Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Recent movies - Juno, To Catch A Thief, I Am Legend

Juno (2007) - Fun movie. Pretty funny. Good cast. The dialogue started off a little too deliberately hip and snarky (which is something I was worried about), but it soon settled down and felt more natural. The music screamed "I am Indie, give me cred," but it wasn't bad. Apparently Jason Bateman can only play jerks in movies. "Pork swords" was the rallying cry after the movie. Michael Cera was funny, though barely in the movie. Juno's parents were well-written and well-played. Jennifer Garner was good. The message was mostly good.

To Catch a Thief (1955) - Amy and I are continuing our Hitchcock catch-up. This one isn't one of my favorites, but it's a pretty good one. I called the thief's identity half-way through the movie (Brag Points). Grace Kelly was fine. The insurance rep and Grace's mom were fun characters. The shot of the would-be thief's body in the water was a pretty unique and powerful image. Overall the movie felt a lot lighter than the other recent Hitchcocks we watched (Strangers on a Train and Rear Window).

I Am Legend (2007) - Quite good until the two new characters show up. Then it's a whole different movie. The tension, the isolation, and the terror were really well-done in the first 2/3. I didn't really care about the flashbacks at all. They changed the character in a way that was unnecessary (from the book, I mean -- according to Ian, he was not a brilliant doctor in the book. All his learning came from his time alone with books and practice, which I think makes a more interesting character). Plus (spoilers ahead) if you're going to have your main character die, it has to be in such a way that there was no other alternative. Otherwise the audience will hate you. Will's suicide seemed entirely unnecessary to accomplish his goal. He could just as easily have gotten into the escape hatch, chucking the grenade before closing the door.

3 comments:

jeric2003 said...

Yay for Hitchcock! To Catch a Thief is probably one of my least favorite, although I'm sure I need to give it a second chance.

Anonymous said...

How did this post sneak under your Warlock post, did you backdate it?

Anyway, To Catch a Thief is one of my favorite Hitchcocks though I've only seen it once I think. It's definitely lighter fare, but I have never been able to get over how sexy Grace Kelly is in this movie. Unlike everyone else I'm not crazy for her in Rear Window for some reason, but she absolutely melts the film in this one. (Same thing with Tippi: looks terrible in Marnie but is smoking in The Birds.)

It's not just Grace Kelly though, the whole movie in general is one of the sexiest flicks ever. It's kind of like Batman In Love, with Cary Grant as the Bruce Wayne cypher. But now I'm afraid I've revealed far too much about myself.

Ryan said...

(For some reason, Blogger posts your entries on the day that you start them rather than the day that you finish them.)

I thought Grace was just as alluring in Rear Window. I was actually first wowed by her in High Noon, even though she's all buttoned-up and Quakered out.