Recent Viewings

I've been passing the time by watching some films recently. Here are some of the films I've been watching:

The Kingdom: I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did considering it starred Jamie Foxx and had some melodramatic moments, but it was surprising well-written for an action film. There were some great supporting actors though with Jason Bateman, Chris Cooper, and Jennifer Garner. It highlighted several f the cultural differences between Muslims and westerners while dealing with global politics in a seemingly factual, objective manner.

We Own The Night: it had a promising start as an old school, New York cop drama. But I think some of the cops were too old to be playing their roles, especially Robert Duvall, I mean what is he 75? Joaqin Phoenix was great as the playboy black sheep running the Russian-backed disco. Eve Mendes always looks good to me. Marky Whalberg is starting to get typecast in these hard-ass up and coming cop roles. The second half of the movie moved from unlikely to implausible as he crossed over to the cops' side to avenge a hit on his brother. If you want an old school New York cop drama, I recommend American Gangster over this mediocre fare.

The Darjeeling Limited: Meh, another quirky, precious offering from Wes Anderson. There are some nice moments, but I didn't really buy these people as real characters they seem like a series of self-conscious traits that take the place of character that make the actors seem merely one or two dimensional. Great soundtrack and cinematography-forgettable plot and characters.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: There were standout performances by Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, as well as beautiful and impressive cinematography. But the pacing of the film absolutely glacial-I fell asleep several times during the two and half hour running time. Perhaps, more for the serious moviegoer, but if you want to see a well-made modern western, I'd recommend 3:10 to Yuma instead.

Comments

[Eric]

You are blogging the day after your child is born.

You, sir, are my hero.

Congratulations.

[MC]

Well, in Japan, they'll be at the hospital for 8-9 days after the birth and I'm not working right now. So plenty of time to contemplate fatherhood, films, and the other mysteries of life.