10/07/06 Lucky Number Slevin

Lucky Number Slevin (2006), directed by Paul McGuigan

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

Here comes another one of those hipster gangster crime syndicate witty thrillers. Is that enough of a description...just think "Lock, Stock..." and "The Man Who Knew Too Little." OK, maybe not that big of a stretch, but it does fall smack dab in the middle of cool, but average. It seemed like it was a title that was panned (or at least overlooked too much) by critics, but it had tremendous star potential (with names like Morgan Freeman, Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, and Lucy Liu) and a great Scotch director in McGuigan (of "Gangster No.1" and "Wicker Park" fame). However, I think overall it came out too cool for its own good, but kept it entertaining throughout. Hartnett plays Slevin, whose mistaken identity for crime hooligan lands him right in the middle of a war being plotted by the city's two rival crime bosses...the Rabbi (Kingsley) and the Boss (Freeman). Both old men play it cool at bad guys with a sinister calm about them, and flexing their thug muscle through more hooligans and the occasional comic relief in inept hooliganism with henchmen Elvis and Sloe. Slevin's average joe day gets turned upside down when staying over at a friend's apartment, only to be roughed up and dragged into both crime bosses' lairs (executive buildings facing each other) in nothing more than his towel after showering (easy ladies). His wild day has him being beaten up, under constant surveillance by detectives (lead by Stanley Tucci), stumbling into love with Lindsey (Liu), playing motives against others, and pretty much getting in over his head. Then you throw stealthy hitman Mr. Goodkat (Willis) into the mix as assassin for both sides, and you have a veritable smorgasbord of suave gangster chic. Everyone's out for something, and no one is as they seem. While most of the attempts at surprising the audience with their plot-twists don't cash in, it's still an overall enjoyably violent caper. What starts off as more of a wacky & witty crime gone awry kind of story, the depths that each party is willing to go to for revenge and redemption gets pretty twisted. Plus, how can you get mad at such a clever title (involving your main character, whom I'm sure was not written with the intention of ever having it become the actual title of the movie)?! Really?

3 out of 5 stars

10/06/06 The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada (2006), directed by David Frankel

watched w/ Leslie, Eric & Louis; theater (Blue Ridge Cinema, Raleigh, NC)

Now back to a much more vapid and less-threatening storyline. With this bomb of a movie, we get to see one of the modern day best-selling novels plastered onto a big screen full of Hollywood stars, brainless fashionistas, and porous dialogue in a script. Yes, what better than to catch a tired retread of a "fish out of water" story told by trendy "Seventeen" magazine editors and wasting the recognized talents of both Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci (Anne Hathaway is only here for eye candy and the hopes that she will show lots of skin as she does in all of her movies...unless of course she's being a Disney princess or something). Hathaway stars as (I must emphasize that her star is a bit lackluster at this point) Andrea, the burgeoning journalism grad who is looking for a good stepping stone job in the shark infested waters of NYC. That job she eventually stumbles upon is an assistant to the editor Miranda Priestley (Streep), the over-bearing and demanding diva of fake "Runway" magazine. The hi-jinks ensue, as mousey and un-hip Andrea must dress to impress (fun pun there) and schmooze her way into Miranda's heart and further her career...all with the help of trusted sidekick Nigel (Tucci). Will she do it? Will she go through so much pain and anguish to get her foot in the door? Will any of these models on the screen ever eat anything and not wither away to waifish nothingness? Who really cares? Not I said the goose. And here's an existentialist approach...would the devil ever really wear (or afford) Prada? The world may never know after this lame attempt. Thanks for ruining eternal damnation for all of us!

2 out of 5 stars

10/05/06 Paradise Now

Paradise Now (2005), directed by Hany Abu

Assad-watched solo; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

It has been quite some time since I've caught up on my blog entries, although I must reassure all my avid fans out there (what are there, about 5 of you?) that I have in fact NOT given up on the movie challenge itself, having never missed a beat in the absence of my written reports upon them. In fact, I have put off these important diary entries if you will so long, I've forgotten about some interesting details to this otherwise fascinating flick. Alas, I do remember how I felt about this film overall...and that is curious. I was curious to dive into such a unique contemplation on modern day warfare/terrorist culture in a moving drama that had garnered many a praises and its eventual Oscar nomination (which even more interesting, is Palestine's first Academy Award nomination). The story follows two young Palestinian men, Said and Khaled, who embark on what may be the final 24 hours of their lives, upon the heels of their mission as suicide bombers in Tel Aviv. The two men are life-long friends, and had always made it a pact between themselves that if ever they were to leave the agony of their everyday lives in the West Bank (terrible poverty, constant warfare and terrorist attacks, and sitting around getting high while working at a local mechanic shop), that they would both do it together. That life is brought abruptly to an end when the two young men are appointed to carry out a deadly suicide mission for a guerilla group. The two men must keep secret the act they are about to carry out the next day, even to their families and loved ones. The film is a harrowing portrayal of what the other side of what this Westernized world believes about terrorism and certain cultures. While basically a fictionalized story, the events are so close to the reality of what happens all the time over in that region of the world...and told in such a way that at least humanizes the people who are involved and affected daily by these horrors. Even in the two men's different approaches to the job at hand, you can see where inner conflicts arise about morality, justice, family, governments, conscience, and doubt. I didn't really know how to take what I was seeing, but I realize the significance of the film itself. It's such a huge concept to get your head around, so perhaps (and this will come across as a bit of an excuse) this is why it has taken me so long to come up with some kind of witty narrative on it.

3 out of 5 stars