I'll get to "Punch-Drunk Love" in a second, but I first I have to take issue with one of David Edelstein's earlier columns about "Moonlight Mile." He branded it "the worst movie of the year", and while it does have several problems, it's not anywhere close to the most craptastic. I originally thought this was because as a movie critic for a highly influential online magazine (Slate) who probably lives in NYC, he has access to and only has to watch movies that are generating significant buzz. Slate is supposed to appeal to a hip audience...like the people who have time to read this tripe, right? Then I saw he had to review "I Spy" the other day. Nevertheless, I can see him, and probably CS [who still hasn't seen it -ed.] , hating "Moonlight" intensely for exactly the reasons he ticks off in his column. I don't want to go into too much detail since my review of it is supposed to be posted on The Daily Iowan any day now once my editor figures out how to budget space, but amid the quagmire there are things to like. The acting, for one thing, stands out in this movie. Sarandon, though I haven't seen Igby going down on her, is as good as she's been since "Dead Man Walking." Hoffman is as emotionally dead as a father who just lost a daughter can be. Jake Gyllenhaal has become grating with his now-tired rendition of Droopy, but he doesn't ruin the movie. No, director Brad Silberling does that on his own, with an ending so bad he should be strapped down in a chair and forced to watch every episode of every TV show he ever wrote for as punishment, preferably starting with "Judging Amy." But the subject matter is great. That's what I couldn't get over -- how he couldn't make this a great movie. Yeah, dealing with death/grief has been done in "Ordinary People" and "In The Bedroom" and many others. But everyone's reaction to it is different, and the circumstances surrounding this death are so unique I can't believe that there's not more on the screen. Hell, even Alan Ball can make you pay attention for an hour and most of his stuff doesn't really deal with mortality at all. As for "Punch-Drunk Love," I have to confess it was great. I was a doubter, and posted as much quite loudly in the funhouse forum. I think I agree with Sam's post more than Adam's, in that I think it's PTA's best film, but I don't think he's necessarily doing anything groundbreaking. The use of noise rather than soundtrack in places that matched what Barry was going through, and even the use of silence, so quiet you could hear the projector in the back of the theater, was the tops. For me, there wasn't anything awkward about the narrative structure -- PTA had already immersed us so fully in Barry's world by the time things start getting wacky that we understand what's going on if we get Barry's thought process. Still, it's just a damn good film, and yes Sandler and Watson are really good. Maybe not Oscar-worthy but I don't even know what that means, so perhaps. They've certainly gone to lesser performances. I don't believe the car crash at the beginning adds a whole lot to the film, except to let you know you're going on an absurdist ride. Anything can pop into your life including love. Wow, some movie club we've got going here -- everyone agrees about all the movies. Maybe "8 Mile" will get us arguing. One final note, former FBI serial killer profiler Robert Ressler, the real life basis for Clarice Starling in "Silence of the Lambs" and technical advisor to "Copycat" and the TV show "Profiler," gave a lecture in Iowa City last night. Pretty interesting stuff, though it kind of takes the mystery out it (in the movies) when you find out what these guys do. He comes off as you would expect someone who pretty much started the criminal forensic behavior wing at the FBI back in the 70s to be: cocksure, rigid and very technical. He didn't look as hot as Jodie Foster, so that was a letdown for this particular patron. But he has talked with or helped track down nearly every serial killer or mass murderer in the last 40 years. He's not retired, though. Still raking in tons of dough with a private practice and the lecture circuit. What's with Nathan Lane's brother getting a Slate column? They're just handing them out these days.
Thursday, November 07, 2002
A DRUNKEN STROLL DOWN THE MOONLIGHT MILE - As promised, some thoughts from CS contributor Eric Baker:
I'll get to "Punch-Drunk Love" in a second, but I first I have to take issue with one of David Edelstein's earlier columns about "Moonlight Mile." He branded it "the worst movie of the year", and while it does have several problems, it's not anywhere close to the most craptastic. I originally thought this was because as a movie critic for a highly influential online magazine (Slate) who probably lives in NYC, he has access to and only has to watch movies that are generating significant buzz. Slate is supposed to appeal to a hip audience...like the people who have time to read this tripe, right? Then I saw he had to review "I Spy" the other day. Nevertheless, I can see him, and probably CS [who still hasn't seen it -ed.] , hating "Moonlight" intensely for exactly the reasons he ticks off in his column. I don't want to go into too much detail since my review of it is supposed to be posted on The Daily Iowan any day now once my editor figures out how to budget space, but amid the quagmire there are things to like. The acting, for one thing, stands out in this movie. Sarandon, though I haven't seen Igby going down on her, is as good as she's been since "Dead Man Walking." Hoffman is as emotionally dead as a father who just lost a daughter can be. Jake Gyllenhaal has become grating with his now-tired rendition of Droopy, but he doesn't ruin the movie. No, director Brad Silberling does that on his own, with an ending so bad he should be strapped down in a chair and forced to watch every episode of every TV show he ever wrote for as punishment, preferably starting with "Judging Amy." But the subject matter is great. That's what I couldn't get over -- how he couldn't make this a great movie. Yeah, dealing with death/grief has been done in "Ordinary People" and "In The Bedroom" and many others. But everyone's reaction to it is different, and the circumstances surrounding this death are so unique I can't believe that there's not more on the screen. Hell, even Alan Ball can make you pay attention for an hour and most of his stuff doesn't really deal with mortality at all. As for "Punch-Drunk Love," I have to confess it was great. I was a doubter, and posted as much quite loudly in the funhouse forum. I think I agree with Sam's post more than Adam's, in that I think it's PTA's best film, but I don't think he's necessarily doing anything groundbreaking. The use of noise rather than soundtrack in places that matched what Barry was going through, and even the use of silence, so quiet you could hear the projector in the back of the theater, was the tops. For me, there wasn't anything awkward about the narrative structure -- PTA had already immersed us so fully in Barry's world by the time things start getting wacky that we understand what's going on if we get Barry's thought process. Still, it's just a damn good film, and yes Sandler and Watson are really good. Maybe not Oscar-worthy but I don't even know what that means, so perhaps. They've certainly gone to lesser performances. I don't believe the car crash at the beginning adds a whole lot to the film, except to let you know you're going on an absurdist ride. Anything can pop into your life including love. Wow, some movie club we've got going here -- everyone agrees about all the movies. Maybe "8 Mile" will get us arguing. One final note, former FBI serial killer profiler Robert Ressler, the real life basis for Clarice Starling in "Silence of the Lambs" and technical advisor to "Copycat" and the TV show "Profiler," gave a lecture in Iowa City last night. Pretty interesting stuff, though it kind of takes the mystery out it (in the movies) when you find out what these guys do. He comes off as you would expect someone who pretty much started the criminal forensic behavior wing at the FBI back in the 70s to be: cocksure, rigid and very technical. He didn't look as hot as Jodie Foster, so that was a letdown for this particular patron. But he has talked with or helped track down nearly every serial killer or mass murderer in the last 40 years. He's not retired, though. Still raking in tons of dough with a private practice and the lecture circuit. What's with Nathan Lane's brother getting a Slate column? They're just handing them out these days.
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I'll get to "Punch-Drunk Love" in a second, but I first I have to take issue with one of David Edelstein's earlier columns about "Moonlight Mile." He branded it "the worst movie of the year", and while it does have several problems, it's not anywhere close to the most craptastic. I originally thought this was because as a movie critic for a highly influential online magazine (Slate) who probably lives in NYC, he has access to and only has to watch movies that are generating significant buzz. Slate is supposed to appeal to a hip audience...like the people who have time to read this tripe, right? Then I saw he had to review "I Spy" the other day. Nevertheless, I can see him, and probably CS [who still hasn't seen it -ed.] , hating "Moonlight" intensely for exactly the reasons he ticks off in his column. I don't want to go into too much detail since my review of it is supposed to be posted on The Daily Iowan any day now once my editor figures out how to budget space, but amid the quagmire there are things to like. The acting, for one thing, stands out in this movie. Sarandon, though I haven't seen Igby going down on her, is as good as she's been since "Dead Man Walking." Hoffman is as emotionally dead as a father who just lost a daughter can be. Jake Gyllenhaal has become grating with his now-tired rendition of Droopy, but he doesn't ruin the movie. No, director Brad Silberling does that on his own, with an ending so bad he should be strapped down in a chair and forced to watch every episode of every TV show he ever wrote for as punishment, preferably starting with "Judging Amy." But the subject matter is great. That's what I couldn't get over -- how he couldn't make this a great movie. Yeah, dealing with death/grief has been done in "Ordinary People" and "In The Bedroom" and many others. But everyone's reaction to it is different, and the circumstances surrounding this death are so unique I can't believe that there's not more on the screen. Hell, even Alan Ball can make you pay attention for an hour and most of his stuff doesn't really deal with mortality at all. As for "Punch-Drunk Love," I have to confess it was great. I was a doubter, and posted as much quite loudly in the funhouse forum. I think I agree with Sam's post more than Adam's, in that I think it's PTA's best film, but I don't think he's necessarily doing anything groundbreaking. The use of noise rather than soundtrack in places that matched what Barry was going through, and even the use of silence, so quiet you could hear the projector in the back of the theater, was the tops. For me, there wasn't anything awkward about the narrative structure -- PTA had already immersed us so fully in Barry's world by the time things start getting wacky that we understand what's going on if we get Barry's thought process. Still, it's just a damn good film, and yes Sandler and Watson are really good. Maybe not Oscar-worthy but I don't even know what that means, so perhaps. They've certainly gone to lesser performances. I don't believe the car crash at the beginning adds a whole lot to the film, except to let you know you're going on an absurdist ride. Anything can pop into your life including love. Wow, some movie club we've got going here -- everyone agrees about all the movies. Maybe "8 Mile" will get us arguing. One final note, former FBI serial killer profiler Robert Ressler, the real life basis for Clarice Starling in "Silence of the Lambs" and technical advisor to "Copycat" and the TV show "Profiler," gave a lecture in Iowa City last night. Pretty interesting stuff, though it kind of takes the mystery out it (in the movies) when you find out what these guys do. He comes off as you would expect someone who pretty much started the criminal forensic behavior wing at the FBI back in the 70s to be: cocksure, rigid and very technical. He didn't look as hot as Jodie Foster, so that was a letdown for this particular patron. But he has talked with or helped track down nearly every serial killer or mass murderer in the last 40 years. He's not retired, though. Still raking in tons of dough with a private practice and the lecture circuit. What's with Nathan Lane's brother getting a Slate column? They're just handing them out these days.
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