So.
ANNOYING REVIEWS!
She's The Man - You know, I just was talking last week about my irrational but unending love for What I Like About You, the Amanda Bynes Jennie Garth sitcom that has been on, against all rational odds, for like 6 seasons. With that written, the gods looked down upon me and laughed; the series finale of the show was on that very night.
But whatever, I'm trying to get to a point here that does not involve the gods tormenting me. I love Amanda Bynes completely. She seems like the most rational and down-to-earth of all the Lohans/Duffs/Olsens and is the only one who doesn't look like you could get cut on her collarbone. She has some really damn good comedic timing, and has mastered the art of the comic pratfall better than the Lohan could ever hope for.
So I had to go see the She's the Man. And you know what? It was actually pretty funny, even excepting my deep and abiding love. Okay no, she never once looks like a boy, sounds like a boy, or acts like a boy ever, in the entire hour and fourty-five minutes, but that's really beside the point of the movie (even though, purportedly, that's the entire point of the movie). She's got the timing and presence to carry the movie, the supporting cast is pretty impressive considering the B-side nature of the movie (Thank God for David Cross. (Aside: have you read this really old thing? He completes me.)).
There are a couple of gags that obviously looked better on paper than they came out on the screen (nerd girl fell very flat and she was used a lot) but the sum total was nice and happy and consistently funny, which is usually all I ask. Sadly, the main thing that I wonder the most about after the movie? How on earth did they find a boy who looked so much like Amanda Bynes as to be able to convincingly play her twin? Was there a casting call for "Teenage boy who looks like Amanda Bynes?" I cannot fathom the process. Maybe I'll finally discover the truth on the Making Of documentary once it comes out on DVD. Until then, I wait in anticipation.
Capote - Talk about two diametrically opposite movies. I put this one off until video, because I had no one to go see it with. Because really, who wants to see high pitched voice Philip Seymour Hoffman in any sort of movie?
Well, me, apparently. This movie was intensely good. Intensely. I read In Cold Blood ages ago while I was still in high school, and didn't really appreciate it all that much. I think I sort of glossed over the whole "non-fiction novel" part, which the whole thing, really. I started reading it again last week, and it has this whole other light now, that makes it amazing. The movie is compelling to me, not just because of the story, but because of its (however sensationalized) relation to real life. As crazy as the entire plot sounds, it is mostly very accurate.
(To shorthand it: Truman Capote reads an article about the murder of a family in Kansas. He goes out there with the intention of writing an article about it for the New Yorker. Instead, he ends up befriending (read: sort of falling in love) with the captured killers, gets the complete inside story and writes up a non-ficiton novel account of the entire thing. He also helps get the killers a decent attorney, only to turn around and remove his support in the end to get the ending that his story needs.)
So, the story - amazing. The acting - so amazing (both nominations entirely deserved). The pacing, shot selection, editing - top notch. Seriously one of the best movies I've seen in forever. At first you think there's no way you can handle the voice and mannerisms. By 7 minutes into the movie, I completely forgot about all of it. It really is a perfect performance. I mean damn.
As with all my "really good movie" reviews, I have no words to actually express anything. If you haven't seen this, you should. Now.
The Squid and the Whale - I'm taking the low road on this movie because my hands are tired:
- The shortest movie that I think I've ever seen. Barely over an hour.
- Also wickedly good. Laura Linney is, as always, the consummate actress. Jeff Daniels made his character so perfectly unlikable I have to give him major props. And that kid who I used to really like from the execrable Get Real TV show acquits himself amazingly in a very difficult role.
- The dark-ish nature of the comedy is handled very well. Sort of like The Royal Tennebaums, only much more focused, because there are so few principle actors involved.
- Final estimation: Trifling, but flawlessly executed. Bravo.
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Well, that was painful, wasn't it? Tune in next time, wherein I discuss the worst interview I have ever had in my entire life. Which, as you probably know, is saying a whole damn lot.
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