Last movie you watched......

Not addressing the rest of this critique, but Jones' character was a plant. She was supposed to be psychoanalyzing the Zuckerberg character to see how he'd play in a jury trial. Her character served a plot function and a thematic function of circling around to explain a distinction in Zuckerberg's character that Eric Albright got wrong.

The treatment of women in that film - Sorkin's treatment, I suppose - is very misogynistic. I've spoken to several critics that feel like Sorkin draws a distinction between the way these geeks see women and the way Sorkin does, but the Asian girlfriend seals it for me in the opposite direction. Sorkin keeps her around for laughs. Albright is meant as the "true" counterbalance, but she's little more than a one-scene, quick-mouthed brat.

 

I do let my freak flag fly, yes.

 

Saw 'Another Year' ... beautiful film. Extremely well-acted, well-paced, well-written ... well, everything. You want to be a better person after watching it. It inspires and enriches.

 

Here's a little reality for you (if you want it), no way in hell I'm letting my 2nd year associate psychoanalyze anyone, let alone possibly piss off a client worth hundreds of millions (then.) They only one who is going to give him any tough talk is the partner he hired.

 

Haven't seen AY, yet, but not surprised . . . don't love everything that Leigh does, but Topsy Turvy was my favorite movie of the past 15 years . . .

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_High_Me
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/reviews/sxsw-movie-review-super-high-me.php

 

Watched The Messenger yesterday. Thoroughly depressing. Just what I needed. Anyway, I'm guessing it's a fair representation of what has to be one of the worst jobs in the Army.

 

Loved it.

 

Got "The Rocket" about Maurice Richard from the library, and really liked it, despite the fact that I'm a Bruins fan. Terrific period piece that doesn't sentimentalize a story that is way more complicated than I ever knew.

Mike Ricci easy to spot, as is fucking Sean fucking Avery.

 

"Saw I am Number Four" tonight. Would not recommend it. Nothing new there.

 

Watched Legion last night. It was a decent premise squandered miserably.

 

"The Kids Are All Right."

Spoiler reaction below (including vague spoilers re: "500 Days of Summer," "Crazy Heart," and "The Natural":








I really liked it a lot. It was different from some movies I've watched recently in some very pleasing ways:

(1) No flashbacks. It seems like every movie I watch these days has to use a framing advice to fake tension. In a lesser director's hand, you would probably open with an indication that Jules and Nic would have a huge fight, or with a scene of Jules and Paul in bed together, then begin the story. Instead, everything that happened was a surprise, and it was nice to be surprised for a change - and trusted to keep watching.

(2) They talk like people really talk. Very little on-the-nose dialogue, a plague in even critical darlings the last couple awards seasons. The closest is when Jules gives her speech to the family. But it is just awkward enough - and she realizes that it's awkward enough - to succeed.

The scene where Nic sings at the table was like the good twin of the scene in "The Office" a few years ago when Jan broke out with "Son of a Preacher Man" and made everyone uncomfortable. Here it was cute.

The lesbian-has-sex-with-men plot line was derivative of "Chasing Amy." I believe that the director is gay herself, so I'll be curious to track down some opinions about that. I have to imagine some lesbians are offended by what can be taken as a hint that they are all closeted heterosexuals waiting to be swept off their feet. It was all nicely and non-obviously foreshadowed by the gay male porn and the speech about "externalizing" sex. The comedy was so delightful in that scene I didn't even realize the director was setting me up. Excellent work.

I think that eventually Paul will develop a relationship with the family. I read a critic who said that the movie is about "forgiving the unforgivable," and that fits, particularly since the Alice in Wonderland girl left it open-ended.

This is about the 100th movie I've watched the last couple years where there is not a happy ending for a sympathetic main character or characters. "(500) Days of Summer." "Crazy Heart." It's definitely a trend. Someone should remake "The Natural" now that it's OK to have endings where the hero doesn't get the girl and ride off into the sunset.

I had to laugh when I popped in the DVD and saw the menu image - the lesbian couple at the table overlooking wine country, with their two adorable teen-age children and scruffy granola-eater sperm donor sitting at the table, as well, all of them sipping on red wine. The kind of image that makes the Bill O'Reillys of the world put their fist through the wall about "out-of-touch," bourgeois Hollywood (very "Sidways"-esque).

I don't think that Paul deserved the "Fuck you" from Tonya. He was totally honest with her.

I haven't quite come to understand how the minor subplot about the sexual tension between Alice in Wonderland and her male friend fits into the bigger picture.