As I've been utterly exhausted today (at the level of starting to collapse to the ground/pass out for no apparent reason) I opted to skip this evening's social revelries (since apparently last night's almost did me in) and curl up with some rentals that had been sitting in the media room for far too long (I hadn't watched a new-to-me dvd since Merci Pour La Chocolat 2 weekends ago).
Being Julia was fine. Enjoyable. There's not much more I have to say about it. Yes, Annette Bening was good. Oscar-level good (she was nominated)? Eh maybe, though that year Kate Winslet sooooo should have won for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (though sadly the prize went to Ms. Swank). But yes she was good, though actually in terms of acting a few of the people with tiny roles really caught my eye (like the always great Juliet Stevenson, and young Tom Sturridge). On the whole it's a perfectly nice and diverting film.
Brick was pretty much just what I thought it would be (film noir in high school), and it was also entertaining. The tone is just right (no minor feat), the dialogue fun, and if I have some quibbles with the directing here and there, well it was shot on a tiny budget, and the flaws don't obscure its overall strengths. And while perhaps the writing is what makes it stand out from most films, the acting is quite good (or at least quite right) in this too. Of course I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt. So much - I was vastly more impressed with him in Mysterious Skin than I was with Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar-winning turn in Capote. And a number of the smaller roles are quite well done, like the ill-fated character played by Lost's Emilie de Ravin. My favorite of those performances? Lukas Haas's the Pin. Haas is great (and I still think Stacy Cochran's Boys is underrated). As to his character, well I'll let Julian Sanchez be the judge of that.
Posted by armand at August 19, 2006 11:04 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Movies