Monday, November 5, 2012

Summer Movie Roundup #3

I've fallen so far behind on writing about the movies I've seen in the last six months, that it seems pointless to think I can deliver full posts on each, as had been my habit in the past. So instead I'll just offer a few brief comments on each, and then maybe I can start over with those films that are still fresh in my mind.  Let's start today with the disappointments:

To Rome With Love (Woody Allen)- Very lame, mostly half-developed silly stories about a bunch of folks in the Eternal City for one reason or another.  The only memorable element of this movie is all the great location shots, and the realization that Woody copied a camera movement that I too used when I found myself in the Piazza del Popolo several years back, though I sincerely doubt it was original with me.

Your Sister's Sister (Lynn Shelton)- This was better than To Rome With Love, if only because of the presence of Emily Blunt, who has recently risen to the top of my list of favorite actresses.  But the plot is a bit too obvious, and offers little in the way of suspense or surprises.  It's easy enough to hang out with the three main characters for ninety minutes, but that's hardly enough to make this worth seeing.

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (John Madden)- Very disappointing given the stellar cast, which is about all that saves this from being a complete dud.  Once the interesting concept is set up, it becomes a totally by-the-numbers kind of story.

Lawless (John Hillcoat)- This was the biggest disappointment for me among recent releases, as the previews made this look like an exciting historical action film.  Instead it was a pretty but overwrought lead balloon of a movie.   I can't recall the last time I saw something so full of itself (probably Avatar), while delivering so little in the way of intellectual or visceral entertainment.  Maybe I was victimized by high expectations, but regardless I really did feel like I'd wasted my time going to this one.

Next time, some movies I liked (it's actually a much longer list than this one).

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