Gone Baby Gone**
Critics have been gaga over this movie. A few days ago Rotten Tomatoes showed 91% of critics on the positive side of the fence. What were they smoking? Are they just being kind to Ben Affleck, throwing him a bone for all their bad reviews of his acting? It's a good thing his wife can bring home the bacon because Ben can't direct or write that well. And the latter is shocking because Good Will Hunting was a fine piece of work. But perhaps Mr. Damon had more to do with that excellent script than Ben did. Matt was thanked in the this movie's credits. I wish he had given the script more than a once over.
What's the problem? A preposterous story, so convoluted it was laughable. Ludicrous twists and turns. Morgan Freeman did his usual best in a thankless role. My fellow Aquinite, Amy Madigan, was awesome as a bitter, barren, angry Irish woman (a deadly combination). She let every wrinkle show. I can't believe she's just two years younger than me. Do I look that old? I hope that was just makeup. Bottom line: the writing was poor, the editing sucked, and the direction was pitiful. Casey Affleck did a decent job in the lead, but there was something off about his character. He didn't quite fit in with the South Boston crowd.
Across the Universe****
I've been eager to see this movie ever since it came out and I finally convinced my friend Linda to go see it. Reviews were mediocre, but some critics, like Ebert, raved about it. I'm raving about it too. Finally, the sixth movie in 10 days is a good one. 33 Beatles songs weave in and out of the story set in '67-'68 I'd say. Caveat: Yes, I probably loved it because those were my college years, but it really was beautifully made. Some of the production numbers were mind blowing, especially the one in the Army Induction Office. Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood did all their own singing and their voices were excellent. Joe Cocker, Bono, Eddie Izzard, and Salma Hayak all made cameo singing appearances. Cocker was especially fun to watch singing "Come Together."
I was very impressed with the attention to detail in recreating the 60s: the clothing, yes, but all sorts of little touches like the antique washers and dryers in the landromat. I thought the shift from sexual innocence to sexual revolution was also well portrayed. At the beginning, in both the U.S. and England, the couples had very chaste relationships; this all changed once everyone got to New York and the counterculture scene there. The office of the Columbia campus revolutionaries looked like every such office I was ever in: lots of ego-driven, passionate guys talking to each other while all the girls stuffed envelopes.
The movie was directed by Julie Taymor who directed The Lion King on Broadway. Her creativity is in evidence everywhere. The songs fit the plot and the plot drips with visual and aural nods to the songs. One surprise: the lead lady's name is Lucy, so we expect to hear "Lucy in the Sky" somewhere, but we don't hear it until the credits. And, they didn't sing my favorite Beatles song, "In My Life," but I didn't mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment