Saturday July 23, 2011

Wicker Park- I enjoyed this underrated foreign remake. Most of all because I felt intriguing stories from almost every character in the film. I think the best kinds of movies are the ones where each character could easily get their own individual film. For instance, with this one, the film may be about the couple played by Diane Kruger and Josh Hartnett, and the manipulation of the character played by Rose Byrne into forcing the two apart, but the film could also be seen as the struggle of Byrne tragic figure, who wishes desperately to be with Hartnett, and had noticed him before Kruger, and now must fight a battle with the fates of love, who continually try to bring the couple together. Byrne tragic 'psycho' made this film way better, so it will only be a solid movie if you look at the storyline unexamined in the film.



Gentleman Broncos- Honestly, it's up there with some of the worst comedies I've witnessed, and if for that reason alone, it was worth watching. Sure, Sam Rockwell and Jermaine Clement have their moments, but what about the other hour and ten minutes of the film? I guess Jared Hess of 'Napolean Dynomite' fame wanted to leave that to the creepy mexican smiley kid and Stifler's mom. Terrible stuff, indeed. The funny thing is, if Hess tried to do a serious film about Plagiarism and the difficulties of loose adaptations to writers' works, this might have been an "ok" movie. But snake shit jokes are what he guffaws at, so I guess this film was destined for it's downfall.



Rare Exports- An interesting entertainment, but the premise was flimsy and kind of anti-american (Portraying us as money consuming frauds in desperate need of Santa for some reason), and there were way to many why? questions left in my brain by the end. For instance being that the child chooses to sacrifice himself in the end by jumping into an electric fenced up area so he can open the gates so Santa's helpers can follow him in and capture them. Who would shut the gate after he opened it to lead them in. Nobody? This is confusing. Also, the ending was confusing considering the fact that nobody is so desperate to pay $85,000 for a so called 'trained mall santa' that could go crazy at any moment. Really? What's your problem, Finland?



- Jeff Bassin