November 9, 2005

• WEDNESDAY MOVIE
  
  A History of Violence

  Gads, since I was getting the latest chapter of my life story posted, it’s been awhile since I reviewed a movie.  I’ve seen a bunch of interesting ones on DVD/video, including the first season of two great HBO series – Six Feet Under and The Wire.   But this is the last film I saw out at the cinema.   I didn’t really know much about the plot before I got there – just knew it got great ratings every time I saw it reviewed and it was a drama bordering on thriller (my favorite).  Plus, I’ve now seen Viggo Mortensen in a few different kinds of roles (the Lord of the Rings stuff, Hidalgo, and hey, all the way back to Witness in the ‘80’s – remember that?) and find him an interesting actor who seems to be improving with age.  So, to my surprise, I actually found myself a little underwhelmed with the movie once it was over.   First off, the cinematography had a kind of cheesy look to it, and I’m just a bit unforgiving about that factor when I pay the money.   And the predictable violence seemed just a tad too predictable.  But that said, I thought the premise was really a good one – how does the addition of violence to a peaceful family/community recipe trickle out to affect pretty much everyone it touches?  And how does someone who has spent their formative years learning to be violent as practically an art form up and make a decision to spend the rest of their lives being peaceful?  And once you’ve left the crumbs of violence behind you like Hansel and Gretel, can you really expect that the predators who feed on them won’t track you down?  The director, David Cronenberg, also made such films as:  “Spider” – about a mental patient; “Dead Ringers” – about Jekyll and Hyde twins; and 1983’s “Dead Zone” with Christopher Walken.  So you know the guy will have a different  twist on things.  So my minor kvetches aside, I thought it was worth the effort.  Good acting from all, good plot, good food for thought. Good to go.
  

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  Deep Thought:  “Consider the daffodil. And while you’re doing that, I’ll be over here, looking through your stuff.”
  Today I am grateful for:  Aspiration
  Guess the Movie:  “Listen, just listen. The watch we put under the flower pots and the money we stuff in the violin.” Answer: The Pianist, 2002. Winner: Eliminate_the_Impossible.
  Californians Say No to Schwarzenegger
  by Mark Martin, Carla Marinucci and Lynda Gledhill
  California voters were rejecting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s special election agenda Tuesday, handing the governor a humbling loss after he gambled on a high-stakes plan to reshape state government. (Rest of article here.)
  End of Day: 8:36 pm
  + = Beautiful fall day.
  - = More suicide bombing – different country.

  • 5:13 pm
  • 11 Comments