Did some marathonin' this weekend.
SouthieDespite Donnie Wahlberg, this was a pretty well-handled Boston gangster tale. Will Arnett makes one of his first appearances, and thankfully they played him more as a spineless guy out of his depth than an actual street tough. The story is somewhat cliche and I didn't really care for the ending, but the scene-to-scene interactions are surprisingly well-written. Take away the pretentious prologue and lame ending and this could almost reach some great heights.
3 / 5
Gone Baby GoneI really liked this movie. Casey Affleck steals the show, and I loved his interactions with Michelle Monaghan as partners in both a relationship and as investigators. The best thing Gone Baby Gone has going for it is its tightly edited action scenes, which always had me on the edge of my seat with my pulse racing. The story takes quite a few twists and turns, and I really dug the ending (YMMV.) The only thing I didn't like was Morgan Freeman, and I love him generally but he really took me out of the film here for some reason. That minor nitpick isn't enough to knock down my score though.
5 / 5
Mystic RiverNot much to say about this movie other than I liked it. Sean Penn is even pretty tolerable here, I don't like him but the dude can act. The central mystery is laid on a little thick, and it's hard not to see the ending coming, but I liked it all the same. Even the philosophizing in the last scene feels earned and not too out of place.
3 / 5
Good Will HuntingIt's hard to say anything here that hasn't been said. It's superbly acted, written, and directed, and is already one of my favorite movies. The only aspect that doesn't really stand up to its pedigree is the score by Danny Elfman. Or at least that's what the opening credits said, I'm not sure the movie had much of a score at all. When you put Elfman's name on a movie it engenders a certain expectation, and my expectations weren't met.
That minor quibble aside, my only other complaint is that the story is pretty predictable from the first couple scenes. Not enough to detract terribly, but enough that one or two scenes feel like going through the motion. That said, the interaction between Robin Williams (RIP) and Matt Damon are recognized as the heart of the movie and rightly so, their scenes are fantastic. I really, really dug this one but it missed the mark for me just ever so slightly.
4 / 5
Room 237Do you know those guys who think Stanley Kubrick faked the moon landing? Did you ever want to see that and five equally-preposterous theories take center-stage in a "faux-ironic" "documentary" where they're expoused by some of the smuggest nincompoops on the planet? Well then do I have the movie for you!
Highlights of this shitshow include a paper tray forming an "erection," Stanley Kubrick's face "airbrushed into the clouds," and some batshit woman going on about "synchronicity" because her son had an idea for a character with a splitting headache at the same time she was "contemplating" the man with the split head in The Shining... at the same time! Oooooooh! SPOOKY! SYNCHRONICITY! SPOOKCHRONICITY!
Now, this movie has a lot of good reviews and a lot of people arguing that the filmmakers don't agree with the theories, they just wanted to make something entertaining. But that doesn't hold weight for me. First, if you're not buying into anything the interviewees are saying, even 1%, how can you be even slightly invested enough to be entertained? Yeah, I can go on YouTube and look up dudes ranting about chemtrails for two hours straight, but I don't because it's fucking boring nonsense. Second, the movie itself is maddening to follow, with audio balanced too low, too much cutting between the five theorists, and "errors" like a character's son crying in the background left in the final cut.
This movie gets a bump up from my lowest score because some of the shit being said had me rolling on the floor, but I'm not sure that was the intent of the director, and even if it was those moments came few and far between.
This video sums up the most hilarious parts as well as some other reasons it's dumb, give it a watch instead.
Also I hated the music.
2 / 5
EraserheadUntil about halfway through David Lynch's feature debut, I was pretty sure I was going to give it a 2 or 3. However, in true Lynch fashion it comes together towards the end pretty well. The sets and lighting are ace - much better than I was expecting - and it was also more straightforward too. With that said it's still probably the strangest movie I've ever seen, yet it's not too hard to follow along. Mulholland Drive is one of my five favorite movies and even 24 years beforehand Lynch shows an amazing mastery of his craft. I won't forget this film for a long time and I'm glad I watched it, though I could have easily waited until October for a better mood. I can see this getting a lot of play in Halloween marathons I run, not because it's traditionally scary but because it's disturbing and oppressive.
In heaven, everything is fine.4 / 5
