My Weeked with Matinee Idols
This weekend I saw two fantastic movies "Moneyball" and "Drive". These
are very different movies but both fantastic in their own ways. Brad
Pitt gives one of his finest performances to date and as Entertainment
Weekly's Owen Glieberman so eloquently
points out Pitt gives "a performance of pure, gliding-grace
movie-star ease". I couldn't agree more, I've always thought that Pitt
was a good actor and that his good looks and personal life out-shadowed
his work, but as Billy Beane he shined. Though I could make sense that
his work in "Tree of Life" the better Pitt performance of the year, but
more people will see "Moneyball" and I don't think the Academy is going
to recognize "Tree of Life" for anything this coming awards season. As
someone who is not a fan of America's greatest pastime, I still really
liked this movie because as much as it was about baseball it was about a
man, Billy Beane, coming to terms with the decisions he'd made as a kid
and making the game mean something more than just a championship, he
set out to change the game. Pitt gives a great performance. But I was
surprised/impressed with Jonah Hill's performance. I've only seen his
comedic performances, even in the amazing "Cyrus" his character was
off-kilter. In "Moneyball" he's a statistician with a love of the game
and there are no antics to be performed. It was interesting to see he
in a quieter role. I wonder what kind of roles he'll be offered after
this performance.
On to "Drive". I'll just get this out of the way, since he began promoting "Crazy, Stupid, Love" earlier this year Ryan Gosling has been on what can only be called a charm offensive. He has induced swoons from his ab-liciousness in that movie, to busting up street fights in NYC to telling Conan O'Brien about the sinister side of Disney World. At this point Gosling can do no wrong, at least in the eyes of America's woman, oh and did I mention that he's an amazing actor? (He really should have been nominated for "Blue Valentine"). We have more talk show appearances to look forward to with "The Ides of March" coming up soon.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
But back to "Drive". It's a moody film punctuated with pop melodies that you get lost in the music. Gosling's character has no name, all we know is that he's a driver, works as a stunt man, he's an occasional
wheelman for thieves and he's a good neighbor to Carey Mulligan's character Irene and her son. Once her husband comes home from prison that's when things start to go pear-shaped. In an attempt to protect Mulligan and her son, he tries to help the ex-con, only to see him killed and have people after him and Christina Hendricks. When the violence starts in this movie begins it never truly lets up and I found myself sitting in the movie theater with a knot of tension in my gut. While there is a lot of violence in this film I would say that for me the worse was not seeing Christina Hendricks' head blown away, (oh Joan), no for me it was the scene in the elevator where he literally stomps someone's face off. What came to mind when I saw that was the nauseating scene in "American History X" when Edward Norton's character stomps that guy's jaw on the curb. My hands were definitely covering my eyes at this. The scene works so well as it comes right after this really lovely moment when he and Mulligan share a kiss in the elevator/ What we see is that the Driver has also been a short distance from exploding, which is why in the beginning all you see is someone who is quietly and as a really nice smile but this is someone you don't what to frak with, ever. I know other people are calling it one of the best movies of the year and I completely agree. I know there are going to be a lot of contenders for best movie of the year between now and December but the bar has been set really high and Ryan Gosling can do no wrong on screen this year.
On to "Drive". I'll just get this out of the way, since he began promoting "Crazy, Stupid, Love" earlier this year Ryan Gosling has been on what can only be called a charm offensive. He has induced swoons from his ab-liciousness in that movie, to busting up street fights in NYC to telling Conan O'Brien about the sinister side of Disney World. At this point Gosling can do no wrong, at least in the eyes of America's woman, oh and did I mention that he's an amazing actor? (He really should have been nominated for "Blue Valentine"). We have more talk show appearances to look forward to with "The Ides of March" coming up soon.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
But back to "Drive". It's a moody film punctuated with pop melodies that you get lost in the music. Gosling's character has no name, all we know is that he's a driver, works as a stunt man, he's an occasional
wheelman for thieves and he's a good neighbor to Carey Mulligan's character Irene and her son. Once her husband comes home from prison that's when things start to go pear-shaped. In an attempt to protect Mulligan and her son, he tries to help the ex-con, only to see him killed and have people after him and Christina Hendricks. When the violence starts in this movie begins it never truly lets up and I found myself sitting in the movie theater with a knot of tension in my gut. While there is a lot of violence in this film I would say that for me the worse was not seeing Christina Hendricks' head blown away, (oh Joan), no for me it was the scene in the elevator where he literally stomps someone's face off. What came to mind when I saw that was the nauseating scene in "American History X" when Edward Norton's character stomps that guy's jaw on the curb. My hands were definitely covering my eyes at this. The scene works so well as it comes right after this really lovely moment when he and Mulligan share a kiss in the elevator/ What we see is that the Driver has also been a short distance from exploding, which is why in the beginning all you see is someone who is quietly and as a really nice smile but this is someone you don't what to frak with, ever. I know other people are calling it one of the best movies of the year and I completely agree. I know there are going to be a lot of contenders for best movie of the year between now and December but the bar has been set really high and Ryan Gosling can do no wrong on screen this year.
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