Two Quick Movie Reviews
Since the Academy Awards are here, Gail and I watched a couple of the nominated movies last night. We saw Her, and August, Osage County. Here’s a couple of words on them:
Her
Joaquin Phoenix gives a excellent performance as a man who falls in love with the very advanced operating system on his computer sometime in the near future. Scarlett Johansson is incredible as the disembodied voice who captures his heart and imagination. The plot is imaginative but extraordinarily weird, and occasionally unpleasant. As an exploration of how, why and what we love, this movie asks questions and opens doors you’ve never thought about and takes you down some strange paths.
Written and directed by Spike Jonze, Her paints a picture of some things that may actually come to pass as computers continue to develop. You’ll have to see the movie your self to decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
August, Osage County
In any body of work, there is a best, and there is a worst.
For Meryl Streep, one of the greatest actresses of her generation, this flick is the worst. I hated it. My tolerance for nasty screaming drunks is non-existent. The original stage play may have won a Pulitzer Prize, but this turkey should have closed in Philadelphia.
Everybody screams. Everybody fights. There is a vast stinking sea of gratuitous nastiness. There is alcoholism, drug addiction, illicit sex and marital infidelity. What there isn’t is any sort of redeeming value. The only mildly sympathetic characters get kicked in the gut and thrown aside.
Her probably isn’t the greatest movie you’ll see this year, but it’s infinitely superior to the painfully unpleasant shrieking termagants of Osage County. Maybe you should just stay home and watch True Detective on HBO.
Totally Unauthorized 