Adventures in Movieland

[dreamshark]

Saw Les Miserables It was kind of awful. I made sure to see it in a real theater to appreciate the monumental sets, the epic sweep and the thundering cast of thousands. The actors were in full stage makeup, did all their own singing, and were clearly directed to deliver over-blown theatrical style performances. Could have been great if the director hadn't inexplicably chosen to shoot the entire movie in extreme closeup. Recommended only for people who are already so in love with the music that they don't mind spending over 2-1/2  hours looking up the noses of over-emoting actors. 

Saw Tree of Life at home on Netflix.  It was either deeply moving or an exercise in extended tedium - I haven't decided which. Since it's mostly about the visuals, it may have been a mistake to watch it on the small screen. On the other hand, I don't know how I could have stayed awake through the whole thing without being able to pause and take breaks. Recommended if you love awesome cinematography and/or Brad Pitt. Not recommended if you want a coherent story line. Or any story line, really. It's more of a meditation on man and the universe. I thought about saying "humankind" instead of "man" there, but upon reflection I think "man" is correct in this case.

Saw Cloud Atlas last night at the Riverview (thanks for the tip kaustin). Loved it. I can't believe that Les Miz is up for multiple Oscars and this movie was completely ignored. And I guess I owe Tom Hanks an apology for saying that he's forgotten how to act after watching him sleepwalk through several movies. Just give him a role (or two or three or a dozen) where it's appropriate for him to chew the scenery and boy does he deliver. He wasn't my favorite actor in the movie, but I can't say he wasn't acting.You might want to have a cup or two of coffee before seeing this one - you need to stay really alert to have a chance of keeping up. It's challenging, but amazingly well paced. I barely even noticed that it was almost 3 hours long (unlike Tree of Life, which felt like 6 hours).

And that was my week in movies.

Comments

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Saw some great movies over the Hols. I recommend the new Bond, SkyFall, much more depth to Bond & M. The Life of Pi entranced me & is very much worth a big screen. I know lots have said bad things about the Hobbit but it has sweep & grandeur missing from most film today, I loved it. Last but not least Mirror, Mirror is just plain fun. Great sets, costumes, witty writing and very good acting by all.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

We saw "Life of Pi" over Thanksgiving and "The Hobbit" between Christmas and New Years. Greatly enjoyed them both. Both are movies that really must be seen on the big screen, preferably in 3D. The 3D is used particularly effectively in "Life of Pi," which has none of that "Look out, it's an arrow in your eye!" hilarity that plagues so many 3D movies.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Cloud Atlas sounds like one I'd like to see. What I've heard of it reminds me of Brin's Years of Rice and Salt, which I liked quite a lot, even just for the concept of following characters through multiple incarnations.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

It reminded me of that too (although I think it was Kim Stanley Robinson, not Brin).

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Oops. You're right of course. It was Kim Stanley Robinson. Don't know why I confused those two, other than that I like them both.