Tomorrow is the first day of July and I have yet to be blown away by television and a book. What is wrong? I have season one of Bones coming and I'm enjoying a Peter Straub novel from the 1980s. Maybe my luck is about to change. At least the movies are still enjoyable.
Film: The Happening
It's going to be tough to discuss M. Night's latest without giving anything away. To keep the spoiler alerts at zero, I will not discuss the plot at all. Let's begin with the acting. There is no doubt that M. Night can do brilliant stuff with his actors. I mean, did anyone consider that Bruce Willis was a dramatic actor before The Sixth Sense???? The Happening is no different. Mark Wahlburg is very good in this film. He doesn't seem to be acting at all. While watching the film, I could connect with his reactions to the events because they would have been mine to some extent. I love that real-life feel M. Night has. Also, no one does surprise shots like this man. I don't mean jump-out-of-your-seat surprise (there are some of those, too); they can be surprising in their beauty. There are several such scenes - two of which occur in Princeton - throughout the film. No one does a door shot like this man. His frame-within-a-frame shots are beautiful. There are two scenes from this film that have stuck with me, but I won't tell you what they are. I'll simply say one occurs in NYC and one in Princeton. Those who have seen the film will be able to know exactly what I mean. As Matt and I have discussed, though, M. Night needs to learn to censor himself. There are "well duh" moments throughout the script; there are also some very unnecessary lines. But overall this is another beautiful film from M. Night. I love the man and all his films. I'm sure that statement will drum up some indignation from the lurkers out there, but isn't that the whole point of a blog?
Television: The Justice League
I totally got sucked into a Justice League marathon on Boomerang Saturday. And I don't mean the old Justice League of my youth. (Not that I didn't absolutely LOVE my JL lunchbox in grade school!) We're talking the revamped series of the new millennium. I have long enjoyed the artistic style of producer Bruce Timm, who incidently has a long history of animation. It's dark and edgy, perfect for an adult audience. I hadn't watched too many JL eps, though. I really enjoyed getting to know them. The voices are fun; although I didn't recognize the main voices, a quick trip to IMDB confirmed that many of the secondary characters have been voiced by very famous folks like Hector Elizondo, Virginia Madsen, and Mark Hamill. The comedy is quite adult with many sexual references throughout the several episodes I caught. Not only that, the show is very self-referential and the best moments are when it's mocking it's very superhero culture. This is not the oh-so-lame (again, I'll admit that I thought it was the best cartoon ever when I was younger) JL with Aquaman and the Wonderbrats. If you're flipping one day and come across an epsiode, stop for a moment and take in a little superhero amusement.
There is no book recommendation this week. Sorry!
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7 comments:
The Happening was enjoyable to watch, to be sure. But it was quite different from all his others (actually, I haven't seen Lady in the Water yet) in that it doesn't all come together in the end with a totally perfect explanation. I always look forward to the well-weaved conclusion. But there isn't one here.
We're just left to accept what little explanantion was guessed at throughout. It's fine I guess, because it's really more of a warning type of movie than any of his others. Sort of like The Day the Earth Stood Still, or something:) I'm trying to be vague.
I liked Mark Wahlberg very much also.
Well, I have a book to suggest--actually, a series of books. This Day: Diaries from American Women, edited by Joni B. Cole, Rebecca Joffrey, and B.K. Rakhra. This is the first and there are 3 so far. I read #3 first and then requested #1. On the same day, many women from all walks of life throughout America kept a day diary. Fascinating stuff for the voyeur in all of us! Parenting, relationships, money, food, bosses, etc. The woman who played Darla on BtVS and Angel was one of the women. Just thought I'd jump in since Heather was slacking this week!
Well. Its about time I chimmed in, but I really feel as though I am just transcribing the conversation I had with Heather a few weeks ago.
I think the interesting thing about M. Night is that he is an enigma. He is an indie director who works exclusively within the Hollywood blockbuster machine. He refuses to leave Philadelphia but his movies seem to have an international perspective. At times is use of color, plot devices, and dialog is super astute and careful and other times he can be as ham-fisted as a schlockmeister like Michael Bay. But I think the biggest contradiction is that he makes fantasy movies for people who hate fantasy movies...people like me. His characters do not conform to the adolescent world-view one might find in a Speilberg. They are not dashing and always perfect. M. Night knows that sometimes, or more accurately oftentimes, in times of stress or unfamiliarity people do and say stupid things. This is not what people expect from apocalyptic summer thrillers. And the fact that he refuses to alter his films to fit the expectations of others is what makes him interesting. Often times that is for better and sometimes it is for worse. There are points in The Happening where I think he just needed to stop by the writing center to streamline his script and strengthen his plot devices.
Anymore I am starting to think that if his films were perfect they would not be as interesting. There is that story about when Elvis signed with RCA and started recording the music sounded all wrong, the RCA engineers finaly figured out the reason was that the equipment at the Sun studios was broken and old, and RCA's Nashville studio was too new and technologically advanced to sound anygood.
I hope The Happening, and the critical firestorm it created finally kills the M. Night is "the next Speilberg" label and allows him to enter that pantheon of directors (Tarantino, John Waters, David Lynch, etc.) make movies with a particular aesthetic for an audience that enjoys the films for their uniqueness rather than wishing they were similar to things they saw before.
PS. I hate to spread bad news but I just learned that Natasha Shneider, former member of Eleven and Queens of the Stone Age, passed away yesterday. Her passing reminds me that there was once a brief moment in popular music, and especially hard rock, where musicianship trumped sex appeal. Not that she was in anyway unattractive, but her talents as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter were simply above and beyond many of her more fameous contemporaries. The next time you are near a used CD bin I highly recomend picking up a copy of Eleven's self-titled 1993 album.
Haven't seen the Happening yet ("Kit Kitteredge, American Girl" is more my style these days!) but I have ALWAYS liked Mark Whalberg as an actor better than Markie Mark the cracker rapper (rememeber the Funky Bunch anyone???). He was great in the Departed and who can forget Boogie Nights???
P.S. Did you get to see my neice this weekend?? give her some hugs & kisses from the B'ham clan.
Sorry about the slacking, folks. I've been working on the kitchen since Tuesday. I am happy to say that after several days of fixing holes, mudding post-wallpaper problem spots, sanding, priming, and painting, I am done. I'll take up the tape tomorrow and put everything back.
On the sad side, Porthos's is feeling kind of icky. I don't know if he accidentally ate some of the mud or is just stressed out from the chaos in the house. We'll be heading to the vet's tomorrow morning. I'm so sad for the little guy. :-(
Anyway, you all carried on brilliantly without me.
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