Movies and stuff

I’m having a hard time with movies as I get older – it is hard to sit through them knowing that something is either CGI or that there is a camera in the room with the actors. A movie like No Country for Old Men is such a rarity – I walked out of the having totally bought in – the acting, the illusion, the acting, all superb.

My favorite movie of 2009 was well done, well thought out, well scripted, poignant and inspiring: It was animated. They called it, simply, “Up.”

Here are some off-the-wall observations about movies and stuff. Please add your own.

Sherlock Holmes How dare they take a cerebral drug addict (played, interestingly, by a decidedly non-cerebral drug addict), and action him all up, making him into a brawling 19th century James Bond. I deliberately avoided that movie. Sacrilege.

Nicole Kidman: Refers to herself as an “actor.” Takes on parts that stretch her limited abilities. Is abominable. She ruined Cold Mountain. She should take off her clothes and shut up.

Meryl Streep: A woman who is so good at her craft that I cannot get over the fact that it is Meryl Streep. Aging well, however, and stays busy. If only I could forget, for one second, that I am watching Meryl Street act.

Paul Newman: Wonderful, common, kind and ordinary man who did what all people who become wealthy by means of the genetic lottery should do: He used is fame to help other people. He seemed to understand that he wasn’t worthy, and treated his good fortune with humility, paying it out to others. What a nice man he was.

A Hard Day’s Night: The Beatles transcended the camera, their charm poured out of the screen – well … John, Ringo and George, anyway. It turns out that Paul was dating a professional actress at the time of shooting, and she was coaching him on how to act. Consequently, they had to cut most of his scenes, as he was stinking it up. But I urge anyone too young to remember the Beatles in their prime to rent this movie. It’s a timeless classic.

ET:I went for a long period of time when the kids were young without seeing any movies. I did not see Rocky and Star Wars until years after the fact. One day I took my oldest two daughters to see ET, just on a whim. It was really fun. Then I saw the name “Spielberg” on another movie, and thought it must be a good one for kids too, and took them to see …

Gremlins: They were hiding under the seats. I had to leave very early in the movie, and complained that it was not suitable for kids. It was rated “PG”- later, they came up with the rating “PG-13” in response to parents who found themselves with their kids watching movies not suitable for young children.

House: Not a movie, I know. I just throw it in here because I’m curious how long they can go on with bad writing, an impossibly unrealistic plot construct, and shallow characters. House himself was somewhat interesting at one time, but he is surrounded by two dimensions at best.

I have often thought that House (patterned after Sherlock Holmes) would be better suited for a “Fugitive” type series – not the excellent movie, but rather the old David Jansen TV series where Jansen’s Dr. Richard Kimble was always on the run, meeting a new cast of people every week. House should be called all over the country to consult on unusual cases, meeting different doctors, nurses and patients. That way he could get rid of that awful, boring cast.

The Wire: My daughter turned me on to this now-defunct series on HBO, and I’ll never forget the words of David Simon, former journalist and co-creator. He said in a Bill Moyers interview that as a journalist he would put up stories, and they might have some small impact, and then evaporate. He wanted to convey the reality of the phony “War on Drugs”, and found that journalism simply did not reach people. So he chose to write a TV series instead. The Wire is far too complex to describe here, but incredibly worth investing your Netflix account in for months to come.

Showtime, HBO: Showtime has a series called “Californication” with David Duchovny that has some good nudity from time to time. HBO is struggling with a series called “Hung”, which also offers up nice flesh now and then. The two series are really the same formula – a plot line that allows for a wide array of beautiful actresses to pass through the screen and disrobe for us. I got tired of Showtime and switched to HBO, and every time that I switch to the guide for that channel range, I think “please, HBO – give me a reason not to cancel you!” Bill Maher is not enough, and dammit it, if you show one more hairy 70 year old dick or one more set of sagging 70-year-old boobs on Real Sex, I’m outta there. (Bryant Gumbel does serious and credible journalism in his “Real Sports” series. Too bad that it is only in the realm of sports where journalists feel free to openly challenge powerful people and institutions.)

Anyway, I am visiting kids and the baby is asleep, hence the ramble. Please take a minute and add your own thoughts below.