Movies in January

Still finishing up on some Woody Allen I've been missing. Don't Drink the Water was originally a play, but this version with Julie Kavner, Michael J. Fox and Mayim Bialik was done for TV. That cast probably dates it a bit. The story of a couple travelling behind the iron curtain with their daughter and inadvertently getting into trouble while taking pictures, forcing them to seek sanctuary in the US embassy for an extended stay, feels even more out of the past (although taking pictures anywhere can get you into trouble these days). I do like when Allen does the old married thing, and Julie Kavner is great. It does make me wish he'd do another film with Diane Keaton, though; she's the best of all his costars.

We also watched the last of the three James Dean films, East of Eden, based on the Steinbeck novel, which I haven't read. I ought to; I think this movie probably changed some things and I'm betting I'd like the book better.

I also used my birthday and Christmas money to pick up the last two Ang Lee movies, Lust Caution and Taking Woodstock. Both excellent films, but so very different from each other. Lust Caution is an NC-17 film with very graphic sex, and yet I've never seen a film where the sex was less gratuitous. There is so much going on with those two characters in those scenes, and the two actors do such marvellous work conveying what's not being spoken. I can't even imagine what it must be like as an actor to go to those places, but they both really nail it (ooh, bad choice of words. Perhaps I should go with the Olympic: they stick the landing. Better?). The movie made me acutely uncomfortable, but then it was supposed to. Good job, Ang Lee. Taking Woodstock is more lighthearted fare, starring a favorite in my family: Demtri Martin. I don't think I've seen a movie about the 60s as cynicism-free as this one. And Liev Schreiber is fabulous.

Hangover. Let's just say I'm not the target demographic for this one and let it go at that. (Adding, I've seen enough movies, TV shows and good god commercials that divide the world into slacker underachieving men and shrewish women. It misrepresents both genders, and it stopped being funny long ago, surely.) (But the baby was cute.)

District 9 I didn't like as well as Quin did. I thought the "message" was simplistic, and the movie itself way too splatter-gore. Conversely, I liked Cloverfield much more than Quin did. It was like a cooler, more thought-out The Blair Witch Project. In any case, it's nice to see more sci-fi movies being made that aren't big blockbuster popcorn flicks. Hopefully with special effects being cheaper and easier to do, we'll see more.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Given that my favorite Harry Potter book, The Order of the Phoenix, was made into my least favorite movie, and they let that director have another go, my expectations were low. So low we didn't bother seeing this in the theater. There were still things that bothered me, and I don't think this director has any storytelling instincts at all, but the cast is top notch and make the best of it. Daniel Radcliffe in particular, playing Harry under the influence of the luck potion, was surprisingly fun. I wonder what he'll tackle after the last movie, what sorts of characters he'll play. Harry Potter is a great part, but it's still a lot of being earnest and brave and not much else.

The Transporter 3. Jason Statham, not in Crank. 'nuff said.

Finally, one Hindi movie, not really a Bollywood move: Ek Ruka Hua Faisla. It's the Indian Twelve Angry Men, and it's a very faithful retelling, just a few India-specific details thrown in for flavor. It's a great story in any language, and the actors in this, not one of which was familiar to me (and I suspect they might be more stage than film actors, they have that vibe), were all wonderful.

Alas, no song and dance numbers in that one (I said it wasn't really Bollywood). But you saw these two skating to a great Bollywood medley in the Olympics, didn't you?