Posts Tagged ‘Love Actually’
2 items.
Nov07
Today’s comic is about 90% true to real life. I did spend a fair amount of time trying to convince Cami to see The Matrix Revolutions, but she wasn’t impressed with the last one and the bad reviews were keeping her away from the new one.
I actually threatened not to see Love, Actually as punishment for her not wanted to see a movie *I* was really excited about. You see, that’s how our system works. She goes to movies I want to see be she doesn’t and in exchange, I got to movies she wants to go to but I don’t. We take turns torturing each other.
Of course, when I made the threat, Cami had to mentally pull up a list of movies BESIDES Revolutions she knew I was excited to see. When she tried to barter a matinee of Elf for one Love, Actually, I told her it wouldn’t wash. She’s been just as excited for this movie as I have.
I don’t know what it is about Will Ferrell that we find so appealing. For me I think it’s his level of commitment. Whether it a skit on Saturday Night Live or a bit part in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, he’s totally there for all of it. Every scene. Every line. And he’s not afraid to make himself look like the fool. It’s that kind of selflessness in comedy that I respect.
Every review I’ve read on Elf so far has been positive. It makes me wonder that if Revolutions had opened today instead of Wednesday if Elf wouldn’t nudge it out at the box office…
Interpret that how you like. I’m probably not going to give my opinion one way or the other on Revolutions. It seems like people on both sides of the fence have too much invested in it for me to go too far into detail regarding my reactions to it.
While the last two movies were not executed at the level of precision that I would have hoped for, I still think The Matrix universe is one of the most richly detailed in all cinema. It’s still a great concept and will most likely live within the lexicon of our culture for the next few generations. Regardless of where it goes from here, anyone with even a passing interest in science fiction owes it to themselves to be familiar with all 3 movies.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Before I wrap things up, I wanted to thank everyone who voted for Theater Hopper at buzzComix this week. You guys really showed ’em what’s what. We cracked the Top 10 and found a cozy little spot around number 8. This, of course, blows my mind. Thank you so much for your support and keep up the great work!
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Nov10
NOW IF I COULD ONLY GET SOME CRACKER JACKS
November 10th, 2003 |
(11 votes, average: 8.36 out of 10)
I’m using another snippet of real life and injecting it into today’s comic. Cami and I did try to see Elf this weekend, but our local google-plex was only showing it on one screen. (wha?!) So instead, we hunkered down and saw Love, Actually.
I wasn’t planning on liking this movie. In fact, when we stepped out of the theater, I was bashing it with some glee. But as the weekend progressed and I thought back on the film, it was in fact a very satisfying affair. That it was able to stay with me at all is quite the miracle.
It’s true there are a lot of characters to keep track of. A few of them intersect in interesting ways, but it feels more like an idea that they tacked on at the end of filming. They’d sneak a pair of actors you saw earlier in the movie into the background of another scene as if to say “Remember these guys?”
Love, Actually is actually very long. Too long. There were a couple of places where I thought “The movie HAS to end here,” but it just keep going. That’s part of the problem of having so many characters. There are lots of loose subplots to tie up
Another thing that surprised me is the amount of nudity in the film. I don’t think I’ve seen so many topless women in a Christmas film. Heck, even Laura Linney takes it off! In retrospect, that was a fairly cloying move to keep the male contingent placated. After all, this movie has “CHICK FLICK” stamped all over it in big, red letters. Better give the fellas some boobies to look at before they start burning down the theater.
There are several moments in the movie that border on saccharine overload, but somehow director/writer Richard Curtis pulls it back from the teetering edge by finding some disarming nugget of humor in the dialogue. There are a few scenes that are genuinely touching. Maybe even one that will go down as classic example of unrequited love. The performances are sharp and it portrays a very active, diverse and modern London. The film proclaims that Christmas is the time of year to make our romances known, that love conquers all and to wear your heart on your sleeve proudly – with your chest out, so to speak. 😉
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