i don’t read daily beast, but this singular contribution justifies its existence.

sotomayor: the movie (slideshow)

which actors would play the supreme court justices? i couldn’t think of a better scalia.

does anyone think it’s weird that FNL’s tim riggins (taylor kitsch) is playing gambit in the wolverine movie? i guess i see it?

or not.

got my tix to the midnight screening.

right now its rotten tomato score is 65%, which is not particularly comforting, but with such a loyal and insane fan base, a large number of haters is to be expected.

there are many reviews out there, but i liked the musings from this “nonreview” on zack snyder’s style:

Those ads declaring Snyder to be ‘the visionary director of 300′ may be a bit much, but there is no question at all that Zack Snyder is a man with vision, a director who is uniquely attuned to the very visual demands of screen storytelling. And he understands the subtlety of it; going in I thought that Snyder, in his self-admitted near slavishness to the book, might try to recreate the actual visual motif from the comic book version of Dr. Manhattan’s origin – a slowly falling photograph. He doesn’t, which indicates a serious understanding of where the visual storytelling of comic books and motion pictures diverge. That sequence is perfect in a panel-driven medium, but in film it would be ridiculously and distractingly stylized. While Snyder opted for an overly stylized approach to 300 – based on overly stylized material – here he reigns things in, bringing style but not gimmickry, making every scene gripping to look at but not putting directorial affectations in front of storytelling. Every moment in the film looks great, but not to the point where you spend the movie marveling over how great it looks.

this is very promising. when it comes to remakes and adaptations, i’m not one to obsess over faithfulness to the source material. as with most things, i’m not the sentimental type. as long as the new version stands on its own as an artistic/intellectual/enjoyable achievement, i can appreciate it on those merits alone. if it also stays true to the spirit and message of the source material, bonus points to the director/creator.

i’m just glad to see snyder realizes he’s making a movie — not a moving version of a graphic novel.

that being said, i post the trailers for your viewing pleasure:

unless something crazy happens during tonight’s telecast, i will not be writing about the oscars after this post. i don’t care who wins what. i don’t think it’s a particularly useful debate whether the dark knight is better than slumdog millionaire, and even if i wanted to argue about superficial nonsense like that, it doesn’t require me to watch a 3-hour pat on the back.

i am, however, grateful that the oscars exist. the event formally elevates into the public consciousness movies that may not otherwise have an audience. do i think the 5 nominated movies are the best 5 movies of the year? no, but all 5 are probably at least worth seeing, and if the academy convinces a couple people to watch milk instead of the mummy #3, then it has done all the world a favor.

following in that vein are the best short documentaries. the national archives here in DC have been screening (for free) all the documentaries this past week, and this afternoon, they showed the 4 documentary shorts that were nominated for oscars this year. i’m not sure how the rest of you can get your hands on these films, but they are definitely worth watching. and with runtimes around 30 minutes, they’re shorter than a tivo’d episode of american idol or some other shitty tv show.

general thoughts: 3 of these films made me cry cry cry. i cried more than an above average episode of friday night lights (i don’t think i’ve ever watched FNL w/ out crying …). india is also very trendy right now.

The Conscience of Nhem En
loosely about a guy (nhem en) who was a khmer rouge photographer at s-21, a high school-turned-prison, where 17,000 cambodians were killed. starting at age 16, he took the pictures of the prisoners before they were tortured and executed. weird to think someone simultaneously sympathetic and slimy. this might have been my favorite of the 4, probably b/c it was the most brutal and unrelenting.

Smile Pinki
doctors in india do hundreds of thousands of surgeries to fix children with cleft lip and palate. for free. pinki is one of the angel children they follow through the film. i’m sure the filmmakers were drooling all over themselves when they saw her. she is a gorgeous 5yo except for the fact that her lip is stuck to her nose and her teeth are all f’d up. when i think about it, it’s basically a glorified makeover show — dr. 90210, but with poor people who don’t speak english.

The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306
the story of MLK’s assassination, but from the POV of rev. samuel kyles (far left, i think). this film was incredibly manipulative, but in the best way possible. they show a clip of MLK’s last speech, the mountaintop speech:

We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

cue me wiping away tears and thinking, “the promised land? sweet jesus, the promised land is here!”

this movie might have sucked if obama didn’t win the election.

The Final Inch
volunteers work day and night to get people in india to take the polio vaccine. there are some similar themes in smile pinki, but the final inch is no where near as well executed. plus, this film was incredibly condescending: “ugh, indian people are stupid to not trust our vaccines.” i paraphrase, but that’s basically the message i got. i hope this doesn’t win, and i’m pretty sure it won’t.

in conclusion, i’m sure no one will get to see these documentaries, rendering these mini-reviews irrelevant. but you should. if you could. b/c i said so.

saw them. my plot summaries and reviews.

1. valkyrie: tom cruise is a nazi who tries to assassinate hitler. SPOILER ALERT. it doesn’t work. if you’re like me — gullible — you’ll like this movie. i really thought they’d make it work for a couple minutes there. also, kenneth branagh got fat.

2. the curious case of benjamin button: brad pitt ages backward. cate blanchett ages forward. they meet in the middle and have sexy sex.

it’s shades of forrest gump meets big fish meets the notebook meets mork and mindy.

watch it if you don’t think it’s awkward that grandpas/grandmas are in love with children. watch anyway even if you do think it’s awkward.

and taraji p. henson is the hotness.

plus, the likely future obama chief of staff looks a lot like alexander siddig, aka dr. bashir from star trek: deep space nine.

siddig will def play emanuel in the obama movie of the future.

UPDATED: 11/5/2008 at 5:50 p.m.: sean has pointed out that emanuel also looks like robert downey jr. a normal person would have probably made this comparison first (downey is objectively WAY MORE FAMOUS than saddig). but i’m a freak. whatever.

in this version of the classic thriller, kevin spacey buys an oversize house in las vegas, while an aged brad pitt looked at his 401k yesterday and had dinner with richard fuld.

for ignoring this blog over the course of my fab chicago trip. and now i’m going to california this weekend. too much.

anyway, i give you a bunch of amusing links sent by my friends.

jesse: Facebook Items Guaranteed To Be Lies

jesse, again: watchmen movie posters

andy: a pretty NASA pic of the milky way over ontario. yes i realize ontario is a large province, but that’s all i got.