Moving Images

The Good Girl (B)

This was a good renter. Jennifer Aniston was surprisingly good in Office Space and it seems her talents are better suited for the big screen than TV. In fact, the entire cast were really solid. John C Reilly is always a fave, the actor who played Bubba (also seen in O Brother) was goofy and creepy as, and the rest of the supporting cast were also really excellent.

The fascinating thing is that the guy who played Corny the security guard wrote the screenplay. Not only that, it turns out he wrote the screenplay to School Of Rock, as well. Which we also happened to have just seen this week (to be reviewed).

The writing, the location, the art direction were all dead on. The story was fairly dark and tragic, but not overdone. A scary insight into mainstream America. It's the story of what happened to some of the people you knew growing up that never left their hometown. Which is another way of saying here's one of the bullets you dodged.

Acting: B+
Direction: B
Editing: B
Script: B
Cinematography: B-
Soundtrack: B

Lost In Translation (C+)

Interesting moments, but ultimately it has no depth. Mildly funny. Definitely not hilarious, as people have been raving.

Aimless. Yes, I know that's the point. But it's aimless and it has nothing important to say. Which makes it aimless and pointless.

It seems like Copolla wants to show character depth using the least amount of dialog possible. That works well for others (Jim Jarmusch) but in Copolla's case it's a thin disguise for having nothing to say and not knowing how to say it. She uses style and superficial conversations in an attempt to imply something deep, but never actually says anything deep.

Stylistically, it has its moments, but Virgin Suicides was a lot more interesting in that regard.

Bill Murray was okay, but definitely not Oscar worthy. The whole performance I was looking at Bill Murray, not his character, being bored and unchallenged. His performance in Rushmore was a real departure and the character completely came to life.

IMO, Giovanni Ribisi stole the show. His character and his acting had more depth, more intrigue and more substance than any others. I would have much rather seen a movie following his character.

It also had the interesting effect of de-glamorizing Tokyo for me. It made Tokyo seem a lot less appealing and a lot less mysterious than I have always imagined it to be.

I identified with a lot of the situations of being bored in the company of hipsters, including the Charlie Brown character and the Tokyo scenesters. And just like in real life, it made me think of all the other better things I could be doing with my time.

Acting: C
Direction: C
Editing: B
Script: C
Cinematography: B
Soundtrack: B+

Rain (A+)

Rain beautifully captures and evokes an amazing range of emotions and memories. It is a quintessential Kiwi film that translates perfectly across cultures. Albeit, white middle class cultures. It's the story of a family spending a summer holiday together. Mostly it's about growing pains.

The one major flaw with the film is the ending, which is sadly predictable. It is a terribly unfortunate way to end the film, because it completely moralizes the story. All throughout the film you identify so deeply with all of the characters and then by taking things to the extreme it suddenly distances you from those people - it allows you to feel superior when in fact you are not at all.

Despite the unfortunate ending this film is an absolute must see. Perfect in every other aspect.

Acting: A
Direction: A+
Editing: A
Script: B
Cinematography: A+
Soundtrack: A+