Review of film: “I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT”

2011, 09-20:

Review of film:  “I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT”

             Commentary:  I Don’t Know WHY She Does It!...

This new Sarah Jessica Parker (SJP) film purports to be a “romantic comedy”— except there’s sadly LITTLE real HUMOR inherent in it...

...  Kate Reddy (SARAH JESSICA) works for a  big financial institution in Boston.  Her boss, Clark Cooper (KELSEY GRAMMAR), appreciates that she’s very good at “crunching numbers” & the like...

...  But, while the title (based on something some female friends comment about her) would imply that she’s very efficient in handling matters in life, MOST of what we see is that she’s usually fairly INEPT at day-to-day management of things:

...  At home, she has a husband named Richard (GREG KINNEAR) who’s trying hard to get back to having a job that provides a regular income... 

...  HE often ends up having to take care of their household & KIDS -- 6-year-old Emma (EMILY RAYNE LYLE) & 2-year-old Ben --, since “list-making” Jessica usually FORGETS or is LATE at handling things properly...

...  SJP is typically “unsettled” at WORK.  Since she has an obnoxious co-worker named Chris Bunce (SETH MEYERS) who’s always trying to get HER high-level position, she’s lucky that she has a super-competent assistant, Momo Hahn (OLIVIA MUNN), who keeps things “on-schedule” & running SMOOTHLY...

...  We meet various of SJP’s associates:  open-minded unmarried friend Allison Henderson (CHRISTINA HENDRICKS), & insufferable “hands-off” mothers Janine LoPietro (SARAH SHAHI) & snarky Wendy Best (BUSY PHILLIPS) who usually put SJP’s character “down” in private...

...  Between various scenes of SJP struggling to handle things in her work & home life (“somehow” being “LUCKY” in the way things usually turn-out), we listen to things such as “overly-serious” Olivia talking about how she doesn’t have time for personal RELATIONSHIPS & the like...

...  Kelsey decides to send SJP (& her assistant Olivia) to New York to present an idea she’d developed for a big RETIREMENT-income project.  There, she meets the company’s “big boss”, Jack Abelhammer (PIERCE BROSNAN)... 

...  Pierce quite likes SJP’s proposal, & wants to have it presented to a possible big CLIENT of theirs...  Also, he’s unmarried, &, bit-by-bit, he seems to become increasingly FOND of her...

...  SJP’s idea means she has to keep traveling around the country more & more, making life HARDER for GREG (who’s trying to firm-up getting a new position in his own field of work) & for their KIDS (who are increasingly disappointed at how she’s seldom around & keeps breaking promises to them)...

...  Because this is a (quasi)-comedy, we see some “shocking” news befall OLIVIA (which is never “explained” in any depth, but rather mainly just used to provide an “excuse” for attempted “hilarity” that isn’t really particularly “new” much less funny)...

...  Will SJP be able to “SELL” her grand idea to the major client?...  How will that impact her personal life at home?...

...  Will PIERCE grow increasingly “ATTACHED” to SJP, &, if so, what “ramifications” will that have?... 

...  Will SJP ever be able to get her “act” really “TOGETHER” for the betterment of her family?...

...  What’s my “reaction” to this film?...  I hate to say it, but I’ve grown very “weary” of the way SJP seems to keep playing the SAME TIRED basic character lately... 

...  Here, she’s “DITSY”, she’s “flustered”, she’s “confused”, she’s “unsure”--  & she’s BORING overall!...  That’s why I said at the beginning, “I Don’t Know WHY She Does It!...”  (-- Can’t she find scripts OUT of her stereotypical “comfort” level?!...)

...  The problem lies (to me) in the very WEAK WRITING overall.  There’s almost no real CLEVERNESS to the purported “humor”.  Some of the generic “ideas” covered may make it “popular” as a sort of “CHICK-flick”, but it’s simply not “ENOUGH” to build an effective movie on...

...  In a number of ways, it’s SAD the way the film turned out, in that there’s some quite good work done (“ABOVE” the level of the words on paper) by Greg, Olivia & especially PIERCE (such as in a “bowling” segment) re how they handle the “situational” aspects of their characters...

...  This is not a “horrible” movie (-- certain women in the audience got some laughs from the “doings” in it)...

...  But, it’s unfortunately FAR from being anything really good overall, &, accordingly, I can’t rate it as much more than 6.0 on a scale of 10 stars (& that mainly for the periodic pleasant acting)...

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Review of film: “SYMPHONY OF JULIETTE & PASCAL” = Report # 03 on LATINO Film Festival

2011, 04-01:

Review of film:  “SYMPHONY OF JULIETTE & PASCAL”  = Report # 03 on LATINO Film Festival

    “SYMPHONY OF JULIETTE & PASCAL”  /  “SINFONÍA DE JULIETTE Y PASCAL”

On April 1^st (the 1^st day of the 27^th Festival), I saw some more films:

...  First, was a 14-minute short from Spain called “CHECK”  /  “JAQUE”, directed by IKER FRANCO.  In it, a seemingly somewhat-“out-of-it” man named Miguel has retired, and spends his time on various hobbies...  Housekeeper Mamen keeps him company as she takes care of the house...

...  I’m not rating this film, because the English subtitles accidentally weren’t turned on until like 30 seconds before the film ended...

...  The main feature (lasting 95 minutes) was “SYMPHONY OF JULIETTE & PASCAL”, directed by BRUNO VÁZQUEZ...

...  Juliette (BRISA RONDA) has had her parents die.  Since there’s no other family member available, she has taken it upon herself to care for her adult brother Pascal (PERE COSTA), who has autism to the point that he’s barely “functioning” (unable to fully dress or wash himself or talk in complete sentences, etc.)...

...  The schedule describes the film as being about “acceptance, sacrifice and love”...  That’s the description of Brisa, who has a very ROUGH time in trying to care for and control Pere.  He tries to color (tho he can barely hold pencils), likes looking at water, and his mind tends to “wander” (at best)...  
 

...  A lady friend (who periodically visits) tries to urge her to consider putting Pere in an INSTITUTION to care for him, but Brisa feels “guilty” about that idea, even tho she really isn’t able to have a “full” life for herself the way things are...

...  She has a boyfriend, but he finds it very hard to deal with Pere and his problems, which tends to “distance” the boyfriend from HER more and more...  She works very hard trying to keep Pere “occupied”, taking him on visits to the countryside (to watch birds, bees and butterflies), to see acrobats in town, etc...

...  A bunch of “questions” arise from Brisa’s efforts:  Is she being “REALISTIC” and sensible in the way she’s “viewing” Pere & his condition?...  She shows him old photos of their parents, & seems to “want” him to “remember” them.  But, is he really “remembering” anything by his saying “Mama” & “Papa” (or is he mainly just “parroting” her words back to her)?...

...  While she’s certainly giving Pere LOVE, is the care she’s providing better than he could get elsewhere?...  Is she being fair to herself and her OWN life (which has been put on “hold” for YEARS since she does little except take care of him)?... 

...  The credits make clear the filmmakers had “input” from various AUTISM-related and “therapy” groups in making the film...

...  The main actors do an excellent job, with Pere giving any almost “frighteningly” REALISTIC portrait of someone suffering from the disability (to the point that it’s often “hard” and “painful” to WATCH him & Brisa)...

...  But, while there’s a lot of hard work (including “education”) expended in this, I’m unable to rate it at more than 6 out of 10 stars because of the way the filmmakers have chosen to have what I call a “DISINTEGRATING” END to the film: 

...  Maddeningly, the film finishes with Brisa once again just driving off somewhere with Pere, & you’re left with NO idea or even any clear “clues” as to what’s finally about to “HAPPEN” in their lives (which tends to make one feel, what’s the “POINT” of having “suffered along” with the 2 of them in the film?!)... 

...  But, maybe you’ll have some different “reactions” / “responses” to the movie (which will be shown again on Thursday, April 14 at 8:15 pm at the LANDMARK CENTURY theatre)...

  

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Review of film: "SUCKER PUNCH"

2011, 03-23:

Review of film:  “SUCKER PUNCH”

                                                         A MISH-MOSH, By Gosh!

When I saw the trailers for this film, it seemed very “STRANGE” & likely to be very “confusing” & “silly”...  After seeing the whole movie, I must say I was RIGHT in my instincts...

...  I will try to give you the “plot”--  but, be warned, it will not make much “sense”--  which ALSO is pretty “accurate”:

...  Baby Doll (EMILY BROWNING) lives in a creepy house--  with an even creepier Stepfather (GERARD PLUNKETT).  He’s a predator, attacks her & her sister after their mother dies, &, when she “resists” him, he puts her in a MENTAL asylum for women...

...  That place is run by an evil self-centered young shark named Blue Jones (OSCAR ISAAC), who wants to sink his “teeth” (& other areas) into Emily (& possibly other inmates there)...

...  He brings Emily to the “Theater” area (named because it IS a stage-filled theater), which is run by an Eastern European woman named Dr. Vera Gorski (CARLA GUGINO).  She believes she can “rehabilitate” the women (tho, to “what” is debatable) by the use of “DANCE” moves--  tho almost no one truly “dances” there...

...  One of the primary members of the non-dancing “company” is Sweet Pea (ABBIE CORNISH), who dotes on her younger sister named Rocket (JENA MALONE) there...  They both try to help Emily avoid a LOBOTOMY planned for her by Oscar, & they do that in part by encouraging  her to join their “DANCING” group...

...  Lots of people (including Oscar) are “mesmerized” by Emily’s “dancing”--  which involves merely TALKING about dancing & just “standing” there as she enters what the film company conveniently calls an “ALTERNATE REALITY”, supposedly as a means of “coping” with the tribulations of the place...

...  In that (ahem) “reality”, she starts “transporting” to various WARTIME scenes, always “led” by a “Wise Man” (SCOTT GLENN)... 

...  First, as shown by the double-and-triple winged fighter aeroplanes, she’s in WORLD WAR I with Abbie, Jena, & other of the inmate girls such as Blondie (VANESSA HUDGENS) and Amber (JAMIE CHUNG)... 

...  In appropriately “washed-out” colors and black & white, the women are transformed into great FIGHTERS, trying to destroy the wicked steam-powered “zombies” of the German KAISER...  They attack his troops, aeroplanes and dirigibles, sometimes “flying” thru the air as they “MOW-DOWN” their adversaries...

...  Does this sound like a “COMIC BOOK” type story?  Well, it’s SUPPOSED to!--  it’s a “graphic novel” type of movie, directed (& partly written) by ZACK SNYDER, the maker of “DAWN OF THE DEAD” (from 2004), “300” (from 2006), “WATCHMEN” (2009), and “LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE” (2010)!...

...  In “between” the various “wars”, the girls meet various other dastardly types, such as The Cook of the asylum (MALCOLM SCOTT), the Mayor (ALAN C. PETERSON), etc.  There are planes representing WORLD WAR II, then some other war (possibly VIETNAM, as characterized by the helicopters)  & various “fantastical” CREATURES the girl inmates have to challenge and conquer...

...  In the midst of all these clearly CONFOUNDING confrontations (including facing fire-breathing DRAGONS), Emily & the other girls have to go on a “QUEST” to try to find & recover 5 special “objects” which (per Scott) will supposedly help them ESCAPE the asylum... 

...  At one point, we meet a kindly “Doctor” (JON HAMM), who doesn’t like the idea of lobotomizing Emily.  WHY is he there in the story?--  Well, either because he’s a “BIG NAME” TV star, or they wanted to have one “positive” male figure (or for  “BOTH” and possibly other insignificant reasons!)...    

...  Is one of the girls a “double-agent” secretly working on behalf of the ASYLUM masters, & if so, who IS it?...  Will any of the girls be killed in the plans to try to escape?...  Will any of the “SINFUL”  characters get their “just desserts” (or at least “entrees”)?!...

...  At the end of my advance screening, one person in the audience loudly yelled a hearty “BOO!” at what he’d just seen (which caused a bunch of laughs & some cries of “agreement”) with his opinion...

...  Is the film ridiculous?--  ABSOLUTELY--  but, it’s clearly MEANT to be!...  It’s “cartoonish”, makes little sense, & (as I said at the beginning), it’s a “MISH-MOSH” of ideas that are seemingly meant to LOOK “impressive” (& that’s about “all” it achieves)....

...  The film is undeniably “CREATIVE”, with some quite striking SPECIAL EFFECTS (cgi & otherwise), done by a number of different special effects groups...  I’m trying to “resist” saying you’re a “SUCKER” if you let the the theater “PUNCH” your ticket to see this...

...  But, because I LIKE attempts at being imaginative, I am going to “generously” rate the film at 6.0 out of 10 stars.  I can’t give it more because, while the acting is OK & it’s “creative” in parts, it’s got some dreadful dialogue & writing, & it is NOT what I’d call “inspired” in what to me is any particularly “worthwhile” way...

[...  One thing as a serious aside:  most people left the theater when the CREDITS were just starting to play.  Sit THRU the credits--  because only there will you see real DANCING, & the 5 minutes or so of musical numbers are done in a finely STYLISH way that’s really the BEST part of the film, in my opinion!...]

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