Doubt Impressions

There really isn't much to say here. I really wanted to enjoy Doubt, but I just couldn't. I thought that Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Amy Adams all did excellent jobs, but the film failed to garner any genuine interest within me. I waited and hoped for some sort of interesting twist, or graphic fight, hell I even waited for an angry mob. Did I get any of those? Nope. Not even a hint of them.

I am awarding Doubt three stars out of five for its great acting but lack of intrigue. In the end this film really just felt like an Oscar grab more than anything else... and it was successful in that respect. Though I really don't think that Viola Davis deserves her Best Supporting Actress nomination. She only had ten or so minutes of screen time, and only a few minutes of dialogue.

Hollywood Or The Assualt On Your Childhood One Movie At A Time?

You tell me.

The Wrestler Impressions

I heard a lot of good things about this film prior to seeing it and I can definitely say that I was not disappointed. The Wrestler, while being fairly downbeat and depressing, still has that little spark of life in it that refuses to go out. Mickey Rourke and Marissa Tomei did excellent jobs with their characters who, after realizing that their peak years have finally past, are forced to face a world that has changed while they weren't looking. I especially liked the ambiguity of the ending. It really gave the audience a chance to make a choice regarding the fate of the characters. Truly the perfect touch.

My only complaints about The Wrestler are that it ran a bit to slowly at times and I think that Randy's past probably could have been fleshed out more deeply. There were a handful of references that I would have really liked to know more about.

I am awarding The Wrestler four stars out of five for its passion and likability, but vague and sometimes slow story. If you haven't seen it, and don't mind a bit of nudity, then you should definitely see this film when you get the chance. It's a real show stopper. Haw haw haw.

If Movie Posters Were Honest...

My roommate just showed me this and I couldn't help letting the rest of you in on the joke. The "funny, ha ha" blog Holy Taco put up a post of photoshopped movie posters that are, well, a bit more honest than the originals. Click here to see the full post and I hope you have as good of a laugh as I did. Oh, and I am not saying that I agree with all of the posters, excluding the obvious one of course, but they aren't meant to be serious so please don't get upset if your favorite movie is among the "victims."

And The Nominees Are...

It's that time of year again. The nominations for the Oscars were released just last week and it the competition is as stiff as ever this year. I have seen quite a few of the nominated films already, and I am trying to see as many more as I can before the February 22nd event. Anyways, I hope everyone gets the chance to see some of the films up for awards and I hope that you tune in for the show!

The link for the full list of nominations can be found here. I would list them myself, but the official list is just so nice.

1/27/2009: I found another list for the OFTA (Online Film & Television Association) with a side bar of the tallied number of nominations for each film. Notice how Let The Right One In (which I reviewed late last year and gave it well deserved praise) is up for two categories!

Gran Torino Impressions

I must admit, was a bit skeptical going in to this film. The trailers weren't terribly exciting and Clint Eastwood looked as mean as ever on his front porch in the gang-ridden setting of the film. By the end, however, I found myself to be very much attached to Clint Eastwood's "Walt Kowalski" despite the numerous racial slurs thrown about. I found his portrayal of Walt to be "classic Eastwood" in every sense of the phrase, but by the end of the film I could really see that tough exterior beginning to crack as he welcomed in, and set out to protect, these people that an extreme amount of violence taught him to hate. Don't worry though, he still does his fair amount of cursing, grunting, and gun waving. The conclusion of the film is what I found to be the most profound, however. I honestly did not see it ending the way it did, but I wouldn't change a second of it. It was the ending that you didn't expect to see. The film's score was also quite excellent and I loved the little number Clint performed during the credit sequence.

My only complaint about Gran Torino was that a bit of the film's commentary on today's youth felt overplayed at times. It just seemed like Eastwood stretched that framing further than it needed to go to maintain its importance.

I am awarding Gran Torino four and a half stars out of five and a spot on my favorite films list for Clint Eastwood's amazing acting, storytelling, and directing. It's really something special to see an actor so close to retirement still making films of this quality. I found Gran Torino to be amazing overall and if you haven't seen it yet, I hope you take the time to do so.

Please go to the official site for the trailer and more information about the film.

All Alone

It has been over a month since I last posted any of my writing. It's so crazy how fast things move when you overlook them for just a moment. Ah well. I wrote this not too long ago and it's still a part of my fifth poetry series which is all about different types of love. I have really been trying to avoid posting a master list of all my deviantArt writings, but I just may one of these days.


All Alone

Once when we were
All alone,
You spoke softly to me
And I knew then
That no one was there.

How can I have so many
Good memories
When it hurts so much
To just look at you?
To just hear your voice?

It is as though we were
A part of some wonderful dream
That I have removed myself from,
But you are still
Living.

I suppose that it is just
Easier this way.
Easier to feel this anger,
This hatred,
When I am removed.

You can not really regret
Anything
If you take away all of the
Good.
All of the love.

But how are you still living there?
Still dreaming?
I can not seem to tell
If you are just oblivious,
Or if you never really cared at all.

I am trying desperately to believe
That you did at some point,
But I may just be lying
To myself.
We all need lies sometimes.

We all need to feel like
Everything is okay,
But I can not keep going through
The motions.
They are not getting us anywhere.

At that time,
You may have meant those magic words you said,
But I just can not accept them anymore.
I just want to get to a place
Where I can feel again.

Is that so wrong?


Copyright © 2008 Jarred Lee