Monday, July 10, 2006
NOW OUT ON DVD
I just saw Syriana, and it definitely had its problems, but I thought it was one of the more worthwhile movies I've seen in six or eight months, mainly because the DVD extras were thought-provoking. Also, the writer and director comes from the very same town as toner_low and goatboy. That gets him some points.
Judging from Google, a lot of people hated this film. Ebert thought it was great. I think Fox News summed it up pretty well, and George Clooney (who by the way looks scarily like Paul Krugman in the movie)seems to agree with Fox. I saw interesting takes on two Middle Eastern blogs--one Lebanese, and one Zionist.
One interesting quote from the DVD extras: Not only is America addicted to oil (as Matt Damon and George W. Bush point out), but America is behaving like an addict, with compromises, self-deceptions, and weakness that any crackhead would exhibit.
Still, I have no idea who several key characters in the movie are or what they do, and the whole thing just doesn't come across as compelling because, as good as the story is, few roles are able to climb up off the page--terrific actor Jeffrey Wright is wasted as an icy lawyer who has some kind of damaged relationship with his father (I guess--I really couldn't tell what was going on with those two). William Hurt is mysterious. Christopher Plummer is either a lawyer or lobbyist or diplomat or something, but he's got some great lines. So the final score is head 1 heart 0, which doesn't mean it's bad, just... ah go rent it.
I just saw Syriana, and it definitely had its problems, but I thought it was one of the more worthwhile movies I've seen in six or eight months, mainly because the DVD extras were thought-provoking. Also, the writer and director comes from the very same town as toner_low and goatboy. That gets him some points.
Judging from Google, a lot of people hated this film. Ebert thought it was great. I think Fox News summed it up pretty well, and George Clooney (who by the way looks scarily like Paul Krugman in the movie)seems to agree with Fox. I saw interesting takes on two Middle Eastern blogs--one Lebanese, and one Zionist.
One interesting quote from the DVD extras: Not only is America addicted to oil (as Matt Damon and George W. Bush point out), but America is behaving like an addict, with compromises, self-deceptions, and weakness that any crackhead would exhibit.
Still, I have no idea who several key characters in the movie are or what they do, and the whole thing just doesn't come across as compelling because, as good as the story is, few roles are able to climb up off the page--terrific actor Jeffrey Wright is wasted as an icy lawyer who has some kind of damaged relationship with his father (I guess--I really couldn't tell what was going on with those two). William Hurt is mysterious. Christopher Plummer is either a lawyer or lobbyist or diplomat or something, but he's got some great lines. So the final score is head 1 heart 0, which doesn't mean it's bad, just... ah go rent it.
# posted by toner_low @ 11:30 PM 
