Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich
Tax the Rich
Movie Monday
Now, I totally punked out on Knitting Friday in spite of the lie I spewed the Friday before that I would have pictures. Liar! Liar! Pants on fire! But Friday morning I had a tooth pulled; a front tooth pulled. Unbelievable in this age of Save Everything but it had received a bad injury when I was a child, had had two root canals and now was causing abscesses every time I stopped my regimen of antibiotics. So on Friday, I started the long process to repair that section of my mouth. Right now, I'm sporting the tiniest little tooth on a bridge. Easy to use but I'm not eating with that in so I'll check back with you on weight loss in a month.
As you know, lately I've been thinking too much about the human species (maybe 24/7 news coverage is a bad thing) and I'm coming up empty. That is, empty of any reason for the species' existence except that evolutionarily species develop and species die off. We human just happened and then we globbed onto the fact of: Boy, ain't we special. And that's when the wackiness began. I would start the wackiness meter on zero at the time religion developed. Because at this time the species got a higher purpose and unlike the zebra who looked over the horizon at a pack of raging lions and said: Shit! Good bye world, we looked over the horizon at the shit coming at us and said: Oh, God will provide.
But this posting isn't about my angst, it's about the movie, Red.
Red is a caper movie with a twist. It's wacky, it's editorially inconsistent (just how did Urban and Willis wind up in the same room at the CIA?) but it's unbelievability hits you at such a speed that you just gallop along with it.
The cast sports your uber-tough guy, Bruce Willis but he's matched with the wit of Mary Louise Parker, the easy charm of Morgan Freeman, the always solid performance of Helen Mirrin and the virtuoso crazy man turn of John Malkovich.
For whatever reason, Hollywood suits made this a movie about CIA retirees with not a teeny-bopper to be seen. The youngsters, Urban and Parker (though in real life she's only 9 years younger than Willis) work well with the old-timers and you get to see a meshing of generations, not a clash.
The stunts are wild and crazy. In fact, one of those reality TV shows tried the stunt where Malkovich's bullet stops a rocket launcher missile (don't try this at home, kids) and they proved it wouldn't work. But while the stunts punch up this movie, it's the human relationships (Willis and Parker, Willis and Freeman, Urban and his family, and finally Willis and Urban) which allow the film to cross genres.
Good acting from all though I though Rebecca Pidgeon was wasted. She has a distinctive acting style more suitable to a Mamet production. Brian Cox, Ernest Borgnine and Richard Dreyfuss occupy smaller roles but play them seamlessly.
I know a lot of reviewers have gimmicky review meters like how many times did I look at my watch. I guess I have one of sorts too. First, there are the thematically worth-while movies like The Road, Dogville, or The Human Stain. Those are in a special category because they discuss the human condition and should be watched. They're the education part of the film craft.
Then there's all the rest, the entertainment which many times forms the background noise in my life, and, as with all noises, some you just want to shut off.
Red doesn't fit into in the shut-off category. Judging it on its knit ability score (that is, I can watch it again and again as I knit), it ranks very high. Unlike Prince of Persia which while just as wacky, is always a pass for me when it appears in my movie package.
Next week: Dogville. I think I should start practicing my angst mood again.
Happy watching.
As you know, lately I've been thinking too much about the human species (maybe 24/7 news coverage is a bad thing) and I'm coming up empty. That is, empty of any reason for the species' existence except that evolutionarily species develop and species die off. We human just happened and then we globbed onto the fact of: Boy, ain't we special. And that's when the wackiness began. I would start the wackiness meter on zero at the time religion developed. Because at this time the species got a higher purpose and unlike the zebra who looked over the horizon at a pack of raging lions and said: Shit! Good bye world, we looked over the horizon at the shit coming at us and said: Oh, God will provide.
But this posting isn't about my angst, it's about the movie, Red.
Red is a caper movie with a twist. It's wacky, it's editorially inconsistent (just how did Urban and Willis wind up in the same room at the CIA?) but it's unbelievability hits you at such a speed that you just gallop along with it.
The cast sports your uber-tough guy, Bruce Willis but he's matched with the wit of Mary Louise Parker, the easy charm of Morgan Freeman, the always solid performance of Helen Mirrin and the virtuoso crazy man turn of John Malkovich.
For whatever reason, Hollywood suits made this a movie about CIA retirees with not a teeny-bopper to be seen. The youngsters, Urban and Parker (though in real life she's only 9 years younger than Willis) work well with the old-timers and you get to see a meshing of generations, not a clash.
The stunts are wild and crazy. In fact, one of those reality TV shows tried the stunt where Malkovich's bullet stops a rocket launcher missile (don't try this at home, kids) and they proved it wouldn't work. But while the stunts punch up this movie, it's the human relationships (Willis and Parker, Willis and Freeman, Urban and his family, and finally Willis and Urban) which allow the film to cross genres.
Good acting from all though I though Rebecca Pidgeon was wasted. She has a distinctive acting style more suitable to a Mamet production. Brian Cox, Ernest Borgnine and Richard Dreyfuss occupy smaller roles but play them seamlessly.
I know a lot of reviewers have gimmicky review meters like how many times did I look at my watch. I guess I have one of sorts too. First, there are the thematically worth-while movies like The Road, Dogville, or The Human Stain. Those are in a special category because they discuss the human condition and should be watched. They're the education part of the film craft.
Then there's all the rest, the entertainment which many times forms the background noise in my life, and, as with all noises, some you just want to shut off.
Red doesn't fit into in the shut-off category. Judging it on its knit ability score (that is, I can watch it again and again as I knit), it ranks very high. Unlike Prince of Persia which while just as wacky, is always a pass for me when it appears in my movie package.
Next week: Dogville. I think I should start practicing my angst mood again.
Happy watching.
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