No one gets left behind
Just a couple of movies in three weeks. I’ve been reading books instead, specifically the works of David Peace, one after another, one after another, relentlessly, specifically, one after another. Blu-ray movie is marked with a †.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) †
People say to me, they say, what do you mean, you haven’t seen Little Miss Sunshine yet? Why not? How can this be? Can this be happening? Can this really be happening? Has reality twisted so much out of true that I’ve managed to avoid a family comedy that’s right up my street. Surely, it’s a movie straight after my twisted little dark heart. And so it is. This is my kind of family comedy, full of unnecessary swearing and ironic edginess, the kind of film that once could have been made inside the Hollywood system but is now confined to the independent sector. Didn’t stop it picking up awards, didn’t stop it finding an audience. And somehow, somehow, don’t ask me how, I’ve managed to spend three years remaining blissfully ignorant of what just exactly Abigail Breslin’s pageant performance would contain, and I will not, I could not, I will not reveal it here, but it was beyond fantastic when it arrived. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris come from the worlds of advertising and music videos (specifically some excellent promos for The Smashing Pumpkins, 1979 and Perfect in particular), but unlike no talent no-hopers like McG, they’re actually interested in people, hence this film, hence its success, hence its release on Blu-ray with all the extras that were originally only on the Region 1 DVD, so hooray for Blu-ray again.
Tin Cup (1996)
As it was US Open weekend, I checked out Ron Shelton’s great golf movie again. Shelton’s strength as a maker of sports films, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned here before, as I know I’ve mentioned here before, is that his films aren’t about the sports they seem to be about, they’re about the people. The film is a rescue attempt on Roy McAvoy’s hopelessness in life, and refreshingly doesn’t wrap things up with a big bow at the end. Maybe things won’t work out, just like they sometimes don’t in life. This is also my kind of romantic comedy, full of swearing and jokes and character turns, and not shopping and PG-13 harmlessness, as romantic comedies have edged towards a mere 13 years later. Back soon, hopefully less influenced by David Peace, and hopefully when some decent fucking movies have opened amongst the current summer drought of shite, marked as it is by Terminator 4 and Transformers 2.
Really, who gives a flying fuck about either of them? Not me. Out.
June 29th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
No wonder you went for some pretty feel-good movies.I’ve also just been reading the Red Riding Quartet; each time I finish one, I feel like I need to shower off all the cigarette ash and vomit and blood and puke and piss and chips and beer and madness. Urgh.
Yeah, not even ILM can convince me to spend money on T4 and Tr2. Will it ever end?