Current Cinema
white_tea
3,262 Posts
I saw two movies this weekend, both of which were pretty good.
"Red Eye" was pure popcorn, but in a good way. I can't say I've been impressed by a Wes Craven movie for a minute, maybe since "Scream" or "People Under the Stairs," the fomer which put on a new spin on the tired slasher genre. It's great to see Craven go with a fairly straight-ahead thriller here and he does a great job. The dialog is fluid, the direction unimposing and the action pretty crisp and, at times, surprising. Rachel McAdams is quite the actress. In several instances, she takes matters into her own hands; without giving away any of the scenes, let's just say, You don't want to F. with her. Cillian Murphey -- whom my lady thinks I resemble -- ain't a bad villain either. To top it off the movie was barely 90 minutes long.
"Constant Gardener" is a pretty slow political thriller. I guess my expectations were a little high, considering the fact that I thought the director's last movie, "City of God," was one of the best films in the past five years. The "Constant Gardener" was a more conventional, though important, story about pharmaceutical companies experimenting on people in Africa. It is basically about this British diplomat whose wife is raped and murdered in Kenya, and then him trying to find out what happened and why. There are quite a few twists in the story and it is confusing at times. It doesn't have the same rhythm and organic feel as "City of God," but still is beautiful to look at and the story held my interest for the two-plus hours of the movie. A few critics have called the movie "preachy" and I can agree with that; at the beginning of the movie, for instance, Rachel Weisz dishes out a very cliche criticism of the war in Iraq. The director, Fernando Meirelles, has a so many nice shots though, such as several shots of Weisz very naked and very pregnant. Few directors realistically capture love and intimacy and this is one of this guy's strong points.
"Red Eye" was pure popcorn, but in a good way. I can't say I've been impressed by a Wes Craven movie for a minute, maybe since "Scream" or "People Under the Stairs," the fomer which put on a new spin on the tired slasher genre. It's great to see Craven go with a fairly straight-ahead thriller here and he does a great job. The dialog is fluid, the direction unimposing and the action pretty crisp and, at times, surprising. Rachel McAdams is quite the actress. In several instances, she takes matters into her own hands; without giving away any of the scenes, let's just say, You don't want to F. with her. Cillian Murphey -- whom my lady thinks I resemble -- ain't a bad villain either. To top it off the movie was barely 90 minutes long.
"Constant Gardener" is a pretty slow political thriller. I guess my expectations were a little high, considering the fact that I thought the director's last movie, "City of God," was one of the best films in the past five years. The "Constant Gardener" was a more conventional, though important, story about pharmaceutical companies experimenting on people in Africa. It is basically about this British diplomat whose wife is raped and murdered in Kenya, and then him trying to find out what happened and why. There are quite a few twists in the story and it is confusing at times. It doesn't have the same rhythm and organic feel as "City of God," but still is beautiful to look at and the story held my interest for the two-plus hours of the movie. A few critics have called the movie "preachy" and I can agree with that; at the beginning of the movie, for instance, Rachel Weisz dishes out a very cliche criticism of the war in Iraq. The director, Fernando Meirelles, has a so many nice shots though, such as several shots of Weisz very naked and very pregnant. Few directors realistically capture love and intimacy and this is one of this guy's strong points.
Comments
Cosign on Red Eye. It was a fun movie. Cilliam Murphey is a scary dude. I bet he gets type cast for the rest of his career.