Wednesday, January 16, 2013

'13 Movies: Moonrise Kingdom, Cruel Intentions, Topsy-Turvy, Queen of Versailles

7.Moonrise Kingdom

Didn't like it. I think Wes Anderson and I just don't mesh sometimes. I loved The Royal Tennenbaums; it was bizarre, quirky,  really funny and heartfelt.  The Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of my favorite movies. So I thought I'd give this one a go. Alas, it just didn't work for me. It was a beautifully done movie: the lighting, the colors, the gorgeous panning shots of the island. But the story was a little too precious, the dialogue a little too stilted and weird, and the acting of the child actors was painful to watch sometimes. And everyone else seemed to talk like they were asleep or drugged, so that I never cared about any of the characters or what was happening to them. I wanted to like it, but grew completely bored of the whole thing, which was overlong and tiring.


8.Cruel Intentions

Remember 1999?! It was amazing! A magical time when Ryan Phillippe was the hottest man alive (to some people, which, blech), Sarah Michelle Geller's clothes were considered the coolest things ever, and no one knew just how irritating Reese Witherspoon really was. Aw, this movie. It tries so, so hard to be edgy and dangerous and racy, and by God it was!-- back in 10th grade when the idea of two girls kissing was outrageous and we thought this movie was full of amazing acting. I used to hate this movie back then, but now that I'm older and wiser (ha!) I've come around and realized just how ridiculously fun it is and now I love it and want to watch it three more times, in a row. The dialogue is cheesy as all hell, the clothes are hideous, and Joshua Jackson is blond and gay. It's perfect!


9.Topsy-Turvy

I can't believe I sat through this whole thing. Well, I guess I can, considering how little actual attention I paid to it as it played in the background of me sewing some pants. I'm not even sure why I watched it, other than it just being there and me having a craving for some pretty costumes and sets. And it did have that, in spades, but it was also terribly boring, with a meandering story that never went anywhere, and no actual stakes for anyone involved. It was fun to see the theater and singing bits, and Jim Broadbent is always a ton of fun to watch, but there wasn't much more to the movie. Which is probably why no one remembers that it ever existed.

10. The Queen of Versailles

Ugh. This movie made me feel dirty. In so many ways, and none of them pleasant. It's a documentary about a filthy rich man and his trophy, botoxed-to-hell wife, who set out to build a disgusting monster of a mansion. Then the market crashes and boo-hoo-hoo, they lose everything. It's a weird thing to watch, because at first you just want to hate these horrible people--because they are truly awful, awful human being-- but when the crash happens you, well, don't exactly feel sorry for them (specially not when the horrible wife spends $2000 they don't have on caviar), but you don't exactly feel good about it, because losing all your money just sucks. It was just really fascinating to watch and be amazed at the incredible timing of the filmmaker, while also trying very hard to accept the fact that these people are real. I'm sad to realize that yes, they are very real, and they are very horrible, and that there's probably lots of people exactly like them out there. Brr.

1 comment:

The Caustic Critic said...

I had similar feelings about 'Moonrise Kingdom'. I felt like it was a retread of all previous Wes Anderson films--the only thing missing was Owen Wilson. Although it was shot beautifully, and there were some pretty hilarious parts, on the whole I was disappointed.