Cinematic Blues – 6/1/2010

This week, I take a look at three films that all try to make us take a look at ourselves in one way or another. In one case, I looked at myself many times and wondered why I was watching. (Answer: Because I said I would.) In another, I wondered if I’d have been more successful in life if I had Sandra Bullock behind me. (Answer: She’s single again, so I could try and find out.) In the last, I spent time looking for the pieces of my broken heart after the movie was over.

Pandora, Pass Protection, and Parental Pain next…

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

AVATAR (2009)
Written and Directed by James Cameron
Twentieth Century Fox

“Neytiri calls me skxawng. It means ‘moron.’”

There isn’t much more to be said about Avatar that hasn’t already been said. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t hate it. It deserved all of the technical awards it won, didn’t deserve all of the directorial and writing awards it was nominated for, and was pretty flat overall.

I can see why it was such a universal hit, because the movie can be applied to any conflict or situation in the entire history of ever and you can draw all the symbolism you want, and then you can discuss and fight about who’s got it right.

It stole some of the best parts from a dozen other better films (Dances With Wolves, Return of the Jedi, Braveheart, Star Trek III, Iron Man, and pick any western you want). It was also very Disney-like, right down to the saccharine ballad that ran over the closing credits. I don’t know when James Cameron became such a hack, but I can probably trace it back to Titanic.

Some of my notes from Twitter while I watched:

• “This is the longest video game cinematic…ever. I keep looking for the HUD loading meter.”
• “So…Pandora is, essentially, Mogo?”
• “The nipple-disguising physics of the Na’vi female clothing is impressive.”
• “Yay! ‘Dances With Smurfs’ is over!”
• “I was gonna go with ‘The Good, The Bad, and The ALF-y.’”

I also considered, “Screwed, Blued, and Tattooed.”

The Blu-Ray transfer was beautiful, and the THX surround sound was outstanding. The film looked and sounded perfect. However, in the end, Avatar is all style and no substance.

Elwood Says: 2½ post-Avataring cigarettes out of 5.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

THE BLIND SIDE (2009)
Screenplay by John Lee Hancock
Based on the Novel by Michael Lewis
Directed by John Lee Hancock
Warner Brothers

“What’s going on here?”
“Blended Spice just scored.”

This movie was everything I expected it to be. It was preachy, treacly, and more than a little self-serving. I don’t doubt that the events portrayed in this film actually happened, because they did. I’m sure that the movie was written to streamline, and to add drama (or cover some up). Yet, the film works on you because it hits all of the right emotional buttons. There are conflicts, and laughs, and tears. At the end of the picture, the House of Blues Home Theater was a little dusty.

Still, a lot of the characters in this film are extremely 2-dimensional. Leigh Anne Tuohy’s friends in her coffee group as well as the NCAA investigator all speak in place of the audience – wondering what Leigh Anne’s motivation is in taking in Michael Oher (played quietly by Quinton Aaron), asking if this is a Booster ploy, or “white guilt.” Yet these concerns and questions go away after simple and declarative statements by Leigh Anne or Michael, and that may make for an easy fix in the movie, but I do not believe it would be that easy to convince others in real life.

Speaking of real life, the film opens up with a treatise on the Left Tackle, and a focus on Lawrence Taylor. I wonder if they regret that now…

This movie would have been Oscar Bait for anyone in the Leigh Anne role, so I’m not going to say that Sandra Bullock needs to give the Oscar back, but I don’t think that her performance was worthy, either. Even Leigh Anne is very one-note, a strong stubborn (privileged) woman who is always right, and don’t you forget it. This movie is much more about her than it is about Michael, and I suspect – but can only speculate – that in reality this is true as well.

Elwood Says: 3½ Forcefully Relocated Airbags out of 5.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

THE MESSENGER (2009)
Written by Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
Directed by Oren Moverman
Oscilloscope Pictures

“We call each casualty by name. We Honor Them.”

Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) is not in a good place. Home from combat in Afghanistan and healing his combat wounds, 3 months left in his enlistment, and his girlfriend has left him for someone else. Will is angry and lost, and has been assigned to work with Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) on a Casualty Notification Team. The lines blur a little when Will becomes involved emotionally with a widow (played by Samantha Morton).

This movie will break your heart several times. It will grab you, and it will shake you. It is impossible to imagine being on either side of the conversations that take place every day between CNT’s and mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, or children of fallen soldiers. Every time Stone and Montgomery went out, my heart ached. Steve Buscemi has a small role as a father of a soldier, and his scene alone will just wreck you.

Stone and Montgomery have their own conflicts, but over the course of the film come to know and respect one another. Woody Harrelson got a lot of attention (including a Best Actor nomination) for his role in this movie, but aside from one nomination (Breakthrough Artist, Gotham Awards) Ben Foster goes unrecognized. This is a shame, because this is simply the best work he’s ever done.

Morton’s monologue where she explains about her late husband to Foster is an understated but powerful moment, and Moverman’s direction through the entire film makes you feel everything. His choices of lighting in the film are interesting, especially when the team is making notifications and it looks like a documentary (with a lone camera lighting from behind). More and more these days, films are being directed by the writers, and it’s paying off. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Moverman did it right.

Finally, it seemed appropriate (albeit unintentional) that I watched this film on Memorial Day.

Elwood Says: 5 Thanks of a Grateful Nation out of 5.

Similar Posts:

• Cinematic Blues – 6/29/2010
• Cinematic Blues – August 31, 2010
• Cinematic Blues – 4/12/2010
• Cinematic Blues – August 3, 2010
• Cinematic Blues – June 13, 2011
• Cinematic Blues – 5/17/2010
• Cinematic Blues – July 6, 2010

Popularity: 1% [?]