Johnny-come-lately movie reviews

I’m such a talented and popular person that, despite the fact that I consider myself a movie aficionado-in-training, I don’t make it out to the big (or even inconsequential movies) until long after they’ve been released. This is partially compounded by the fact that Dara tends to see many of our common movies in the theatres, without me. (By the way, Dara, you forgot to mention that we saw some cute puppies this weekend, too. Don’t forget that).

Here is a quick review of the three movies we saw on Saturday:
(Oh, and the Godfather: didn’t care for it. It insists upon itself.)


My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

Movie reviewer Jane Stevenson said of “Super Ex…”:

“Ultimately, My Super Ex-Girlfriend is lightweight fare but there are a lot worse ways to spend 90 minutes on an unbearably hot summer afternoon.” Yes it was lightweight, and yes there are probably worse things sto do on a sticky afternoon than to constantly roll one’s eyes at the corny site-gags and warmed-over humour, but Ms. Stevenson doesn’t quite hit the nail on the head. “Super” is a take on “Fatal Attraction,” meets “Mystery Men,” as interpreted by Nickelodeon. The problem with this movie is, with all its innuendos and all the scrubbing done to clean up the movie for its ratings, it suffers from an identity crisis, and from a lack of what most writers are taught on the first day of writing class: know your audience. Half of this movie was for kids (you can’t expect me to take a shark through the apartment window seriously, can you?), and the other half was decidedly for adults (at least the sex-with-a-superhero scenes). All in all, a forgettable movie.



Match Point.

It’s hard to go wrong with a Woody Allen movie, and the same can be said for “Match Point.” Besides the woo factor (I can pretty much sit through anything with Scarlett Johannssen), the script was tightly-woven, and included a cast of characters who were both sympathetic, and just pathetic. The film is an essay about luck, and it borrows heavily from Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.” The movie builds slowly, which gives us ample time to sympathize with the characters. Over time, however, the protagonist (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers) loses the favour of the audience as he transforms from social etiquette guru, to one of society’s worst kinds of menace. Without giving too much away, the film cleverly wraps up showing how, (using the tennis analogy)m sometimes the ball bounces your way, and sometimes it doesn’t. Unless you’re name is Dara, this film will probably keep you guessing (especially in the third act) and (if you’re like me) will keep you on the edge of your seat. Excuse the cliché, but I really was sweating on this one.


Munich.

The darkest film of the night was also a film I had been wanting to see for a while. I had several discussions with my brother-in-law Larry about seeing the film and finally decided to rent it. I’m not sure what the controversy was about: Spielberg is, in no way, an apologist for Black September, Palestine or terrorism of any kind. I didn’t expect he (or this movie) would be, considering how far he has advanced the Jewish cause through his movies over the years.

The simplest thing you can say about this movie-- the sad truth that permeates all the bloodshed-- is that violence begets more violence. It doesn’t matter who started it, or who will finish it, or what it’s about: violence is a sad thing. This is a tacit truth, like the golden rule, and yet people still treat others unjustly, and violence still continues unabated. I am not so simple as to think that violence is never the answer, or that people shouldn’t stand up for themselves, or their way of life, but I am recognizing the simple mathematical formula: violence = more violence. If Israel were to simply allow continuous suicide bombs unabated, and Mossad closed its doors, I know that the violence could and probably would continue on in Israel for 1000 years without ceasing. Hitler would have marched on unceasingly without the intervention of the Allies. But the point remains, and the poignancy of movie was made ever clear when I turned off the DVD player and saw the continuing violence in the middle east tallying countless new bodies in a seemingly endless war. I watched in anger on Friday as I came home and heard about the shooting at a Jewish Center in Seattle. For which there will probably be retaliation. For which there will probably be retaliation. For which there will probably be retaliation. For which there will probably be retaliation. For which there will probably be retaliation…..