They've Got You Trapped, Rose...And You're Gonna Die If You Don't Break Free

As something else to place in the category of "good reasons that I didn't go on my trip," I'm currently waiting for my car to be serviced. During my trip to San Diego a few weeks ago (which, as an aside, feels like it was months ago), my car's brake light came on...but I was confused, as it's the same light that comes on when I put on the emergency brake. So being the total car expert that I am, I assumed that the then-sudden cold front was somehow shorting the connection between the emergency brake and the dashboard...or something. It made sense at the time.

Cut to this weekend: the brake light has been going on and off randomly since my trip, but there haven't been any other signs of wear and/or tear (and it has continued to be very cold...), until the squeaking started. I think it started on Friday as a small "did I hear something?" noise and has grown into a "yes, that's a squeaking noise, and I think everyone else can hear it, too" noise. Given these occurrences, I decided to take the car to Midas this afternoon and get it evaluated.

Nearly $500 later, I've learned that that squeaking noise is actually a sensor letting me know that my brake pads are about to disintegrate, and that if I don't address the problem, the sensor will start cutting into my rotors. Luckily, I addressed the problem before that happened, so now I'm just waiting for them to replace the brake pads and fix a few other things that went over my head (damn my effete lack of automobile knowledge!). So while it thankfully wasn't as devastating as I had feared it would be (while doing the inspection, the main guy came running in with a shocked and confused look on his face, checked something on the computer, and went back to my car...that's never a good sign), it's still good that a) I'm having it taken care of now, and b) I didn't go off to New York, spend a ton of money, and return to require this necessary bit of automotive surgery done.

Oh, but before I continue with more movie reviews, let me just say this: I kind of can't stand people who have recently moved to New York City and who proceed to remind everyone of how "cool" they are and/or how knowledgeable or allegedly savvy they are about the city. For instance, there's an old friend of mine (someone I haven't seen in years and years) who must have recently moved to New York, as virtually every Facebook status update has been something like "So-and-so wants to get back to New York!" "So-and-so can't imagine people living in small towns instead of New York!" "So-and-so loves Sarasota, but needs to return to New York!" "So-and-so envies people who own brownstones...in New York!" And so on. Annoying.

Also still annoying: married couples continuing to profess their love for one another via Facebook status updates. Stop it, stop it, stop it.

Speaking of married couples, I ventured to the one theater in all of Los Angeles (because I live in Los Angeles!) that's currently playing Revolutionary Road and saw it today. As I've said before, it wasn't a movie that I was excited to see...it was more of an obligation, given the stars (I like Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet), the director (I generally like Sam Mendes...more on that in a bit), and the intriguing trailer. Top it all off with the fact that the movie simply oozes Academy Award aspirations, and I'm basically sold. The only issue: I just wasn't interested in the story. Married couple grows to hate each other in the suburbs? It's been done...many times. And while I love American Beauty (though I'll be interested to re-watch it when it finally comes to Blu-ray...will it hold up?), that sort of "family hates each other" story usually makes me sad and doesn't scream "entertainment."

But I dutifully shuffled off to the theater and sat through its two hours. And for my effort, what did I get? Kind of a mess. Or at least, something messy and half-formed. At best, it's a good acting showcase with some memorable scenes and moments. At worst, it's stilted (probably by design, but it just feels stagy and fake amidst the real emotions that are happening), boring and pointless (there's that word again...). I guess the best way I can sum it up would be to say that my big question at the end was: "So?"

I guess my primary issue with the film was that it really didn't delve into much of anything. Marriage sucks sometimes and suburbia was/is a trap...shocking! And it wasn't a basic story peppered with amazingly detailed and lifelike characters...everyone was basically a cliche, and all of these cliches went about doing their cliched things. And finally, something bad happens that wraps up all the misery with a bow of tragedy. The end.

Yes, I realize that this is based off the influential book of the same name, so perhaps a lot of the "suburban angst" movies of the last forty years have been influenced by this particular tome...maybe that explains things. And I understand that this was all very shocking and, well, revolutionary in the early 1960s. But maybe someone should have made the movie in the sixties...if they had, it might be up there with Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf as a subversive and acidic classic. But as it stands now, there's nothing new or interesting in this screenplay, so one simply waits patiently until the movie ends.

I also get that one of the ideas of the movie is that these characters are trapped in these roles, which can help account for the stilted quality of some scenes and the use of cliches. I get that this may have been a very conscious choice (especially the stilted aspect), but as a movie, it just doesn't congeal. It comes off as all over the place, messy and overly familiar.

The actors do a very good job with their roles. I could sit here and make a thousand jokes relating this movie to Titanic, but I'll spare everyone. But I will be amused if some twenty-something year old girls see this movie to see their teenage idols on screen together again (there were some of those in the theater today). Plus, it is a little funny to imagine that this movie is actually a sequel to Titanic wherein Jack survived and Rose and Jack actually got married. It helps make the slower moments a little more bearable. Really, if Billy Zane had played the "he's crazy, but he's the one truly sane character in the whole movie!" character in this movie, I would have probably given the movie five stars for its comedic value.

So is the movie good? Eh...no. Not really. I hate to say it, but it's not really worth seeing. It's interesting: Sam Mendes tends to make what I call "four star movies": movies that have all the elements needed to be amazing, they look stunning, they're so well acted, and every piece seems to be in place...and yet, they just don't get over that four-star hump to be a true five star movie. Usually, a four star movie leaves me feeling neutral at the end, a void where some emotion should be. Sam Mendes seems to be the reigning king of the four star movie, as I felt precisely the same way at the end of Road to Perdition and Jarhead (American Beauty, I would argue, is a five star movie, and is still his best). I think if it hadn't been so pointless, Revolutionary Road would be yet another ideal four star movie: everything is in place, but it just doesn't hit home. But given that the movie is maddeningly pointless and so convinced of its own heft that it ends up capsizing itself, it's just not very good.

Oh, but I will say that the final scene/shot in the movie is absolutely hilarious, kind of heartbreaking, and more incisive about what marriage seems to be than any scene that came prior.

Lest you think that I'm just being hard on movies lately, I went and saw Doubt yesterday and kind of loved it. Again, it's hard to discuss what's so great about a movie without a) ruining them and b) sounding like a twat, so I'll just say that Doubt is absolutely worth seeing. It's just damned compelling and so well written and acted. In a way, it's very lightweight, as the story is barely there and the movie is practically over in an instant, but the ideas stay with you. Excellent movie and one that I would happily see nominated for Best Picture.

I also saw the entirety of Spaced on DVD over the last few days. For those who aren't familiar with the show, Spaced aired on Channel 4 in the UK between 2000 and 2001 and was about two twenty-somethings who pretend to be a couple to get a flat and end up having crazy, pop culture-laden adventures with their group of friends. It's kind of more than that, story-wise, but that's it in a nutshell. It's also a major geek touchstone, with many people proclaiming that it's "just like hanging out with my friends!" Additionally, it's also the part-brainchild of Simon Pegg, of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame (also soon-to-be of Star Trek fame), and was where he got his start (along with Edgar Wright, the show's director, who is directing the Scott Pilgrim movie). I had seen a few episodes thanks to Netflix and worked my industry magic to get a free copy of the DVDs.

On its own, the show is really funny and winning, and I would highly recommend it to others. But after I started going through the commentaries and special features, I began to get a little bit...annoyed. It just seemed like these guys knew exactly how great Spaced was and how wonderful they were to have done it. I don't know...it all just rubbed me the wrong way. Also, Simon Pegg seems like a funny guy, but a bit of a stuck-up douche (again, based solely on my opinion from the special features). I'm not even sure why I'm mentioning this here, but just so everyone knows: Spaced = great. The talent behind Spaced = some seem nice, some seem like giant assholes.

Okay, I've gone and retrieved my car, so now I shall settle in for the night. Tomorrow's movie will be The Wrestler, followed by Slumdog Millionaire on Wednesday (and Gran Torino on Thursday, if I'm up for it). Hopefully once I've seen all of these Academy Award hopefuls, I can have a better opinion about what/who will and/or should be nominated, and I may even be able to compile a "best movies of the year" list. How exciting.

One last thing: it may not be on the level of the Israel/Palestine war going on at the moment, but it seems that Twentieth Century Fox may actually be trying to stop the release of Watchmen. I don't believe the movie will actually not get released, but this is becoming quite a foul fight indeed. Of course, no one benefits if the movie doesn't get released, and despite the legal posturing from both sides, it more than likely will come down to a settlement. But if the unthinkable happens and Fox actually keeps Watchmen from being released...it won't be pretty. Sure, I'll be incredibly pissed off, but I think the overall geek backlash would be unprecedented....