Tales from the Technoverse

Last night, as part of the Ellen birthday set of events, culminating in her long-desired trip to New Orleans in December, we went to see Gone Girl (chosen as an alternative to Nightcrawler, and partially because Ellen does not want to see a key character that reminded her of the Michelin tire guy).

I am not going to provide details other than to say I thought it was well acted and directed and generally worth seeing, though it was pretty R.

We saw the film in the newly opened ArcLight movie theaters that have just opened in Montgomery Mall. These have reserved seating, which I like though I know some do not, and are so new they even have a bit of a new car smell and sense to them, soon to be overwhelmed with spilled popcorn. Their existence is not well known yet so we saw the film  almost completely by ourselves. Like some other movie theaters we have gone to they have a staff person talk for  a minute before the film starts telling you about the film, other films, concessions, life, whatever. It was pretty strange with us being the only people in the movie theater.  Another couple came in as the movie was starting so the lowest attendance I have ever experienced, three, was not bested.

After the film, I reflected on Gone Girl, which I did not read as a book, and The Girl With A Clock for a Heart, which I read but since it does not yet exist as a movie have not seen. In both cases the female protagonist was, to be put it mildly, complicated. I have not come to a conclusion as to which one was the most or least desirable to get involved with, though it is safe to say in either case the likelihood of my current 30-plus year marriage would have been small.

Finished watching Lake Bell‘s In A World.

This continues the sequence of woman written, often directed, and starred in films that I have watched over the last month.

The story is about a woman, well-duh, who, like her much more successful father, is in the “world of movie-trailer voiceovers”. If nothing else, I learned that there is a world of movie-trailer voiceovers (or at least there was a movie about them which in our modern world of if-it-is-on-the-screen-it-is-true is the same thing).

She finds herself in a competition with her father to do the voice over for a new quadrilogy (trilogy plus one). The voice over would  start with the iconic phrase “In A World …”, and thus the name of the film.

I thought the film was nicely done, a funny satire, with some heartfelt moments. Perhaps since I have a daughter who studied acting, I am a bit of a sucker for films about films. Lake Bell is clearly talented as a writer, director and as the star of the film. B+ (rated R for language including some sexual references).

This last week was, among other things (like seeing Fleetwood Mac), a week for watching “young person’s” movies.

Our entire family went to the theater to see The BoxTrolls.

The BoxTrolls is a stop-motion film about, well, trolls who wear boxes, live underground, and raise an orphaned human boy called Eggs. The bad guy, voiced by Ben Kingsley (there are lots of great voice talents who speak with English accents) plots to get rid of the BoxTrolls in order to advance in society (it’s complicated). Eggs attempts to stop the plot, gets involved with Winnifred, the daughter of a cheese eating surrender monkee free market capitalist who wants to buy cheese rather than invest in schools (no unnecessary economic stereotypes in Hollywood), and (spoiler alert) saves the day in an not always easy to follow fashion.

The BoxTrolls drags a bit in the beginning, is pretty strange (for those put off by films that are pretty strange), but has really great stop motion effects and, at least, for me was a very enjoyable time. For those who see (or rent it) make sure you also see the added scene after the initial credits. It is absolutely hilarious as well as provide insights into how hard it is to do stop motion films. B+

At home, my last film I just finished was Dear Lemon Lima. When one has an almost 500 film queue, I often forget why I added a film, a question I wondered about and still am unsure of. Dear Lemon Lima’s audience is evidently tweens, which I suspect is not my age group, though in some sense aren’t we all tweens between one status and another? It tells the story of Vanessa, a girl growing up in Alaska, who is shot down by her one true love, Philip, and ends up being a captain for her school’s Snowstorm Survivor competition. Her team consists of Breakfast Club candidates (if the Breakfast Club had been made for tweens) and her journey is complicated by her missing native Alaskan father and somewhat new-age mother. Except for long-time character actress, Beth Grant, the film, written and directed by first-time film maker Suzi Yoonessi (isn’t Google wonderful), the film had no recognizable (to me at least) stars which actually made the film more fun to watch.

Like Napolean Dynamite, which had a somewhat similar ‘vibe’, the climax of the film is dependent on a dance by the lead, representing a big step in the film’s journey. It was a bit of a dark comedy in places (including the death of one of the young characters), but even so I enjoyed it and was glad that I selected it for whatever the reason I did. B