Wednesday, August 17, 2011

august MOVIE MEME, day 17: last double feature I pulled

And now for the latest double-time outing.  Or, in this case, triple-time.  A recent day spent at the movies allowed for this triple feature in the roaring metropolis of Omaha, Nebraska.

The Tree of Life (2011, dir. Terrence Malick) - What a way to start off the morning - yes, that's when I saw this trippy interpretative dance of a movie.  The triple feature experience began with Malick's latest epically picturesque outing.  Now, though it was tough to say how I truly felt about it immediately following the movie - particularly with the two mainstream flicks that followed - I've since decided it's one moving piece of cinema.  Thanks to incredible cinematography and art direction, as well as some moving performances from the cast, it was definitely something that could be categorized as an "experience."  But stepping away from the indie theater and on to the AMC megaplex, it's time for some yuks...

Horrible Bosses (2011, dir. Seth Gordon) - While the trailer boasted great potential and a fun cast, I was nervous about Horrible Bosses.  Namely, I was nervous that it would fall victim to so many other comedies of the past few years - in which the trailer boasted the best laughs to come out of the script, which didn't end up offering much else in terms of ground-breaking humor.  Now, it's far from a perfect movie, but thanks to some hooky casting (stars from my two all-time favorite shows - Ms. Aniston and Mr. Bateman - certainly didn't hurt in terms of getting me revved) and some out-of-the-box performing (Did anyone else find themselves kind of impressed by Colin Farrell's sleazy jackassing?) it excels just enough.  I wish that they would've given Aniston a bit more to do - I will have an undying love for anyone Friends-related until my last breath, so haters be damned - but that in particular identifies the movie's biggest flaw:  with three belittled employees and three bosses and their various sundry marital and job-related relations, there was too much ground to cover.  It felt like all three stories lacked some needed development.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011, dir. Michael Bay) - Now it's my understanding that most critics and bloggers revile the Transformers movies.  As the third entry in my day of movies, I certainly didn't expect it to have the depth of Tree of Life or the low-brow witticism of Horrible Bosses, but really what sort of expectations should one have when attending a summer blockbuster?  It's rare that they can achieve the grandiose appeal of The Dark Knight or Spider-Man 2, so I tend to go into movies such as these for the popcorn effect.  I don't seek out genius acting and a spellbinding screenplay.  I go in looking for some amazing effects, some humorous moments (I'll never forget how great Shia LaBeouf's comedic timing was in the underrated Disney Channel show Even Stevens.), and to flat-out have fun.  And that's what I got.  Admittedly, the new Megan Fox prototype doesn't quite pack the punch of the petite brunette, but she serves her purpose as pretty scenery well enough.  The geek in me has to appreciate the "awww, cool!" moments that movies such as these offer, despite their countless flaws.

1 comment:

TomS said...

Wow..After Tree of Life, it would be almost impossible to absorb any other film for a day or two...So, kudos to you! You certainly sampled the polar opposites of the movie spectrum.

The last DF I endured was on a plane ride home. The animated "Rio", followed by the unspeakable "Just Go With It" with Adam Sandler, and Jennifer Aniston.


"Rio" was cute, if a little frenetic, and I love the music of Sergio Mendez. "Just Go With It" had me literally open-mouthed with disbelief, it was so bad.... And how did Nicole Kidman wind up in this?