"Let the Oscar Race Begin!"

A friend of mine says the above phrase whenever movie previews look particularly dismal. It never fails to make me, and the people within earshot, giggle. Because you gotta wonder sometimes, really, what were they thinking?

Movies like the film version of Miami Vice.

I have been fortunate however to see a bunch of quality fare in the past few weeks. Nothing that altogether changed my world (those tend to be few and far between) but a handful that I can say with confidence are "really worth seeing".

King Kong (did I already talk about this one?)
It's worth seeing on the big screen for the effects, for the dinosaurs, for the big metrosexual ape (I mean, talk about a sensitive guy) and for Adrian Brody. The screenplay is clunky (what was all the stuff with the orphan boy on the ship and his black sailor friend? Huh??!), Peter Jackson should have gotten over himself and cut at least forty minutes from the thing, but it is still fun and engaging and for the most part, delights the senses. And I do adore Adrian Brody. He now makes my short list of crush-worthy actors. Even after the shlock he had to do in The Village (speaking of egomaniacal directors).

The Squid and the Whale
I was really excited about this movie. It was marketed as one of these depressing, angsty, so human it hurts films that I seem to eat up like buttery movie popcorn.

I liked it a lot. I thought the screenplay was great, it was extremely well cast and the performances were spot on. Jeff Daniels almost cancels out some of the shitty movies he's done in the past and validates his impressive theater background. The kids are phenomenal, and it made me think that the two boys from this should get together with the kids from You and Me and Everyone We Know and make their own movie, sans adults. It didn't affect me emotionally as much as I expected it to. Some of the breakup stuff hit home, but the divorce stuff, not so much, probably because I never have gone through that. I loved the hints of the 1980's throughout, and the nod to Kyrie made me laugh harder than I have at a movie in a long time.

Munich
There is such a maelstrom of controversy surrounding this movie, that I almost hesitate to weigh in myself. I was engaged, throughout, that I can say. I thought the acting was pretty great, the accent work is impressive, and the schmaltz was kept to a minimum, for a Spielberg film. Then I started reading what other people were saying about it, from the right, and from the left, and from somewhere in between. (Mr. V, let me know if you don't want the link to the archive provided, I'll take it off) and it made me more confused about the implications of the movie, though not about my enjoyment of the movie itself. I enjoyed the gritty 70s look to it, I thought the direction was great (apparently Kushner helped with the one on one actor work, and I think it shows) and if I approach it as a MOVIE, as FICTION, I was pretty happy with it.

See it, and let me know what you all think.

That's it right now. I also saw Sin City last night on Netflix, and I dare say it is easily the most misogynistic film I have seen in the past decade. I found it extremely distasteful that:
A. Not a single woman in the film was ever fully clothed, ever.
B. Every woman in the film needed rescuing, and those that were "self sufficiently keeping up their den of prostitution in 'Old Town' eventually, still, needed a man to rescue them.
C. What the women were fighting so hard to preserve was their right to be prostitutes. To screw for money. Get a better cause girls. But then, all of the women in the film were prostitutes or strippers and the one "Parole Officer" was a lesbian who still didn't wear clothes and also, yes, needed rescuing.
D. Jessica Alba. She's hot but she's just kind of bad. She's not a good actress. Neither is Rosario Dawson. Sorry, but it had to be said.

That said, the movie had some cool effects and often looked great.

I am sure I just don't get the graphic novel genre and that's why I didn't appreciate this movie. But frankly, I don't really care.