Category Archives: Unusual

2007, Unusual

Juno (2007)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix

Facing an unplanned pregnancy, teenage Juno (Ellen Page) devises
a plan to locate the proverbial perfect parents to adopt her baby.
But the seemingly ideal couple Juno chooses still has some growing up
to do. Now, everyone in Juno’s world must do a little soul-searching.
Michael Cera co-stars while Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the
pair of affluent yuppies anxious for a child in this offbeat coming-of-age
comedy, which won the 2008 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay

I had a rhetoric teacher who said you have to read bad literature from time to time to appreciate the good stuff. It was with this intent that I decided to tackle a prototypical teenage pregnancy movie. Surprise! Even if you might not agree with the theme, the dialog sparkles. The boyfriend is the world’s most perfect dweeb. I will not reveal the ending but it made sense and did surprise me.

The details and acting are too well done to be anything but an A. I felt I had to put the film in the “unusual” class, because the teenage sexual indifference might offend. Not for children.

2003, Italian, Unusual

I’m Not Scared (2003)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano), a 10-year-old boy growing up
in a southern Italian village, discovers another youngster,
Filippo (Mattia Di Pierro), chained up inside a small hole dug
in the yard of an abandoned house. Michele soon learns from
watching the news that the boy has been kidnapped and things
take an even darker turn when he realizes his own parents may be
involved. Aitana Sanchez-Gijon co-stars. Gabriele Salvatores
directs.

Just watching this slow film of southern Italy just makes me hot and drowsy. It’s also as much of southern Italy as I want to see. Could those small towns really be that desolate ? The story is compelling, the ending a tad maudlin. I liked the film because of the Italian, although in real life they would be speaking some dialect of Italian instead. It’s not a bad movie, but you really need a firm desire to persevere.

Damning with faint praise.

2006, TV Series, Unusual

Dexter (2006)

1 Comment

From NetFlix:

Playing a sympathetic serial killer may sound like a stretch,
but former ‘Six Feet Under’ star Michael C. Hall pulls it off
neatly in this Showtime drama about a likable forensics expert
who channels his violent tendencies by killing miscreants
who’ve avoided punishment. So harmless is Dexter Morgan’s
(Hall) demeanor that neither his girlfriend (Julie Benz) nor
his sister (Jennifer Carpenter) has any inkling of his
extracurricular activities.

At first I thought “this is stupid and creepy and sensationalistic”. But it isn’t really violent (but really creepy). There are involving subplots and the plot twists are clever (if a tad unbelievable). You have to wade through the entire season to see the bad guy get his deserved due. I suspect that only someone like Michael Hall could actually make this idea work.

I Dare You!

2007, Unusual

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Ryan Gosling plays the title character in this oddball
comedy about a delusional young man who buys a life-size
sex doll over the Internet — and then falls in love with
her. When the besotted young man starts telling people that
the doll is his girlfriend, his brother and sister-in-law
decide it’s time to intervene in this film co-starring
Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Kelli Garner and Paul
Schneider.

o This is not really a comedy.
o I had to classify this as “unusual and not to everyone’s tastes
o S L O W and very Q U I E T
o but with real orchestral background.
o You really have to suspend disbelief. Would an entire town really
humor Lars in such a kind way ?
o You will love this move or hate it.
o There’s a reason for Lar’s behavior and real healing.

You are taking a chance,

2006, French, Unusual

The Man of My Life (2006)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

When Frédéric (Bernard Campan) and his family meet a gay man named Hugo (Charles Berling) while vacationing in the Provençal countryside, their lives are irrevocably changed, as the two men develop a strong yet unconventional friendship. Although Frédéric is happily married to his wife, Frédérique (Léa Drucker), his bond with Hugo challenges the strength of his marriage and ultimately inspires him to reevaluate his life.

This film is French in many ways: language, culture, beautiful photography,
symbols, ambivalence, ambivalence, and more ambivalence. Don’t expect
a definitive ending. You have to be in the mood for this one. And if you do
last through this dreamy, slow movie, please tell me how you interpreted the
relation between the straight husband (who truly loves his wife and family)
and the gay man when everyone meets on an extended summer holiday.

How did this end ?

2007, Unusual

The Darjeeling LImited (2007)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Following the death of their father, three brothers (Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman) embark on a journey on the cross-India train the Darjeeling Limited and attempt to reconnect after years of physical and emotional distance. The trip also opens up some old wounds and proves that their sibling rivalry can never be completely erased. Natalie Portman and Anjelica Huston co-star in Wes Anderson’s lyrical comic drama.

Another disfunctional family film (not the viewers, the characters ). Three brothers (including a heavily bandaged Owen Wilson) unite in India to ride a train to find their Mom who failed to show up for the funeral of Dad. Mom has become a Roman Catholic nun somewhere in the wilds of India. Does this tell you anything about the film ?

Almost all the dialog is deadpan comedy and I really had a good laugh from time to time. But I am a very tolerant viewer (I hope). So if you want to watch an hour+ of brotherly muddling and are patient, this is the film for you.

At least my mother did not become a nun!

2005, Unusual, Violent

Beowulf & Grendel (2005)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

In an adventure imbrued with blood and tragedy, the legendary Norseman Beowulf (Gerard Butler) must command an army across the seas of ancient Northern Europe to conquer the evil troll Grendel. Anticipating his epic crusade against the wrathful monster, the warrior must arbitrate his emanating notoriety and his relationship with the enchanting Selma amid a time of barbaric turmoil and transformation with the emergence of the Christian faith.

There are at least two movie versions of the story. When the 2007 movie came out I decided to plough thru the actual Anglo-Saxon saga of Beowulf. Seamus Heaney produced a version that had Old English on the left side and his English translation on the right side. Frankly, I was a bit bored by the classic saga. It’s fairly straight-forward: man meets monster, man slays monster, man goes back home. So I can see why the movies spiced it up a bit.

I suppose if you are bound and determined to watch a Beowulf film,
this is the version I will put on the list. This version gives the monster
Grendel a personality and a psychological reason for why he slays
the warriors. In fact, he is portrayed as a victim.

This version is very earthy. Both versions portray the warriors as being
very crude. Their language, the topics of their discussions, and their
personal hygiene leaves a lot to be desired. But it all seemed to make
sense. And why wouldn’t a warrior culture devoted to killing, drinking,
and womanizing be a tad crude ?

But if there is any movie with Gerard Butler (this Beowulf) that I would
recommend, that would be “Dear Frankie” which is slightly different
from Beowulf.

1996, Unusual

Breaking the Waves (1996)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

The revolutionary Dogma 95 school of filmmaking washed up on American shores with this intense European drama starring Emily Watson as Bess, a naïve Scotswoman who’s convinced that God will heal her paralyzed husband (Stellan Skarsgård) if she has sex with other men. Director Lars von Trier shot the film using only available light, handheld cameras and no musical score; the result is a stunning, nakedly emotional film.

This one has me stumped. I could not stop watching it, but I can’t imagine what anyone else would think of this film. It is a long movie. Sometimes I thought “why am I watching the antics of this loony wife ?” There was magic realism in the very unexpected ending.

You are warned about such an unusual movie. Watch it while you do your income taxes.

2007, Documentary, Unusual

Protagonist (2007)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Four disparate lives intertwine with surprising results in this absorbing documentary, an official selection of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. A German terrorist, a bank robber, an “ex-gay” evangelist and a martial arts student form the unlikely quartet. In her interweaving narrative, Oscar-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu explores parallels between human life and the formal dramatic structure of the Greek tragedian Euripides.

This is one strange film which features 4 talking heads telling their stories. You have to be in the mood for what is really a documentary. How did one man become a terrorist working for Carlos the Jackall and what was his salvation ? How did another become a bank robber and what turned his life around ? Why did a man become a self-destructive martial artist and how did he change ? A Greek chorus separates the stages of the lives of these men.

2007, Could Be Sad, Documentary, Not Feel Good, Unusual

Into the Wild (2007)

Leave a comment

From NetFlix:

Sean Penn directs this feature based on best-selling author Jon Krakauer’s true story of a young man who gives up everything to lead a solitary life in the wild. Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a trust-fund college graduate, abandons his safe existence to trek across the harsh yet beautiful terrain of Alaska. William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden co-star, along with Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn and Hal Holbrook (in an Oscar-nominated role).

Because I had first read the book “Into The Wild”, I found the film a bit slow. In fact, I wish you would read the book first. There is a sort of mystery: was there some fatal mistake that McCandless made ? The book gives a very definite answer: YES, and explains just how close McCandless came to not dying. Ask yourself if the film offers the same information. Of course, this film can never have a happy ending. At least it supplies scenes that you might not have imagined while reading the book.

Among other categories, I added “documentary” because the film is historical in nature.