Resurrecting the Movies thread...

[delalluvia]

Saw the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

8/10

My review is over in the Imaginarium thread.

[serious crayons]

I saw Crazy Heart last weekend, BTW, and aside from one minor plot point that I HATED

OK, nobody asked, so I'll just tell you. Early in the movie, Jeff Bridge's character is established as a loser -- a raging alcoholic, playing in bowling alleys and two-bit clubs, having sex with women over 40 or even (shudder) his own age.

Bridges' character, Bad Blake, is 60-ish, washed up and puking into garbage cans -- but still has that certain something that causes a 32-year-old woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to pretty much immediately fall in love with him. And, to its credit, I would say the movie makes that prospect semi-credible. But it also implies that women of Bad Blake's own age, or even much younger -- women who by all appearances are nice and well-groomed and aren't late-stage alcoholics -- are not only inadequate to be Bad Blake's redemption-supplying girlfriends, but are by their very presence proof of how much his life has slid downhill.

In an early couple of scenes, he winds up in a one-night stand with a woman in the audience played by actress Beth Grant, who is about a month and a half older than Jeff Bridges:




Then he meets Maggie Gyllenhaal, who thankfully is 28 years younger and therefore suggests the possibility of redemption. First, though, he has to rebuff an overly strong come-on from this woman, played by Debrianna Mansini (whose age is not listed on IMDb). Having met Maggie, Bad Blake obviously would not be interested in anyone this ridiculously old:







Other than that, the movie was good. Really. But that was a pretty big problem.

[oilgun]

OK, nobody asked, so I guess I've got to tell you. Early in the movie, Jeff Bridge's character is established as a loser -- a raging alcoholic, playing in bowling alleys and two-bit clubs, having sex with women over 40 or even (shudder) his own age.

Bridges' character, Bad Blake, is 60-ish, washed up and puking into garbage cans -- but still has that certain something that causes a 32-year-old woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to pretty much immediately fall in love with him. And, to its credit, I would say the movie makes that prospect semi-credible. But it also turns around and implies that women of Bad Blake's own age, or even much younger, women who by all appearances are nice and well-groomed and aren't late-stage alcoholics, that these women are not only not adequate to be Bad Blake's redemption-supplying girlfriends, but are by their very presence proof of how much the protagonist's life has slid downhill.

In an early couple of scenes, he winds up in a one-night stand with a woman in the audience played by actress Beth Grant, who is about a month and a half older than Jeff Bridges:




Then he meets Maggie Gyllenhaal, who thankfully is 28 years younger and suggests the possibility of redemption. First, though, he has to rebuff an overly strong come-on from this woman, played by Debrianna Mansini (whose age is not listed on IMDb). By now, Bad Blake has already met Maggie and would therefore would obviously not be interested in anyone this ridiculously old:







Other than that, the movie was good. Really. But that was a pretty bit problem.

Thanks for telling us SC.  I didn't ask because I assumed it was a spoiler.  I would have the same problem with this plot point.  You'd think that as a society, an aging one, we would have moved passed these negative depictions of middle-aged women.  I guess watching these films it becomes clear that narcissistic old white guys rule in Hollywood.

[serious crayons]

Thanks for telling us SC.  I didn't ask because I assumed it was a spoiler.  I would have the same problem with this plot point.  You'd think that as a society, an aging one, we would have moved passed these negative depictions of middle-aged women.  I guess watching these films it becomes clear that narcissistic old white guys rule in Hollywood.

Glad you agree, oilgun! So did the people with whom I saw the movie, which was nice to hear. As a woman whose age is probably somewhere between those two actresses', this seriously hindered my enjoyment of what was otherwise a good film. Neither of their characters is established as being particularly unappealing aside from their age. I don't think Beth Grant's character even has any lines, but the movie shows Bad Blake sneaking out while she's still asleep, less to portray him (as I interpreted it) as a one-night-standing weasel than to indicate his shame at how far he has to stoop for sex. Debrianna Mansini's character does have some lines, and she is depicted as a groupie who comes on too strong. But Maggie Gyllenhaal is basically a groupie, too, just operating under the guise of a sort of semi-journalist.

[Ellemeno]

Beth Grant played Dwight's occasional carnal partner on The Office.  She's funny.

K, do his friends actually call him, "Bad?"  Does the name come across as dumb in the movie as it does to me?

[serious crayons]

Beth Grant played Dwight's occasional carnal partner on The Office.  She's funny.

She appeared on My Name is Earl  as the mother of a friend of Earl's with whom Earl, for reasons I can't remember, was forced to have an affair. Again, the joke was that it was horrifying for Earl to have to sleep with such an old woman, and he kept trying everything he could to get out of it. At least in that case, though, she actually was older than Earl (Jason Lee will be 40 this year; Beth Grant 61), and she was the mom of his friend (Giovanni Ribisi).

I liked MNiE, but I hated that particular episode.

Who knew that out of all of these men, the one with the most acceptable attitude would be ... Dwight? But then, the very fact that Dwight finds her attractive is a backhanded compliment -- yet another slam at poor Beth Grant.

K, do his friends actually call him, "Bad?"  Does the name come across as dumb in the movie as it does to me?

Yes, and sort of, but you get used to it. It's an issue in the movie -- someone asks his real name, and he won't give it, but then at the end of the movie he does.

Not like it's some big spoiler, but I won't tell you what his real name is. However, I will tell you that it was the name of my great uncle, and also a name that my then-husband and I actually bandied about as a possible name for one of our sons. When we mentioned to some relatives -- people related to my great uncle -- that we were thinking of naming him (X), they all in unison said, "DON'T NAME HIM (X)."

Also, a former neighbor had a bull dog named (X).

[Ellemeno]

Not like it's some big spoiler, but I won't tell you what his real name is. However, I will tell you that it was the name of my great uncle, and also a name that my then-husband and I actually bandied about as a possible name for one of our sons. When we mentioned to some relatives -- people related to my great uncle -- that we were thinking of naming him (X), they all in unison said, "DON'T NAME HIM (X)."

Also, a former neighbor had a bull dog named (X).

Hm, of everything I've heard about this movie so far, this (the name of your great uncle and almost name of your baby) most makes me want to see it.

[serious crayons]

Hm, of everything I've heard about this movie so far, this (the name of your great uncle and almost name of your baby) most makes me want to see it.

 

[Front-Ranger]

I slogged through The Last Station today. Despite brilliant acting by Helen Mirrin, I didn't feel sympatico to her throughout the movie. Terrific chemistry between her and Christopher Plummer, who played her husband Leo Tolstoy. Even a great scene of them in bed. But, honestly, who wants to see two old people in bed??

James McAvoy's acting was just as good as Mirren's, I thought. He played a young secretary to Tolstoy who is sympathetic to the Countess (Mirren) and becomes her confidante. Another great actor was Paul Giamatti as Tolstoy's friend Cherkov. After the first few minutes I didn't even see him as the sideways guy!

So if great acting's your thing, you might like The Last Station. Me being a writer, the plot's the thing for me, and this one was pretty thin.

[Front-Ranger]

Oh, and one other thing about The Last Station. It was plagued with those extreme closeups that are so popular now. Sometimes you wonder how the actors can do their jobs with a camera lens right in their faces! Plus, jittery hand-held camera work. The combination made me a little seasick. A Single Man had extreme closeups too, but they didn't bother me because the camera was blissfully still.