Sunday, December 30, 2007
Lorraine is still feeling like shit. As neither Lorraine or I are very good at being sick, or come to that very good at looking after the person who is being sick, you might say that tensions are high at Residence Chez Pynchon. Lorraine cannot sleep because of the coughing. Lorraine is angry, tired and annoyed. I cannot sleep because of the coughing. Ditto. Sometimes, during the night, Lorraine shouts at herself in frustration. Once, after a coughing fit, Lorraine managed to piss herself. Probably a good reason to have a shout at yourself. I know I would if it happened to me.
Lorraine intends to go to work tomorrow. That is assuming that I do not cut her throat in the night.
Swings and roundabouts, though. I came back from shopping today to a glass of Bucks Fizz and a huge slice of some kind of cream and fruit apocalypse, with extra cream poured all over it. I also got a hug. That was nice.
Time for my last two film reviews of the year. There will be no more movies seen at the cinema this year. I am all filmed out.
"I Am Legend".
It's quite interesting how the UK reviews of "I Am Legend" have panned out. The general gist seems to be that most reviewers really liked the first two thirds, but felt that all of the good work was undone by a rushed and unbalanced final third. Broadly I think I would agree with that. The first two thirds of "I Am Legend" are absolute genius, not only because of the brilliant realisation of an abandoned and devastatingly empty New York City, but because of a truly fine performance by Will Smith as Robert Neville.
3 years after a man made disease devastated the human race, Robert Neville is the last man left alive in New York City. He is haunted by dreams of his family, the way the crisis escalated out of control and the responsibility to find a 'fix'. Neville's isolation, depression and slowly building psychosis are a real thing. When night comes, Neville hides away. There is terror and there is dread, because there are things in the dark...
"I Am Legend" is a mostly great film, with a consistently great performance by Will Smith. Head and shoulders above what is the norm for a Christmas blockbuster. It is true that the ending dips into pretty predictable, CGI heavy, action heroics, but if you like that kind of thing, you will enjoy it. I just think that the ending somewhat dissipated the paranoid atmosphere built up earlier in the film. I think that the film deserved a better ending. The ending of the book would have been good. A new world born from the old.
Who am I kidding? No Hollywood studio would have gone for that ending. Way too bleak.
"Paranoid Park".
"Paranoid Park" is about what is going on in the head of a teenage boy after he has experienced a shattering trauma. He is dislocated and remote and 'not all there', or is he just in shock? It really is up to the audience to decide for themselves, because in an experimental movie like this one, no easy answers are forthcoming.
In general I quite like Gus Van Sant's films, but be aware that you need to judge each of his films on their own merits. This is hardly the Gus Van Sant of Hollywoodian mild indie fare like "To Die For", "Psycho", "Good Will Hunting" or "Finding Forrester". Stylistically "Paranoid Park" is a close cousin to his later "Elephant". Low key, quiet, internalised, sometimes naturalistic, but often dreamy, and with a chronologically fractured timeline. None of the actors seemed to be acting at all. Brilliant casting or brilliant acting? I am unsure.
Not for everybody.
I need now to go away and think about my top 10 films of the year. I bet you can hardly wait.
Back tomorrow.
Lorraine intends to go to work tomorrow. That is assuming that I do not cut her throat in the night.
Swings and roundabouts, though. I came back from shopping today to a glass of Bucks Fizz and a huge slice of some kind of cream and fruit apocalypse, with extra cream poured all over it. I also got a hug. That was nice.
Time for my last two film reviews of the year. There will be no more movies seen at the cinema this year. I am all filmed out.
"I Am Legend".
It's quite interesting how the UK reviews of "I Am Legend" have panned out. The general gist seems to be that most reviewers really liked the first two thirds, but felt that all of the good work was undone by a rushed and unbalanced final third. Broadly I think I would agree with that. The first two thirds of "I Am Legend" are absolute genius, not only because of the brilliant realisation of an abandoned and devastatingly empty New York City, but because of a truly fine performance by Will Smith as Robert Neville.
3 years after a man made disease devastated the human race, Robert Neville is the last man left alive in New York City. He is haunted by dreams of his family, the way the crisis escalated out of control and the responsibility to find a 'fix'. Neville's isolation, depression and slowly building psychosis are a real thing. When night comes, Neville hides away. There is terror and there is dread, because there are things in the dark...
"I Am Legend" is a mostly great film, with a consistently great performance by Will Smith. Head and shoulders above what is the norm for a Christmas blockbuster. It is true that the ending dips into pretty predictable, CGI heavy, action heroics, but if you like that kind of thing, you will enjoy it. I just think that the ending somewhat dissipated the paranoid atmosphere built up earlier in the film. I think that the film deserved a better ending. The ending of the book would have been good. A new world born from the old.
Who am I kidding? No Hollywood studio would have gone for that ending. Way too bleak.
"Paranoid Park".
"Paranoid Park" is about what is going on in the head of a teenage boy after he has experienced a shattering trauma. He is dislocated and remote and 'not all there', or is he just in shock? It really is up to the audience to decide for themselves, because in an experimental movie like this one, no easy answers are forthcoming.
In general I quite like Gus Van Sant's films, but be aware that you need to judge each of his films on their own merits. This is hardly the Gus Van Sant of Hollywoodian mild indie fare like "To Die For", "Psycho", "Good Will Hunting" or "Finding Forrester". Stylistically "Paranoid Park" is a close cousin to his later "Elephant". Low key, quiet, internalised, sometimes naturalistic, but often dreamy, and with a chronologically fractured timeline. None of the actors seemed to be acting at all. Brilliant casting or brilliant acting? I am unsure.
Not for everybody.
I need now to go away and think about my top 10 films of the year. I bet you can hardly wait.
Back tomorrow.
Labels: Illness, Lorraine, Movies, Stress
# posted by Pynchon @ 4:10 pm 
