the technical difficulties which left Paepcke Auditorium with only one projector and Jon Busch scrambling to change reels on that sole projector with as little interruption as possible couldn't dampen our enjoyment of the film. It was actually a novel experience which gave us an opportunity to discuss the film as it was unfolding.

It'll be available in limited release but if it comes to your area and you have the slightest interest in A Chorus Line or in the Broadway audition process, I recommend you see it.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Par for the course for a second movie of a trilogy, Transformers 2 is not as good as 1.

But I didn't hate it. (High praise, huh?)

What I did really, really hate was the scene where Sam's brain is probed. It was awful and had a totally different tone than the whole rest of the movie. I felt like they had taken a scene from a horror movie and dropped it into this sci-fi, adventure movie.

I also really did not like Michael Bay's overuse of the spinning, circular camera shot. Give it a rest, dude! Is that all you've got?

The Sam/Mikaela relationship was cute and Sam's parents were a hoot.

All in all, I enjoyed it. Just go to the bathroom during the torture scene . . .

The Proposal

Recently I've been disappointed by romantic comedies. So disappointed that I found it hard to believe that I was actually watching an enjoyable romantic comedy.

Rachel and I looked at each other early on and said, "This is funny!" But I couldn't resist adding, "So far."

Well, it maintained throughout the duration.

I read that it exceeded all box office expectations in its first weekend and I can see why.

Betty White was a character, rolling her eyes and making gentle sarcastic remarks. Mary Steenburgen was genteel in her puzzlement. Sandra Bullock really does excel at the romantic comedy genre. Ryan Reynolds was a treat as a cute lovable leading man, able to pull off the put upon assistant but also able to transition to the strong masculine Alaskan.

A Prairie Home Companion

I know that I'm not a fan of the radio show.

I guess maybe I'm not a Robert Altman fan, either.

I am, however, a Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Tommy Lee Jones fan.

Which is why I thought I might enjoy the movie.

Wrong!

Steve, Rachel and I watched it together and all three of us had the same reaction. The movie was just weird. As Steve said, it took all of the least funny parts of the radio show and made a movie out of them with some additional weirdness mixed in.

Pretty much a waste of time. At least, we got it out of the library for free . . .

The Hangover

I don't like these kinds of movies.

Frat boy humor. Yuck.

And yet . . .

While it was a victim of its hype in that I didn't like it as much as I was led to believe I might, I liked it better than its genre would suggest.

It was pretty out there and yet it always managed to pull back just before it fell irretrievably over the edge.

Instead of just being a gross frat boy over the top extravaganza, it resolutely held fast with an underlying sweetness and I laughed in spite of myself.

The photos during the end credits are as funny as the whole rest of the movie.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Other than a nice opportunity to drool over the eye candy that is called Hugh Jackman, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is just ok.

I'm an X-Men fan. I have been for about 20 years. I've enjoyed the other X-Men movies.

I don't know if it's because I saw it shortly after seeing Star Trek and it suffered in comparison but this movie was so-so.

There was a rote feel to the movie, that of just going through the motions.

But, put Hugh Jackman in another X-Men movie and I'll see it too . . .

Star Trek

I would not call myself a Trekkie.

I occasionally watched the original series. I've never watched an episode of any of spin-offs. I didn't like the movies (with one exception below).

But, did I enjoy this movie! Exhilarating fun. Adventure. Heroes. And so many great nods to Star Trek lore.

I will admit that I also really enjoyed Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home when it came out in 1986. It had a sense of humor and I'm a sucker for time travel. According to Leonard Nimoy, IV was the most successful of the Star Trek movies.

This movie too reaches me as a non Trekkie. By tapping the humor element and including a healthy dose of time travel, the movie successfully capitalizes on previous popular elements.

While I'm aware that many "true" fans don't agree, I felt the alternate reality gambit was a clever way to deal with the difficulties of developing a prequel. It also provides much flexibility for any future projects.

Up

Pixar scores again.

So many resonating images. Days later, we're still referencing the dogs' collars in routine conversation.

The creative minds at Pixar have such a knack for creating these fantastical movies which sample our everyday lives.

Add to that the visual experience that is Pixar and Up is too fun.

My Life in Ruins

The first half was pretty bad. Bad enough that Rachel and I turned and said to each other virtually simultaneously, "This is really bad." We were the only ones in the movie theater.

Basically, the set up was painful. One episode after another, each more uncomfortable to watch.

Luckily, it did improve. The second half of the movie was palatable. Not good, but comparatively, what a relief.

I wouldn't recommend it.

Tokyo Sonata

Hmmm.

I liked it.

Or did I?

The winner of 11 awards from 8 different film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, the Chicago International Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize and two Best Director awards for Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

I suspect that there was a fair amount that just culturally doesn't translate. I spent a fair amount of time trying to decipher what was cultural dissonance and what was filmmaker's license.

The movie was methodically paced which some audience members didn't appreciate, judging by their comments as we were filing out.

No question that it's an art house film. Full of angst, symbolism, repetitive imagery . . .

Sugar

Highly acclaimed, nominated for the Grand Jury Prize of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and for the 2009 Independent Spirit Award.

Sugar is the story of Miguel "Sugar" Santos, a 20 year old pitching phenom from the Dominican Republic who arrives in the US to find that he's basically cannon fodder for the professional baseball farm team system. Baseball is merely the vehicle for exploring the culture shock experienced by a talented import and the reality of the pursuit of the American Dream through sports.

Sugar is the antithesis of the Disneyfication of the sports story. We travel with Sugar, experiencing his triumphs, his alienation and his self-respect salvaging choice.

No pat answers here, but plenty of thought provoking depth. Even Sugar is left wondering.