Waltz With Dogshit

[teaberryblue]

I just got back from seeing "Waltz With Bashir." I had seen the previews for it and in spite of it winning a zillion awards, I thought it looked like someone's crappy flash movie.

Then it won the best picture awared from The Society of Film Critics.

I don't know if they just felt bad for not recognizing last year's Middle-Eastern autobiographical animated film about political strife in the 1980s, which was awesome? Because I can't for the life of me get why this thing that looks like one of those animated Charles Schwab ads and sounds like a bunch of Israeli soldiers trying to pass the buck Nuremberg-defense style ("Oh, well, I told my commander that the massacre was going on; I figured he would do something about it.") is supposed to be better than Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, or Milk. Is it because they have never seen an edgy animated film before?

Granted, out of the 87 minutes of footage, there were three or four sequences that were visually stunning, but that amounts to maybe less time than Rhino the Hamster is onscreen during Bolt.

So, yeah, totally not impressed with this movie. And it is very rare that I dislike a movie so much that I consider leaving fifteen minutes into it. I didn't. But I wanted to.

Something good did come out of the experience, though! I made this!




I am also reading Gail Carson Levine's "Fairest." She has now done retellings of two of the fairy tales I have always wanted to do retellings of-- "Ella Enchanted" came out when I was two chapters into the first draft of my own Cinderella retellng and it really discouraged me for a while-- but I love that book. This one is excellent as well, so far. I am really pleased, because I was not as big a fan of "The Two Princesses of Bamarre."

Comments

[sunnyrea.livejournal.com]

Still need to see Milk but the other two were fantastic.,

*movie swoon*

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I want to see The Reader, and I haven't seen Revolutionary Road yet, but other than those two, I think I'm good on my 'serious' movies. Benjamin Button was decent but not nearly as good as the other movies vying for awards-- there is usually one movie a year I feel that way about. Last year it was Michael Clayton, which, while it had a couple excellent performances, was just a good movie, as opposed to an amazing, powerful movie.

Milk is a movie that I think is not as artistically interesting as Frost/Nixon or Slumdog, and it does less new in terms of the art form. I think Frost/Nixon and Slumdog both really stretch boundaries in terms of storytelling. Milk is just a good, decent, touching, and emotionally moving biography that is coming out at just the right time. Definitely worth seeing, but that's my two cents.

[sunnyrea.livejournal.com]

Frost/Nixon I simply loved for Michael Sheen to begin with and then I loved the whole movie since its was so wonderful, not to mention his team, all those actors I am rather fond of all well it just felt like an actor dream team to me.

Slumdog was more amazing than I expected and felt so raw and real, I just adored it

EDIT: Oh! And I also want to see The Reader though I barely know what its about!

[dakinishir.livejournal.com]

Go see The Reader you two! Beautifully done. Powerfully touching and Kate Winslet turns in an amazing, amazing performance. She's putting together quite the body of work...

Also add Doubt to the list, and if you've room and the patience for subtitles, I've Loved You So Long.

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I saw Doubt; I really liked the way that it was subtly different from the play. Didn't see I've Loved You So Long yet, but it's on my list! I am trying to cut back on movies and be more responsible about my frivolous spending.