No Strings Attached

imdb   Photos

Plot:  Emma (Natalie Portman) and Adam (Ashton Kuscher) were childhood friends, and then meet as adults. Soon they are regularly hooking up for sex, and agree to just be friends. They even break-up, and see other people to create some distance. But one thing leads to another, and soon No Strings Attached is off to romantic comedy utopia.

Review:  The premise of No Strings Attached is two busy adults having sex regularly with no strings attached -- or no other commitments. This weak premise is not enough to build a movie around, but three things save it , supporting characters, sex-talk dialog, and Natalie Portman's acting. 


The minor characters included alternate love interests for both Emma and Adam, the best of which is Lucy played by Lake Bell - she was so funny as the nerdy, artsy assistant and Adams 2nd love interest. Kevin Kline as Adam's father has some interesting sitcom scenes.

There are a lot of jokes that are only funny because of their vulgarity and the frank way that the characters deliver them. Some were pretty funny, and none were actually offensive to me. The movie affects coolness by how frank and open it is about sex.

I liked Natalie Portman a lot in Black Swan, and she is good here in a much different role. We occasionally see the great facial acting we saw in Black Swan.

The film is actually a romantic comedy, but it takes a while to realize that. This makes the movie more likable since for a while we don't know where it is going.

Cast: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kuscher, Kevin Kline, Lake Bell

Directed by: Ivan Reitman, who has a cameo as the director of the Glee-like TV show within the movie

Rating: 2.5 stars; Probably would be 2.0 if I were more objective. It was surprisingly good based on the low expectations that I had going in.
 

More:  I was sure that No Strings Attached was written by a man, and that Emma -- the female sex fiend hottie -- was just a male writer trying to projecting the girl he would be if he were a girl -- that is actually a guy in a girl's body. It turns out that the real writers are two people, a woman and a man, Elizabeth Merriweather and co-author Mike Samonek. Of course, the character Adam is a writer, so he is clearly channelling one or both of them.

.

Tron: Legacy

imdb link  .Photos

Plot: A young man enters a computer world where his father was imprisoned years before, and battles computerized enemies to escape, with a girl he met there, to the real world.

Review: It is interesting to think about what it is like to live in a mathematical computer world, and Tron imagines a story there -- with a plot line and villains. The story only makes sense in a Science Fiction way, but it keeps our characters moving. There is a strong good guy/bad guy element to the story. Very little time is spent on the motivation for the villains. 


The visuals are interesting, much better than the trailer, which did not do a good job of showing off some of the art direction. There were a few excellent scenes like Zeus' disco, and some of the driving sequences. 


It is escapist fun, and I don't this there is a central morale, although one could write a thesis on all the threads of meaning.  Clearly the importance of the father/son relationship was there, and a basic battle between organic life and computerized perfection. Although organic life is the good side, the movie's Sci-Fi fanbase are going be rooting for the computer. There were multiple yoga references in the film, and as with The Matrix, in that the world is not actually real.

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Oliva Wilde

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 2.5 stars -- maybe just a little better than that.

More: Quorra is the main the romantic interest for Sam, and she is both really cute and a computer program. To keep Quorra and Sam's relationship from being creepy -- like falling in love with a sex-bot -- she needed to be 'Special.' The eight writers that Disney hired must have labored hard to fix this.  Their solution is awkward and hard to explain, they created a class of computer being that springs organically from the computerized utopia that the elder Flynn created. It takes a long time to realize that Quorra is the last one of these computer-angel creatures, and therefore super-special.

Even More: See my other Blog for a Quorra action figure.


Yet More: What will the sequel be like? Will it be in the real world?

The Fighter

imdb link   Photos
Plot: Micky (Mark Wahlberg) is a prize-fighter, who he is coached by his troubled brother Dicky, (Christian Bale) and managed by his Mom Alice (Melissa Leo.) After losing for a long time, Micky meets a new girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams,) who encourages him to break with his crack-addicted brother and get a new trainer.

Review: The Fighter is a family-drama with a boxing theme. The mother and brothers play out soap opera scenes intermixed with fight scenes. The most interesting part is the trouble character of Dicky and the relationship between the brothers.


[Minor spoiler] The fight scenes are predictable where Micky gets battered in the beginning of all the fights and then comes back in an unlikely way at the end.   


I liked Mark Wahlberg's performance, and he was the best part of the movie. While some of the other roles may have been difficult technically, I was unimpressed. 


This movie does not have the soul of the first Rocky movie, perhaps it is like Raging Bull -- another critical hit that I did not care for.  This is based on the true story of Irish "Micky" Ward. 

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams

Directed by: David O Russell

Rating: 2.5 stars; Good acting; predictable plot; not fun-to-watch.

More: Wished I had seen something else.

.

The King's Speech

imdb link  Photos


Plot: King George VI (Colin Firth) of England who was King during WWII stuttered, and he engages speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) to help him.


Review: I love the Declaration of Independence. Thank God for Thomas Jefferson. I am so happy that our nation has nothing to do with an institution as worthless as the English Monarchy and especially the 1930's era monarchy with its world-wide empire.


The King's Speech has events which would be unremarkable for a high-school boy here in Southgate Michigan, but which have some ponderous meaning because it is the English royal family.


There is too much over-cute sitcom humor like -- Oh, should I bow or not? Look Lionel calls the Prince "Bertie" -- outrageous!  Look! Its Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne when they were little girls -- OMG! See how the Prince doesn't stammer when he is swearing -- Oh! Princes aren't supposed to swear.


The basic idea of this movie is bad. The stuttering is probably difficult acting for Colin Firth to perform -- a nice job technically but so what. Geoffrey Rush's floppy face is expressive, and I like some of his proletarian sentiments, which were probably a-historical. Helena Bonham Carter was a highlight though.


This film is way over-rated. I suppose Anglophile might like it more than I. There are a few entertaining parts, but generally the film is not fun-to-watch. 


It tries to engage intellectually on the level of "Look a handicapped person can be King too." We all like to see underdogs overcoming and making good. This is absurd for the Royal Family since they are in every way the opposite of underdogs. 


Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter


Directed by: Tom Hooper


Rating: 2.0 stars 

More: Who thought that this was a good idea for a movie?

.

The Kids Are All Right

imdb link  Photos


Plot: Jules (Annette Benning) and Nic (Julianne Moore) are lesbian couple, and they have two kids through artificial insemination, 18-year old Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and 14-year old Laser (Josh Hutcherson. The kids look up their sperm donor father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo), who turns out to be a nice, likable, and eligible. Paul vies for the affection of the kids as well as the affection of the two Moms. 


Review: It's the same, but different. It's the same because we have seen dozens of love triangles and family dramas, but it is different because we have not seen it played out with lesbian parents before. 


It is a little better because Mia Wasikowska's Joni character plays a pivotal role in her breaking away from her Moms, and in inviting her biological Dad into the family at the same time. We have a more interesting dynamic between interloper Paul and the three women because we have the growing-up story with Joni too.


Annette Benning, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Mia Wasikowska all do a great job acting. It is like a newer Woody Allen movie with good dialog basically about feelings for the whole film. Director Lisa Cholodenko underplays the final scenes, and it produces a thoughtful feeling. 


Is this any film any better because it was about a homosexual couple? Yes perhaps because no one has seen this before. I am not sure why we needed a sub-plot on male homosexual videos -- unless this for laughs. 


Homosexual couples are presented as being as good or better than straight couples. There is one line where son Laser is told that he would be a better person if he were gay -- which I thought was in bad taste. The idea that homosexual parents would encourage homosexuality in their children is a classic argument against homosexual marriage. I was very surprised that director Cholodenko would put such a remark in the movie. Cholodenko was probably trying to stir a debate, but maybe that is what she really thinks. 


A second interesting topic is whether human sexuality orientation is born or chosen. Jules says that human sexuality is complicated, and both Jules and Nic like watching sex tapes of men. Obviously Jules has some pretty spontaneous bisexual behaviors too. Clearly they were not born liking women only. On the opposite side, they were very interested in whether son Laser was having a gay relationship with his friend.


Cast: Annette Benning, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Waskikowska


Written and directed by: Lisa Cholodenko


Rating: 3.5- stars; A 3.0 movie but after leaving the theater, the movie brings to mind issues that make it seem more substantive the second day -- so 3.5. It lacks the fun-ness necessary to be higher.

More: Mark Ruffalo should get some kind of lifetime achievement award for all of the excellent supporting role performances he has in arty independent movies.


Even More: I don't think that any 18-year old girl could sit at the dinner table with her parents talking about having sex with each other without turning green and vomiting -- lesbian Moms or not. 


Yet More: I wonder how auto-biographical this film was for writer Cholodenko, who is a lesbian raising kids with her partner. One news article said her mannerisms and style are much like Annette Benning's Jules character.
.

True Grit

imdb link  Photos


Plot: Fourteen-year-old Mattee Ross (Hailee Steinfield) hires Federal Marshel Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to hunt down murderer Tom Cheney (Josh Brolin.) They are joined by Texas Ranger Laboeuf (Matt Damon) as they venture into Indian territory to find Cheney and the criminal band he is hiding with.


Review: Mattee Ross carries True Grit. It is her larger-than-life, poise, worldliness, and spunk that makes this movie fun. The traditional Western characters like Cogburn and Laboeuf are colorful, but not distinctive or memorable. Hailee Steinfield deserves recognition It is like Ellen Page's role in Juno -- the dialog is the star of the movie. 
The scene where Matee negotiates with the horse dealer should become a classic. 


Jeff Bridges plays Rooster Cogburn as a likeable tough-guy with a warm heart. Jeff Bridges is always a bit disgusting, but the disgusting parts are given only in small doses. Matt Damon was probably too prominent an actor to play Laboeuf because it always seemed like Matt Damon reading lines, and never like an actual character. 


True Grit was fun-to-watch, and surprisingly funny -- usually because of the dialog. There was some suspenseful action, but actually the characters were shallow - as in a comedy or action movie. 


True Grit is not a Western but rather a Black Comedy.  The film was well made and well acted. The movie is not really about anything -- it does not make any points about life or people or whatever.


Cast: Hailee Steinfield, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon


Directed by:  Ethan Coen, Joel Coen


Rating: 3.0 stars, perhaps edging higher to 3.5

More: I want to read the book. 

.

Black Swan

imdb link  Photos

Plot:   Ballet Dancer Nina (Natalie Portman) is the Swan Queen both in her local ballet company, and in her real life struggle with her Mom (Barbara Hershey), the old Prima Dona (Winona Ryder) and with rival ballerina Lily (Mila Kunis).  As the movie plays out, Nina becomes the dark Black Swan more and more. We don't know what is dream sequence, what is psychotic delusion, what is Magic, and what is real life. 

The movie retells the story of Swan Lake, which is based on a Germanic folk tale about enchanted girls who turn into swans. It has battles between the girls and their mothers, elders and with each other for suitors. 

Basically,  Nina is the White Swan and aspiring new Swan Queen, and she fights to break a magic spell by winning a "gentleman's heart", here the heart of ballet director Thomas (Vincent Cassel). She must force the old primary dancer into retirement and fend off her rival Lily, the Black Swan, who tries to impersonate her.


See how long it has taken me to describe the plot, some people will hate this movie for that reason. Read the Swan Lake Wikipedia entry for more info -- it really helps.  

Review: This is a top movie. Don't let the ballet theme fool you. It is really a story with big mythical themes, and you don't need to know much about ballet. The story gets darker near the end like a psychological thriller. 

The movie shows battles between Nina and the old guard and then her peers, as she grows up to be an independent artist. Nina needs to grow up and embrace her 'dark side'. Here this means breaking away from her mother's vision of goodness to become an adult, though it might mean drugs, bloody killing and lesbian sex.

Natalie Portman gives the best performance I have seen in 2010. Really Oscar deserving. Her facial acting when she learns she got the Swan Queen part was a master piece -- deserving of an Oscar by itself. I don't know how much dancing Natalie really did, and how much was a double, but her dancing looks realistic throughout.



I like the interplay between art and life, and how the two twist back and forth.  I like how the Magic/Dream gets stronger and darker as the movie progresses. The movie is not for people who demand linear story telling. 


Everyone likes it when Nina finally turns darker and darker at the end of the film. When she may not really be in control of herself, she is really most in control of everything else.

Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel


Directed by: Darren Aronofsky; Screenplay by Mark Hayman

Rating: 4.0 stars: my favorite for best picture.

More: [Spoiler] The bold art movie ending is just what the movie needed. I choose to believe that Nina lives happily ever after -- whether in heaven or on earth. 


Even More: See my review for Natalie Portman in No Strings Attached.