I love this guy: Daniel Craig

I don't remember the first thing I saw Daniel Craig in. It might've been Munich, where he sort of clung to the shadows, or Sylvia, in which he played the husband of troubled poet Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes (to be fair, also a poet). At least some time after that I saw him in Layer Cake as a drug trafficker (This movie is NOT directed by Guy Ritchie, for the record). Last year he was in two films; The Golden Compass, and The Invasion, which I've heard is horrible, but I kinda want to see it.

Then, just recently, I witness him in Enduring Love (made in between Sylvia and Layer Cake), as a man who has an above average, happy life, which is ruined by a creepy stalker (Rhys Ifans). The movie is disturbingly beautiful, and Daniel Craig is amazing in it. It was here where I said to myself: "Daniel Craig is so understated as an actor."

Oh but wait, he's doing the whole Bond thing right now. Besides that, for a while it seemed like nobody really knew him, but he was getting all these good parts (again, in movies that weren't really getting out there). Of course, now, he's hot stuff, and I can't wait to see him in Defiance (whenever that comes out)... I just hope he continues to make high quality and thoughtful films. Think about it, Daniel Craig.

Review: Milk (2008)

Finally! A movie meets my expectations! It hasn't happened in a while. In fact it almost never happens. Having seen the trailer (involuntarily) maybe 50 times, I thought for sure I was desensitized to the premise (surely it had to be heartbreaking and I wasn't going to feel heartbroken), and I was sure I was going to be disappointed.

I wasn't.

Milk is a fantastic, touching film, telling the story of the eponymous hero Harvey Milk (the breathtaking Sean Penn), and how he succeeded in getting the wheels turning in the gay right movement in America. The first hour spans 8 years of his move to San Francisco with his partner Scott (James Franco), setting up shop, and generating an openly gay community which thrived on love and good vibrations... In this time Milk decides that it's time that there should be one of his own in office. He makes his campaign, and runs 4 times before he is elected as a city supervisor. In that time, we meet his small and trusty band of loyal gays (Joseph Cross, Lucas Grabeel, Brandon Boyce), his eccentric young protegé (Emile Hirsch, in a seriously awesome role), his token lesbian (Alison Pil), and his second, less-exciting lover (Diego Luna).

They are all great.

Perhaps better still, is Josh Brolin, who plays the villainous--yet surprisingly sympathetic--Dan White, a fellow supervisor with bigot ambitions. He is the one who kills Milk. Surprise! Don't worry, I didn't spoil it. Dan White tries his best and follows his conscience, it just takes a road that not many of us normally would. You can't help but feel sorry for him, even if you know what he's going to do.

Sean Penn's performance completes me. I can't say anything more, but he SO steals my heart.

I think there is nothing too extraordinary about Gus Van Sant's directing style. I'd say there were a few bad choices made, but overall, the movie is extremely powerful and moving. The subject matter is heavy and I can't articulate everything I want to about its effect on society (if there will be any), and perhaps the effect it might've had were it released a month ago (for voter's of California's Proposition 8), and how it might do in the Oscar race (Some people might be scared about how pro-gay it is). The film is not all about Milk, it's about the movement--not the monument--the gave gay people their voices. I think we should be proud of this film.

Grade A-

Trailers: Star Trek (2009)

WHAT? I hadn't already posted this? For fuck's sake..


I'm not a Trek fan in any sense, but I'm pretty pumped for this movie.

Trailers: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [INTERNATIONAL] (2008)

I told myself I wouldn't watch it. But, wow.

For Your Consideration: Heath Ledger

From /film:
Warner Bros has publicly begun its push with this Variety advertisement for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight for a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Academy Award ballots are mailed on December 26th, polls close on January 12th, and the nominations are announced on January 22nd.

He will have to contend with Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt, John Malkovich in Changeling, Ralph Fiennes in Duchess, John Malkovich and Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading and Robert Downey, Jr. in Tropic Thunder. Will the Academy recognize an outstanding performance in a “comic book movie”?

Review: Quantum of Solace (2008)

Upon walking out of the theater with my sister, I said that I thought the movie didn't get interesting until an hour in, she said that she didn't think the movie got interesting until the whole movie.

Behold, truth.

It would be hard to exceed the greatness that was 2006's Casino Royale, but I felt that this film was hardly even worthy to be its sequel.

The first hour is comprised of five different kinds of chases: A car chase, foot chase, boat chase, plane chase, and the chasing of James Bond, who's gone "rogue". None of these succeeded in getting me "jazzed" or wanting more. They are all so tired and pumped on steroids that I am moved to tears by the lack of style. The plot to me was convoluted and unclear, and apart from a very small number of minute-long sequences I thought were cool, the first hour was useless.

At the end, I felt unfulfilled. It was really just getting going, seriously. It probably could've had another hour of decent stuff. Instead, the tacked-on ending seems cheap and open-ended.

Bad stuff aside, I will give the last 45 minutes credit as being exciting enough for me to be disappointed when it was over. Mathieu Almaric fits the mold for the Bond Villain. He's really popular right now, and he's french; which is lucky for this movie. It feels like it was meant to be. Judi Dench is ever the badass as M, Bond's mysterious boss. Daniel Craig is still good, but he doesn't open his mouth enough. Maybe that's just me, but it's annoying.

I really wanted to be pumped up by this movie. But alas, I was not. Better luck next time.

Grade: C-

Review: Christmas on Mars (2008)

Whoa. Ummmm.

I'm not a Flaming Lips fan, really. Nothing against the music, I just never got into them. Yet I went to see their crazy trip of a film Christmas on Mars tonight, and sat in the company of some people I assume have never been to a movie before.

How to describe the movie... It has a plot, I think, but I don't care. It's an instant cult classic, a mash up between Plan 9 from Outerspace, Eraserhead, and The Wizard of Oz on acid. WHOA.

And thank you, Fred Armisen, for making my life better all the time.

A couple of times I wanted to leave, just because I felt I had already attained the vibe well enough. But I stayed! And it turned out to be fine because the movie is like 70 minutes long. It is deliciously low budget; there is essence of styrofoam and egg cartons everywhere on set. The directing (by Lips front man Wayne Coyne) is bold and interesting. It's a great throwback to 50's B movie sci-fi classics. Film fans would do well not to miss this.

I don't care who you are, what your story is, who you like, who you don't like, how tired you are, just see this movie.

And thank you, Adam Goldberg, for making my life better all the time.

Grade: This movie transcends grading