Reviews by charidotes20

This movie has a decent message, if you strip it of its self-righteous I'm-in-the-News-Division-Tell-The-Entertainment-Guys-To-Go-To-The-Back-Of-The-Bus angle.

But it's not a great movie, and, in fact, it's really more of a sermon than a real movie.

I thought this movie was great when I first saw it, but thankfully that little piece of my own personal history has been usefully and helpfully compartamentalized.

P.S. I hate to be snide, but it is funny how the actor who plays Murrow (excuse me--The Great: Edward. R. Murrow., le haut signore) also played the crooked pitcher in "Eight Men Out"...as well as a wife-killer on a random episode of "Monk". A wife-killer who played chess, actually--***way too much***.

{cue for Billy Joel, "Shades of Grey"}

"These days it's harder to say, 'I know what I'm fightin' for', my faith is falling away, I'm not that sure anymore..."

"Shades of Grey, wherever I go, the more that I find out, the less that I know--Black And White is how it should be--but Shades of Grey are the colors I see."

"At one point in every review--Fight Till The Other Man Falls, Kill Him Before He Kills You. These days the edges are blurred, I'm old and tired of war--I hear the other man's words, I'm not that sure anymore."

'You know I've never said no to you, not once.'

'Well, stfu, I'm the News Division, and never saying no isn't the same as never censoring.'

(And it's not--it's considerably more generous.)

"Shades of Grey wherever I go, The more I find out, the less that I know, There ain't no rainbow shinin' on me, Shades of grey are the colors I see."

"Save us all from arrogant men, and all the causes before. I won't be righteous again! I'm not that sure anymore..."

"And the only people I fear, are those who never have doubts."

After all--I used to be a Christian like you.

Then I took a hammer to the head.

........

*shrugs* It's true though.

And: the more time that goes by, the more that I come to despise George Wi--! George Clooney. The more that I come to see him as a despicable phony, and as a really selfish bastard, *who would stop at nothing*, to make himself look good at everybody else's expense! And that's all that he ever does-- the bastard!

And, you know, if I can look at a movie that *Natalie Portman* was in-- "V for Vendetta"-- and say that it's basically just propaganda and not art-- then you can be pretty damn sure that that's also *exactly* what I think of "Good Night, And Good Luck", and "Syriana", and all that drivel and dross like that that he does....

Because fuck knows that George Clooney can't dance, and, to be honest, I've given up waiting for him to try....

(6/10)

I think this is a pretty political picture, and like most things political, there is a strong strand of narcissism.

Probably the best thought-out story-thread is the one where George-Clooney-is-Bob-Barnes-who-is-Bob-Baer, and, from a news junkie angle, this would be pretty fantastic.

(I almost read his book one time, and then I realized, what good is this? Do I really want to be a ground soldier in the CIA's war on terror? Hmmm. Not really. Well, where did I leave that shredder...)

But the thing is, this isn't really a story about people, it's a story about pretending you're learning lots of lots of Awesome Shit about the Middle East. (And you want the Arabs to be free, and you just f'ing **know** that Washington's policy of {intervention/non-intervention} was **specifically** designed to thwart Arab freedom...because Washington is Darth Vader, the Arabs are little Ewoks, and no-one has any control over their own destiny, because if they did, you'd be Emperor of Google and have {censored} every fifteen minutes.)

Its value as film & performing art is correspondingly diminished, and it's basically mostly mediocre.

Not least because there are way too many plot-threads and too many characters pretending they're all really awesome and developed, when they've basically all got about two lines apiece, like hobos on the street, sharing some pizza they dug out of the trash, talking about World Events as tho they were f'ing millionaires.

Long story short--who's really more awesome, Kayvan Novak, or Novak Djokovic?

P.S. Matt Damon did a good job with his role too, like he usually does, he really is a pretty good actor. The woman who played his wife also did a good job. And, although at the time I wouldn't have admitted it, I did gain some sense of nerdy pleasure/geeky victory at seeing Alexander Siddig (Julian Basheer!) become an Arab Princeling.

But all that doesn't quite make up for--how much time does Matt get to mourn his dead baby boy, and how much time does time does he spend listening to Julian say, you know--I wouldn't *have had to* lie to get into StarFleet Medical, if only if weren't for the stupid law that America made because of The Oil!!

(And no, it's not a accident that's mostly a story about men, because for there to be more feminine presence--it would have to be **a different kind of story**--.)

But, the thing is, and, yes--omg it's politics!--I'm just not so sure anymore that the Evil Empire is Out To Get the good doctor.

I'm not sure anymore...

{cue for Billy Joel's "Shades Of Grey"}

"Some things were perfectly clear, seen with the vision of youth, No doubts and nothin' to fear, I claimed the corner on truth..."

And anyway, it's a pretty icky movie, and I'm so sure anymore that all that ickiness was necessary to be all artsy and whatevs, as opposed to being important to keep it all nice and narcissist-y.

If you follow.

"And the only people I fear are those who never have doubts."

"The more I find out, the less that I know, there ain't no rainbow shinin' on me--shades of grey are the colors I see!"

{cue for a different song}

"There's trenches dug within our hearts..."

"...but I won't heed the battle call, it puts my back up, it puts my back up against the wall..."

{and back}

"Black and White was so easy for me, but Shades of Grey are the colors I see."

..........

*shrugs* It's true though.

{And I like Natalie Portman, but she disappointed me in "V for Vendetta", and I like Matt Damon, but he disappointed me in "Syriana", and maybe in one or two others, too.... And, it's funny, I don't really like Colin Firth nearly so well, but at least he read the novel, and was even in the 1995 version of it-- look, and see how false and true.... Reverse themselves!}

And: the more time that goes by, the more that I come to despise George Wi--! George Clooney. The more that I come to see him as a despicable phony, and as a really selfish bastard, *who would stop at nothing*, to make himself look good at everybody else's expense! And that's all that he ever does-- the bastard!

And, you know, if I can look at a movie that *Natalie Portman* was in-- "V for Vendetta"-- and say that it's basically just propaganda and not art-- then you can be pretty damn sure that that's also *exactly* what I think of "Good Night, And Good Luck", and "Syriana", and all that drivel and dross like that that he does....

Because fuck knows that George Clooney can't dance, and, to be honest, I've given up waiting for him to try....

(6/10)

I'm going to start watching these shows when my mom's not looking.

I might as well, since it's always on in the background anyway.

Surrendering to the tides of history, you know how it is.

*shrugs*

*spoliers*

"I won't be held responsible for the outbreak of full-scale war while we're on the threshold of universal peace."

Trek movies have a certain tendency towards self-glorification, but this one is a little different. Here, Kirk and the rest of the heros of the Original Series are finding themselves staring into the abyss, in a way--not only of the end of their careers, and the end of the world (and the wars) they knew, but even of the end of their glory, and even of their good name, as Kirk finds he must not only free himself from a Klingon prison, but also find a way to escape from villification, and the burden of responsiblity of the death of an innocent man, a Klingon peace-maker, whose assassination he must prove himself innocent of.

"Captain, don't let it end this way." Were his last words.

And it is clear that the world is changing, as old antagonisms become obsolete, new alliances struggle to be born, and conspiracies are hatched by those who cannot let go of the past. The wars between empires might be over (for now), but now looms the battle against the enemy within...and the question of how to treat yesterday's foe.

And how to adapt...how to adapt? Has the older generation outlived its usefulness? It is, at least, at a disadvantage, as their experience begins to become a liability rather than an asset. "If there is to be a brave new world, our generation will have the hardest time living in it."

Sometimes Star Trek can be a little campy, with the endless pedantic Shakespeare-worship, but it does have its advantages. "The Undiscovered Country" deals with, you know, The Changing of the Guard, and all that, without the sort of endless academic philosophical revenge vs. forgiveness blah-blah you'd get in some non-fiction book, or even the gritty realism of a more down-to-earth End of the Cold War flick, like, "Lord of War". Star Trek might be less dramatically unique than that, and sometimes a bit less real too, and all that, but it's also easier to watch. Because you can take the themes, and all that, or you can leave them. If you just watch it for the search for the assassin--"What *are* we looking for?" "Two pairs of gravity boots"--or if all you remember is the Siberian vibe of the Klingon prison planet--"Work well, and you will be treated well. Work badly, and you will die"--well, you'll still have fun, and maybe you'll even have a little fun learning something, even if you won't necessarily be a Lord of Nonfiction Blah-Blah. But who'd really want that anyway....

And it is comforting that in the end, despite all the peril and wrenching changes, we end up with something recognizable at the end.

"Some people think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven't run out of history quite yet."

(9/10)

I used to think this movie was really really awesome, but I'm finding that I can't really figure out why that was anymore.

I've actually gotten to the point where my favorite character is probably, kinda, you know.....Kay Adams. So, I guess that gives you an idea of just how much I've fallen off the Godfather bandwagon.

For shits and giggles, I wonder, do the goombahs hate her because (a) she's an Anglo, (b) she's a woman, (c) she's someone who doesn't like violence, or (d) all the above.

I'm guessing, they basically just hate everything about her.

"Eh, I'm gonna go buy some fruit."

Oh well. I least I still think "The Departed" is pretty fucking awesome.

.....

I mean, it's not the easiest thing to explain, but....

I did go through this phase where I was like, The Godfather is fucking awesome! But then one day I basically sorta woke up and said, Woh, shit, this film glorifies crime and violence, doesn't it! (And no wonder my Italian friend gave me a dirty look when I said that I liked this movie!)

Although I do have this really funny memory, (do you know, one of those stories where you honestly can't remember if you've told it a hundred times, or if you only think that you have?), about how my friend and I randomly tuned in to this movie at some random point in the middle, and he said something like, Isn't this supposed to be one of the greatest movies of all time?

But, anyway.

And-- "speak softly love so none can hear us but the sky"? Is *that* the theme for *Teh Godfadda*? *crazy face*

I mean, at least the Dropkick Murpheys song from "The Departed" fucking fits into the theme, right.

So....

Just go, slowly, kids, go slow-- andante. Andante, no, slower-- adagio.

Adagio.

Take it easy.

....

And, you know, if Juan Magan forgets what his last name is, he has it tattooed on his forearm. *respect*

Leave the gun, take the tickets.

(rather loud) Electro Latino.

~ Ay ay ay, ay ay ay. Ven bailar conmigo; tu no bailes sola.

{Oh. Reto. 'El reto latino'. *nods* Right.... Is that it?}

"If I had any idea who Will.i.am is, I would be really psyched right now."

"It's one way, man! It's always been one way."

And you have to respect a man with a name like Don Omar....

But, you know, once I was watching this thing, and the guy was describing all the romantic chivalry crap of the air war in WWI, so he said-- Basically, it was about sneaking up behind someone, and shooting him in the back.

But where's the respect in that?

Ay ay ay, ay ay ay.

....

I mean-- George W. Bush: great president, or greatest president?

Because the whole thing is basically just a fancy way of saying, 'I don't believe in America.' (Or restaurants.)

And, you know, what movies were there, before 1980, at least, anyway? "Broken Blossoms" (1919, 1936)?

.... All that I can say is that Tony Tanner looks pretty damn good compared to Gerry Adams or Marlon Brando.

(6/10)

*SPOILERS*

"You know, for six centuries, this family has been sacrificing bits of itself for England. Eyes, arms, legs--they're scattered all over the battlefields of Europe. Don't follow in that glorious tradition. Do you know what you're going to sacrifice? Your heart, Henry."

...

"I've changed...there is something that is more important."

{My heart}

(10/10)

I didn't really like it. I'm a little biased though, 'cause the 60s is so "when my parents were little" and gawd, how lame is that, right?

It was pretty boring though. I guess it was almost interesting. I mean, I feel bad for them and everything. Man, the way they talked though, what was it with the way they talked...

It was kinda interesting seeing them as a family and all that. But really, they should have had some more character development or something, inbetween the shootings. ("You didn't! You didn't say that!" "Uhh...I guess I did.")

The material in the flashbacks were kinda cool, sometimes more interesting than the rest of it, but they were just handled kinda poorly. They had this annoying habit of jumping forward five years, and then almost immediately jumping back, like, twenty years. I guess the editing in general kinda sucked. I mean, (spoiler, kinda), when JFK gets shot, they've edited it to juxtapose his old dad trying to stand up from his wheelchair, and RFK clinking glasses with his friends or whatever, and I'm like...that editing is just, so, not, working....yeah....no. Thanks for trying tho.

I guess the relationship between Bobby and Jackie was slightly interesting tho. But also kinda dull, in a way.

(6/10)

It has a kinda 1920s retro-throwback feel, mashed together with a decadent-postmodern-crap random-grab-bag type deal. The characters are a little predictable, a little static, but they're still pretty funny, and the situations and plot archs can be pretty creative. Overall, it works.

Plus, the theme song is pretty memorable, as these things go.

(8/10)

*VERY LONG/SPOLIERS*

"It's very difficult to tell when Mr. Whitacre is telling the truth."

Watching Mark spin his webs is a lot like watching a little kid playing mind games with his parents. He's really a master of word-games, a real lord of lying, and he really has made lying his art-form, not unlike Holden Caulfield, actually. And that's why this movie is so funny and fun to watch, I've watched it a bunch of times, and it's basically because of Mark, and how loveably immature he is.

As for the broader picture, well, the world is very corrupt, and people know that, but it's still very different from how people think it is. It's a different kind of corrupt. Take two examples:

First, a big-shot from the company, Mick Andreas, talking with his cronies after the big FBI raid. He's very confident: he says, basically, nothing will come of it. It will be 'a ten year thing for the lawyers' but it wouldn't inconvience them '...maybe a fine. I'm telling you that's all this will be.' The average guy's gut reaction will be, I think--yeah, it's all fixed, you know, the government, the lawyers, the big business, yeah, they've got it all worked out, it'll be nothing, maybe a fine. Well, Mick Andreas goes to jail.

And again: Mark and his wife Ginger (who's very supportive of her husband, and pretty well looked after by him too) are on TV, talking about how Mark allegedly got ruffed up by a couple thugs who told him to keep quiet about things. Mark--who routinely worsens his position by talking to the press when he should keep his mouth shut, and who says at one point, "it feels good to talk"-- now blames his current problems on Brian Shepard, one of the guys with the FBI he used to work with when he was a co-operating witness. Mark tells the reporter who's interviewing him (or whom he's using to get an interview) that Brian Shepard/the FBI are to blame for all his troubles, and implies that they sent the mafia goons to ruff him up. His wife Ginger adds, "people need to understand--that the FBI is the same thing (as the mafia)". Brian Shepard is watching all this on TV, in civilian clothes, in some sort of diner. He looks disappointed; he can tell it's all a lie. The audience does too: Mark scuffed up his own clothes, and then told his wife that he got attacked, like a little kid inventing a story as to why he didn't do his homework.

It's hard to generalize, but basically, people are as corrupt as ever, but people are also not really convinced by people's lame excuses as to why they're corrupt. For example, Mark ineptly and ineffectively tries to explain away his theft of millions of dollars by saying that everyone else at the company was doing it too--even after previously protraying himself as the "white hat" because he was helping the FBI shoot down fellow co-workers he didn't like... Amusingly, Mark even told co-workers that he did like that the raid was coming, and when the FBI find out about it, and the agents, Brian and Bob, who are running him, confront him about it: Bob Herndon sternly tells Mark, brushinging aside his lame excuses, "You know that what you did in our eyes was wrong. It was supposed to be a secret." Mark often finds that he's fooling no-one, and yet, he is, at the same time, often given something more like indulgent coddling than punishment. Brian ends the conversation on a lame note, by reminding him that Mark has to get his own lawyer, and not rely on one provided for, and paid for, by the company. Mark replies irritably, "I know about the lawyers, Brian!" and it sounds not unlike a child arguing with an over-protective mother.

People are just as corrupt as ever, but also alot less satisfied with the lame excuses of yesteryear: maybe my favorite example is when Mark's second (or wait, third, no wait, fourth) lawyer, a real hack, who Mark likes, tells government representatives that Mark "has tapes that the government doesn't want us to hear"--as if the Department of Justice guys weren't, on some level, "the government"--and that he has a letter from the guy's shrink "which exonerates my client of all wrong-doing." Too bad it was a forged letter.

Explaining all of it makes it sounds painful, because it's a messed-up world, but it's pretty funny watching it unfold, especially through the eyes of an artful liar, who spends most of time hanging out with other liars....like the hotshot lawyer who first finds out about Mark's theft/fraud, which he uses to distract the government from his own clients and their own, equally real, theft and fraud. Interestingly, he claims to have "sworn testimony" from a company Mark had received a contract from that they had never received the contract, and that the signature was a forgery. ("He's a fucking forger!" Mick Andreas had said in mock-surprise, as though he were a "white hat" himself.) But later, it is mentioned that this company (it sounded like "Nordcron Kinney", although I've not seen how it's spelled) was a shell company created by Mark--well, he had one of his friends create it--so they could issue phony invoices that could be collected on, and, via money laundering, funnelled back to Mark and his family. So, if the company did not exist, and did not have any real employees, how did the hotshot lawyer get his "sworn testimony" that the invoice was fake?

And let's not forget another very interesting scene, this one between Shepard and Herndon and their FBI superiors, after it's been revealed that Mark was stealing money from his company while he was working with the FBI to prove that his company was engaged in fraud. (The hotshot lawyer claimed that this had happened "with the full knowledge and complicity" of the agents, even though he had no idea if they did know or not, and in fact, they had no idea.) The FBI brass say, basically, it's not if you guys knew or not, it's why didn't you know? Herndon dismisses this--the only thing that matters is whether there was fraud in the company. No, he's told, because now they're investigating the informant, not the company; Whitacre stole money, so he breached his agreement with the government. The agents seem to think that they're all falling for a trap being laid for them, and Herdon asks bitterly, "Who's counting the money over there if they can lose a couple million for a few years, and then find it in a couple of hours?"--which is, on one level, very perceptive, and yet also indicative of a sort of tunnel vision--it's the company's fault, because we got evidence against them (even if it was with our tainted guy), while it can't be our guy's fault because we got good evidence from him and we know him personally (even if we didn't screen him properly). Also, Shepard asks jadedly "I thought the FBI never hung a witness out to dry?" to which he is answered, "He's not a witness anymore; he's a target." Which is, on one level, exactly how people normally act when betrayed, and on another level--it's a bureaucrat playing with words.

That might sounds confusing, but you don't have to work everything out, unless you're a nut like me who's seen it fifty times. It's really a fun movie to watch, not least because of Matt Damon's really fucking amazing performance.

"I know you're trying to protect your friend Mark...but your story doesn't seem true."

"You're right. It's not true."

......................~~~~~

"But Joseph did NOT...."

"You're right. It's not true."

Lately, I've been thinking even worse of Matt Damon than I make it my habit it do.

It's not possible to explain in prose.

The new buildings have a quality of 'collapsing' in them, no matter how sturdy they are, because they are really *old* buildings, and not the good old kind....

"Here live the blind
who believe what they see
and the deaf
who believe what they hear."

And a little fool, characteristic of his country.

(How unfortunate are they, in a way, who *do* the work-- they are not like those others, who *said* that they did it....)

"....roll after roll
length after length
in woodchip wallpaper...."

Roll after roll after goddamn fucking roll.

"lone tenants stand around
observing the walls with frowns"

And they are so poor that they drive expensive German cars, having put Gogol out on the streets, and Mozart in an early grave.... because even poor folk make art, and East Berliners.

"searching row by row
looking for printing and spelling mistakes
they couldn't even decipher their own names"

Sometimes Schnicklgruber, sometimes.... *Schindlerism*!

And deaf to the words that only the fey folk can write....

("One two three four five six seven,
All good children go to heaven.")

........ And, and, and.....

No! Because! because! because!

(No! Because-- because you must not take their advice! Because, because, because! Because-- that! THAT!)

..... And.....

"....here are stored errors, which belong to the firm
and with which they tile the floors
upon these none may tread."

Crimes, "for", somebody a bit like you, maybe.... and about which you may nothing say, man.

(Watch the commercial. Shut up. It's all for you-- God damn you! Even I don't like you, what do you think any-body else would care, if it weren't for me! Do you think that the East-Berliners, eh?)

(What kindness!)

"here lives the architect
immersed in his plan of
this building crammed with ideas
it stretches from funda- to firmament
and from it`s foundations to the firm."

Smiling exactly like the American who has oft been to Netherfield Park.

(Such innocence!)

".... for better orientation."

What! We just want better orientation!

(And what could be wrong with THAT!)

And, then, friend, let me tell you what he did....

And then.... here is what you must have done.... or God save you....

("My name is Patton Oswalt, and I'm extremely pissed at you right now, you filthy little liar....")

Lately, I've been thinking even worse of Matt Damon than I make it my habit it do.

People have a way of leading you to who they are.... they make lists....

And, in Illinois, right-- It's not even as bad there.

Maybe they should have called it, 'Downfall'.

If you really think about that, you might learn something upsetting.

(WHY DO YOU KEEP LYING.)

(9/10)

This is a very over-the-top kind of film that I enjoyed at the time, but I can clearly see, in retrospect, that it is rather flawed. The acting is actually pretty good--imagine overly-dramatic lines being delivered very well, and you'll have the sense of it-- but the story is a little wierd.
I guess the most obvious wierdness is the heavy Anglophobia--those dreaded Anglo-Saxons and their dread fascist leaders, oh my!--I mean, there's this really concerted effort in the film to transfer Nazi symbolism to the fictional English fascists, and, since, in the real world, the English played a key role, along with many other peoples, in defeating Hitler, playing this British=Nazi game is, well, at the very best, very childish, juvenile, and wierd. Also, there's the fact that the movie is very conspiracy-theory-happy--they put fascism in the drinking water!--and that the whole reason, basically, that the fascists have to be so ruthlessly evil is so that the anarchistic "freedom fighters" can be virtuous little dolls in comparison. It's basically the old moronic one-dimensional black-and-white good-versus-evil propaganda story, from a leftist angle. "V" is supposed to be the "hero" that the audience is clearly meant to cheer on, and he's given plenty of opportunity to air his particular brand of bombastic self-righteous I'm-addicted-to-the-sound-of-my-own-voice voice, and so his criminality is carefully covered over. At his heart, he's little more than a would-be tyrant, the sort of person who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice people's lives for the sake of his ideas--but I suppose there's really little difference between a "revolutionary"--hurrah! hurrah!--and, basically, an intellectual killer--allow me to rationalize cutting your veins open by quoting from Shakespeare, my, aren't I something, eh?
Of course, there are other characters aside from V, such as Evey and Inspector Finch, but it's really a movie about politics, not characters and interpersonal relations, so of course, it's really all about V and his Idea, and the plot is really just the course by which V and his Idea take over everyone and everything else, even people who initially offered resistence to it--i.e., by questioning it's "justice". But, since V is, perforce, the all-conquering hero, omnipotent and more than a bit, well, un-human, "beyond" human (and, if you think about it, the presence of such an "over-man" in a movie paranoid to death about fascism is more than a little ironic), everyone and everything duly falls into line, as though according to a script. But, one-dimensional plot, aside, I suppose you have to give them credit for the good acting and all the rest of it, that it made it--how else to say it....'look neat', I guess.
There is another thing, though. I mean, I know how little people care about history, but considering how much V seemed to, well--get off on--reciting the old rhyme about the Gunpowder Plot, you'd think he might have some idea what he was talking about. It was not, alas, a failed anarchist revolution. It was actually an attempt to murder the legitimate government of England (although I suppose V doesn't consider there to be any such thing, even if the actual population, those silly non-intellectual, non-freedom-fighter sorts, do) in order to bring the country back into line with Catholic orthodoxy--in other words, to alter the religious, and political, constitution of the country by force, quite against the natural sympathies of the people living there. And, as much as V seems to idealize changing the established order by force, under the leadership of a self-appointed revolutionary, I for one simply cannot see what V's brand of sci-fi-action-anarchism has to do with a fortunately-unsuccessful plot to instigate religious persecution.
But of course, I am here opening myself to the criticism of taking a futuristic movie which is, at one level, just about Hugo Weaving beating the crap out of people, way too seriously. And yes, Weaving did make his dramatic character sound very dramatic and impressive indeed. And, yes, Natalie Portman's performance was very good, regardless of what one thinks of the ethics of her fictional mentor. And, yes, there were some good lines, "God is in the rain" being one of those rare ones which isn't a lot of over-dramatic chest-thumping. (It's delivered by Portman's character, Evey.)
So, I have it give it some credit for having a great cast, full of people who put in a good performance, but the fact that those characters were little more than props in the Grand Plan definitely stopped it from being a good movie.

(6/10)