The American

The American is a movie for people who appreciate movies, to be sure. Its not a fast-paced thriller, with obnoxious explosions and clichéd dialog, but rather a fine tuned sequence of moving art. The acting, the location, the story. I personally enjoyed it all, and thought it was superbly executed. 

From the moment I first read about this movie in June, I knew exactly what type of film it would be. Directed by Anton Crobijn and starring George Clooney, the plot description exuded a type of singular focus that you rarely see, a sort of throwback to 1960's movies with Gregory Peck or Carey Grant, if you will. One watches this type of movie for the mood it purveys. 

The basic plot is that Jack (Clooney of course) is a hit-man. After an emotionally taxing job he is ordered to lay low in a small Italian village (Castel de Monte) while the smoke clears. As is to be expected, he becomes emotionally attached to a girl he meets, and stuff goes down. And that is all I shall say about the plot- better to just see it for yourself to be honest. I have heard the criticism that the plot is predictable, and with this I won't argue. Although not entirely obvious, you can generally feel what is probable to happen next if you are attentive. 

Now the question of overall quality arises. If I were to judge this film solely based on my own personal enjoyment,  I would give it 3 1/2 stars. My preferences do not however represent much of the viewing public, so I will...ignore that fact and give it 3 1/2 stars, because it is a damn good film and if you don't agree then you don't appreciate truly masterful work. 

*As a side note, the score by Herbert Gronemeyer is very beautiful, and works well with the movie. 

Avatar. The Movie, The Myth, The Legend.

Okay, so the first time I saw the preview for this movie I was like "What the hell.....". Then, when I started to have all of the media attention this thing was getting (and is still getting) pumped into my head, I basically told myself that I wasn't going to go see it, ever. Why? Because to me this movie represented everything that is wrong: enormous budget, complete dependence on computer-generated imagery, wall to wall action, media exposure to the point that you'd think James Cameron carries the networks in his pocket. This was not my kind of movie. Then, it was released, and everyone went to see it, of course. And everyone I knew, who saw it, obviously said things like "Dude, Avatar was sick! You have to see it man!", so what am I supposed to do. During this time, I warmed to the idea of seeing the movie somewhat, as more and more reviews came back positive, and more and more people recommended it. When the opportunity presented itself to go, I took it, but to the next level. I thought to myself, well if I'm going to see Avatar, this motion picture event, this pop-culture phenomenon, I might as well go the whole nine yards, so I went for the IMAX 3D. If I see the movie in its apparent ultimate form, and I still don't like it, then well at least I gave it the benefit of the doubt. I liked it. In fact I really liked it. Yes, the budget was enormous, but well spent. The action was wall to wall, but it was in context, and the story was well developed, if not a bit predictable in the early goings. In short it was a crazy smash-hit action blow out, but if your going to do one, then this is how its done right. Cameron gets the credit. The CGI, well its frankly never looked so good. I would not go so far as to say that the nine foot blue woman was sexy, as some have, but she wasn't repulsive. As for the blatantly liberal undertones, well, that's hollywood. I mean, you can't argue with the immorality of the humans on this one, but its not as if this is based on a true story. The impression I am left with after seeing the film is: It is truly an event, and if you haven't seen it, then I'm sorry, but your just not in the loop. You're an outsider. Don't wait for it to come out on DVD, see it now, in IMAX 3D, while you still have the chance. Don't worry about the money, its worth it. Now, was this as big as Titanic? I think not. Not without Celine Dion, and Leo, and "I'm king of the world!!!!". But as far as impact goes, its close. And time well spent. I give it 3 and 1/2 stars, and it might make my top 40. Maybe.