This past weekend was a good one. The weather was perfect for a couple trips to the dog park. There was much relaxing and lazing around. The smell of home cooked meals filled my apartment each night and most of all, there was a movie each night. Sometimes it is difficult to find time for movies. Like a pro athlete, I go through hot streaks and slumps. I think July of 2010 has my highest tally for movies watched, somewhere around 27. I was working part time at a job with little to do, so my Netflix Instant queue eroded ever so slightly. Since then it has been rough but this weekend provided a nice variety of film viewing. On Friday night my girlfriend and I went to see The King's Speech, Saturday I watched always hilarious Some Like It Hot, and Sunday I finally watched Network. All in all, a damn good weekend of movies.
Initially, I was not interested in seeing The King's Speech because (1) it seemed like your typical Oscar winning, high drama, easy to swallow period piece and (2) the estimable Riku of RikuWrites fame said that it "had the story arc of a modern day sports picture." But it was nominated for twelve Oscars and won four including Best Dirctor, Best Picture and Colin Firth won Best Actor. Even though I disdain the Academy Awards and their dubious practices, they can be a good barometer of movies worth seeing. Also, my girlfriend wanted to see it. Overall, it was okay. I guess it's sort of a 'meh' movie. It does follow the sports movie arc, which is the same as the Cinderella arc. Here is a diagram compliments of Lapshamquarterly.org and Kurt Vonnegut:
There were some funny lines and great opportunities for banter, but they were spoiled by constant cutting. The director, Tom Hooper, inserted too many cuts into scenes between Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth that could have been great. These are two great actors that don't really have a chance to stretch out. There are too many back and forth shots during conversations. I would have liked two-shots that lasted more than ten seconds, to build some tension, to let the actors breathe a little. By the end I did not really care, I knew how it would end and was just waiting for the moment when he gave the titular speech. Oh, but Guy Pearce was in it and he's awesome.
Whenever I watch Some Like It Hot I am perplexed by the end. Osgood really does not care? Did he know that Jack Lemmon was a man the whole time? And why does Jack Lemmon seem alright with the whole thing? Even earlier when Osgood proposed to him, Jack Lemmon seems determined to marry. It is not until Tony Curtis yells at him and talks some sense into him that Lemmon realizes that he just cannot marry Osgood. It makes me wonder whether the movie has any type of serious agenda. I do not think so because it is such a screwball comedy but it does make me wonder.
I read that Monroe was a nightmare on this set, showing up late and taking upwards of forty takes to do some scenes. I cannot say I know enough of her work to say whether she is a good actor. Some scenes do seem forced and the whole 'dumb blonde' thing grows tiresome. But she is perfect for the role of an 'innocent' sex-pot, but is no match for the wits and banter of Lemmon and Curtis. She died only three years after this movie was made, and I know that she battled mental illness and substance abuse which could certainly lead to poor work performance. It makes me think of Lindsay Lohan. Perhaps it is that whole Hollywood machine thing: chews you up and spits you out.
Network was an unexpectedly amazing movie. I knew that it was supposed to be good. It had Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway and William Holden. It was nominated for ten Oscars, five of them for acting, and it won four Oscars. It is a critique of television that was pertinent then in 1976 and is still pertinent. It talks about how television informs everything about our lives, how life eventually imitates art that imitates life, and how that constant copying degrades into a life devoid of real human connection. The Howard Beale Show is about how television reaches its broadest audience when it panders to lowest common denominator. Network tells us that our beliefs and thus our souls are subject to the ratings and that any ideals can be bought and sold. That is what Ned Beatty's character would tell us, we live in a "dominion of dollars". This is the second movie I've seen with Faye Dunaway (Chinatown the first) and she is amazing. I have yet to see Bonnie & Clyde or The Thomas Crown Affair but I cannot wait. She is a real acting tour de force, one of few who come along.
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