Change Your Image
dohowl
Reviews
Chasing Beauty (2013)
funny and satisfying
This is a great documentary about fashion models and the ups and downs of trying to make it in the industry. The pace is quick and skillful as it volleys back and forth between the horror stories of experienced models and the trials and tribulations of up and comers. Fascinating interviews with seasoned models Hoyt Richards and Beverly Peele mine the creepy underbelly of their personal experiences. To tell how they earned a little cash on the side, or to tell how they spent their surplus millions would spoil the suspense. It's better to hear it from the people themselves, as they use the documentary camera as a confessional. Filmmakers also follow a selection of young, hot billboard types as they try to stay thin, work out, and meet agents. And the only real criteria for them is whether or not they have "it", whatever "it" is that models have. There's no way to learn "it", there's no way to practice "it", it's just something models
HAVE. The mysterious force that leads to fame and fortune and shampoo endorsements. Chasing Beauty is a funny and satisfying journey, and makes you question exactly how glamorous the spotlight really is. Kudos to the filmmakers.
Micmacs à tire-larigot (2009)
Save yourself time and $, and beware the IMDb viewers once again
Frantic mise-en-scene and an energetic cast only emphasis the cartoon-thin plot of this excruciatingly boring vehicle. Caper movies, thrillers, revenge pics, even comedies – and Micmacs has elements of all these – only succeed when things go wrong. That's the paradox that Jeunet doesn't understand, at least in the first hour (which feels like two) and was enough for me.
Be aware of reviewers' and viewers' opinions on this one: it's hard to come and out criticize a foreign movie with real heart when so much Hollywood crap is out there. But if you go to see The Losers you know what you're going to get. When you take the time or money to see something like Micmacs, you're taking a gamble, and you may not want to admit you were bored with a plot that's just a shaggy dog story, and geared for a lower mentality than the average Hollywood action pic.
Micmacs won't make you angry (unless you count your money and time carefully) but it is shockingly inadequate and disappointing. At the very least, wait for the DVD. If you're an adult who wants something clever or entertaining you will be appalled at this excuse for a feature film. The story of the weakest Pixar or Dreamworks animated movie is stronger than this -- and the only basis for comparison are other cartoons. In feel and artistic scope the movie should have been a short.
World's Greatest Dad (2009)
A courageous comedy
A great, funny and courageous comedy written and directed by Bob Goldthwait that dares to dive into a bottomless pit of unexplored taboos. Robin Williams expertly embodies a confused dad, frustrated by his career and fed-up with his perverted son. The son, played by Daryl Sabara from Spy Kids, goes toe-to-toe with Williams, skillfully trading barbs while being both funny and creepy. The plot takes several hilariously dark turns and features some great comic performances in the supporting cast. But above all it's the script, daring to find great cynicism in a tragic death, and scrutinizing the characters who can exploit that death for their own purposes. It also explores a theme I'm noticing a lot in movies and TV lately: groupthink, and the willingness to believe a massive lie because it's the less painful option. (see Lars and the Real Girl, The Mist) Kudos to Goldthwait and company!
Hole in the Paper Sky (2008)
Dictum: Keep it simple!
Producers Jessica Biel & Michelle Purple, Director Bill Purple, and screenwriter Howard Kingkade could teach a master class in the often ignored film-making dictum "keep it simple." Deep subtext and emotion can be raised from the simplest of stories, like here, where a lonely man falls in love with a dog. It's a simple story, beautifully executed, without a cynical bone in it's whole body. Unabashedly sentimental. Nice too, to see the emotion so thoroughly trump the logic. You never stop and ask how certain coincidences happen. You're just too wrapped up in that damned dog. Outstanding and inspiring. When I saw, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," I thought to myself: Jessica Biel deserves better.
This. This is better.