Charlie Bartlett

Charlie Bartlett is a cute, fun teen movie about a rich prep school kid who becomes the bathroom "psychiatrist" at a public school. One draw for me was that one of my favorite actors, Robert Downey Jr. is in the movie, and I had heard and read good reviews. So I had high hopes for this movie but left feeling a little disappointed. While the movie is reminiscent of other hip teenage angst movies like Harold and Maude or Rushmore (a few Cat Stevens songs, a quirky older guy/gal who acts as mentor, clueless and out-of touch parents, and at least two of these movies end with a student written play) Charlie Bartlett doesn’t quite reach those heights. It suffers from trying too hard, I think. There are some sweet moments and Anton Yelchin who plays Charlie is charming, but the script falters and the tone wavers from silly to ironic to melodramatic.
And I get a little tired of movies with the uber-teens: the youngsters, who behave as adults, seem to have no parental supervision and can do things like arrange rock concerts with 500 people in their back yard or wear designer clothes each day to school. Uber-teens don’t exist in reality but are rife in movies and television.
This is another one of those movies that has a lot of potential and some really good moments but goes astray.

Happy-Go-Lucky

I knew I wanted to see this British movie although I heard so many divergent reviews of it.  Some people find the ultra-positive and chirpy Polly, played by Sally Hawkins, to be really annoying.  I was braced myself to be annoyed by her character and in the end really liked her.  She is so goofy and makes such funny comments, especially to the angry driving instructor that I could not help but be charmed by her.  There is not much in the way of plot in this movie -- it's more of a character study -- but I found there is enough to look at on screen to keep it interesting.  

My friend Julie and I are on the road in Madison, Wisconsin, to attend a Bat Mitzvah and saw Happy-Go-Lucky at the Orpheum Theater on State Theater.  The weird thing was that we were the only two people in this vast, somewhat decrepit theater.  Besides feeling strange about having a private showing, I was romanced by the beauty of this once great movie house and sad that it isn't taken care of any more.  The sound in the movie was bad and the connecting bar noises kept bleeding through making it even harder to hear the slurred British dialogue.  I am glad they are still using this theater as a theater, but hope some generous soul will pour some money into it and restore it.

Shattered Glass

I just saw Shattered Glass again (see side bare of my list of great newsroom movies list). I got it to show students on my newspaper staff and we didn't quite finish it in class, so I watched the rest of it at home. It was just as good the second time. It tells the real-life remarkable story of Peter Glass who wrote for The New Republic and fabricated story after story. The amazing thing is that he didn't get caught. Hayden Christensen plays Glass as a smarmy and pathetic charmer. Other staffers are played by Hank Azaria, Peter Sarsgaard, and Chloe Sevigny.

Blow Up

I saw this 1966 artsy movie directed by Michelangelo Antonioni about a photographer because I read an article about the photographer who it is based on and heard that it was a critical favorite. (I can't remember the name of the photographer its based on if there is anyone out there who reads The New Yorker can help me with my memory). The movie shows a photographer who takes a picture a crime in action and figures it out by blowing up the photo. The action (if that's the right word since it doesn't seem like there is any action) moves at a glacial pace and the "mystery" we're promised is not mysterious. Either this movie is way too dated for my modern self or I just don't get it because, while it was cool to look at for time, it was just plain dull.

Burn After Reading

The Coen Brother's Burn After Reading is chock full of mega stars. It makes you wonder why those two ornery brothers like the star-studded cast-- I mean they are well-known enough to not have to rely on big names. I was a little disappointed with this latest Coen Bros farce. I had heard from friends that it was a real knee-slapper, but while I enjoyed watching Brad Pitt look like a dork and John Malkovich always cracks me up (even though he always seems to play the same weird guy), I was only mildly amused. One extreme oddity of note is the contraption that George Clooney's character makes in his basement -- truly horrifying.

Run, Fat Boy, Run

Run, Fat Boy, Run is another quirky British comedy. Thandie Newton and Simon Pegg are the working class Londoners who once were engaged to be married. The token American is played by Hank Azaria as the jerky boyfriend who tries to thwart Pegg’s attempts at getting his girlfriend and mother of his child back by running a marathon. There are a few laughs but overall the movie is full of clichés and is very predictable. Beyond predictable it is just dumb in parts, especially the bits about training for the marathon. It is also another example of some schlub of a guy who amazingly ends up with a knockout.

Mary's Best of 2008

I wanted to do a best of 2008, but haven’t seen all the movies out in 2008, so this is best of all the newish movies that I have seen. I have seen a lot of classics and mini-series, and I am not including those on this list. And, to me, best means movies that I really enjoyed-- just that.
So of the movies I have watched in 2008, in the order I've seen them, my top 10 movies are…

Slumdog Millionaire
In Bruges
Vicky Christina Barcelona
The Visitor
Recount
Speak
Lars and the Real Girl
Into the Wild
Gone Baby Gone
Attonement

Hamlet II and Seven Pounds

Hamlet II is meant to satire inspirational teacher movies like Mr. Holland's Opus and Dead Poet's Society. If you have read earlier entries, this movie is right up my alley. I have a list of some of my favorite edgy teacher movies (see side-bar), and I may have to add Hamlet II to the list. I will have to let that marinate a bit, though. Hamlet II is quite hilarious though. The British actor, Stephen Coogan (who is HI-larious in general), is freaky drama teacher who tries to save the school's drama program with his own creation, he calls Hamlet II, a play that seems to have very little to do with Hamlet and a lot to do with the playwright's father issues, with a sexy Jesus thrown in. He also has the school's Latino "thugs" and a bi-curious good kid to playing the leads.

Speaking of inspirational movies, or meant to be inspirational anyway, I saw Seven Pounds, another Will Smith ain't-I-great movie. It was okay, but what I found irritating was the big mystery that you had to try to figure out for over half of the movie while you were just left confused for the first half. When you did finally get to the big "reveal", it was anti-climactic. I used to like Will Smith after I saw him in Six Degrees of Separation where he played an ambiguous and interesting character. But now it seems like his movie roles are meant to be roles that showcase his greatness -- which is a little boring.