Archive for December 2008
[review]: Gone Baby Gone
Cross-posted at: MovieZeal
United States, 2007
Directed By: Ben Affleck
Written By: Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard, from a book by Dennis Lehane
Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan
Running Time: 115 minutes
Rated R for violence, drug content and pervasive language
There is presence of Catholic imagery throughout Gone Baby Gone to the point that it takes on a virtually oppressive air. This is almost certainly intentional—the central character of the story is one who, try as he might, is unable to escape from the rigid moral code of his Catholic heritage. The film is a mystery that dabbles in horror and social activism, but in the end boils down to a question of what humans adrift in a sea of sin and evil can do about it.
[review]: I Heart Huckabees
Cross-posted at: MovieZeal
United States, 2004
Directed By: David O. Russell
Written By: David O. Russell, Jeff Baena
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Mark Wahlberg
Running Time: 106 min.
Rated R for language and a sex scene
2.5 out of 5 stars
David O. Russlell’s I Heart Huckabees is a film that examines two opposing viewpoints of the universe: a) all is one, and b) all is nothing. Inexplicably, its final answer is both.
Such is the unsearchable logic of Russell’s (who previously helmed mainstream Hollywood epic Three Kings) quintessential Independent Film that forgets that in order for humankind to search for Life’s Ultimate Meaning, Life has to, y’know, have an Ultimate Meaning. The one major difference between this film and Salvador Dali’s Un chien andalou was that the latter knew it was meaningless. That, and Dali knew when to quit (andalou was only a little more than ten minutes long).
[review]: High School Musical
Cross-posted at: MovieZeal
United States, 2006
Directed By: Kenny Ortega
Written By: Peter Barsocchini
Starring: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgeons, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel
Running Time: 98 minutes
Not Rated
4.5 out of 5 stars
The Disney Channel is frequently cited as an example of how low the House of Mouse has sunk since Walt’s death, and perhaps rightfully so—but from a strictly business perspective, you can’t really argue with results. In the last decade or so, the cable network (together with the equally unjustified Radio Disney) has done for “tweens” what their animated pictures and “Disney Afternoon” of years past did for younger children: turned them into a loyal army who will nag their parents into buying them anything. Say what you will, but it’s an expertly conceived formula: establish your tween heartthrobs, convince kids they should care, then release as many films and music albums featuring them as you possibly can, all carefully designed to separate parents from their paychecks. It should come as no surprise that this is a commercially successful endeavor, but it also turns out to be artistically successful much more often than one would expect. It’s provided us with the surprisingly smart cartoon Kim Possible, the criminally underrated sitcom Phil of the Future, and, most recently, the aptly-titled High School Musical.
