The Movie: Bridget Jones's Diary, directed by Sharon Maguire
Recommendation: H
Reason: Hugh Grant is funny.
Renee Zellweger's really starting to bug me lately (I love Empire Records, I love Chicago...I love Empire Records, I love Chicago...). I keep seeing movies with her in them that bite. Bridget Jones's Diary wasn't awful, but it wasn't spectacular, and I'm really starting to get pissed at the Academy for equating 'physical alteration' with 'great acting'. I mean, goddammit! Renee Zellweger was nominated for an academy award for this movie, playing the same half-crazy, supposedly cute, slightly rebellious character she plays in everything (even Chicago, but her performance was more nuanced there, and she wasn't speaking in an English accent) after putting on 25 pounds. Christian Bale dropped 80 pounds for The Machinist, and he didn't get nominated for squat, despite an excellent performance in an alright suspense film. At least she didn't win. We got Halle Berry instead, who I'm still not quite sure about.
Taking a peek into the trivia I could find about this movie, it looks like it was a bit of a circlejerk, since the director's a friend of the author of the book and the two leading men are mentioned in the book (as themselves, not as the characters they played). I wasn't that much enamored of the story. I think the pinnacles of the British romantic comedy ala Working Title Pictures are still (and probably always will be) Love Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral. They've got a few good films on the way that I'm looking forward to, so huzzah for the upcoming Hot Fuzz!
To continue this scattered rambling, I spent half of the movie peering intently at the screen, trying to figure out who the hell that squeaky-voiced chick was, and why she sounded so familiar. Shock and awe! It's Moaning Myrtle, from Harry Potter! So imagine my chagrin at learning that Moaning Myrtle's fortysomething. That just adds a whole new level of goddamn creepy to the bath scene in Goblet of Fire, seeing as she was forty and Daniel Radcliffe was fifteen. Ewwwwwwww.
-63/365 down, 302/365 to go
Showing posts with label renee zellweger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label renee zellweger. Show all posts
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
*zap* HAHAHAHA! *zap* HAHAHA!
The Movie: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, directed by Kim Henkel
Recommendation: No one.
Reason: Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey have both tried to get this movie squashed. I wanted to see why.
There is only one reason anyone would ever want to watch this movie, and it's Matthew McConaughey's borderline funny giggling psychopath. If you want another reason, the dialogue is a really top shelf awful attempt at creating a self-aware horror flick. If the acting hadn't been so horrendous, it might have managed a laugh or two. As it was, all the comedy that didn't come from McConaughey came from Renee Zellweger getting repeatedly tasered. It was excessive. Cathartic for me, but excessive, even in the context of a TCM film.
The original film was excellent. A gruelling order of horror without reason or logic, just people devoted to murder and cannibalism. Nobody was spared. There wasn't any escape or mercy. Subsequent attempts to capture the lightning with near exactly the same story, like this and House of 1000 Corpses, have really sucked because we've already seen it once, and once is plenty. I don't think I've seen a 'nowhere to run, surrounded by hillbilly cannibal' flick that exceeded the quality and terror-factor of Tobe Hooper's original effort.
Zellweger was awful and shrill, the movie was dark and almost unwatchable, and it's certainly no worthy sequel to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Boo. Hiss.
-54/365 down, 311/365 to go
Recommendation: No one.
Reason: Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey have both tried to get this movie squashed. I wanted to see why.
There is only one reason anyone would ever want to watch this movie, and it's Matthew McConaughey's borderline funny giggling psychopath. If you want another reason, the dialogue is a really top shelf awful attempt at creating a self-aware horror flick. If the acting hadn't been so horrendous, it might have managed a laugh or two. As it was, all the comedy that didn't come from McConaughey came from Renee Zellweger getting repeatedly tasered. It was excessive. Cathartic for me, but excessive, even in the context of a TCM film.
The original film was excellent. A gruelling order of horror without reason or logic, just people devoted to murder and cannibalism. Nobody was spared. There wasn't any escape or mercy. Subsequent attempts to capture the lightning with near exactly the same story, like this and House of 1000 Corpses, have really sucked because we've already seen it once, and once is plenty. I don't think I've seen a 'nowhere to run, surrounded by hillbilly cannibal' flick that exceeded the quality and terror-factor of Tobe Hooper's original effort.
Zellweger was awful and shrill, the movie was dark and almost unwatchable, and it's certainly no worthy sequel to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Boo. Hiss.
-54/365 down, 311/365 to go
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Style is King
The Movie: Down With Love, directed by Peyton Reed
Recommendation: Broomie
Reason: "Now you have to watch it!"
I really dislike romantic comedies, as a rule. I wish that most of them were direct-to-video releases, because generally speaking they're boringly shot, uninterestingly directed and acted in by people who are really only on-set to score a paycheck. Most of them are easy, in other words. They could be on TV, and you wouldn't notice the difference. Down With Love is different. It oozes 60's style. The screen is awash in color, and everything is so very, very mod. It's delicious to the eyes. The camerawork may not be legendary, but at least the sets are creative enough that they need a large screen to be appreciated.
They cast Renee Zellweger as the lead. Oh dear...except she's not bad. She's not great, not fantastic really, just there and performing adequately. I guess I enjoy her more in pieces where she sings, though she's not a really great singer. Something about that must up her performance level, like showing a dog a treat. Speaking of, actually, Ewan MacGregor was excellent. He's a great actor, and played off his part very well. At times he was hammy, but it was called for. David Hyde Pierce still has excellent comic timing.
The plot was...alright. Enjoyable, nicely zany for a movie that was trying very hard to be 60's rah rah rah. The ending left a little to be desired, quick as it came. Not a lot more to say about it. This was a nice movie, good for a fun bit of a laugh. Not very epic, but I'm not sorry I watched it.
-26/365 down, 339/365 to go.
Recommendation: Broomie
Reason: "Now you have to watch it!"
I really dislike romantic comedies, as a rule. I wish that most of them were direct-to-video releases, because generally speaking they're boringly shot, uninterestingly directed and acted in by people who are really only on-set to score a paycheck. Most of them are easy, in other words. They could be on TV, and you wouldn't notice the difference. Down With Love is different. It oozes 60's style. The screen is awash in color, and everything is so very, very mod. It's delicious to the eyes. The camerawork may not be legendary, but at least the sets are creative enough that they need a large screen to be appreciated.
They cast Renee Zellweger as the lead. Oh dear...except she's not bad. She's not great, not fantastic really, just there and performing adequately. I guess I enjoy her more in pieces where she sings, though she's not a really great singer. Something about that must up her performance level, like showing a dog a treat. Speaking of, actually, Ewan MacGregor was excellent. He's a great actor, and played off his part very well. At times he was hammy, but it was called for. David Hyde Pierce still has excellent comic timing.
The plot was...alright. Enjoyable, nicely zany for a movie that was trying very hard to be 60's rah rah rah. The ending left a little to be desired, quick as it came. Not a lot more to say about it. This was a nice movie, good for a fun bit of a laugh. Not very epic, but I'm not sorry I watched it.
-26/365 down, 339/365 to go.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Goddamn it was a shitty year for comedy/musicals
The Movie: Miss Potter, directed by Chris Noonan
Recommendation: Free preview tickets. That's right, no one's taking the blame on this one.
Reason: Free preview tickets.
I don't like awards shows. I have a fundamental disagreement with the Academy of Motion Pictures, the Golden Globes, the Emmies, the Grammys, the People's Choice Awards...year after year, I find less and less about their selections that jives with my own. This year in particular I'm finding myself astounded by the dissonance between what I've been watching and what's up for trophies. Miss Potter is a perfect example. I went in expecting a story about a writer, perhaps some intriguing performances from some decent actors, and what I got was a meandering biography with milquetoast acting and a crippled sense of purpose.
Of the persons on the screen, it was Ewan MacGregor who I felt put on the most inspired performance. His subtle touches of expression and tone were excellent, perfect little accents to the scenes he was in. The loss of the character midway through the movie really hurt it, as Renee Zellweger completely failed to be engaging or interesting in any way. Imagine my surprise to find her nominated for a Golden Globe for this very performance. I have generally enjoyed her work in the past, and I was surprised by how boring and repellent I found her performance. Whatever her grasp of character and era, she seemed to be playing her usual 'sassy rebel'. I felt she underperformed here, whether it was her fault or that of the scriptwriters.
The cinematography of the movie itself was quite nice. No really daring or spectacular shots, but wise decisions were made when shooting the countryside of the Isle of Man. The broad, sweeping views were wondrous, bringing forth the real beauty of the place and really demonstrating its role in Potter's work. I wish the rest of the movie had enough of a sense of purpose or point to justify such a wonderful location. If someone wants to have a run at J.K. Rowling or Stephen King (with some gorgeous Maine scenery, I hope): the Movie, I'm there, but Miss Potter was certainly not my cup of tea.
-14/365 down, 361/365 to go
Recommendation: Free preview tickets. That's right, no one's taking the blame on this one.
Reason: Free preview tickets.
I don't like awards shows. I have a fundamental disagreement with the Academy of Motion Pictures, the Golden Globes, the Emmies, the Grammys, the People's Choice Awards...year after year, I find less and less about their selections that jives with my own. This year in particular I'm finding myself astounded by the dissonance between what I've been watching and what's up for trophies. Miss Potter is a perfect example. I went in expecting a story about a writer, perhaps some intriguing performances from some decent actors, and what I got was a meandering biography with milquetoast acting and a crippled sense of purpose.
Of the persons on the screen, it was Ewan MacGregor who I felt put on the most inspired performance. His subtle touches of expression and tone were excellent, perfect little accents to the scenes he was in. The loss of the character midway through the movie really hurt it, as Renee Zellweger completely failed to be engaging or interesting in any way. Imagine my surprise to find her nominated for a Golden Globe for this very performance. I have generally enjoyed her work in the past, and I was surprised by how boring and repellent I found her performance. Whatever her grasp of character and era, she seemed to be playing her usual 'sassy rebel'. I felt she underperformed here, whether it was her fault or that of the scriptwriters.
The cinematography of the movie itself was quite nice. No really daring or spectacular shots, but wise decisions were made when shooting the countryside of the Isle of Man. The broad, sweeping views were wondrous, bringing forth the real beauty of the place and really demonstrating its role in Potter's work. I wish the rest of the movie had enough of a sense of purpose or point to justify such a wonderful location. If someone wants to have a run at J.K. Rowling or Stephen King (with some gorgeous Maine scenery, I hope): the Movie, I'm there, but Miss Potter was certainly not my cup of tea.
-14/365 down, 361/365 to go
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