NEW BLOG SITE!

A well-informed blogger recently forced me out of my happy comfortable g-site and into the next world via WORDPRESS.

Please retain your sweet allegiance to my film opinions and keep reading at:

http://splatteronfilm.wordpress.com

HEREAFTER...Damon (lead) Eastwood (Director) Spielberg & Marshall (Producers)...2011

A line of scripture, one that Clint Eastwood no doubt has perused in his day, reads, "...a cord of three strands is not easily broken." In Eastwood's recent offering, he slowly braids three threads of storyline, eventually intertwining them, hoping to create a strong and lasting hope in an eternity attainable. The opening sequence recreates the instant inundation of Thailand via tsunami. Tone settles like debris reminding me that when Eastwood nods to or foreshadows some tragedy or sadness, he delivers. He's not a liar. Rather, his films tell the stark, raw, unapologetic truth. The sad mingles with hope, yet there is a familiar loneliness, a longing most can relate to. Matt Damon succeeds in this role, but even his performance wanes in comparison to the french woman of the film, Cecile De France. Matt Damon at least secures top billing as he makes all seven deliveries of the line, "It's not a gift. It's a curse," feel almost believable and with an air of debonair.

Perhaps Eastwood, becoming what Shakespeare would call "much in years," has begun pondering his own afterlife. Yes this film provides a thoughtful, researched line of questioning,but it's slow pacing and neglected payoff provide too faint a glimmer to represent a perceivable light at the end of the tunnel.

SALT...in all of Jolie's wounds 2010

Purposeless,

guessable

violence.

SALT.

EAT, PRAY, LOVE...2010...Julia Roberts at her best

This could have been called Walk, Sit, Smile. As our hero rushed out of her ordinary world, she became a traveler, a thinker, a mimic, a devout even thoughtful character. I cried through this whole movie. I kept wondering why as I walked away from the theater and down toward the waterfront to catch the last bits of sunset. What had I learned from this film? Certainly, my lessons are not the same, but I feel for her as she experiences pain . I ache for the lost, the compassless, the grieving. This film opened a stranger's medicine cabinet, and allowed viewers ample opportunities to recognize that the perscriptions have our names inscribed on them. We feel for Julia. In many ways, as any good story should, we feel we are not simply like the hero, but that we are the hero. My story may not take me around the world, but the obstacles, the triumphs, the discoveries, the journey itself : these are the same. My compass, however, is the Jesus and His word. Without it, I too would likely find myself on a similarly blunderous journey listening to all voices longing for the one that sounds most like a father.

ROBIN HOOD...2010...Crowe, Blanchett

Despite fluctuations in accent, Crowe played his straight-arrowed Hood as flawlessly as ever. He and waifish Blanchett were beautiful together, and gave the last 20 minutes of this film the romantic glances, battle tension, and purpose needed to redeem it. Redeem it? You ask? Yes, I say. No quirky redheads, no flatulent Keamys, no host of British greats could rescue the unnatural pacing used for unnecessary character development. And, I have nothing against the bald beauty Mark Strong for his meanness or ability to woo an audience. Sadly, in stature, he pales meanly as the dwarfed dark knight. No matter the fighting words, a Troyer-esque antihero doesn't frighten, and waxes unrealistic. Stand him on a box, and try shoulder pads for the next period film. Too cruel?

While we're on the subject: ROBIN HOODS reviewed.

Russell joined the legend, the legacy of men in tights. He, however went for the far less disconcerting leather pants. Good choice.

Kevin Costner used his bow hunting skills and Chuck Norris hair for good as the Prince of Thieves in 1991.

Disney's foxy Robin was a childhood crush, next to Ralph Macchio, as he foiled that phony Prince John.

Cary Elwes, and even Sean Connery make the list of comical green do-gooders robbing from the rich to feed the poor.

But, perhaps my favorite of these hooded heroes is the original worthy swashbuckler Errol Flynn, of 1938.

INCEPTION...Leo,Ellen, Joseph, & many more...2010

I would like to exhale now. And as I do, a slow facitious "Thanks alot" will be directed at the creators of the show LOST, Lieber, Abrams & Lindelof, for taking me far away on that lovely train ride for six years only to reveal a final year in pergatorial limbo. As one of Kristen Wiig's best characters would say, "I'm not angry. I'm just very upset."

The midnight crown yelled. Yelled, at the closing frame. It sounded like, "Whaaaaaa???AAhhhh!" Then, it was 4:30 am before I fell asleep, granted we left at almost 3. But, what is time? Dream time feels more like real life. Layers. Didn't the priest from Princess Bride coin the phrase, "...a dream within a dream." Believable, striking, lovely. The well-selected team of actors gave depth to decidedly pragmatic characters, endearing them through pure curiousity. Joseph G.L. was given perhaps the most memorable sequence in anti-gravity fighting circa Fred Astaire's spinning room dance sequence.

Thanks to this phych-thriller, I am plagued with questions and needing to see it again. I woke up the next morning pondering new theories and casting possibilities after a stream of violent, but very cool dreams.

DESPICABLE ME...a Universal and Illumination toon...2010

I'm learning the hard way that if it's not Pixar, I can expect some of what the rating board calls "crude humor." Did I laugh with the junior high boys in the room? Okay. But would I want to take my little kids to it? I guess not. Now, I know that I watched The Love Boat as a kid and loved it. I missed ALL of the crude humor then. But somehow I feel that xeroxing butts and laughing, responding "Poop" in frustration, and calling the known Villain "hero" and "good dad" brings daddy issues to a whole new level.