2012...Cusak. No Joke.

Somehow, John Cusack can even make the end of the world seem like a glib 80's party. I actually enjoyed the effects without having any kind of emotional response. The scenes in LA were a Disney ride. The characters were lackluster enough for me to care little if they were swallowed up in the mass inundation of the planet.    I felt like they could have titled this film "The 2nd Flooding" or "Cusack Builds an Ark" or "John Almighty." The intertwining love stories forced a happy ending despite the virtual destruction of the planet.  Love blossoms between the president's daughter (The president was played by none other than the ever-amiable Danny Glover.) and the scientist who becomes a hero when he stands on his moral convictions to save the final few hundred people in the last lemming-like sequences.  

I left my seat in the theater feeling like I had just sat through Titanic 2.  Reminiscent.  Minus the stark empathy and sadness  - an even sadder truth in light of an apocalyptic obliteration.  John and his ex-wife Amanda Peet rekindle their original fire and potty-train their daughter who announces the final line of the movie, "No more pull-ups." Glib. 2012.

THE BROTHERS BLOOM...Brody, Ruffalo, Weisz

Weiss. Weiss is quirky and unforgettable as the epileptic photographer.
Brody plays the perfect brooding brother.
Ruffalo, the wild, true con artist.
All is well with the Brothers Bloom, all except their lives. Bloom, after playing scripted characters for his brother’s approval and the family survival for as long as he can remember, now longs for an unwritten life. Steven Bloom plans and plays it all out professionally – a flawless performance as the paralleling Icharus character. Bloom agrees to play one last character and meets the most “real” girl he’s ever met.
I’m still pondering whether Weiss’s character is created or simply lived. A girl called “Bang Bang” also adds quirk and intrique. This film is a must-watch. It must be watched at least a few times. The details are brilliant. Please beware the silly scenes, the few unnecessary phrases. Do recognize the artwork, the scenery, the poetry. Dwell in the moments delivered to you via Rian Johnson’s Directorial masterwork.

Where the Wild Things Are...MAX & the MONSTERS!

Adventures with Max are phenomenal, well-written, well-played, well-dreamed, and well-filmed. Ordinarily, book-to-film adaptations lack depth and intrigue. This film, having no more than 10 pages to work with, however surpassed my every reading of this book before. Little Max gave an astounding performance. I could feel his pain, understand his loneliness, sense his sorrow, and at the same time, he made me more resilient with his every battle cry!
Henson’s monsters ala Sendak spoke candidly, played violently, felt intensely. Each highlighting and honing in on an aspect of the boy’s internal sensibility, became a kalidescope of kid-sized reactions and thoughts. The new “family” made him their king and asked if he in his power could take away the sadness and loneliness. His response became the backbone of the film, “I have a sadness shield and I take loneliness and do this…kapkooo!” King Max grew up over his short season as king of the Wild Things, learning how to deal with his inner termoil and how to love his family again. Saying goodbye, Max sailed back across the sea to the perfect sound track by Karen O and the Kids.
So, let the wild rumpus begin!

17 AGAIN...Ephron

Sometimes first impressions are tainted by circumstance.  Upon first viewing, this film felt so Ephron-centric, so Wonderful Life-remake, so Lord of the Rings-mocking, so dunce-cap enducing, so Ashton-Demi, and so role-generalizing that I could barely stomach it.  All I could think was that I was a teacher and that “15’ll get cha 20.” (Years-old to years in prison).
I wondered if another perspective in a different theater with a different audience could redeem it – or at least give me new eyes…it was also the only one at the cheaps that I felt I could go see at the time…so I went.  Sure enough; the row of 12-14 somethings behind me who googly-goggled at Zach Ephron’s every phrase released me of my initial trepidations, and I watched with learned gaze as Ephron actually delivered a decent, even inspiring performance getting some of Matthew Perry’s mannerisms down pat. 
Today I saw it again with my roommates who wanted to rent it.  I hesitated but decided to try one more time.  To my delight, I realized that the messages presented are lovely – promoting abstinence until marriage, supporting the idea that “girls should respect themselves enough to expect men to treat them with respect, and raising the level of importance, endurance, courage, selflessness, and love involved in preserving and stabilizing  a quality marriage and family. Zach’s character pursued his wife, unlike my first impressions presumed.  My hope would be that students would see and remember these valuable lessons rather than Zach’s perfect body and Ned’s nerd-seduces-princess success.