cinema catch-up

I've left this way too long to do everything, so this is just stuff I've seen at the cinema. More to come.

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Law Abiding Citizen (F Gary Gray, 2009): Mostly all I remember of this is the bit where the judge picks up her mobile and it shoots her in the head. Why does it do this? Because Gerard Butler is a wronged man and he can hook up anything to kill you, even locked in solitary confinement (thanks to a truly disappointing device that should have been the film's big reveal). The characters are awful, the action is too grotty and nasty to see this as lightweight fun, and why is Jamie Foxx chasing killers and investigating murders if he's only an attorney? [33]

The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson, 2009): Such a weird story, trying to balance (literally) ethereal heaven-set pondering with a rather tired police procedural. None of it really worked for me, Jackson's hideously garish heaven being the film's worst point. Saoirse Ronan does the best she can, but this manages to be glum rather than melancholy, and the serial killer himself is obviously written by someone who hasn't bothered to do any research on the matter, instead collating together some painfully obvious cliches (he likes making doll houses? Come on!). It has a certain draw at times, through the simple tension of waiting for the killer's facade to unravel, and Jackson's obviously a good filmmaker (heaven aside) so it keeps a nice perpetual motion with some memorable scene-setting. It's all for nothing when the story is so curiously cloying and unsatisfying. [41]

Nine (Rob Marshall, 2009): A watchable feature-length perfume advert, though it's eventually destroyed by its own tug of war between being fun and being meaningful. Guido isn't a perfect character to centre a musical on, a complicated and easily hated mess, so we have to watch all the actresses sing and dance about how complex and selfish he is, but aside from Penelope Cruz, none of them come across as anything other than plot ciphers spouting lyrics. Songs are limp in lieu of sorrowful, with only one number sticking in the mind (unluckily the one with the hoariest staging). Despite all this it's elegantly shot, full of actors who could do much better, and great wish fulfillment for those who want their musicals to look instantly vintage. [52]

Avatar (James Cameron, 2009): I've been dreading saying anything about this because people love it so much, and I can't be bothered to make a detailed case of its flaws. I am astonished at people's OTT reactions at how 'great' Pandora is, for while it's certainly the most realistic CGI seen yet, the design itself is a banal vision of a tribal world, lighting up with day-glo leaves and insects (It's not just the plot that uncannily resembles Fern Gully). The story and characters are very routine, the representation of the navis as chanting, tree-hugging ethnics is so uninspired (not just derivative but insanely lazy and borderline racist) that it actively had me resenting the whole thing. Sam Worthington sleepwalks as he has done in everything so far (why is he cast in all the big films now?) and Stephen Lang portrays an evil army general almost as parodically fascistic as District 9's. HOWEVER - and it's a fairly significant however - Cameron has made a serviceable action-adventure that, while overlong, does what most genre fans have been wanting, taking great care in the details of the world (crap as it is) and providing competent and occasionally fantastic action. You'd feel churlish criticising it too much when it's evident how much effort's gone into it. [53]

Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009): I like nostalgia for childhood, done in a meloncholy way, but I didn't like this. Who is it for? Jonze has described it as a film about childhood rather than one for children, but it doesn't really satisfy that remit. The Wild Things themselves are marvellous visual creations, but the way they all mirror facets of Max (or just childhood in general) lays out a schematic template for the film that makes it seem overtly fable-like (but without any of a fable's charm or whimsy), so it's never really satisfying to watch all these subtext-cogs click and whir into place. I'm sure it was satisfying for Jonze, who conjures up the occasional brilliant evocation of childhood, but works hard to keep the rest impenetrable. I was ready to get all welled up at the end, but it's all too distant and aloof. [48]