Two movies, both about brothers, usually wearing suits, both comedies and both about loveable criminals. Besides that? Not too much in common. Ah well!
The Brothers Bloom (2008)
Colourful like a Wes Anderson film, but with a different kind of heart. The first half draws you in like a sunny day or an exquisite day dream, with groovy music and a neat story telling style. The cast is pretty much ideal: the lovelorn romantic in Adrian Brody, the wide-eyed storyteller in Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz as the girl who doesn't quite fit in anywhere. The film as a whole is quite good, but I must say that the last half was just a tad too conventional. Overall, it's a bit like Darjeeling Limited (probably because of Brody) and reminded me of In Bruges (I think in the cinematography and music), it's what I see as the "eccentric, colourful, comedic yet still dramatic" genre. A mouthful, I know, but it seems we're seeing more and more of it. I might add (500) Days of Summer to that mix, along with most Anderson films and perhaps Death at a Funeral. Anyway, it's an interesting trend, and I seem to like most films that come out of it, so I'm in anticipation of what's up next in this line of cinematic creations.
The Blues Brothers (1980)
First of all, I love love love the music. James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin? Puuure pleasure. Though I must say that if it weren't for the music I probably wouldn't like this film much at all. It felt slow at times, and in general it was just not my taste in humour, though there were certainly funny bits and pieces. At about 80 minutes in, the film got its first and only out-loud laugh from me, which if you know me is something that usually occurs quite often. The Blues Brothers' rendition of Rawhide was just too hilarious not to laugh, especially given that I just finished a Western Film course at school. The ending was also quite diverting, though I'll leave that secret for others to discover. Let's just say there are several (hundred?) police cars... and a Nazi.
So where does that leave me?
So far: 10 movies, 10 days.
To go: 355 days, 355 films.
I had to find a movie that I wanted to watch, that I hadn't seen before, and that my mom would enjoy. So I came up with Definitely, Maybe. It's pretty standard for a romantic comedy, every moment is pretty predictable and the story has a nice tidy ending. Abigail Breslin adds a touch of interest in this movie by taking the story out of the simple "boy meets girl" premise. She plays Ryan Reynolds' daughter, curious about the way he met her mother and unhappy because they're about to get divorced. Reynolds cooks up the idea to tell her the story of all three relationships he's had in his life, giving each woman a new name and making Breslin guess who her mother is. It's an interesting idea, and the one that gave me the vaguest desire to see the film. Rachel Weisz and Isla Fisher are far more charismatic than Elizabeth Banks, and provide most of the more amusing parts of the film. Overall it's nothing special, the acting is fine, the story is fine - it's a nice movie to watch if you're in the right mood.
