LOST IN LA MANCHA

Saturday, April 5th, 2003

Today i went to see Lost in La Mancha, essentially a documentary on the making of Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, an adaptation of Man of La Mancha. Or rather, the not-making, because the production becomes bogged down in disaster. Natural disasters, sickly and/or uncooperative actors, financial problems, and so on. It was quite good, although i found it a bit of a downer. The height of the movie is fairly early on, during the rain. I would've liked to have more from Gilliam towards the end, especially on the future. Still, it was an interesting fly-on-the-wall view of making a movie. Most 'making of' movies are essentially 'how-to's, with everything pre-destined towards the successful movie. It'd be interesting to see more honest stuff, like frustrations with schedules, actors, weather, and so on.

I know three people (including myself) who saw Baron Munchausen, and we all quite liked it. Should see it again. I liked the non-logical circularity of it, i liked its sense of humour, and i liked that everyone pronounced 'Munchausen' differently.

I saw this movie at Varsity's VIP cinema, which i found a bit underwhelming. I guess i was a bit late to be served at my seat, so i had to go myself to the concession stand (i had been hoping for better food, but it was the same stuff, just delivered to you). The seats were certainly comfortable, and you had little tables between the seats to put stuff down on. But the theatre was small, and if anyone stood up through the centre, they got in the way of the light hitting the screen. There were no ads (yay!), and no previews (Boo! I like previews).

Speaking of cinema food, i don't like nachos, don't much like popcorn (last time i had it at a cinema, it ended up all over the front seat of a friend's car, and myself), and don't want candy. I must say, i don't get the nachos and popcorn at cinemas thing - why not SILENT food? That doesn't leave much - i often end up having a hot dog, since i want something solid. A couple of cinemas used to have pizza (but it took too long to get), and some of the massive cinemas (like Paramount and Scarboro Town Centre) have fast food restaurants like PizzaHut and Burger King (at outrageous prices i might add). A couple of times i've snuck food in - last week i brought a salmon sanger, a couple of times i've taken a Harvey's burger. A couple of cinemas (like the Carlton) have cafes with some underwhelming desserts (too sweet, kinda tasteless otherwise). Bleagh! Not sure what to suggest though.

Goobers always sounds so funny to me. Actually, for some reason my brother and sister call me goober (no relation to the candy tho'). Here we get glosettes. I like glosettes (raisin variety), but i really don't need half a pound of chocolate in me.

I almost always get diet cola, though i'd prefer ginger ale. I guess cinemas never have ginger ale because there is no coke or pepsi ginger ale brand.

LAUREL CANYON

Sunday, April 6th, 2003

Well, i went to see Laurel Canyon this afternoon. I didn't have lunch, and the theatre's food is (to quote a friend) "weak". So i went to Bakery Garden, got a pastrami and swiss sandwich, with tomato, lettuce and honey mustard on an onion bun, and snuck it in (always buy a drink at the cinema to allay suspicion, and carry the food in a backpack).

Laurel Canyon is great! How can a movie not be great when it starts with a cunnilingus scene?

Plot summary: "In writer-director Lisa Cholodenko's smart, sexy follow-up to her sterling 1998 debut High Art, two straitlaced young graduates of Harvard Medical School contend with copious amounts of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. That doesn't necessarily mean Sam (Christian Bale) and his fiancée Alex (Kate Beckinsale) are in for a good time. For one thing, Sam is all too familiar with walks on the wild side, having spent his life contending with the chaos that surrounds his mother, Jane (Frances McDormand). She's a record producer who lives on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a street that runs deep into the Hollywood Hills and past the homes of rock stars, music-biz legends and assorted wastrels who never really checked out of the Hotel California, at least not mentally. When the young couple move into Jane's house, they are both deeply affected by the libidinous scene."

Frances McDormand is wonderful - very different from Fargo, where i first remember her from. You get to see her breasts, if anyone is interested. Thematically, the movie reminded quite a lot of Cheat (again), although there's another layer there, especially of parent to child. It's nice to have a movie where you're not set up to hate anyone - all the main characters are likeable, even when they are getting themselves in trouble.

post-... you know... ;)

PIGLET

Thursday, April 10th, 2003

I saw Piglet's Big Movie. Hee. It was ok. I didn't get as much enjoyment as i did out of say, Powerpuff Girls, or Lilo and Stitch. It's very much aimed at younger kids, i think probably more so than the Pooh specials i remember from when i was a kid. They also did a bit of revisionist history, since they had a scene where they greet Kanga and Roo when they move to the Hundred Acre Wood, and Tigger was there. I'm pretty sure Tigger was the last to get there (but it's been a while since i saw Blustery Day). So they had some really nice bits, but nothing outstanding. The only thing i didn't like was a song by Carly Simon called Mother's Intuition which i thought verged on pre-modern patronizing... ah, the joys of maternal housecleaning.

It also occurred to me that the animals should speak with English accents, like Christopher Robin, as it's an English story. With the possible exceptions of Kanga and Roo, who should have Aussie accents, and perhaps Pooh himself, who is based on a Canadian bear. Winnie is in fact short for Winnipeg, and the model for Pooh was a black bear who had been the mascot for a Canadian regiment. Yes, *black* bear. Talk about a white wash. By the way, it was mostly animated in Japan.

A MIGHTY WIND

Thursday, April 17th, 2003

I decided to go downtown today to see a movie, at the Paramount to see A Mighty Wind. It was great! A lot of the same people from Best in Show. The story between Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy was especially good, even a little touching (but then, they are amazing creators). Some of the characters were just right out there, like Fred Willard, Eugene Levy (most of the time), and the female publicist! Funniest line: "Tank god for de little model trains, odderwise, where would dey haf got de ideas for de big ones?"

MARION BRIDGE

Friday, April 18th, 2003

This afternoon, i drove downtown, first hoping to find a bookstore open - no such luck. So i went on to see Marion Bridge, a great little Canadian movie, starring the fabulous Molly Parker.

"Set on... Cape Breton Island, it's the earthy, engaging story of three sisters -- rebellious Agnes (Molly Parker), steely Theresa (Rebecca Jenkins) and reclusive Louise (Stacy Smith) -- who contend with assorted troubles in their past when their mother comes home to die."

It's pretty funny, kinda sad (though the end gives the feeling of hope). The drama isn't outrageously dramatic - it actually sneaks up on when you least expect it.

Yes she smokes like a demon... at least it makes sense story-wise.

GERRY

Saturday, April 19th, 2003

I went to see a movie at the Varsity. Went to a different parking lot, right under the Manulife Centre - kinda weird - they had like 6 guys directing traffic, and there were traffic lights and all (there were several places where there was only one lane for two-way traffic). I was a bit ticked because it took forever to get there. But then it turns out if you see a movie, it's only 3$ to park, which is great.

So i went to see Gerry, by Gus van Sant, with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. It was very good. Very slow - in fact the slowness is part of it. Not a lot happens. You spend a lot of time absorbing scenery and mood. The director himself says "[it] forces the audience to consider what it is they're watching, and it also allows time to put the audience into the same space as the characters."

Here's an outline: "Gerry is about two guys named Gerry. Actually, Gerry is just what they call each other. In Gerry-speak, it means "fuck up" and is variously used as a noun, verb and adjective. And the two Gerrys in Gerry Gerry when they drive to Death Valley, get out of the car and walk. And walk. Gerry and Gerry occasionally break the monotony to talk about TV shows or "the thing" at the end of the hike. It gradually dawns on them that they're lost. Faced with the possibility of dying of thirst, they keep walking. And walking." It was funny at times, even startling, despite the pace.

I was shocked that out of 26 people in the theatre (yep, i had time to count! Ha!), five left. Five! What did they think they were seeing? Every review i read described what it was going to be like. I was actually kinda disgusted with them. The shit people sit through, and they walk out of this movie? They oughta be forced to watch a double bill of Hollowman and What A Girl Wants for eternity in hell. My only 'complaint', so to speak, is that the creators over-estimate a person's ability to survive in a desert with no water. I want to discuss the ending with someone.

Best quote from the movie: "Fuck the thing."

MAN WITHOUT A PAST

Saturday, April 26th, 2003 i've seen the dystopia and it is Helsinki.

Today i saw The Man Without a Past (Mies Vailla Menneisyyttä), the first Finnish movie i've ever seen. It was great! Starts off rather nastily. Here's a plot summary: "The second part of Aki Kaurismäki's "Finland" trilogy, the film follows a man who arrives in Helsinki and gets beaten up so severely he develops amnesia. Unable to remember his name or anything from his past life, he cannot get a job or an apartment, so he starts living on the outskirts of the city and slowly starts putting his life back on track." Anyways, it's quite funny, and pretty quirky.

Best Quote
Man: What do I owe you?
Electrician: If you ever find me face down in the gutter, turn me around to my back.

X-MEN 2

Saturday, May 3rd, 2003

I just saw the X-Men 2 movie. Non-stop thrills! Nightcrawler was amazing - could not have done him better! The biggest 'problem' is that you want so much more after it was done - but it was already well over two hours. There were so many cool people around, you just wish you could see more of each, and get into their heads a bit more. Here's where a TV series has advantage over a movie. I haven't read the X Men in so long, i don't know who some of the younger kids might be (which makes me wonder too, why Iceman and Pyro are so young, but *shrug*), but lots of cameos - Kitty Pride, Siryn (great effect), Colossus, Beast, Gambit (in name only). Rogue's role was much reduced in this one (shared with Bobby Drake), but on the good side of that, we didn't see her looking stunned and googly-eyed throughout the movie. The scene towards the end with Wolverine and Cyclops on the jet (you know what i mean) was good. And the scene with the Prez at the end (loved the 'lighting'). The night scene at the mansion was brutal - on both sides (*SNIKT*!). I wonder if Mystique ever gets any stuff up her butt (i mean, when she's not expecting it) - i might be inclined to wear boxers at least.

I watched the credits so you don't have to (and you don't - there's nothing to see except credits).

Some other thoughts that have come to me. The movie really brought certain things to life. I knew Kurt Wagner is German, knew he was Christian, knew his power - but to actually see and hear these things... same with Logan's brutality. And the battle with Lady Deathstrike - WHEW!

SPROCKETS (MISS SPIDER'S SUNNY PATCH KIDS)

Monday, May 5th, 2003

So, yesterday i went to Sprockets, the children's film festival, put on by the Toronto International Film Festival (which, i also found out, is responsible for Cinematheque Ontario, which often has really great movies, but i've never gone to because they're are a 'one showing, always in the evening thing'). Anyways, i saw Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids, with LMC, RAS and their kids (MLC-S, and AIC-S). The animation was pretty good (it took a while to get used to the high overexposure, but it was part of the design to match David Kirk's wonderful paintings). The story was a little disappointing - a little too typical Hollywood. Miss Spider was a bit of a wet blanket, they had a hint of 'romance' between two young kids. what is it with pushing young kids - the viewers - into romance? Plus they crammed too much in - Miss Spider's wedding, the birth of her babies, an adventure with one of the kids. Plus, they're missing part of the charm of the books, which uses verse to tell the story. (I think... now i have to go check).

I would've also liked to see the new Wallace and Grommit mini-feature (21 minutes i think), but they only had one showing last week. I'm told the Bob the Builder story was pretty good - but i didn't see that myself. Heh.

The Miss Spider animation was done at Nelvana - i know the guy who did the lipsyncing!

Afterwards, we went to park for the kids to blow off steam (huh!), then back to their place for supper (Mmmmm... nice - i had barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes and mascarpone cheese, tabbouleh, and bean salad, with some chardonnay).

The kids went to bed screaming, and i went home. When i got home, i couldn't get on the internet because one of my nephews was asleep in the computer room. His mom (my sis) is in the Bahamas! LUCK-EE!

BLUE CAR

Saturday, May 10th, 2003

Ioday i went downtown to see Blue Car. It was pretty good - fairly harsh in some ways. The mother and teacher were pretty thankless roles. "Gifted 18-year-old Meg has been abandoned by her father and neglected by her hardworking mother. Left to care for her emotionally disturbed younger sister, her world begins to unravel. She finds an outlet in writing poetry and support from her English teacher, Mr. Auster."

Good heavens isn't she pretty? Why did her pic have the word vespa in it?

MATRIX 2

Thursday, May 15th, 2003

I saw Matrix 2 (Matrix Reloaded) in the afternoon. I enjoyed it, but it's hardly a 'story' in a meaningful way. Actually, i feel a bit dirty. I need to watch a serious movie dealing with real people's emotions to wash all these pixels off me. Before the next Matrix, i need to watch the first one. They should have showed it at the theatres - i bet it would've sold ok, better than most of the movies i see.

I signed up for a Moviewatcher card. It's free! damn. I would've saved a lot of money if i'd got that card when AMC first came around.

DOWN WITH LOVE

Saturday, May 17th, 2003

I saw Down With Love. It's gotten some pretty tepid reviews, but i thought it was pretty good. It doesn't have an ounce of tension or genuine heart-tugging, but it is very stylized and fun. I liked the surprise twist towards the end, when we think the movie is coming to it's end. Jeri Ryan does an english accent, Ewan McGregor does a southern/midwestern one (where is that?). Anyone else think he'd make an excellent James Bond? I've never warmed towards Pierce Brosnan. He seems too humourless to me. Roger Moore mugged the camera too much. But Ewan McGregor is like a baby Sean Connery. One thing i would've liked from Down With Love is more singing! I thought it was going to be integral to the plot. Loved the opening credits. Everything looked cool. There was a great split screen 'scene' where the split kept moving and added a naughty little story. I doubt the phases of the moon followed any logic. At least not astronomical.

After the movie, i went to the washroom - but that was all i did, because they were DISGUSTING! They don't have nearly enough washrroms for the traffic. I don't think the fact that the average age for this theatre is fairly low (if there's a wrestling movie, it'd be here) helps. I had to go to McDonalds - the same one where i accidentally went into the wrong one some months ago. Heh. It wasn't great, but it was better.

While searching for movie pics, i found this pic. She was at the premiere (pretty!).

MAN ON THE TRAIN

Sunday, May 18th, 2003

I saw The Man on the Train (L'Homme du Train). It was very good. "...a retired poetry teacher and an over-the-hill bank robber meet by chance in a small French town and find themselves drawn to try out the other's lifestyle. From this very slight premise, director Patrice Leconte (Girl on the Bridge, The Hairdresser's Husband) builds an engaging study of friendship and longing that crackles with earthy wit even as it floats off into a metaphysical neverland. There's nothing terribly important about this film, but the giddy pleasure these characters come to feel in each other's company is infectious". Quite funny. The fate of the two men connect at the end, in a fairly intense crescendo. Jean Rochefort is great! he looked very familiar - turns out he was supposed to be Don Quixote in Terry Gilliam's movie.

SPELLBOUND

Saturday, May 24th, 2003

Today i went to see Spellbound. Been looking forward to it since i saw the trailers for it. It's a documentary on spelling bees - the US national competition for pre-high-schoolers. Yes, Americans turn everything into competitions. It was great! Review: "Spellbound mixes the best of reality TV -- a panoramic slice of Americana, served up as eight youngsters from different backgrounds -- with the best of the suspense genre, building tension by eliminating competitors one by one in a thrilling battle of wits. As emotion fills their faces, we can't help but feel these kids' panic, concentration, relief and crushing disappointment." Some of the kids are downright amazing, from Harry (the boy in the pic) who was pretty close to literally bouncing off walls (i got tired just watching him), to Angela, the daughter of an illegal immigrant ranchhand, whom i really cheered for (and who for some reason, has neither a mexican accent - her dad speaks only spanish - nor a texan one, like her brother), to Ashley, an amazingly self-confident and cheery African-American girl from a rough neighbourhood (and who comes up with the best lines, describing her life as a movie, facing trials and obstacles and overcoming them in the end). And there are hilarious parents - like April's (she described them as Archie and Edith... you'd almost think her mom was Harry's Mom), and the ones who have devoted what must be thousands of dollars to tutors. Fun!

MORVERN CALLAR

Saturday, May 31st, 2003

Today i saw Morvern Callar. For those who need to know how to pronounce it (and there was a funny scene in the movie with someone speaking english phonetically, or rather trying to, who couldn't get Morvern), it's MOR-vern CAL-ar (or, with an accent, MOH-vuhn CAL-ah). I was saying Callar like caller, buit it's a short A.

It's about a young woman, occasionally nicknamed Orphan, lives in a small Scottish town, getting drunk, high, smoking, having sex, working at a grocery store - essentially the same, boring, empty life that all of her mates have. She wakes up, in the very first scene, to find her boyfriend has committed suicide, left a novel on his computer for her to send to a publisher and a bit of cash for a funeral. Her reaction is somewhat bizarre. She and the movie become a bit morbid, very heady - almost psychedelic (although there's no '60s ideology to it). It's fascinating to look at a person taking ownership of her life. It's the kind of movie which grows on me the more i think about it. Some movies weaken with memory.

The audience was decent sized (maybe about 50), but 4 or 5 people left early on. I understand the two blue hairs leaving (funnily enough, i was wondering why they were there when i got into the theatre). But don't these people read the reviews? It's pretty clear that it's going to be about tough stuff - it was pretty strong early on. It's an adaptation of the novel by Alan Warner. I thought it was visually stunning. Plus you get to see some boobies if that's what you're into.

Interesting images.

DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN'S DIARY

Sunday, June 1st, 2003

I decided to see Dracula: Pages From A Virgin's Diary. It's based on a ballet based on the novel by Bram Stoker. It's done in an early 20s movie style, complete with text frames. At least 3 people walked out of it, leaving only 5 of us. I must have super-endurance or something. Mutant healing power? It's not that i don't like ballet - but on film and in black and white it's pretty boring. It's been getting generally pretty positive reviews. I wouldn't say it's bad - i understand the artistic vision behind it - i just didn't enjoy it.

FINDING NEMO

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2003

Got home early ... i decided i had time to see Finding Nemo.

I quite enjoyed it. I thought the animation was excellent - very expressive faces and gestures. The visuals of the film are just amazing.

Here's a good review from Eye magazine: "The dad, Marlin (voiced by a rueful Albert Brooks), is understandably overprotective of his only son, Nemo (Alexander Gould). When Nemo defies Dad and gets captured by a blowhard dentist, Marlin is forced into the wild blue yonder to rescue him. The film splits into two storylines, with Marlin's encounters with zany sea creatures yielding far more entertainment than Nemo's life lessons inside the dentist's unhappy office aquarium. Marlin meets nutbars like a freckled fish with a sunny disposition but no short-term memory (Ellen DeGeneres, whose comedy is a natural fit here), a shark threesome doing a 12-step program, seagulls who utter only one word in a way that you're sure to repeat all the way home, and best of all, a surfer-dude sea turtle named Crush, voiced by writer-director Andrew Stanton. Crush is the heart of the film, not because his speech patterns are hilarious (which they are), but because Stanton imbues him with wisdom and beneficence, qualities many surfer dudes possess but which the condescending stereotype overlooks. Crush also passes along the moral of the film, which is surprisingly aimed at parents rather than kids. Just another reason Finding Nemo deserves to become a classic."

Ellen DeGeneres was great. But one problem with celebrity voices is that i find it hard not to see the person's face when all i should be seeing is the animation. Interestingly, i knew that Gil was Willem Dafoe just from the face!

If i have any complaint, it's the initial scene, which i thought was unnecessarily gruesome. I guess it's been happening since Bambi's mother was shot, but still, i think sometimes things like that are better not seen, but only referred to.

Oh, and a couple of other things.

Sea turtles, like all reptiles, breathe air. When they are active, sea turtles must surface to breathe every few minutes. When they are resting, they can remain underwater for as long as 2 hours without breathing.

And why do male characters outnumber female characters by a factor of at least 2 to 1 (maybe even 3 to 1)? There were no moms at the school. What world are they living in?

Boy-oh-boy, they really changed the...umm... 'profile' of the two females (the first went from 2 balloons to virtually flat) in Knick Knack. I'd be interested in comparing the two versions frame by frame to see if there are other differences. The 'render' looked different, softer. Pixar has changed its website - you used to be able to download the whole short. None of the stuff you can see has the new females.

One day, wouldn't it be cool to see Pixar do a movie made for adults, and not the Disney toy factory? I mean, a really good movie, which just happens to be an animation.

Monday, June 16th, 2003

I decided to see Finding Nemo again. It's not the most original story (but the elements are really tight). Most of all, it's fantastic character stuff - especially Dory, the funny stuff she says when she's dreaming (after the explosion). Anyways, i think Pixar should do a short starring Crush the turtle dude.

rock on jelly man....

Thursday, June 26th, 2003

This afternoon, i went to see Finding Nemo again. I was looking for something local, and it's nice just to get me outta the house.

WINGED MIGRATION

Thursday, June 5th, 2003

Today i saw Winged Migration (Le Peuple Migrateur - 'the migratory people'). It's also called The Travelling Birds. It's a French movie, but it was dubbed (i think the same person, the producer), but there was little speech anyways. It's basically a documentary on birds, including absolutely stunning footage of birds flying. They must have a lot of time and a lot of film to get what they got, because the composition of most of is fantastic. You'd almost figure the birds were actors. Anyways, it's not a straight documentary with tons of narration or information. Some of what little there was was a bit misleading. For example, they describe the Canada goose as migrating from the Gulf of Mexico to the 'Arctic areas', but they're quite common down throughout southern Canada and the northern US as well. Still, it's quite odd to see them in the desert. Plus, bald eagles don't just migrate to Alaska - they're reasonably common in Canada. Haven't seen any here, but i did see one just north of Vancouver. Anyways, there's a musical soundtrack, and the cinematography is often choreographed to match the music (and vice versa of course), making this more than the sum of its parts. There's no story, or plot, rare shots of humans. Mostly just watching. It was cool.

I saw it at the Cumberland at the 12:15 show. There should always be early shows like that. loved it.

WHALE RIDER

Saturday, June 14th, 2003

Went to TO today to see Whale Rider. I've been seeing ads for it for quite some time before now. It's been getting lots of praise, well-deserved praise. I thought it was lovely. I liked how it wasn't a case of aboriginal values vs european values, and the debates took place almost wholly within their own community. Ihe lead actor is amazing - even though she'd be lucky to be 12. (Saw her sometime later on The Tonight Show and she was pretty adorable).

I like this review: "Niki Caro's wholeheartedly sincere and visually lush update of a Maori legend... expertly balances elements of a coming-of-age story with a tale of how sacred traditions clash with modern values.

"Chief among those values in Whale Rider is a fervent belief in girl power. In a performance that is impressive for its delicacy and tenacity, Keisha Castle-Hughes stars as Pai, a 12-year-old Maori girl who lives in a coastal village on New Zealand's North Island. Her mother and twin brother died during her birth, leaving her father Porourangi (Cliff Curtis) bereft and her grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene) pining for a grandson to become the rightful leader of their tribe. The tensions in Pai and Koro's relationship form the film's dramatic core and her efforts to prove herself worthy of his love are wholly involving. Though Whale Rider paints Koro as a stubborn patriarch, his deep affection for Pai is affecting, as is his sadness over what's become of the young Maori men in the village, who are depicted as slothful at best, criminal at worst. When Koro begins to train a set of boys to find his next chief, Pai becomes bolder in her transgressions.

"...As Whale Rider's not-entirely-fearless heroine, Castle-Hughes could carry the movie by herself if she had to -- she proves stronger than the back of any whale. JASON ANDERSON"

HULK

Sunday, June 22nd, 2003

I saw the The Hulk movie today. Actually i thought it was pretty good. It's been getting fairly good reviews, sorta fair to excellent, although it seems to be a real divider, with some people hating it. It is a bit goofy, but fun too - it held my attention pretty well. Sometimes in movies i can really get into an internal dialog, thinking over issues a movie might raise. The only time it happened here was when Stan came walking out of the building at the beginning (which i barely caught). Was he in any of the other Marvel movies?

I'm stealing a review:

"On the scale of cheesiness, how would The Hulk place as an all-digital movie creation? Thankfully, he's more like mild cheddar than well-ripened Roquefort. Despite early indications that the big green guy would look as silly as Scooby-Doo, the titular star of Ang Lee's anguished adaptation of the Marvel comic is passably believable, largely due to the canny use of long and medium-length shots that situate him in his environments in a realistic manner. The CGI also turns out to be just one element in an impressive array of techniques -- like splitting the screen image into comic-like panels and making aggressive jump-cuts and unlikely dissolves -- that Lee uses to capture the ballsy kineticism of Stan Lee (no relation) and Jack Kirby's original comics." I don't know the Hulk's origin that well, so i wasn't bothered by the changes in the story.

I didn't mind the CG Hulk at all - his face actually looked like a bloated version of Eric Bana's (except less pock-marked - if his face were smoother, Bana would make a decent Clark Kent). His Hulk motion was a little too flexible, at least for what we expect. But actually from a science point of view, it makes sense, as does the dents the bullets made in his body. Iwas reading somewhere how whales' bodies are actually flexible rather than rigid to withstand deep sea pressure. What happens is the water pressure causes the body to compress, increasing the internal pressure to match the exterior. A rigid frame would be too brittle. Anyways, once you get used to it, it's ok.

The transitions i thought were so kinetic and odd almost to the point of distraction. Almost. It actually looked very 60s to me (not unlike Down With Love sometimes). It didn't quite give the sensation of comics panels to me, but, even if they did, so what. In a related issue, i quite liked the intro/titles - didn't mind the font, since it fit in with the handwriting of the experiments. the end titles however were something else. Bleagh.

"As for the Hulk's close-ups, let's just say he's not ready to share the screen with Nick Nolte, whose ever-shifting eyebrows may be the movie's most startling visual effect. He plays David Banner, the long-lost father of both the tightly wound scientist Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) and the monster that lies inside Bruce, the result of the mutated genes that David gave his son along with some deep emotional trauma. When Bruce gets an overdose of gamma radiation, he acquaints himself with his inner Hulk, who handles Bruce's difficult psychological issues by smashing tanks together and ripping up the streets of San Francisco. The only person who can calm him down is fellow scientist and love interest Betty Ross, but she's got her own daddy problems: her father (Sam Elliott) is the general who shut down David Banner's illegal research."

I wonder if anyone told Nick Nolte they were filming him? He looked like he was on one of his drug benders.

"Lee invests this scenario with all the brow-ruffling intensity he brought to Sense and Sensibility and The Ice Storm -- few filmmakers can convey the effects of emotional repression with the same acuity. But Stan Lee is not Jane Austen or Rick Moody, and any subtext here sits about two inches below the surface. Moreover, the essential polarity of the hero, who exists either as bottled-up Bruce or smash-'n'-crush Hulk, doesn't allow for the more poignant sufferings of the characters in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Yet the actors -- particularly Nolte as the mad, bad dad who is far more monstrous than his brightly coloured offspring -- give credence even to The Hulk's most ridiculous moments, making Lee's creation feel like more than just another expensive collection of pixels."

Another review:

"The Hulk works surprisingly well, if only because Lee (Crouching Tiger, Ride With The Devil) and his screenwriting partner, James Shamus, aren't interested in the Hulk per se. The computer-generated Hulk is well handled - he comes on, smashes stuff and leaves. Lee and Shamus are interested in the Oedipal melodrama between Bruce Banner (Aussie Eric Bana, from Black Hawk Down) and his father (played by Nick Nolte), who screwed with his own genetic structure and passed it on to his son who, after a dose of gamma rays, becomes large, green and has serious rage issues. It's a superhero movie about betrayal and emotional conflict, perhaps the best of its sort since Batman Returns. It also suggests that you should never trust your girlfriend, here played by fanboy heartthrob Jennifer Connelly - I know she won an Oscar for Beautiful Mind, but she's in all those geek hits like Labyrinth, The Rocketeer and Dark City - who has Bruce's best interests at heart but keeps selling him out to her father (Sam Elliot), a general who had serious conflicts with Banner senior. Too bad Elliot and Nolte, each tremendous in his way and each carrying a lot more charismatic weight than the youngsters, do not have a scene together. This is not a movie for small children - it's not nearly as kid-friendly as Spiderman and deals well with adult psychological issues. It's a Frankenstein movie where the doctor is literally the monster's dad. Leaving us with the question - is Ang Lee ever going to make a bad movie?"

I wondered about the four-year old girl sitting several seats away from during the birth scene. Mostly i wondered if she'd have a clue what was going on. I doubt the mid-movie bathroom break she, her mom, and brother had caused her to miss much.

OWNING MAHOWNY

Saturday, June 28th, 2003 5:35p: afternoon movie...

This afternoon it was a toss up between Together, and Owning Mahowny, both of which were downtown at the same theatre, and at a couple of north end ones. Being slow to get going, i missed the earlier one, so i saw Owning Mahowny, the true story of a mild-mannered Toronto bank manager who, in the early 1980s, commits fraud in order to gamble. It was quite good. Pretty low-key. Funny in quite a few parts. Of course, you know he's headed for a fall, as in Catch Me If You Can, but it's good to watch. John Hurt as the Atlantic City casino manager is great. It's interesting to see the parallels between the blinded-by-greed casino people, and blinded-by-greed bank managers. One scene that you don't think about until later is when he first visits Atlantic City, you see a high roller coming through. Worth seeing.

I got a lovely chicken on a panini with pesto sauce and roasted red peppers sandwich at Bakery Garden, which i secreted into the theatre.

TOGETHER

Monday, June 30th, 2003

Yesterday i wanted to see Together, it had a very early start for a matinee (12:10) at the Varsity. The Manulife has the most Byzantine underground parking lot ever. They all speak Greek, and sing 'Constantinople, not Istanbul'. Anyways, ther elevator is very convenient, as it takes me right up to the cinema.

I love buying tickets at the... well, they're not ATMs. what are they? Automatic Ticket Machines? Maybe they are ATMs.

At the theatre, instead of the usual hot dog, i see they have panini sandwiches. Chicken with mozzarella, turkey, or ham & cheese. I eat too much ham and cheese, so i get the chicken (turkey is a poor man's chicken). Ironically, saturday i had a chicken sandwich for lunch, and my parents had bought a roasted chicken and italian bread for supper. Ah well. Unfortunately they blast it halfway to death in the microwave (i think cold might've been better), and the.. pesto? is a bit obnoxious.

Part of the movie is a contrast between the two different Chinas - the traditional one, based on Confucian values of familial love (represented by the boy and father, although not expressed as the typical hierarchical relationship) and community, versus the new China, with money, fame and possessions (represented by the young woman and the second teacher). Anyways, it's interesting to see how some peopel are transformed, but more importantly, to find out what what people regard to truly important.

The actor who plays the boy could play the violin, but the music actually comes from the young actor who plays his eventual musical rival (i would have liked to learn a little more about her character, but i guess it wasn't her story). Sometimes i found the accent of the father quite odd - something i also thought about Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - a lot of zhzhzh sounds. Must be a regional dialect thing.