Monday, February 27, 2006

Bleat Today

Not particularly insightful, but enjoyable nevertheless. Not unlike a George Will column.

We kid because we love.

Anyway, Lileks saw Cinderella Man:

The movie was shot in Depression-O-Vision, a special technique that drains the color from everything, because after the crash most people had to sell all their hues, opting for a general sepia tone – even milk was the color of hay, I understand.

In case you’re curious, I thought it was a marvelous movie....
In case you're curious, I thought it belonged in the long line of Ron Howard movies: very, very good. But not great. I do not know what it is about Howard, but he seems to go right up to making great films and then something holds him back. Splash and Cocoon were before he really honed the craft; Backdraft had William Baldwin; Ransom and Far and Away got away from him. Cinderella Man had the Apollo 13 issue: manufactured tension. We knew he'd win, just like we knew they'd survive. There's only so much you can do with a true story, unless you make it not true, which was the problem with A Beautiful Mind. The Da Vinci Code is caught up in the politics of a book that is fiction but pretends to be real. There is always something.

I should add that despite the Baldwin, Backdraft is my favorite Ron Howard movie. The rest of the cast is stellar (De Niro, Kurt Russell, Scott Glenn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca De Mornay, Donald Sutherland, J.T. Walsh), the Hans Zimmer score is heart-thumping, and the fire scenes are magnificent.

6 comments:

Stephen said...

I liked Ransom-- good example of the genre, I thought. Also, I finally saw Brokeback Mountain over the weekend. It was ok. Now I know that Walk the Line was robbed.

dcat said...

I have always felt as if the Baldwin backlash was a bit much. But then again, Daniel Baldwin was in the greatest television show in human history, "Homicide: Life on the Streets," and so I tend to give him and the family the benefit of the doubt.

dcat

Tom said...

I was afraid I might be hinting an anti-Baldwin bias when that was not what I meant. I am strictly anti-William Baldwin. Daniel has always been good on tv, and I think Alec is a great film actor, especially in Team America. Stephen is a nutbag.

J.D. said...

I thought all the Baldwins were killed by the Canadians in the South Park movie.

Tom said...

Stephen Baldwin, that is.

Our Stephen is not a nutbag, he just thinks processed vegetable snot is tastier than steak.

I really do think Alec Baldwin is a great actor.

dcat said...

JD --
That's what the Hollywood indistrial machine wants you to believe.
dcat