movies
Quick Review: THE GHOST WRITER
Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer is an eloquent cinematic message. The message is: I’m so good at my job, I will have you on the edge of your seat for two hours even though you don’t care about the protagonist and can see the ending from a mile away.
Polanski directed the hell out of this film. The script is pathetic. Ewan McGregor plays a ghost writer who is brought into finish penning the memoirs of Adam Lang (played by Pierce Brosnan), England’s ex-Prime Minister, after the previous ghost writer dies under mysterious circumstances. Within the first twenty minutes, the phrase “I’m/You’re way in over your head,” (or some variation thereof) is uttered at least four times. Lang is being investigated for war crimes and he’s staying in the U.S. and fears returning to England where he’ll face a war crimes tribunal. Polanski not only steps in front of the camera and waves, “Hello!” during a scene where Lang and his wife (Olivia Williams) discuss his options with his lawyer, but he then takes a dig at the U.S. Explaining why Lang can’t be extradited to England, a character notes that the U.S. doesn’t acknowledge the ICC (International Criminal Court) along with Iraq, China, and other nations whose company we tend not to celebrate. It’s clear Polanski thinks his situation is ridiculous and he basically blows a big whistleberry at America even though he finished this film while under arrest in Switzerland.
SHUTTER ISLAND Review + Podcast
My Shutter Island Review (Rating: A)
And the second installment of my new podcast, Running Dialogue, with Russ Fischer and Curt Holman
Go Throw Yourself into Mount Doom
If you look at the Amazon pre-order page for the upcoming Blu-ray box set of The Lord of the Rings, you’ll see it has a 1 1/2-star rating based on 1,979 “reviews”. Why all the negativity? Because the extended editions aren’t included. This is the problem with consumers who think they’re owed something by a company because they’re not getting the product they wanted. Not that they bought, but the one they wanted. Here’s a very simple solution:
Don’t buy it.
Presidents Day
Aaron Sorkin’s tales of politics may be the stuff of fairy tales, but it helps bring out of the cynicism by reminding us what we should want in a leader. No real President will ever meet an Andrew Shepherd or a Josiah Bartlett, but they should inspire us rather than disappoint us. President Obama has not been the president we hoped he would be. He has offered no substantive change in our politics, only in our president. I shudder to think what a John McCain presidency would look like, but Obama has been a letdown in a big way. We need to remind him what we voted for. It’s not enough to just bitch about it. You have to write a letter, donate to a cause you believe in, educate yourself about the discussion rather than just echo talking points. We should always hope for Shepherds and Bartletts, but we can already make ourselves better citizens.
Reviews - 2/12/10
The Last Station (Rating: C+)
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Rating: F)
Valentine’s Day (Rating: C-)
The White Ribbon (Rating: A)
The Wolfman (Rating: B-)
EDGE OF DARKNESS Review
Edge of Darkness (Rating: C)
THE BOOK OF ELI Review
The Book of Eli (Rating: B)
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