I Met a Movie Producer Today!

This is a blog about the movies that I see in theaters mostly. This post is appropriate since David Kirkpatrick spoke to about a thousand educators today about changes in mass media and the future of the film industry. He was a surprise special keynote this afternoon at the November Learning Building Learning Communities Conference. It was very interesting to hear all the different terms for what is happening to media these days. The message I got from it is not surprising. At this point in the "Renaissance 2.0," participatory media will drive the mass media. Any one of us can be a filmmaker and the youth is driving Hollywood more than ever. This is the reason for the remakes and adaptations of books and comic books. He passed on Harry Potter as many producers did. Once it was a huge hit with kids, it was a different story and the rights went for much more than when he had looked at it originally. Interesting.

The Ugly Truth

2 out of 5

I went in expecting a horrible movie. Maybe that is why I was pleasantly surprised by some of this romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler.

There were plenty of things wrong with the script. The main issue I had was that Butler's character falls in love with Heigl's character WAY too early in the movie. Another issue was that the movie seemed to think that the more sexual innuendos and in your face humor the funnier it would be. Was the vibrating panty scene really necessary? I didn't find it funny because the set up was so obvious and the payoff wasn't as good as it should have been. However, the people in the audience were laughing hysterically, so what do I know? I didn't find it new or funny.

The things that made me laugh the most were the honest moments. Heigl, who I find rather bland, had an adorable happy dance that she did that made her character a bit more endearing than the stereotype that it was. Butler's magnetism cannot be denied and when he got to do some acting at the end he was touching. Cheryl Hines and John Michael Higgins were a riot as always. They had some fun with their characters.

I would give this movie a 2 out of 5 which is more than what most critics gave it. I was in a sold out theater and the crowd was laughing a lot and enjoyed it. Sometimes critics think too much and forget to just enjoy.

I'm back!

Haven't written in a while. Haven't seen a movie in a theater since I wrote last. I have watched load of movies at home though. I mostly want this blog to be about the movies coming out or out in theaters right now. So I am going to write about a few movies that I will be seeing in the next week or so.

The Ugly Truth (in theaters now): It got such horrible reviews that I just can't stay away! The cast is average, the story is cliche, looking forward to seeing if it really is THAT bad. My guess is that it is.

The Hurt Locker (in theaters now): On the other end of the critics ranks is this war movie that looks really good. It got a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. The trailer looked great and it is about an aspect of war that hasn't been covered yet. Definitely seeing this one!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (in theaters now): Not a big fan, but this one is getting great reviews. I'll try it.

Julie and Julia (opens August 7th): My mom wants to see it with me. Watching Meryl Streep will be worth it, but I have to admit, I don't get the love for Amy Adams. Never have. She is whiny and an average actress. The same in everything she does. Sort of like Renee Zellweger

There are a lot of movies that I want to see that are coming out in the fall like Shutter Island and in December like Sherlock Holmes. That's it for now. I will write again once I see something!

Public Enemy

2 out of 5

With great anticipation, I went to see Public Enemy today. Unfortunately, I was mostly underwhelmed by this movie. The first part of the movie was poorly paced and repetitive in nature. The last half hour redeemed the movie a bit, but there were only a couple of standout scenes, which was surprising considering the cast and the subject!

The most frustrating scene for me was the one where Bale as Melvin Pervis (the head guy working for Hoover) and Dillinger meet face to face in the jail cell. This could have been an amazing, memorable scene, but it wasn't. I have to blame it on the screenwriters. I was looking for one of those scenes where you walk out talking about it. A scene like the one in True Romance between Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken for example. Public Enemy was written and directed by Michael Mann who wrote and directed Heat. What about the scene between Deniro and Pacino in that film? That is what I wanted from this movie and it did not deliver. Mann wrote this screenplay with two other people? It didn't work.

Many reviewers are being far too generous. Yes, visually it was stunning and there were some great shootout scenes. However, they seemed strung together randomly and not enough story was there to fill in the audience. The fake gun, why not explain it!I knew how it was made because my father told me. It's a cool story...TELL IT!

Many in the audience were confused by the "woman in the red dress" instead being the "woman in the white blouse and orange skirt." This movie was based on a book, I get it, but come on. Stick with some of the myth! It's more dramatic!

The allure of casting Bale still alludes me. He is good, but VERY forgettable. Depp was fine, but did not do anything spectacular. Marion Coltillard as Billie Frechette was the only one who had something to work with scriptwise. The one memorable scene was her "torture" scene. Very dramatic and intense. It stood out among the drabness of the rest of the movie. Billy Crudup was also stellar as J. Edgar Hoover. With a brilliantly subtle makeup job and a great speech pattern, Crudup also stood out. Again, Bale being outacted (see Heath Ledger in Dark Knight)! Why do they keep casting him? Actually, he can act, so why does he keep taking these parts that don't highlight his talent? He was fantastic in The Machinist and American Psycho! What a waste!

I think I was looking for an in depth (not Deppth! HA!) character study with some action scenes, instead I got a plot driven action movie.

Public Enemy was not number one for me!