Catchng up on Movies Still Playing

Monday April 26, 2010.
In case you missed "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," and can handle the heavy torture scene (I should have known better, because I had read the book) - as a film, it is excellent. But not for the faint of heart. On the other hand, for a light-weight, don't bother unless there's nothing else playing, you might enjoy (or not) "The Joneses." Despite the interesting (and probably all too true) premise, of a "unit" of people, hired to pose as a family, who move into a beautiful house in an upscale neighborhood with the intention of infiltrating/making 'friends" with neighbors who will envy (and therefore buy) the furniture, golf clubs, autos, special cell phones, etc. that the Joneses display. Somehow, perhaps it's the script? The movie just isn't that good, though I do like David Duchovny. Oh, and to add to the mix, the teen-age "daughter" is really kind of a slut, and the "son' has his problems, etc. etc.

Going back several weeks PB (Pre-Blog), I really liked "Alice in Wonderland." Fortunately, I knew that it wasn't supposed to be remake of the original story, but rather a sequel, and so I was not disappointed, and particularly loved Johnny Depp (doesn't everyone?) as the Mad Hatter -- a perfect casting choice! I don't know why they bothered with 3D, because I don't believe it added anything necessary to the film. (Except a higher ticket price.) One of the ways I avoid too much disappointment is to go in with low expectations, and that's why I wasn't too critical of "Date Night," though it really missed the mark, despite the pairing of Tina Fey and Steve Carrell, both of whom are such wonderful comic talent on their home turf on TV. As some critics have noted (I look at http://www.metacritic.com/ for quick takes on films, some comments I disagree with, but still worth scanning), "Date Night" seemed to be trying for a "Nick and Nora Charles" kind of pairing. Sorry, nobody can do it like the originals! (Again, maybe it was the script - or the direction -- I'm not a professional critic, I just go to the movies to be entertained, and hope not to be bored. Which leads me to my latest viewing, a film starring Jeff Daniels (marvelous acting!!!) and Emma Stone (equally outstanding, a young actress I don't remember seeing before ) in "Paper Man." A rather strange story, (He has an imaginary friend, "Captain Excellent") -- Whether Daniel's character, a failed author, is just neurotic, or truly mentally unbalanced is hard to tell, but I kept hoping for it to reach a conclusion that I'd like. Actually, it really didn't. But, the performances of those two lead actors were so marvelous, that I didn't regret my time spent. But I can't honestly recommend it without the above caveat.
And my final topic for today (are you still with me?) is that I really, really don't care about 3D! If a film has to depend upon special effects, and things flying at me from the screen, then it can't have a very interesting story, or very accomplished acting. Stay tuned for my next venture out into movieland, probably Wednesday. Blessings, always, SP