Monthly Archives: January 2009

Monkey Chatter: Fear and loathing of traditional families

January 5, 2009
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Your Movie Monkey was sitting minding his own business, waiting for Brad Pitt to age backward in front of his eyes, when a preview for the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio/Kate Winslet movie Revolutionary Roadcame about.  It appears to be about a young, beautiful couple who are in love, and compromise that they will life–horrors–in the suburbs.  They have two gorgeous children, and, according to the previews, hate their lives.  Leonardo DiCaprio hates his job, they hate their life, etc., etc.  It’s a Sam Mendes film, the same guy who brought us American Beauty (which, due to subject matter, Your Movie Monkey has chosen not to see.  His choice.)

Hollywood’s constant put down of traditional families was once again in full force in this ad.  These two chose to get married and have kids, and of course, they hate it.  The implication here is that everyone in suburban life is unhappy.  But this is a lie.  Lots of folks are happy being with their spouses, raising their kids, etc.

In the preview (which could admittedly be misleading with regard to the rest of the film) it appears that the two are unhappy because they can’t do exactly what they want to do every second of the day.  The tone in DiCaprio’s voice when he says “I go to a job that I hate” is astounding.  It conveys the idea that one should be happy every minute of every day, and that if you’re not, life is treating you unfairly.

Almost everything Your Movie Monkey has experienced in life that is of any value to him required sacrifice in the short term in order to gain in the long term.  The idea that there should be no sacrifice, no momentary displeasure, is ludicrous.  Everything requires work.  And work can be unpleasant at times.

At Your Movie Monkey’s high school, there was a course offered that was essentially a “home ec” for both guys and girls, and lots of folks took it as a “blow off” class.  Most folks in that class made an A, or at least those YMM talked with, but in general, the fact that they made an A in something so easy didn’t bring them a lot of pride or pleasure or value.  There was no pain.  And correspondingly, there was no gain.

Your Movie Monkey understands that family life is not for everyone.  Even the Apostle Paul recommends remaining single.  And Your Movie Monkey lauds those who know that married life or family life would not suit them, and choose not to go down that road.  But YMM is also quite tired of Hollywood making constant fun of those who live for their families as being unhappy, or, more often, stupid.

For one, it’s a lie, as described above.  There are lots of folks who are happy in the suburbs.  But for another thing, it’s not exactly a new idea, is it now?  Movie makers appear to think they are brave and cutting edge by telling this story: “what if there were a suburban family and they weren’t happyhuh?  Did you ever think of that?”  Of course we did.  It’s old.  It’s hackneyed.  It’s been told a million times.  (But maybe not quite so often as the rag-tag sports team that against all odds and with the motivating coach goes ont to win some competition.  Surely, surely we have now covered all sports and all not-likely-to-win groups of youths and all tough talking, boundary breaking coaches?  Please?)

Sorry about the rant.  There is little new in this post that hasn’t been described.  But it’s Your Movie Monkey’s website, and that ad got him stirred up.

Forrest Gump Part Deux: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

January 5, 2009
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Overall Rating: C+
Artistic/Filmmaking: B
Storytelling: C-
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Overview

It’s Forrest Gump all over again, but (unbelievably) longer, slower paced, and less interesting.  The main character ages backward, but just as no one blinks an eye in the campy old Batman series whenever a woman dressed in a slinky catsuit and henchmen dressed as tiger cubs walk into a jewelry store, no one seems to notice or care.  There’s almost a 1-1 connection for everything in Forrest Gump, there’s even a “sitting in a hospital at a dying woman’s bed” bookend equivalent to Forrest Gump’s “talking to strangers at a bus stop” bookend, and a “Ya Never Know What’s Comin’ For Ya” to match “Life is Like A Box of Chocolates”.  There’s great acting (although it was IYMMHO one of Cate Blanchett’s rare misses), and it’s very fun to watch the period piece aspects, and there are some positive moments.  Oh, and, for some inexplicable reason, there’s Hurricane Katrina.   

Full Review

The story hook promises more than it delivers.  A man (Benjamin Button) ages backward, and experiences life from about 1920 to 2000.   We start with a woman dying of a Hollywood form of cancer… you know, no pain unless we need to call a nurse for a scene change or other plot device.  She is speaking in this kind of loud mumble to her daughter, and they are clearly southern (turns out to be New Orleans), and she tells the story of a man who lost his son in World War I and, in his grief, made a clock that ran backwards to symbolize the time we want back.  And then disappeared.  Then, she mumbles at her daughter to read a diary out loud, so she can hear the daughter’s voice.  It’s the story of Benjamin Button.

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Kids love it–adults, meh: The Tale of Despereaux

January 3, 2009
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Overall Rating: C
Artistic/Filmmaking: A-
Storytelling: D-
MPAA Rating: PG

Overview

An unbelievably well-animated story that is a apparently a “classic” among people who are not my family, The Tale Of Desperaux attempts to throw approximately three stories and maybe 15 or so independent story components to the wall to see what sticks.  The kids will like it (Your Movie Monkey’s daughters did), but, as with Eragon, adults will feel that they’ve seen this all before.  (And, unlike Eragon, the parts you’ve seen before will not always have come from  the highest quality of movies.)

Kid Review

Drama (Your Movie Monkey’s 9-year-old daughter) rated this movie an A- and had this to say:  The Tale of Despereaux started out as a good story.  But then, it just gets really complicated.  The other thing about The Tale of Despereaux that I didn’t care for was that there were a lot of weird things that turned up; i.e., a talking and walking man made out of fruits and vegetables.  But there were a lot of good things about this movie, too.  It was basically a lot of interesting stories, and they are connected in some way or another, and blended into one story.

Queen (Your Movie Monkey’s 7-year-old daughter) rated this movie an A+, and declined further comment.

 Full Review

Your Movie Monkey was a little worried about this movie, for the sheer fact that in the previews, a princess is shown talking to a mouse, and says something like “you’re a strange little mouse”, and the mouse says “thank you”.  It’s the kind of self-referential nonsense Your Movie Monkey finds irritating.  In Your Movie Monkey’s high school, there was a girl who prided herself on being “different”, not one of the crowd, a rugged individual.  The problem was, she was constantly pointing out how different she was being, which made it, somehow, forced.  IYMMHO, a rugged individual is one who does there own thing just because they like it, not because they need attention from it.  Anyway, the mouse saying “thank you” to being described as strange felt very much like something Robin Williams would say in one of his moister on-screen moments.

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