Monday
Apr152013
Jurassic Memory (Feat. Tilda Swinton)
Monday, April 15, 2013 at 12:15PM 
What did you see over the weekend? Sadly I didn't catch a movie (a rarity!) outside of festival screeners. I know you're probably over Jurassic Park (1993) which we discussed last week at length. I mean it's 20 years old plus fading in its second weekend of rerelease, but I have one more Jurassic Memory to share if you'll indulge me.
You may have noticed that I didn't announce my "Best Shot" so I thought I'd draw you a little Movie Diary in order to do so. Better late than never. I bet you're dying to know how Tilda Swinton's Orlando fits into a Jurassic Park comic.
Reader Comments (10)
I saw Trance and The Place Beyond the Pines. Trance is like a gentler, more grounded Inception with far fewer explosions and amazing acting. The Place Beyond the Pines is 1/3 of a good anthology film that also has great acting.
I saw "The Place Beyond the Pines" and "Antiviral." Both good movies, though both lose momentum as they go along. "Pines" felt like it needed to be longer, if anything, to give its episodes more room to breath and resonate. Emory Cohen tries really hard to ruin the last third of the film, but does not succeed. "Antiviral" felt like a great premise and a few good scenes in search of a worthy story, and not quite getting there.
Hell, i'm 24 and I STILL occasionally do the T-Rex roar...
though I sound more like a beached whale than a T-Rex.
I still haven't seen anything new (to me, at least) since the HMWYBS of Jackie Brown (omg.) but i've been catching up on great TV like The Good Wife, Mad Men and Smash which surprisingly had its most solid episode of the season and there was not a new number in sight.
I saw The Place Beyond the Pines this weekend. Good stuff. Debra Messing's son from SMASH was in it...gangsterfied.
Ugh I need to catch up on the last like three episodes of SMASH but am losing interest because this season is laaaaame.
" The Place Beyond the Pines" is right now my favorite new American movie of the year. Gosling is always good but I was really impressed by Bradley Cooper's performance.
I saw No (on your recommendation) and The Place Beyond the Pines. No was really damn good, my favourite of the year so far, Gael Garcia Bernal was dependably great in it; I think he's very underrated as he's never in the discussion when it comes to the best contemporary actors. I especially enjoyed the way the film was shot; the graininess really made you feel like you were watching history.
The Place Beyond the Pines started out like gangbusters but eventually fizzled out in the third act, which was the weakest portion of the movie by far; it felt rushed and the ending was a little too cutesy for me. I really liked the acting from all the male leads but I was disappointed that the female characters were underwritten and under utilised, considering this was the same writer/director who helmed Michelle Williams' great performance in Blue Valentine. Still a good flick though, worth checking out.
"Mama", oh, my... why did I spend my money on it? Why does Chastain have to look that awful? I didn't buy that look.
"Cesar Must Die". Ok, but it looks like an excuse to shoot Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar. They should have gotten more money and adapt the play properly. The idea was great but the film does not look well woven, it lacks a lot in terms of characters.
Marcelo, those are fighting words. Chastain's transformation into a hot punk girl is the best reason to watch Mama.
Dear Robert,
I agree with you: watching Chastain is the best reason for this awful film.
I really like Chastain, but I just didn't buy her characterization and worse than that: the screenplay is awful and has many holes as many horror films do. Instead of being horrified and scared, I couldn't stop laughing at how naive some characters behave.
Marcelo,
I agree. I think Mama is a dark fantasy ala The Corpse Bride marketed as a horror film. It's not. It's a fairy tale with a vicious ghost and nothing more. It feels like there's a core film there and then all these extra jump scare scenes that don't flow or even follow the plot.