January movies
Wrestling is a funny old thing. I can never satisfactorily explain why I enjoy watching it, beyond a few lame-sounding lines about male soap operas, the primal (male) love of combat, etc. The Wrestler isn't going to change anybody's minds about the sport (or "sports entertainment", or whatever), especially after the genuinely gut-churning hardcore bout involving glass, barbed wire and a staple gun. However, the film is far more concerned with universal themes of fear of getting old, and the struggle to find one's place in the world, and Marisa Tomei's single-mom stripper is just as important to its success.
The role of ageing fuck-up Randy "the Ram" really does fit Rourke like a glove and an Oscar win would be well deserved. Ultimately the story is fairly generic, the sub-plot involving Randy's daughter being especially predictable, but as a wrestling fan I can attest that this film has been made with care and attention to detail, and as a viewer I found it highly moving.
If the Wrestler had been purely a document of Randy's career and deeds rather than a deeper character study then the result would have been similar to Milk. Once again, the lead performance here is exceptional - I'd expect nothing less from Sean Penn but still, at no point was I thinking "this is a straight guy playing a gay guy". Unfortunately, I was wishing the film would tell me more about what Harvey Milk was really like as a human being, rather than just as a brilliant activist and politician. This is my major gripe with biopics, condensing large parts of somebody's life into a couple of hours doesn't give you the full picture, leaving the viewer to attempt to fill in the blanks from their own knowledge. Still, as a document of the gay rights struggle in that particular place and time, the film satisfies.
I can't add anything new to the discourse about Slumdog Millionaire. It has charm and tension in bucketloads, and deserves all its success despite the cynical and misleading marketing campaign, even though it's not quite the masterpiece that some might proclaim it as.
Finally, a few words about Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Seeing this was emphatically not my decision (honest), and I've never even seen the first two Underworlds. I wasn't that surprised to see Bill Nighy as the main vampire fella, but I had no idea that Michael Sheen was another focal point of the series as growly werewolf type Lucian. The film was utterly bland, and took place in that standard SF/fantasy middle-ages setting which always equates to dull, characterless dialogue and much pompous posturing. But I couldn't get over seeing Sheen acting for all he was worth in amongst all this generic violence, his eyes pleading with us - "I've been Kenneth Williams! Tony Blair! Brian Clough (coming soon)! What am I even doing here??" Oh well, pays the bills I suppose.
The role of ageing fuck-up Randy "the Ram" really does fit Rourke like a glove and an Oscar win would be well deserved. Ultimately the story is fairly generic, the sub-plot involving Randy's daughter being especially predictable, but as a wrestling fan I can attest that this film has been made with care and attention to detail, and as a viewer I found it highly moving.
If the Wrestler had been purely a document of Randy's career and deeds rather than a deeper character study then the result would have been similar to Milk. Once again, the lead performance here is exceptional - I'd expect nothing less from Sean Penn but still, at no point was I thinking "this is a straight guy playing a gay guy". Unfortunately, I was wishing the film would tell me more about what Harvey Milk was really like as a human being, rather than just as a brilliant activist and politician. This is my major gripe with biopics, condensing large parts of somebody's life into a couple of hours doesn't give you the full picture, leaving the viewer to attempt to fill in the blanks from their own knowledge. Still, as a document of the gay rights struggle in that particular place and time, the film satisfies.
I can't add anything new to the discourse about Slumdog Millionaire. It has charm and tension in bucketloads, and deserves all its success despite the cynical and misleading marketing campaign, even though it's not quite the masterpiece that some might proclaim it as.
Finally, a few words about Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Seeing this was emphatically not my decision (honest), and I've never even seen the first two Underworlds. I wasn't that surprised to see Bill Nighy as the main vampire fella, but I had no idea that Michael Sheen was another focal point of the series as growly werewolf type Lucian. The film was utterly bland, and took place in that standard SF/fantasy middle-ages setting which always equates to dull, characterless dialogue and much pompous posturing. But I couldn't get over seeing Sheen acting for all he was worth in amongst all this generic violence, his eyes pleading with us - "I've been Kenneth Williams! Tony Blair! Brian Clough (coming soon)! What am I even doing here??" Oh well, pays the bills I suppose.
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