a weekend of movies

Gosh I have so much I could say, but I am kinda tired and don’t feel like going through the exercise of writing it all up. Here is a quickie of the films we’ve seen lately:

Science of Sleep - eh… pretty cool to look at but not much content (when a film ends and you have to ask how the character’s story arc-ed, this is usually a clue that it wasn’t that good). m and I are huge fans of structure. And a plot. And a story arc. Too bad, I was really looking forward to it especially since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my all-time faves.

Lost In Translation - so-so (again). A belated screening since I was not all that interested when it was first released. So much buzz for Coppola Jr., so much hype from my friends at Giant Robot (they’re not actually my friends lest you think that I am so hip). Lots of interesting visual work, good cast, good acting, blah story. She should try out music videos which I think her style would better complement. Her first effort The Virgin Suicides suffered from equal lack of story structure, but I suspect that the book she adapted it from fed into the difficulty. Seems like an odd and difficult story to tell. And what is the story exactly? A bunch of teenaged boys horny over a bunch of repressed teenaged sisters?? Who cares? I found myself strangely unable to sympathize with the characters in either movie which I see as a bad sign. Especially in the Virgin Suicides, because it indeed did seem as though those girls led a cruelly repressed life. But at the end of the movie, I was left feeling cold and detached. Perhaps that was Coppola’s intent? Somehow, I didn’t think it was.

We also watched In Her Shoes (well, m watched it and I kind of wandered in and out of the room and for the second half sat and knit while the movie was playing, but I say that still counts) which neither of us thought was particularly grand, though other noted reviewers disagreed. Hm. Oh well, like what you want to like, right? I could care less what the reviewers think. Too bad since it did feature a cast of actors I respect including Toni Collete, Cameron Diaz and Shirley MacLaine

Tonight is movie night and we are going to see a pre-screening of A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints. We saw a trailer for it yesterday when at the movies and it looks intriguing and gritty. As an added bonus, the film is being screened at The Grove (boring website) which is an L.A. institution that I have not experienced. (I am not a good Angeleno. Pity since I have developed more of an interest in my wonderfully weird city especially since we are about to move.)

I’ll share my thoughts on that film later this week.