Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Cairo Time

Movie:  Cairo Time
Like/Don't Like:  Like

I watched this on my way home from Tunisia and it reflected my own experience in an arab country that I was bound to like it.  I don't know how I would feel if it didn't seem so familiar but we all judge movies by what we know.

Patricia Clarkson plays a magazine editor who is in Egypt to meet her husband, a UN official who is stuck fixing a problem in the Gaza Strip.  He sends his Egyptian friend to pick her up from the airport and show her around the city until he gets there.  I was a little nervous that this would turn into an adulterous tale, which I hate, but it just skims the surface.  It's really about how these two people connect in and through the city.  It's a very quiet movie, and at times a bit slow but worth watching.

Get Low

Movie:  Get Low
Like/Don't Like:  Like

I watched this on the flight from Rome to New York, which, for the record, is a very long flight, so I don't know if it was a lack of sleep of my giddiness on returning home, but this one really got to me. 

It's based on the true story of a recluse who staged his own funeral so he could be there to hear the stories people told of him.  Which is a genius idea, by the way.  Wouldn't we all love to do that?

I love Robert Duvall in this.  Really, I love him in anything, but he played this guy with so much humanity.  I loved it.  Bill Murray was a little wrong for the part.  He seemed from another time period all together.  But I have a hard time not adoring Bill Murray so we'll just drop it.  There were some really beautiful moments to this story and I was really touched by how it unfolded.  So much so that I started to cry and my seat mates, Maureen and Al, were a little concerned.  But Al ended up watching it a few hours later and loved it too.

Tangled

Movie:  Tangled
Like/Don't Like:  Cute.  And clever in some parts.

I went with the Blessed Nephews to see this so I was distracted by their cuteness through a lot of it.  But this was a pretty good flick.  I didn't know it was Mandy Moore doing the voice of Rapunzel until the credits, which was a blessing because I normally find her to be really annoying.  But if that was her doing the singing, she has lovely voice.  The story was clever and a few of the songs were pretty funny.  It had some of the old school Disney charm, which I appreciate.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I

Movie:  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
Like/Don't Like:  Knights of Columbus, I LOVED IT!!!!!

Here are a few complaints I've heard about this movie:  It's too long.  It's too truncated.  It just feels like a build up for the final one.  It's slow in the middle. 

And to all of this I say:  BALONEY.  And not just any baloney but old baloney that has been sitting in the fridge for months and has turned green.  Truth be told, I haven't actually eaten baloney in years but it was a staple of my childhood so I know baloney and all that whining about this movie is baloney.  Because have you seen it?  It's rad.

(Side note:  the only criticism I will allow is on that bit with Harry and Hermoine making out when Ron is trying to kill the horcrux.  On that they are all right to whine.  And also, give me a break.)

The whole thing just felt right.  All the technical aspects clicked, from the music to the locations to the direction and angles of the camera.  They all just worked.  And the kids have improved leaps and bounds with their acting. It was true to the book without being a copy of it and it captured the dark tone perfectly.  And that animated part in the middle was genius.  As was the casting of Rhys Ifans at Xenophilius Lovegood.  I felt like it paced itself really well.  There is a whole lot of story to get in and a lot of that is spent wandering the forest but it did a good job at keeping the action moving.  And in defense of cutting it in half - let's get real, it had to be done.  They cut it in the perfect place and give you a little resolution to tied you over until July.

July! I'm so relieved that I loved it this much.  Except that now I have to start on my paper chain until the next one.