Grindhouse: Death Proof
Brace yourself audience Tarantino’s homage to poor films is a bad film. Don’t, rent, don’t buy, and don’t watch.
Frostbitten
Cold, Bloody, Bad, Swedish
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
“Things We Lost in the Fire” Review
“Things We Lost in the Fire” is about Halle Berry’s life after her husband, David Duchovny, passes away. She invites his best friend, Benicio del Torro, to move in with her and her two children. She has never been particularly fond of him, and he’s a heroin addict. Benicio forms an interesting relationship with Halle, as well as with her two kids.
The mere fact that Halle invited Benicio to move in wasn’t believable to me. There was one scene in particular where Halle asked Benicio to help her sleep. This entailed being intertwined in an obscure position while he rubbed her ear. Poof, she falls fast asleep. I get that this was supposed to be one of the “deep, meaningful” scenes in the film, but I actually think that having another man impersonate your husband, especially so soon after his death, would have reverse effects. It is just not believable. In fact, nothing in the movie was believable, except Benicio’s excellent portrayal of a drug addict who is trying to change his life.
This felt like a student film to me. I haven’t seen so many pointless close-ups of an eyeball since my freshman year in film school. And the cheesy guitar music reminded me of having the guy across the hall in my dorm record the “soundtrack” of my 5-minute masterpiece the night before it was due. And what about that movie poster? Who chose that font? It looks like a horror film from the 1940’s, which would be cool if this was indeed a horror film. I digress. The dialogue was really cheesy, and Susan Bier’s direction felt immature, like she just threw a bunch of cliché scenes together. For example, there is a scene of Halle and Benicio at a diner. Halle is cupping her mug, twiddling her thumbs over the rim. That scene, among others, feels obviously directed, and very unrealistic. The directing style and most of the storyline don’t seem to fit Benicio’s performance, which is jarring and frighteningly real.
Halle didn’t have the breakdown we were all waiting for until the very end. There was a moment when she smelled her husband’s clothes, and to me, that is the moment that would make her break. That moment didn’t come until the very end when she was in his office, which for some reason made her realize that her husband was really gone. Watching Halle try to cry was embarrassing. She was actually making this annoying guttural noise that was almost like a moan the whole time. The sin here is that this will probably be the clip that she sets up from Oprah’s couch, and afterwards, Oprah says “Oscar, Oscar!” Hopefully she will say the same for Benicio, because he is the only reason to see this film!
The mere fact that Halle invited Benicio to move in wasn’t believable to me. There was one scene in particular where Halle asked Benicio to help her sleep. This entailed being intertwined in an obscure position while he rubbed her ear. Poof, she falls fast asleep. I get that this was supposed to be one of the “deep, meaningful” scenes in the film, but I actually think that having another man impersonate your husband, especially so soon after his death, would have reverse effects. It is just not believable. In fact, nothing in the movie was believable, except Benicio’s excellent portrayal of a drug addict who is trying to change his life.
This felt like a student film to me. I haven’t seen so many pointless close-ups of an eyeball since my freshman year in film school. And the cheesy guitar music reminded me of having the guy across the hall in my dorm record the “soundtrack” of my 5-minute masterpiece the night before it was due. And what about that movie poster? Who chose that font? It looks like a horror film from the 1940’s, which would be cool if this was indeed a horror film. I digress. The dialogue was really cheesy, and Susan Bier’s direction felt immature, like she just threw a bunch of cliché scenes together. For example, there is a scene of Halle and Benicio at a diner. Halle is cupping her mug, twiddling her thumbs over the rim. That scene, among others, feels obviously directed, and very unrealistic. The directing style and most of the storyline don’t seem to fit Benicio’s performance, which is jarring and frighteningly real.
Halle didn’t have the breakdown we were all waiting for until the very end. There was a moment when she smelled her husband’s clothes, and to me, that is the moment that would make her break. That moment didn’t come until the very end when she was in his office, which for some reason made her realize that her husband was really gone. Watching Halle try to cry was embarrassing. She was actually making this annoying guttural noise that was almost like a moan the whole time. The sin here is that this will probably be the clip that she sets up from Oprah’s couch, and afterwards, Oprah says “Oscar, Oscar!” Hopefully she will say the same for Benicio, because he is the only reason to see this film!
Monday, October 22, 2007
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