B10's Pre10se

UP (again)

burten — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:42:44 +0000

I just wanted to update my previous post on UP, now that I’ve seen it (in pieces) a few more times. It’s really quite good. It doesn’t matter that things weren’t really possible and a little all over the place. The characters were lovable and had fun and interesting arcs, and the animation is beautiful.

Thieves’ Carnival

burten — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:40:43 +0000

Previously, the only other Anouilh play I had read was Antigone, which was really serious and kinda scary. Thieves’ Carnival is neither of those things. A mostly brainless, fun little comedy that I will mostly remember because I was so freaking bad in the scene I did for my acting class.

Death with Interruptions

burten — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:37:03 +0000

First off, R.I.P Jose Saramago. I finished this a few weeks before his death. A really great read, although different then I expected it to be and a little uneven at times. Amazing concept, and taken interesting places by Saramago. Death is also an insanely interesting character. Also great ending.

A Moveable Feast

burten — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:34:55 +0000

A collection of “short stories” which are really just snapshots of Hemingway’s life in Paris in the 1920′s. Nothing really too memorable, and the writing seemed fine and Hemingway-ian without having any real oomph or hidden meaning. I never really felt “wow,” if anything I was just sorta jealous at how awesome his life was. Also it’s great to hear about him hanging out with all these other great authors of the time.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Film)

burten — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:27:11 +0000

A very good who-dun-it mystery movie. Noomi Rapace rocks out as Lisbeth Salander, really making the part sizzle and solder. But my favorite thing had to have been the tone, distinctly Swedish. From the brutal rape scenes to the quiet landscape shots, the movie had a unified tone that is rarely achieved by American cinema. I fear for the American remakes, but either way glad that we will always have the original trilogy to look back on.

Bigger Stronger Faster

burten — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:21:31 +0000

Really great documentary from a guy who sets out to prove that steroids are bad but really can’t do it. Interesting hypothesis backed up by good research and astute observations regarding American society. Could have stayed a bit more focused and had a few filler segments, but more or less a really powerful documentary.

The Guermantes Way

burten — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:12:09 +0000

Almost halfway done with Proust daddy! Wooo! This is the third out of seven installments, and the longest one so far. This is I guess the “society” one, where Marcel starts going to lots of social gatherings with hoity-toity people. And smack dab in the middle his grandma dies, which is really sad. This volume was a little disjointed in pace, as sometimes it read really quickly, then it would slow down to a snails pace. I think when it really slowed down for me was when you left Marcel’s head and just listened to the conversations and thoughts of these society people discussing art, philosophy, and most of all each other. So much gossip! I feel I also would have benefited a lot from knowing more French history and politicians to really understand who and what they were talking about.

But, when Marcel has got it, he’s got it good. And I think the most effective parts of the book are just Proust being Proust. I liked towards the beginning when he went to visit his best friend (butt buddy…?) Saint-Loup, and then later when his grandmother was dying. It doesn’t get more real than that shit.

Finally, are we all really as naive / self-aware as Proust? He has these great insights into how absolutely retarded we get when chasing after a love, and yet he just keeps on doing it! Maybe he’s speaking only with hindsight? But he seems pretty aware at the time of what he’s doing and what he’s going through. Although I guess we all do kind of deceive ourselves with junk like that.

Ghostbusters 2

burten — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:00:47 +0000

What a great way to spend a lazy Sunday late afternoon. One of the best parts was that I think I finally may have committed to memory the difference between Ghostbusters 1 and 2. The first one is with the Gatekeeper and the the big marshmallow man, the second one is the pink slime and the crazy scary painting. They both have Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver, which I definitely did not realize. Apparently a lot of people think the first one is a lot better? I say that’s a lot of hogwash, I actually think I like this one better (although I haven’t seen the first one in a few years). Just a really fun movie with a great cast, funny jokes, and an interesting enough plot.

The Office (Seasons 3, 4, and 5)

burten — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 06:22:50 +0000

Quite the little show they’ve got going here. What I find most interesting about this show is how they have made (or tried to make?) such ridiculous, unbelievable characters human. Perhaps it’s just because I’ve never really worked in an office environment like this, but people aren’t really that crazy, are they? I think they kind of are, but sometimes it goes over the top. So how do they make up for that? By giving these characters strong pieces of humanity. Then, we forgive them for their insanity, and care for them when that’s called for. As absolutely ridiculous as Dwight is, you kind of really feel for him when Angela is legit engaged to Andy. You know you shouldn’t, but the show does a really fantastic job of making you care. Without even realizing it, you want things to turn out well for these people, even the ones you don’t like. And that’s really the challenge of the modern day sitcom. Make the audience care about your crazy characters enough that the audience will forgive these ridiculous people all of their insanity while still being entertained.

The show also does a really amazing job of developing all of their characters. With the exception of maybe Creed, I really enjoy the comedic presence of every single character on this show, which is rare and impressive. Without ever dedicating a full episode to Stanley or Kevin, I really love these characters and what they bring to the tone and presence of the show. But moving on to the seasons I watched recently…

Season Three seems to be the high point of the show. The drama and tension were high, with Jim and Pam still pining after each other. Even with episodes that had nothing to do with them, you could feel the tension in the office place of their smoldering desire. So not only were the jokes hitting hard, but it carried real resonance with this added level of drama that felt really urgent.

Season Four dropped the ball quite a bit in my opinion. You totally lost the Jim and Pam tension, and the show really took a while to recover from that. Things didn’t feel as important once they were together, and I guess there had just been so much build up that you kind of want to expect something more, something you know you will never get. Also, the season was cut short because of the writers strike, and for some reason they had all of these two part episodes that just didn’t work. I never realized this, but there is a reason sitcoms are only a half of an hour (or 22 minutes) long. It’s because that is the amount of time that perfectly allows for a little bit of story and drama without needing anything too complicated. The Office can pull off these extended episodes every once in a while for major events, but not on a consistent basis, which is what it tried here in Season 4. Things got confusing, convoluted, unnecessary, and meandering real fast, and the episodes lost the zip that makes them special.

Season 5 attempted to get back to form, and had occasional glimpses of the power of this show, but spent a lot of the time lost in the murk of reaching for real plot arcs. This show is at its best when you just have a “normal” day at the office and let the characters go through their hi-jinks. Manufactured dramatic plot arcs, such as Michael quitting and taking Pam and Ryan with him, feel forced and unnecessary. They also lose a lot of the humor in trying to tell stories. And at the end of the day, you feel a little used when things end up back to exactly where they started, which is what you expected and knew would happen all along.

But people are right, this is easily one of the best comedies that has been on television in a long time. The humor is stronger than 30 Rock, and the characters definitely have more heart. While not as funny or layered as Arrested Development, it clearly has the wider commercial appeal that AD was lacking, and that has got to count for something.

I watched the British The Office first, and I still have to say that I like that better, especially considering the nice way that show was just a little package. They never milked it or dragged it out, which allowed them to not take their characters as seriously. You never needed to give the Dwight character a bit heart, because you didn’t need people to care long enough for it to matter. And when it ran its course it was over. I will definitely watch Season Six of The Office when it comes out on Netflix streaming (and I am super excited for the wedding!), but I also know there are going to be quite a few slow episodes.

Hard Eight (aka Sydney)

burten — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 05:07:33 +0000

Hard Eight, P.T. Anderson’s first feature length film, was the lucky inaugural winner of my new method for choosing Netflix movies. And it really made me happy, because this is something I of course really wanted to see, but had no real impetus for moving it to #1 on my cue. But I was forced to watch it, and it was great, and now I can say I’ve seen all of P.T. Anderson’s films. Go me.

This is a mediocre first effort coming from a clearly awesome director. We see glimmers and glimpses of great stuff in here, but it is all held back by a script that is OK at its best, kinda lame at its worst. Really, it just kinda seems like a Tarentino rip-off, a cheap attempt at making a gangster movie with kind of stale characters making harebrained decisions and never really getting anywhere.

Luckily, all of this doesn’t really matter, considering how great most of the other aspects of the movie are. The acting is really great, with Philip Baker Hall and John C. Reilly really holding the movie together. Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson give stellar supporting roles, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman even turns up for a fun little scene. Even with the mediocre script, these actors are able to bring their characters to life and make them believable, even at their dumbest and basest moments.

But these actors can’t do it alone. The music, sound, and cinematography all lend a hand in making this movie great, setting the tone that is heavy handed but confident. You never doubt what kind of movie you are watching here. And this is where I really give P.T Anderson the credit. He really makes this movie a complete movie, from start to finish.

Just to remind myself in the future, there were a lot of dumb things in the plot. Mostly pertaining to all the dramatic stuff. It’s never explained why exactly Gwyneth tries to turn a trick on her wedding night, and then how these stupid people insist on continuing to be stupid. And the whole end thing with Phillip Baker Hall having killed John C. Reilly’s dad… It made for interesting themes, but didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

So overall a really cool movie, and I’m glad I saw it to sort of see where this director got started, but I’m glad we have Magnolia and There Will Be Blood to really remember him by.