Constant Potato Gardener
Couch Potato
Last night on Tv1 they played a BBC docu-drama showcasing a "what if?" scenario regarding what would happen if Yellowstone blew its top in a "super-eruption." It was a solid two hours, both informative and entertaining with surprisingly decent CG effects used to show the eruptions etc. (given it was made for television). I now know that if it happened America would be fucked over, the world would be plunged into freezing temperatures and that the man responsible for tracking Yellowstone's volcanic activity will be caught in a moral dilemma, choke on ash, starve for a while, devise a plan for helping people and then get out alive. I forget how much of all that was fiction but it was made by British people and British people seem smart so I mindlessly accepted it all as fact. Also on TV was The Hulk, which I taped. I watched the first 20-25 minutes of it when I got up this morning and it was horrendous. I may have another go at watching it next time Ang Lee breaks into my house and holds me at gunpoint, which happens more often than you'd think.
By Request: Part One
Following David's suggestion I shall now count down my Top 10 Favourite Movies Of 2005, or at least half of them. Note that these are all 2005 US Calender releases (ie. those technically within 2005 Oscar guidelines) so films such as Million Dollar Baby, The Woodsman & Finding Neverland, while released in New Zealand in early 2005, do not count. Anyways, if you missed any of these movies last year, I recommend that you try to check them out when they're out on DVD. (Note: Audience scores sourced from IMDB weighted average scores, and Major Critics scores sourced from Rotten Tomatoes "Cream Of The Crop" average scores.)
10. The Constant Gardener
Fernando Meirelles' next project after City Of God saw him tackling a John le Carre novel involving international corruption amongst drug companies and the efforts of one man to track down the killers of his wife. As one movie fan commented, audiences may have been turned off by the title which suggested something along the lines of: "Now to figure out who killed my wife and put a stop to all this corruption...but...must...keep...gardening," with the film failing to break-out as a mainstream success like it should have done. Rachel Weisz recently picked up the Supporting Actress prize at the Golden Globes for her role and while I was somewhat surprised by that decision both she and Ralph Fiennes are certainly very good in their roles (I was more impressed with Fiennes myself).This movie gets a solid B from me, or 3.5/5. Among its shortfalls is the unforgivably artificial plot development which sees a tribe attack on a village coming at exactly the right moment to force Pete Postlethwaite's character to come with Fiennes, ensuring Fiennes would get the information & help he needed from the reluctant doctor. (Audiences 7.6/10, Major Critics 8.2/10)
9. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit
I feel no shame or embarassment in listing a clay-mation family movie amongst the ten best films of the year. It is a fantastic film which I would rate above both of Pixar's most recent critically-acclaimed efforts Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, filled with fun, wit, plenty of humourous innuendo and enough movie references to please any fan of cinema. The animation is superb, particularly in creating effective sets and lighting beyond the typical simple, sunny production design you might expect from a less innovative team than the people at Aardman, and it gets a strong B or 3.5/5. (Audiences 8.1/10, Major Critics 7.8/10)
8. Crash
I have a lot of negative things to say about this movie, but much of that stems from the fact that I firmly believe the praise that has been heaped upon it is completely unjustified. This is not a "masterpiece." It's a very good but uneven drama. It often succeeds in achieving an emotional connection with its audience but at the same time too often cheats by getting somewhere through completely contrived circumstances. Its drama is often powerful but just as often it's about as subtle as a man running up to you on the street and shouting EVERYONE'S A RACIST, EVEN IF WE DESPISE RACISM, HOW INSIGHTFUL OF ME. At the numerous awards ceremonies that have bestowed honours in the last month or so, this movie kept getting recognition where it didn't deserve it (screenplay) and nothing where it did (direction). Again this gets a strong B or 3.5/5. (Audiences 8.5/10, Major Critics 7.1/10)
7. Sin City
I've seen this movie three times now, once at the cinema (had to sneak in, still hadn't turned 18 when it came out so that was an...interesting experience as it turned out) where I was underwhelmed and disappointed (having anticipated it for the best part of 8 months), once at the Univeristy's AV Library when I enjoyed it a lot more having known what to expect, and once at home on DVD when it improved once again. This is entertainment galore, noir on overdrive, Kill Bill-esque in its violence and very very stylish. Sin City doesn't take itself too seriously, it prides itself on its cliched noir style of dialogue and perfectly forgivable hammy lines and it amounts to one hell of a good time for anyone not too overcome by the numerous implied or silhouetted decapitations and castrations which take place (come on, they're bad guys, they deserve it!). This movie gets a B+ or 4/5, and I look forward to the planned second and third movies in the series. (Audiences 8.4/10, Major Critics 7.1/10)
6. The 40 Year-Old Virgin
Not since There's Something About Mary has there been an R-rated comedy this good. It's funny, endearing, daring & is actually well-written enough to treat the 40-year-old virgin in question (played by the always awesome Steve Carell) not as some archetypal uber-nerd with a catch-phrase, wheezing voice, thick glasses and stutter but rather he is portrayed as a genuinely nice guy, somewhat nerdy due to what he occupied his relationshipless life with, but who's simply been out of the dating game for too long to feel that he can comfortably re-enter it. The Wedding Crashers got a lot more hype upon its release and while it was certainly a well-above-average comedy it is in fact The 40 Year-Old Virgin which I believe to be the better of the two. No doubt the Academy will overlook a film like this but it was nice to see Carell and co-writer and director Judd Apatow nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Virgin at the annual Writer's Guild Awards. (Audiences 7.4/10, Major Critics 7.1/10)
To Be Continued...
Last night on Tv1 they played a BBC docu-drama showcasing a "what if?" scenario regarding what would happen if Yellowstone blew its top in a "super-eruption." It was a solid two hours, both informative and entertaining with surprisingly decent CG effects used to show the eruptions etc. (given it was made for television). I now know that if it happened America would be fucked over, the world would be plunged into freezing temperatures and that the man responsible for tracking Yellowstone's volcanic activity will be caught in a moral dilemma, choke on ash, starve for a while, devise a plan for helping people and then get out alive. I forget how much of all that was fiction but it was made by British people and British people seem smart so I mindlessly accepted it all as fact. Also on TV was The Hulk, which I taped. I watched the first 20-25 minutes of it when I got up this morning and it was horrendous. I may have another go at watching it next time Ang Lee breaks into my house and holds me at gunpoint, which happens more often than you'd think.
By Request: Part One
Following David's suggestion I shall now count down my Top 10 Favourite Movies Of 2005, or at least half of them. Note that these are all 2005 US Calender releases (ie. those technically within 2005 Oscar guidelines) so films such as Million Dollar Baby, The Woodsman & Finding Neverland, while released in New Zealand in early 2005, do not count. Anyways, if you missed any of these movies last year, I recommend that you try to check them out when they're out on DVD. (Note: Audience scores sourced from IMDB weighted average scores, and Major Critics scores sourced from Rotten Tomatoes "Cream Of The Crop" average scores.)
10. The Constant Gardener
Fernando Meirelles' next project after City Of God saw him tackling a John le Carre novel involving international corruption amongst drug companies and the efforts of one man to track down the killers of his wife. As one movie fan commented, audiences may have been turned off by the title which suggested something along the lines of: "Now to figure out who killed my wife and put a stop to all this corruption...but...must...keep...gardening," with the film failing to break-out as a mainstream success like it should have done. Rachel Weisz recently picked up the Supporting Actress prize at the Golden Globes for her role and while I was somewhat surprised by that decision both she and Ralph Fiennes are certainly very good in their roles (I was more impressed with Fiennes myself).This movie gets a solid B from me, or 3.5/5. Among its shortfalls is the unforgivably artificial plot development which sees a tribe attack on a village coming at exactly the right moment to force Pete Postlethwaite's character to come with Fiennes, ensuring Fiennes would get the information & help he needed from the reluctant doctor. (Audiences 7.6/10, Major Critics 8.2/10)
9. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit
I feel no shame or embarassment in listing a clay-mation family movie amongst the ten best films of the year. It is a fantastic film which I would rate above both of Pixar's most recent critically-acclaimed efforts Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, filled with fun, wit, plenty of humourous innuendo and enough movie references to please any fan of cinema. The animation is superb, particularly in creating effective sets and lighting beyond the typical simple, sunny production design you might expect from a less innovative team than the people at Aardman, and it gets a strong B or 3.5/5. (Audiences 8.1/10, Major Critics 7.8/10)
8. Crash
I have a lot of negative things to say about this movie, but much of that stems from the fact that I firmly believe the praise that has been heaped upon it is completely unjustified. This is not a "masterpiece." It's a very good but uneven drama. It often succeeds in achieving an emotional connection with its audience but at the same time too often cheats by getting somewhere through completely contrived circumstances. Its drama is often powerful but just as often it's about as subtle as a man running up to you on the street and shouting EVERYONE'S A RACIST, EVEN IF WE DESPISE RACISM, HOW INSIGHTFUL OF ME. At the numerous awards ceremonies that have bestowed honours in the last month or so, this movie kept getting recognition where it didn't deserve it (screenplay) and nothing where it did (direction). Again this gets a strong B or 3.5/5. (Audiences 8.5/10, Major Critics 7.1/10)
7. Sin City
I've seen this movie three times now, once at the cinema (had to sneak in, still hadn't turned 18 when it came out so that was an...interesting experience as it turned out) where I was underwhelmed and disappointed (having anticipated it for the best part of 8 months), once at the Univeristy's AV Library when I enjoyed it a lot more having known what to expect, and once at home on DVD when it improved once again. This is entertainment galore, noir on overdrive, Kill Bill-esque in its violence and very very stylish. Sin City doesn't take itself too seriously, it prides itself on its cliched noir style of dialogue and perfectly forgivable hammy lines and it amounts to one hell of a good time for anyone not too overcome by the numerous implied or silhouetted decapitations and castrations which take place (come on, they're bad guys, they deserve it!). This movie gets a B+ or 4/5, and I look forward to the planned second and third movies in the series. (Audiences 8.4/10, Major Critics 7.1/10)
6. The 40 Year-Old Virgin
Not since There's Something About Mary has there been an R-rated comedy this good. It's funny, endearing, daring & is actually well-written enough to treat the 40-year-old virgin in question (played by the always awesome Steve Carell) not as some archetypal uber-nerd with a catch-phrase, wheezing voice, thick glasses and stutter but rather he is portrayed as a genuinely nice guy, somewhat nerdy due to what he occupied his relationshipless life with, but who's simply been out of the dating game for too long to feel that he can comfortably re-enter it. The Wedding Crashers got a lot more hype upon its release and while it was certainly a well-above-average comedy it is in fact The 40 Year-Old Virgin which I believe to be the better of the two. No doubt the Academy will overlook a film like this but it was nice to see Carell and co-writer and director Judd Apatow nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Virgin at the annual Writer's Guild Awards. (Audiences 7.4/10, Major Critics 7.1/10)
To Be Continued...
posted by Steve @ 11:00 AM
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